<p>Hey,
I'm a junior in HS, and am positive that I want to be a (print) journalism-polisci double major. What are some universities that have great undergraduate programs in journalism and polisci, as well as economics, philosophy and religion, and sociology?</p>
<p>Look at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA.</p>
<p>I'm heading there next year. Definetely plan on majoring in politics with a possible double major in journalism or Russian studies.</p>
<p>Look at the W&L board under "Top Liberal Arts Schools" if you want more info.</p>
<p>One other option would be to go to an excellent liberal arts school and study poli sci and your other interests and write for the school paper. Then go to a journalism graduate school program.</p>
<p>Wisconsin-Madison</p>
<p>Don't waste your time majoring in journalism!!!!!</p>
<p>I have three friends who work in print media in the LA area and they say that Newspaper Editors prefer that their writers major in something other than journalism</p>
<p>The thing is that they don't really respect the degree because they know that a undergraduate degree in journalism will not be valuable in the professional field with real deadlines and such. This other woman I talked to while I was at the University of Michigan who wrote for a medical journal told me that majoring in journalism will not be worth it because the best degree to prepare for a career in journalism is experience. You just have to get your feet wet and get going. Trust me do not major in journalism.</p>
<p>Trust me, just get online and look up the bios of prominent journalists- You will see that most of them major in something other than journalism.</p>
<p>Of course if you still insist on majoring in journalism I do know which schools nationally have the best undergraduate journalism programs. Before I talked to these various journalists (I also emailed many prominent national journalists, something you should consider)
Here are the best undergraduate journalism programs</p>
<p>University of Missouri-Columbia - First School of journalism
Columbia University- Great resources in the Big Apple
Northwestern University- Medill School of Journalism is tops
USC - Strong Journalism/Communications program
New York University- Strong indeed</p>
<p>Basically, the best places to study journalism are in LA and New York because these are the places where there will be ample opportunities to freelance for various publications. That is the key</p>
<p>That lady who I talked to in Michigan left me saying that if the New York Times had to choose between a person with a B.A. in journalism and maybe one year of experience in the field vs. a person without a degree but has 4, 5 years of experience freelancing for various publications, they will probably pick that person because the degree don't mean ****.</p>
<p>American U in DC has good programs in both Poly Sci & Communications. My D wants the same double major and while I've read what others have to say about the journalism major, I can't imagine NOT getting a job becuase of it.</p>
<p>I think king overstated his point. I just returned from the scholastic press conference there.. all the advisors tehre say that a masters in journalism is useless unless you wan to teach. True, in journalism, what matters most is connections and experience. However, you are much more likely to find these connections adn gain this experience at a school with a good J-school, like missouri, northwestern, syracuse... However, any good J-school will recommend, if not require, that you take a second major, so that you will have something to write About. which is why your poli-sci thing makes sense. I think you're fine, go to a good J-school, such as the ones i mentioned, because it seems to me that poli sci majors are pretty much teh same across the field.</p>
<p>As a working journalist, I can tell you that editors strongly PREFER
journalism majors when it comes to entry level jobs and assignments. It doesn't mean that you can't get into journalism with a different major, but it does mean that you will find it MUCH harder to break into that first job. And, believe me, it is hard enough as it is to get an entry level job in journalism with a degree in journalism!</p>
<p>So, while what King says is true - editors prefer to hire people with experience and a portfolio, it can be very, very difficult to GET that experience if you do not have a degree in journalism. I'm not saying it can't happen, just that it will be harder.</p>
<p>I majored in journalism and transferred to do so. I can honestly say that I would NEVER have been able to develop the marketable skills I had when I graduated if I had majored in something else, such as English or political science. A good journalism school will also open doors for internships and contacts that you simply can't make elsewhere. I think a terminal graduate degree in journalism (in other words, a non-PHD program) is another good path to take if you have majored in another subject and want to break into the field. Usually these programs are not preparing future journalism teachers, but rather practicing journalists. The good graduate programs of this type, however, are few and far between.</p>
<p>By the same token, the quality of an undergraduate journalism program is also important - some so-called "journalism" programs are quite weak. That's why I suggest looking primarily at accredited programs if you are going to major or minor in journalism.</p>
<p>The Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications has a list of 140 colleges/universities that have journalism programs meeting its standards:
<a href="http://www.ku.edu/%7Eacejmc/STUDENT/PROGLIST.SHTML%5B/url%5D">http://www.ku.edu/~acejmc/STUDENT/PROGLIST.SHTML</a></p>
<p>By the way, the Columbia School of Journalism, which King mentioned above, is solely a graduate program. In addition to many of the schools mentioned above, I would also recommend my own alma mater, Syracuse University, where it is possible to major in journalism at one of the top ranked schools plus double major or minor in poli. sci. at the Maxwell School, a very good political science program.</p>
<p>Oh yeah!!! Syracuse!!!! Another great school for Journalism!!!</p>
<p>Yeah, Columbia is strictly graduate. My bad.</p>
<p>I still think that you should major in something else. A journalism minor may not be that bad though.</p>
<p>A journalism minor can work. You want to be able to point to specific skills-oriented courses and develop a strong portfolio (working on a great college newspaper is another way to do this) One other thought: check out U of Pennsylvania's Annenbergy School of Communications. The communications faculty has a special interest in political communication and it is possible to joint major in political science-communications. A friend's daughter has taken this route, did a semester internship in D.C., a summer's internship at the Republican convention and is graduating this spring with a communications job in Washington already lined up.</p>
<p>Emory.
Their journalism major is a co-major, meaning you HAVE to do it with something else, and it'd work just fine with political science. they have plenty of internships with papers like the AJC and what not, so it's a pretty damn good program.</p>
<p>Emory isn't an accredited J-school, however. And, while it may have a name in Atlanta, it's not known for journalism nationally.</p>
<p>Carolyn I'm just wondering, is it very important for a Journalism school to be accredited?<br>
I'm considering UGA (which is accredited) and has a pretty good program from what I hear, and also Emory so far.</p>
<p>UNC Chapel Hill -- if you can get in, which is tough for out of state.</p>
<p>U Minn. Twin Cities also has good journalism and poli sci depts as does U Md. and Syracuse.</p>
<p>Any thoughts on the relatively new journalism minor at Brandeis?</p>