<p>I so appreciate everyone's opinion. My d thinks she would be more comfortable at Mizzou, because she will be in a dorm with other WW Scholars as well as be in the Honors college with faculty mentors from the 1st day.</p>
<p>Her WW Scholarship has been doubled then doubled again by the WW Dean in the J School. It is not likely that she will change her mind about her career focus. She has been dedicated and doing things in this area since 6th grade. She is actually interested in "behind the scenes" Broadcast Journalism and intends to dbl major in History and BJ. She is very interested in news based or relevant issue documentary filmmaking. </p>
<p>Another thing that I was told is the Missouri makes it easy to become a resident to change the tuition to in-state for the sophomore year.</p>
<p>I know Mizzou has the NBC affiliate. The intersnships are supposed to be good as well.</p>
<p>The money is a concern, and not to be in debt is great. We are totally stuck!! We have been discussing this 24/7 for the past week. Both schools have their pros and cons.</p>
<p>I hate to say it, but we are STILL confused!</p>
<p>carolyn: Obviously, even though she is "more comfortable at Mizzou" (she believes, even though she's not yet there), it is obvious that they are "still confused." (Re: her original post and post #21).</p>
<p>pairodocks: I just thought I'd add here, in case you or your daughter are unaware, but Duke University (a mere 8 miles down the street from UNC) has the incredible Center for Documentary Studies, which includes not only still photography, but documentary film-making as well. Some amazing people there, and the Director, Tom Rankin, is a major force in the world of documentary. They offer a certificate (which is equivalent to a minor), and she would be eligible to do this, I believe, since this is a different and very specific area that UNC doesn't offer. Just thought I'd offer that up to confuse matters even more for you. ;) But it is a pretty amazing place and one which UNC students don't often take advantage of-- not nearly enough. Oh--and not to mention Durham's own Full Frame Documentary Film Festival that convenes in downtown Durham every spring (just occurred).
<a href="http://cds.aas.duke.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://cds.aas.duke.edu/</a></p>
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Another thing that I was told is the Missouri makes it easy to become a resident to change the tuition to in-state for the sophomore year.
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<p>Told by whom? This is a significant consideration. I would check it out with a phone call to an authoritative source. (BTW, I heard this recently myself, but I didn't believe it. It seems odd if it is true, since I have always heard that MU values the J school so much partly because it brings in so many OOS students and their much higher tuition.)</p>
<p>Jack mentioned Durham's documentary film festival, so I am forced to even the score on that one by mentioning that Columbia is home to the annual True/False documentary film festival, which I hear (from the organizers, anyway) is garnering considerable national attention. (But we like to grab at any national attention here in the middle of the middle, so take it with a grain of salt.)</p>
<p>The history dept. at MU is actually pretty good, if that is a factor in your daughter's decision. That is a great double major for a J-student, IMO.</p>
<p>I must apologize. I did not catch the difference in money on the first quick read of your original post. So, let me backtrack just a bit, with some additional questions:</p>
<p>Have you called U Missouri and asked them to review the FA package? Are you absolutely certain about the residency status after a year? (Most states are NOT liberal about this at all so be doubly cautious) Have you asked the financial aid office about how your Ds package might change in subsequent years? Are loans involved in the FA package, and have you looked at how realistic they will be to pay off on an entry level journalist's salary?</p>
<p>Finally, are we talking about: Mom and Dad will loose the house because the money issues will be so severe</p>
<p>or </p>
<p>Mom and Dad will be financially pinched but with a few sacrifices, able to pull it off?</p>
<p>No one here, of course, can answer these questions, or tell you which choice to make, but, I do agree it is important to really make sure the financial side of things is do-able. If it's a major financial risk, then of course it would be silly to take on a risk like that. But, if it is just a matter of financial discomfort, perhaps for a year, and your daughter understands how the loans (if any) may affect her initial career choices, then speaking strictly for MYSELF, I would find a way to make my child's preferences happen.</p>
<p>Others, of course, might choose another path, and there is nothing wrong with that -- but ultimately, only your family can make this choice and the opinions of a bunch of strangers shouldn't matter.</p>
<p>Dollars and sense (pun purposeful) please? The equation is:</p>
<p>UMissouri v. UNC PLUS XXX dollars in educational opportunities. How many dollars, and what opportunities could you buy?</p>
<p>"This type education is the hallmark of so many prestigious universities, and one of the reasons UNC-CH stands apart from many public universities."</p>
<p>Some people like it; to me, it reminds me of the approach of a decent high school. To each her own.</p>
<p>" . . . opinions of a bunch of strangers shouldn't matter." Such a true statement . . . and yet . . . CC (and online sites just like CC) exist by operating on just such a premise: online dialogues based largely on the "opinions of a bunch of [mostly unqualified] strangers."</p>
