<p>I am so frustrated that I can't come to a decision! I will be a communications major with a minor in marketing and possibly a minor in film, and I am wondering which school in all honestly has the best internship opportunities and which is more likely to land me a job soon after graduation? Any advice is appreciated!</p>
<p>The overwhelming majority of on-campus recruiting and internship contacts will be local companies or the local offices of national companies. This is true at every school. It’s just cheaper and faster for businesses to find people in their own backyard than to traipse all over the country looking for an intern or an employee. That doesn’t mean that individual schools or professors won’t have connections in other areas, but it defies logic to think that USC is going to be as strong networking-wise in New York as NYU is; the reverse is also true - USC’s list of contacts will be far larger in California than Northwestern’s. Proximity aids in access; access leads to opportunity.</p>
<p>So, to a great degree it comes down to where you want to first work after you graduate. Working in Chicago or the Midwest = Northwestern. Working in NYC and the Mid-Atlantic region = NYU. Working in California or the West Coast = USC. </p>
<p>If film is an important factor, (and as a minor it is not), then USC & NYU have advantages.</p>
<p>^I agree with this 100%.</p>
<p>otoh, my sophomore son’s NU Communications friends had summer internships in LA and NYC last year and will again this summer.</p>
<p>That’s all I know, sorry! If you haven’t already–but I can’t believe you haven’t!–certainly should take a look at the faculty at each school/alumni from each school. A lot to do in a couple of days…good luck!</p>
<p>From a pure comm program reputation standpoint, NU wins. However, NYU probably has the best opportunity, if you’re motivated, to get internships by dint of being in NYC. NYU sucks in how it treats its students though, and the “campus life” at NYU is radically different from NU (and USC)</p>
<p>I know many, many firms (my husbands included) who travel all over the country to recruit college seniors. Why would any major, respectable firm eliminate so much of the population? Every firm wants the best they can get.</p>
<p>But OP, this is one of the last questions you should be asking when trying to decide which school is best for you. So much changes in four years. Two, Northwestern and USC are sprawling campuses, NYU is buildings throughout the village, very urban. Northwestern borders a great suburb and city, USC not as good immediately by the campus, NYU a great city.</p>
<p>Since you have three areas of interest you should look at which can fulfill those areas best for you. Not sure what a communications major is but internships and connections/jobs are at all three if you want them.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Companies recruit all over, true, but being IN the city of your interest has its upsides. For example, you could intern DURING THE YEAR in your desired city. And oftentimes recruitment is heavily focused on schools nearby, giving one more opportunities to make an impression (not to mention just having more opportunities in general, not just as recruitment-specific events). Smaller companies especially would rather focus their resources like this. It’s not like you CAN’T get jobs all over the world from NU - if you couldn’t what would be the point of going to a top 20 university haha - but location is a big factor. I believe USC, NYU, and NU are all very prestigious institutions for the areas OP is interested in (film, marketing, communications) so NU doesn’t necessarily come off as being the clear choice, though it might be the clear choice for other fields of studies or interests.</p>
<p>And yes, campus life is radically different at all of them (with USC being most similar to NU but still not the same) so that should be considered as well.</p>
<p>I dunno if I’d qualify NU’s campus as “sprawling” at ~1/2 square mile.</p>
<p>It’s less than a half square mile, but still – it’s a mile from the northern to the southern end of campus, which is longer than most colleges of its population size.</p>
<p>thanks for such great answers everyone! I am asking about careers/internships because it is extremely important to my parents in my college choice, but from what I see here, I guess it’s really what I make of it, and a little bit of location factored in it as well.</p>
<p>I’m in a similar position, only I’m interested in journalism. I know Northwestern has the best program for that (of those three) but with New York and LA being media capitals of the world, I would think that journalism and media internships and job opportunities would be greater there than in Chicago (not to imply that there aren’t media jobs in Chicago). I’m applying to Northwestern and NYU, not sure if I should try USC or not.</p>
<p>Journalism at Northwestern seems to be fairly ahead of the programs at NYU and USC. </p>
<p>It would be silly to choose NYU or USC over Northwestern as if the Chicago location were a detriment for media opportunities. Following NYC and LA, Chicago is the biggest city in the US. There will be no shortage of media opportunities, and the Medill name is well-known enough that most of these opportunities will be easy for you to take advantage of. Besides, the journalism residency program that all undergrad journalism majors must complete offers jobs in media outlets in NY and LA, anyway, and you would get to spend a whole quarter working there. Just saying.</p>
<p>I suppose if you want warm weather at USC, or the super-urbane feel of NYU, then those would be good options. But if you’re just looking for the best j-school, NU’s it.</p>
<p>For journalism Northwestern is a great choice. My husband’s firm has so many Northwestern graduates working there and many started as interns after their junior year. Oh and their office is in NYC.</p>
<p>I agree with both of you. I wasn’t implying that Northwestern isn’t a great school of course it is. Other than perhaps Mizzou, Medill is the best journalism school in the country, and I know that Chicago has a lot of media job and internship opportunities as well. It may not have as many as New York or Los Angeles, but it has more than, say, Denver. What I was trying to point out is that NYU’s journalism program isn’t anything to sneeze at, and while I haven’t researched USC much, they seem to have a great program as well.</p>
<p>Northwestern is my top choice, but seeing that it is the most selective school to which I will be applying, it is a reach for me. While NYU is only slightly less selective, it is my #2 reach school. There’s a lot to like about NYU, too.</p>