<p>Actually, the MS in Journalism at Columbia is only 10 months, albeit very intensive.</p>
<p>Wow, Consolation’s point would seal the deal for me. It might actually be faster for the OP to do a master’s degree then transfer and complete the bachelors.</p>
<p>^^ actually, Consolations post is making me think about getting a masters if its only 10 months. Didn’t plan on doing so since many professionals advise against it, but a ten month program at Columbia would make it considerably worthwhile (if I can get in!) </p>
<p>Thanks for the tip!!! I will look into it.</p>
<p>I agree that a Masters with Columbia or similar would be better.</p>
<p>I don’t know why the mom said that she would pay “all expenses” at USC if her EFC is under $10k. Where’d she get the money to pay. Sounds like the mom is being overly optimistic.</p>
<p>Stay where you are and look at California for grad school or your career after college. I actually went to college in the midwest and then headed to So Cal after grad for my first job. Because of your great GPA and your internships, you will be in a great position to get a job or in to a grad school out there. Plus, everyone already in California applies to stay there. They probably get less applicants from your area than CA so that will give you an advantage. If your grades and other involvements drop from the move, and you lose credits, you will be worse off.</p>
<p>I would just point out that the COA of a Master’s at Columbia is in the neighborhood of $75-80K, depending on where and how you live. (Part of this is because it is so expensive to live in NYC.) They don’t give much FA. You can get outside scholarships to reduce the cost, of course. If you can get one. Lots of IFs here. :)</p>
<p>Someone said that the transfer to USC could cost you $100K. I think the master’s would be a better investment IF you really want to be a journalist. The program is very intense, and I don’t think it is aimed at people who would just as soon be in marketing.</p>
<p>If memory serves, the program at Northwestern (Medill), takes a little longer, about a year and a half, and costs about the same in the end. Of course, there are also good graduate programs at Berkeley, Syracuse, et al. </p>
<p>I may be prejudiced, since S is currently in the Columbia program, but I think that this is one of those fields where if you are going to spend significant money studying it, it only makes sense to do so if you can go to one of the very top programs. And even then you have to be prepared to really throw yourself into it in every way: honing your skills, making connections, etc.</p>
<p>Consolation,
Is your S in journalism as well? Grad school wasn’t really a road for me simply because my mentors have advised against it unless I was going into academia. Everyone in my field has told me the debt for it isn’t worth it because of the job market for journalists or even people in mktg communications (and I see USC Annenberg has a program for this too). If that’s the case, would the debt from USC undergrad be worth it if I do not plan on entering grad school? </p>
<p>(I think this starts playing on if USC versus my state university’s name will matter in my job hunt – my mom believes attending USC will significantly help me in job searching because of name recognition).</p>
<p>S is at the journalism school, yes. He did not major in it as an undergrad.</p>
<p>“I think this starts playing on if USC versus my state university’s name will matter in my job hunt – my mom believes attending USC will significantly help me in job searching because of name recognition”</p>
<p>If your state university is currently managing to place you into good internships, you are going to be fine. Most jobs come from connections, not from the name of your college/university. Stick where you are. Keep interning. Stay in touch with every single person you intern with, and stay on their good side so that when you need a permanent job, they will remember you first, and will recommend you their pals who are hiring.</p>
<p>Given the OP’s EFC, I took “expenses” to mean living expenses, not tuition. It doesn’t sound like the OP’s mom has $100k lying around.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t spend a lot of money on a master’s in marketing communications. I think that is a field where the way to go is to get some kind of entry-level job, work hard and seize opportunities, develop a portfolio, and work your way up.</p>
<p>What Consolation said. I’ve been in advertising/marketing my whole life. If you’re a writer, you don’t need a master’s. If you’re a marketing manager and want to become a director, VP, etc, then you’d want an MBA. But that would be better to get after at least a few years of experience.</p>
<p>^^ SansSerif, I do wanna become some kind of director or VP some day in the future. That is my goal. I want to do the creative side of marketing/advertising but right now I really enjoy writing (my internship focuses on PR) but I’m not sure if that’s what I want to focus on. </p>
<p>My company does however have a VP of PR position as well as a VP of Marketing & Advertising.</p>
<p>Would a masters in marketing communications =/= MBA? </p>
<p>Would it matter if you did in-house or agency what kind of degree you have? And how would one have the time/money to start work after undergrad then jump back to grad school? Do companies pay for it? (Someone told me some companies do)</p>
<p>Why don’t you make an appointment to talk to the people in your firm who have the kind of job you aspire to someday and ask THEM? Not, I hasten to add, in a way that gives them the impression that you expect to do anything other than work your way up over time. Ask them what kind of preparation and credentials they would recommend to progress in the field.</p>
<p>^ My company and my internship are different. My company = my part-time job in a big corporation. I’ve made an appointment with the VP but I only have about 15 minutes because she’s that busy (and it took me 3+ weeks to get this appointment LOL). So I do plan to ask her everything I can. </p>
<p>My internship firm contains a lot of 1) people who have been working there for 7+ years when the job market was really different, and 2) recent college grads who are in entry-level positions. For example, my supervisor is a college drop out but admitted to me that his firm wouldn’t have hired him if he had applied in 2013. </p>
<p>I do ask them questions but I like hearing from as many people as I can as well, for more of a general viewpoint, since a lot of companies are different in who they hire.</p>
<p>Good for you for making that appointment: I was going to suggest 15 minutes.</p>
<p>You are also wise to gather many impressions, and to realize that hiring and expectations differ between different types of organizations. Just the fact that Big Company A has an HR department that places all employment ads, deals with agents, and screens all resumes before allowing the hiring manager to talk to anyone, and Small Company B lets hiring managers do their own screening makes an <em>enormous</em> difference for the applicant.</p>