<p>Hi everyone! I would really like to go to Northwestern University because I have heard many, many great things about the Medill School of Journalism. Still, it seems like I haven't heard any bad things, so I was wondering if any of you had anything to say about the program. THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP! :-)</p>
<p>I'm looking into Medill as well--it's one of the most highly regarded journalsim schools in the nation.</p>
<p>Yeah...that's exactly what I have heard and that's what has intrigued me into wanting to go to the school. Still, my cynical self believes that their must be something bad behind all of the good, but who knows...it may all be good!</p>
<p>The Medill school is what initially attracted me to Northwestern. It's highly ranked and, unlike its other J-school counterparts, offers a more than solid broad-based education. From what I understand, other top ranked journalism programs such as Missou, for example, are highly regarded, but the general education that one can get from Northwestern itself seems to be better respected.</p>
<p>Also, because of Northwestern's location to a large urban area, and its junior year internship programs, Medill seems to offer opportunities that other journalism programs cannot.</p>
<p>Hey everyone! I'm going to be a Medill freshman in the fall...of course, I have nothing bad to say about my future school but I can tell you why NU has the most unique Journalism program.</p>
<p>Associate Dean Richard Roth just spoke to a few of us at a So-Cal Medill get-together; he told us that starting this year, we will be taught a curriculum that is integrated with every facet of journalism. i.e. by the time we've all graduated, we'll have had experience in front of a camera, public relations-related lessons, etc. etc. Also, starting 2005-2006, there's a foreign language requirement---in other words, they want us to be well-cultured, which I think every school program should aim to accomplish.</p>
<p>Every Medill junior does a Teaching Media, which is a sort of internship---you get to choose where [nationally/internationally] you would like to apply and work for a quarter. Since I'm from CA, I could ask that I get a job working for a local news station. It's really great for hands-on experience, especially since by then I'll know what I'll be concentrating in.</p>
<p>Medill strongly encourages double-majoring. There are peer mentors to help you map out a suggested curriculum to help you meet the graduation requirements. Also, everyone is honest. i.e. chances are doubling in Journalism and Theatre isn't going to work.</p>
<p>The publications you will probably be joining are phenomenal. The Daily Northwestern [what I will be going out for] is one of the nation's best college papers. NNN [Northwestern News Network] attracts outside viewers and reports news from Evanston, Chicago, beyond!</p>
<p>When I went to Preview NU [you get invited upon acceptance] it seemed like everyone accepted to Medill was likely to go. It's hard to explain---it's just such an accomplishment to get in; nearly impossible to turn down...here let me spit out some numbers. ~1200 students apply; 200-something get in; 160 accept. </p>
<p>Northwestern itself has such a great community of pride. That said, Medill pride is even greater. If you're even considering studying journalism, I would advise you to apply. It's all worth it - the app, the essays, the $60. LOL. I'm rambling. Sorry, I'm just so damn excited. Hope this helped!! Please please message me if you have any questions. =]</p>
<p>Jen</p>
<p>I'll be a Medill sophomore in the fall so I'll try and answer originality's question. It sounds like most of you know all the good things about Medill, so I won't mention those. Medill is a very good program at a very good school. That said, though, and I'm going to be very honest here, the times when I was most frustrated with Northwestern this year were because of Medill. Most people absolutely HATE the freshman-year journalism classes because they feel like they are very difficult and non-informative. I personally felt that sometimes the school itself was extremely poorly administered. Not gonna lie, I definitely considered dropping out of the journalism program because of these reasons, but I eventually came to my senses and thought about what a good program it was and how much I am looking forward to sophomore/junior year classes when I can pick what area of journalism I want to specialize in. Ok, I guess thats all for me. Sorry to be so negative, there are many many great things about Medill/Northwestern, but you all seem to know about those I wanted to focus on the negative things that only a student would know.</p>
<p>Thank you HeyIveGotWorkToDo, jennysupALLnight, and glamourbaby19 for giving your honest opinions of Medill (it is greatly appreciated). I was also wondering if anyone knew the breakdown of races and sexes as well as the student, teacher ratio at Medill. Lastly, if you have been a student before at Medill I was wondering how big the classes tend to be. THANKS!!!!</p>
<p>jennysupALLnight, if you don't mind me asking, what were your stats and EC's? I've always been interested in a career in journalism (magazine) but I kind of JUST NOW decided I want to go to school for that and I'm wondering if I even have a chance at Medill.</p>
<p>Actually, I'm glad to hear the negatives of the program. It's good to know all those things before I decide on a college!</p>
<p>bump....it up</p>
<p>What does "bump" mean?</p>
<p>bring up my post... or something to that effect. it simply puts your post higher on the screen when people view the northwestern university forum :)</p>
<p>if you look at the average SAT for medill, its not any higher than the college of arts and sciences, so dont worry there.... the people who get into medill are the ones who've shown a lot of experience and interest in journalism (through HS newspapers, jobs, etc.).
