Looking for a good (Broadcast) Journalism school

<p>Just found this site and I thought I might give it a shot. I'm about to start applying to colleges, and as the title suggest I plan to go for broadcast journalism. Though I've got a few ideas, I'd like to be a little bit more sure about what schools are good to apply to.</p>

<p>I really, really want to go to Northwestern, but with a 28 on the ACT and a 3.94 GPA (which places me somewhere between 8th and 15th in my class), I'm not sure that is going to happen. It is my understanding that they're very selective.</p>

<p>I've heard that Syracuse has a very good broadcast journalism program, and that the University of Missouri at Columbia is a great journalism school. However, the latter does not appeal to me very much because I happen to be of a more "fabulous" persuasion, and I'm not sure how well that would fly in Missouri. Of course, I have no clue, I'm just generalizing.</p>

<p>So, anyway, my point is that if there are any good schools that you think I should consider, or if you have something to say about the ones I am already considering, I would be most grateful if you could help me out.</p>

<p>Syracuse is one of the best in the country for broadcast journalism, but Newhouse is pretty tough to get into. Lots of people end up getting into Syracuse’s College of Arts and Sciences, working hard and transferring into Newhouse after the first year.</p>

<p>Would also look at UNC-Chapel Hill and BU.</p>

<p>Also would check into Maryland, Miami and American.</p>

<p>Northwestern University (Medill School)</p>

<p>You don’t need to major in journalism to enter the field. In fact a different major might be better because it lets you bring something else to the table. A science major would be attractive to employers looking for someone work on stories involving the medical or hi-tech fields. A poli-sci major that took the right classes would be able to help untangle what is going on in local or state government. And so on.</p>

<p>Some schools have programs that help you get experience, but if you are motivated you can look for internships and coop jobs from any school. And experience is whats going to get you going. If you wait until you graduate to start working in the field, you’ll be an also-ran compared to college grads with a page full of positions they’ve held. You need to start early, getting less competitive positions so that later you can be a candidate for jobs such as an NBC page (look it up with google). You start by working at the school paper, getting any job (or volunteering) at a local TV station, and then build/network from there.</p>

<p>The most important thing for you to know is that your future is going to depend on what you do, not whether you attend some “best” college for journalism. Plenty of kids from great schools such as Syracuse or Missouri are going to struggle to find jobs because they didn’t spend the time laying the groundwork to be attractive to employers. To be sure, going to a top school and taking advantage of all the resources puts you in a great position. Bottom line, however, attending a top school doesn’t guarantee success, nor does going somewhere else prevent it. So focus less on a search for “top” schools and more on finding out what it takes to be a success when you finish.</p>

<p>Syracuse Newhouse</p>

<p>Hi,
Check out USC’s Annenberg - [USC</a> Annenberg TV News](<a href=“http://atvn.org/]USC”>http://atvn.org/)
We have an amazing broadcast journalism department. And located in L.A. so very “fabulous friendly”</p>

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<p>Mikemac,</p>

<p>You have valid points, but when it comes to a pretty specialized major such as broadcast journalism I think it makes sense to go to schools that have a proven track record of success in that given area.</p>

<p>I can only speak for Syracuse, but I know that Syracuse’s broadcast journalism program enjoys an incredible reputation throughout the industry, and that SU students/grads rise to the top of the list for many journalism-related jobs and internships solely based on their Newhouse status. ABC News recently opened a student-run on-campus bureau at Syracuse, which provides students with plenty of hands-on broadcasting experience that they would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere. ESPN also does a lot of work with Syracuse (they even sent Shaq there to take a broadcasting refresher course last summer before he went on air with them), and these connections pay off when graduation looms and job-searching begins.</p>

<p>there is no doubt Syracuse has a good program. Nobody said not to go there. However what I am saying is that if you come up with a list of factors that account for success in the field, and among them included ambition/drive, internships in college, and school you attended, the school is the least important by a long shot. And I’d be willing to bet that even the advisors at Syracuse would agree with me. Or, as I put it previously , “attending a top school doesn’t guarantee success, nor does going somewhere else prevent it.” Are you disagreeing with that?</p>

<p>Just for fun I went to the web page of NBC 4 in NYC, a big-time station at <a href=“http://www.nbcnewyork.com/station/about-us/[/url]”>‘AGT’ blindfolded dance crew stun Howie Mandel, earning them golden buzzer – NBC New York; . Starting after the top stars with the big pictures, I looked at where the next 5 journalists went to college. [ul] [<em>]Cimino : City College of New York [</em>]Dienst: Colgate University [<em>]Tarantal : Connecticut College [</em>]Greenleaf : Long Island University [li]Beck : Ithaca College [/ul]What does this prove? Nothing much, but it seems these people managed to succeed without attending a hi-powered undergrad journalism program. [/li][quote]
ABC News recently opened a student-run on-campus bureau at Syracuse, which provides students with plenty of hands-on broadcasting experience that they would be hard-pressed to find elsewhere.

[/quote]
I’m not a journalist, but here’s where I’m going to disagree. If you go to school 50 miles from Syracuse, let alone 500, during the school year you can work at the local stations in town and there is going to be zilch competition from the Syracuse kids for those spots. I’m sure the Syracuse setup is nice, but the equipment in the smaller towns where journalists get entry-level jobs is going to be a lot like the stuff at your local stations. Learn to work that, and you are someone stations will want to talk to when you graduate. I don’t see anything hard-pressed about getting experience outside the hallowed grounds of the Syracuse studio.</p>

<p>And one other thing the OP ought to know. You’re not going to start work after college at a big-time station and a big-time salary unless you’re parents are really connected or you look like a supermodel. Much more typically journalists start at smaller stations in regional markets and work their way up. Which means debt is a huge consideration. If your parents are funding the bill or you get generous financial aid thats great, but it isn’t wise to go deeply into debt via loans if you’re thinking of a career with a low starting salary.</p>

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<p>The difference is, the ABC News Bureau at SU is run by the national organization and is not a local affiliate. True, broadcast students could probably easily find a job/internship at a local station almost anywhere, but there are very few places outside of NYC and perhaps LA where people are going to be able to work for a national bureau while they are still in college.</p>

<p>I’ll recommend UGA, which just bought a CBS affiliate, and will be broadcasting its news to all of northeast GA, and parts of SC. Also, CNN is reportedly run mostly by UGA grads (I know ppl who know ppl) I’ll also be attending :D</p>

<p>besides that:</p>

<p>TOP 3:
Mizzou
Syracuse
Northwestern</p>

<p>Others that are renowned:
USC
NYU
UGA
UNC-CH
UF (Erin Andrews :D)
Emerson
BU
Ithaca</p>

<p>To add onto the journalism school argument, I recently did my own research on the alma maters of anchors and reporters in my area (WSB-TV) and ESPN (every boy’s dream :D). Without a doubt, there was definitely a majority alma mater represented. It was:</p>

<p>…</p>

<p>Columbia’s Grad School of Journalism</p>

<p>of the WSB anchors and ESPN anchors, I’d say, bare-minimum 1/4, but more likely 1/3-1/2 of the anchors listed came from Columbia.</p>

<p>Also, remember that many who go specifically into broadcast are those who want to either produce, direct, or work the other technical aspects of news, and that’s something an English major at an LAC can’t prepare you for. :D</p>

<p>bumpercars</p>

<p>But are you good looking? Seems like the # 1 requirement</p>

<p>^^^ I’ve lived in a lot of different cities. So, it depends on the size of the city. You can be uglier in a small city and they’ll still let you broadcast the news.</p>