<p>I spent years in broadcast journalism -- worked with lots of Mizzu Mafia people -- and would still suggest UNC. What really gets you that first job in TV is a good demo tape (demo disc? in this digital age?) -- and that you can get doing a good internship. Have D check out internships through the J school at UNC. And then point out that the UNC, the cheaper option, would allow your D to do something exotic such as semester abroad; flight/room/board in an expensive city where she could do an internship at a prestigious station; and the ultimate in exotic -- the possibility of graduating debt free!</p>
<p>It has been at least 3-4 years, now that I think about it, since I heard the discussions about the dorms amongst parents whose kids were there, the great hassle about the second year exit from the dorms....it sounds like there is a much better supply of dorm rooms now, and that is great. It would be very difficult to send a youngster to a school and realize after a year or two that they would HAVE to be off campus. Certainly some kids prefer apartment living, but not every one has the logistical resources to outfit one and to get back and forth to campus. Glad to hear about all the options. UNC is a fine school.</p>
<p>barrons: Ha. You beat me to that post. I'd been thinking it, but didn't want to spell it out. The scary thing is, somebody set on broadcast journalism might ultimately discover that he or she has a face better suited for radio. ;) You're absolutely correct, but then I always wonder how Charles Gibson (or some of those CNN anchors) ever got their jobs.</p>
<p>Not just good looks. I know a male newscaster/TV reporter who is very handsome but has a rather gentle, sweet voice. He lost at least one job because, as he was told, "the boss doesn't like your voice".</p>
<p>Many faculty at MU who teach non-J school classes frequented by journalism students make a game of guessing who is a broadcast journalism student on the first day of class based on how the students are dressed, how their makeup and hair look. They are fairly easy to spot.</p>
<p>Which is not to say there is anything wrong with looking nice for class. A whole campus full of kids who leave their rooms wearing their PJs and bed-hair can get old pretty quickly.</p>
<p>I appreciate the opinions of your posts, but you have obviously not read the post which started this thread and the subsequent posts that I wrote.</p>
<p>My d is interested in Broadcast Journalism as a "behind the scenes writer/producer interested in news based or relevant issue documentary filmmaking. She is NOT interested in becoming a TV or radio personality.</p>
<p>I am interested in hearing from those people who can take my concerns seriously which is why I brought them to this forum (Parent). I want to again thank all of those people who genuinely want to help us through this very trying time</p>
<p>To the person(s) who asked about MO residency:</p>
<p>I received the residency info from the J school dean and confirmed this info with the residency specialist at Mizzou. I called her today and yes this is done and can be done for her sophomore year. There is also some info on the Mizzou website about residency. *I can supply the name & phone if anyone is interested. Just PM me. *</p>
<p>What are the bottom line differences in her cost and loans for each school, taking into account that she can become a Missouri resident for her sophomore year?</p>
<p>Unrelated to cost, one of the earlier posts mentioned the problem with air travel to Columbia. I'm afraid it is true, our local airport has only sporadic and unreliable connections with St. Louis. Slightly better with Kansas City, perhaps. Your daughter would probably need to take a shuttle into St. Louis, which is pretty easy. The trip back is more difficult logistically; if your flight gets in late, you sometimes miss the shuttle. It is approx. a two-hour drive down I-70.</p>
<p>*MidMo - *
Thanks for the info about the flights. We would have to take 3 flights to get to Columbia, OR 2 flights ending in Kansas City and taking the shuttle to the school, which would incur greater cost as well. </p>
<p>*To All - *</p>
<p>I'd love to make Mizzou work for her. It is her 1st pick. We both have thoroughly read all of the posts and have learned things about both schools, especially UNC, that we didn't know before. Someone mentioned going to Duke for documentary studies and a festival in Durham. That is very interesting to her. We realize that both schools are prestigious. UNC is very picky and admits very few OOS students (<15% this year). </p>
<p>We will have to make a decision in the next 48 hours and will probably agonize over it until the moment we finally commit.</p>
<p>If she can graduate with less than $30K of debt, I vote for Mizzou--because she loves it.</p>
<p>A good friend of mine graduated from the J school--and went on to law school for more challenge. That's the biggest drawback to Mizzou--the general level of challenge isn't that high.</p>
<p>Start two lists side by side. List all the EXTRA things she could do at both schools--internships, semesters abroad or in New York or in LA, summers in LA or NYC, thesis opportunities, mentoring opportunities.</p>
<p>Then go to the course list from each school and pick out and list all 32 courses she would take over four years. Which shcool has the courses she just cannot pass up? Which school has the deepest offerings for junior and senior year? Which school would allow her to dump boring core courses?</p>
<p>Ideally, the junior senior course listing should make her salivate.</p>