<p>Ok, so, USC is my top choice school BUT I'm actually pretty concerned about the quality of the liberal arts education I'd receive there (I know it's College of Arts and Sciences is its weakness). I'm a journalism major, and their journalism program is really great, yes...but what I want to know is, what do UCLA aspiring journalists think of the program at UCLA? I haven't heard much about it.</p>
<p>I don't go to UCLA (yet)- I will be a freshman in the fall. But I had to decide between UCLA and USC. Besides for the fact that UCLA is a " better " school in general (any degree from there looks better than USC...) and the environment (and safety) at UCLA is a lot better...</p>
<p>For any journalist, all current big-shot editors, producers (depending on what " type " of journalism you want to do) advise all up and coming journalist to specify in a particular area: whether editorial, political, etc. etc. </p>
<p>So since UCLA does not have a journalism major (there is a communication studies major) you can still learn a lot to be a really good journalist by double majoring in comm studies and something else you would like to study/specify in. I will be studying political science and com studies and I really like the com studies major because I can take classes related to my speciality i.e. 101. Freedom of Communication. (4)</p>
<p>Analysis of legal, political, and philosophical issues entailed in rights of free expression, access to an audience, and access to information. Study of court decisions governing freedom of communication in the U.S</p>
<p>and </p>
<ol>
<li>Political Communication. (4)</li>
</ol>
<p>Lecture, four hours; discussion, one hour. Study of nature and function of communication in the political sphere; analysis of contemporary and historical communications within established political institutions; state papers; deliberative discourses; electoral campaigns. Letter grading.</p>
<p>...Hope that helps!</p>
<p>It does, thanks a lot. </p>
<p>I would definitely double major at USC or UCLA, but because I'm not sure what area I want to concentrate in, I was worried I just wouldn't have as many options at USC (I know its areas of expertise are pretty tightly confined to certain schools). Currently I want to be a music industry/journalism double major, which is why USC is pretty much my dream school for that - but that's just the flavor of the month. Who knows, I might actually want to write about something that means something one day.</p>
<p>The Political Communication class looks pretty awesome. I hear poli sci is really strong at UCLA. </p>
<p>If I get accepted to both it's going to be a crazy tough decision.</p>
<p>Other opinions definitely welcome; i.e. are there any classes that are specific to print journalism, how is internship placement, etc...</p>
<p>It'll all work out for you. Poli sci is VERY strong at UCLA so it made my decision a lot easier. Plus, I've always loved UCLA (since like 8th grade...)</p>
<p>but good luck to you! and feel free to PM me in the fall if you have any questions :)</p>
<p>IMHO, you dont have to major a journalism to be a good journalist, be it print, boradcasting and whatnot. Your solid 4 year studies any major in liberal art school will be suffiecient. Plus, you can always concentrate in specific areas later in graduate schools like Columbia or Northwestern. So I dont see any benefits to major a journalism in an undergraduate school. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>^To be honest I really think graduate journalism studies look a little...dumb. I've talked to some journalists, and their degrees are all accross the board (art history...astronomy...and they're writing about Iraq or something!), but they tend to agree that a double major on the undergrad level in communications/journalism + area of expertise/interest is the way to go.</p>
<p>I know going to a good j-school can put you in a great place for internships, so...</p>
<p>Thanks for the offer, CareBear :).</p>
<p>^ To be really honest, I really think that some journalistists that you talked to are old-schooled, out of fashion, old and most likely near-career-ending ones. Your and their notion of journalism is old, not updated. In these days and age, you def. need a post-graduate degree to get ahead in any field - And yes not excluding journalism. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>just for reference, if you're thinking about journalism, you'd probably apply to the Annenberg school of communications at USC, not their college of letters and sciences. </p>
<p>an aspiring journalist at UCLA should major in their area of expertise and take some communication courses on the side, and should get involved in extracurriculars related to whatever area of journalism you intend to practice (Daily Bruin for sure if newspaper, bruin news if broadcasting, one of the various magazines if doing magazine/print, etc.)... and hopefully that leads to an internship. you're in luck if you're thinking of newspaper; Daily Bruin is ranked as the #1 college newspaper in california and one of the best in the nation, many of the daily bruin students end up working for LA Times and other large newspaper companies.</p>