If jennys not gonna answer about her ECs, I will (im an entering medill frosh too)
I worked 4 years at HS paper, including 2 as ed-in-chief
2 years writing for an online video game magazine
3 years as P.A. announcer for all my high schools basketball and volleyball games
Essay was about a huge investigative story i did for my HS paper.</p>
<p>with that said, my gpa and SAT weren't shabby either, but i dont think they mattered nearly as much as my ECs.</p>
<p>haha, city, i messaged mine directly to wifey, but i'll put them on here for the world to see..</p>
<p>GPA=4.3 weighted
SAT 1330 IIs 720, 670, 670
4 years on school newspaper staff, one year as EIC as sophomore at different school, one year as co-EIC as senior
president of NHS, vice pres of JSA [politics/debate]
2 years of varsity volleyball
2 years of part-time working [jamba juice/starbucks]
too many hours of volunteer work
my essay was on the transition from an easier school where i could have been EIC for 3 straight years to a harder one where you have lots of competition.</p>
<p>anyway hope that quenched anyone's thirst</p>
<p>I agree with city, i think ECs were heavily considered. i also suggest anyone interested in NU to spend time on their "Why NU?" essay...they can tell when you just slap one together in 5 mins.</p>
<p>Jen</p>
<p>boy.. My Ecs.. seem to pale in comarsion (i'll be an incoming freshmen at medill too this fall).
6yrs of yearbook starting from middle school.. sports editor jr year and then EIC..
thats about it for the journalism related ECs..
wayy too many hours working on the theatre department. mock trial, badminton 3yrs..
club prez of french club....and other minor club stuff that i dont think i even put on my app. =).</p>
<p>question: this may sound stupid, but are there students at medill who don't want to be journalist? i.e. they want to get into public relations, law, etc?</p>
<p>Also, it's possible to switch to WCAS if you change your mind about it right?</p>
<p>Also, I know that the average SAT score for Medill and WCAS are the same, but it seems like Medill would be more competitive than the other schools, because it's the one for which northwestern receives the most recognition, in my opinion. Is there any truth to that? </p>
<p>Also, I don't have journalism ec's except editor of yearbook (my high school doesn't have a newspaper). will that bring down my chances?</p>
<p>medill is much more competitive, yes. NU will probably accept about 30% of applicants next year, i heard that this year medill accepted 200 applicants out of 1200 that applied.
Im in medill and i dont really plan to be a reporter when i graduate. Double majors are very common, even expected because 75% of your coruses are non-journalism. </p>
<p>Its very easy to transfer into WCAS from medill, but very hard to transfer from WCAS into medill. </p>
<p>Being editor of yearbook is a pretty good journalism EC, as long as its clear in your letters of rec and your essay that your school didnt have a newspaper. Also, see if you cant gain experience with a newspaper in some other capacity... for example, an internet thing or your town, or neighborhood's small paper.</p>
<p>I'm definitely considering law. Journalism would be the ideal, but one would have to be very talented and very lucky for that to work out, I think.</p>
<p>jmarsh-.. i didnt take newspaper at my school. i only did yearbook as my EC. and i got in =D (see.. the post right before yours) so i wouldnt say it'll bring down your chances. Northwestern gets a copy of what courses your school offers, and they'll see that there's no journalism/newspaper class. you'll be fine :) good luck.</p>
<p>cool thanks guys. I would definitely like to study journalism, but as far as a career, I don't know if I'm willing to pursue it for financial reasons. </p>
<p>The thing is, my school does offer a journalism class, but there wasn't any interest among the journalism students in producing a school paper, and it's mostly made up of kids who need to take an easy senior year english elective in order to graduate, so I felt much more inclined to take an extra AP class in place of journalism, do you think there's any wy f communicating this to the admissions staff?</p>
<p>thanks</p>