Premier journalism program AND solid liberal arts?

Parents Forum
21

<p>Another thing to know ahead of time about Newhouse is that they require its graduates to have a minor, but many of them double major. The most popular double major is journalism and policy studies.</p>

<p>I don’t know what out-of-state tuition is at Mizzou, but with D1’s scholarship at Newhouse, I’m sure we paid less than out-of-state tuition would have been at Mizzou.</p>

<p>Also, while UNC-Chapel Hill is also a solid program, it is a very, very difficult school to get into for non-residents. I think their acceptance rates for non-residents is something like 28%. It was the only rejection D1 received. </p>

<p>The Syracuse alumni network is very strong, although definitely more visible on the east coast. Both of the jobs D1 has had since graduation in '08 have been attained through alumni networking.</p>

<p>Will also make a big plug for the outstanding study abroad program that Syracuse offers… more options than almost any other school out there.</p>

22

<p>Check out Lehigh. My friends dd is headed there in the fall to study journalism and turned down several top notch schools in favor of the smaller, more personal environment. I’m not familiar with their merit aid.</p>

23

<p>This is terrific! Several of the schools mentioned are already on D’s list, but both Mizzou and Lehigh are completely new for us. Time to pour the <em>big</em> mug of coffee, and get down to some research!</p>

24

<p>^^when you check out Lehigh (good catch there, blue), check out if jobs are there for the journalism grads; my recent impressions are that the b-school kids are grabbing alot of the journalism internships out there from Lehigh…</p>

<p>I had completely forgot that my daughter was considering Lehigh at one point…</p>

25

<p>Mizzou is well worth considering. My S was in the j-school but ultimately decided to go in a different direction. He has had good teachers in his department, and classes are smaller when you get into upper-level courses, which you can do fairly quickly. I predict that his j-school friends will all have jobs right out of college next year. (And I hope my S will have one soon after that, too!) My recommendation would be to at least start out in the Honors College and consider living in an honors dorm/FIG. Merit aid is not plentiful, but it’s possible to put together some small awards if you complete the applications for the university’s general scholarship pool and the Alumni Association scholarships. Both resident and nonresident tuition rates are rising; journalism and several other schools add a per-credit surcharge, too. I can’t imagine that it’s higher than private schools, however. He has really enjoyed the whole Mizzou experience. The campus is beautiful, school spirit is high, people are friendly, and he’s made really good friends. As olderwisermom points out, the j-schools online resources are excellent, so take a look at the website to learn more.</p>

<p>He applied to five schools and was accepted at four. Syracuse was his other top option, but he did not get merit aid there (though he got a nice scholarship from BU). The Newhouse program is impressive in every way, but overall he preferred Mizzou.</p>

<p>UNC-Chapel Hill limits out-of-state enrollment to 18 percent, so it’s a tough admit if you’re not an NC resident. He was not accepted there. His SATs were within the top 25 percent, but his GPA was “only” near the top of the middle 50 percent. He’s happy where he landed, though I confess I would like him to be a five-hour drive from home instead of halfway across the country!</p>

<p>Two other good possibilities not mentioned yet: American University and the University of Maryland.</p>

26

<p>Estimated out-of-state tuition for non-Missouri residents this fall:$20,870.
Average room and board in the residence halls: $9,046.</p>

<p>Merit aid for non-Missouri residents ranges from $2,000 to $5,500 per year.
Here’s the breakdown:
[Mark</a> Twain Nonresident Scholarship | Student Financial Aid | University of Missouri](<a href=“http://financialaid.missouri.edu/types-of-aid/scholarships/scholarships/mark-twain-nonresident-scholarship/index.php]Mark”>http://financialaid.missouri.edu/types-of-aid/scholarships/scholarships/mark-twain-nonresident-scholarship/index.php)</p>

27

<p>geezermom – thanks for the input on life-after-journalism-major at Mizzou. While DD is pretty set on majoring in journalism, I am well aware of the stats on the number of students who change their majors. I consider it part of my job to consider the “what if you decide to change majors” options, and to make sure that she would still be happy at her chosen school if that happened. :)</p>

28

<p>olderwisermom - yea, with merit scholarship, Syracuse was a bit less than that. It added up to about what our in-state tuition, R&B would have been in Illinois.</p>

29

<p>Wisconsin-Madison has a top notch but smaller professional journalism program that is housed in a school with a great liberal arts program. It has had many grads hold top posts at top papers like the Washington Post and NY Times. More boutique than factory. </p>

<p>News, journalism, and broadcasting</p>

<p>Roy Adams, Canadian journalist
Mary Agria, journalist/author
Lynsey Addario, photojournalist
Irene Osgood Andrews, former labor journalist
Jim Armstrong, sports writer, The Denver Post
Robert L. Bartley, former Editor, Wall Street Journal
Ira Basen, producer, CBC Radio
Lowell Bergman, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist[3]
Deborah Blum, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author.
Walt Bogdanich, editor, New York Times
Nathan Brackett, senior editor Rolling Stone magazine.
Rita Braver, national reporter, CBS News
Jane Brody, columnist, New York Times
Peter Brunette, film critic (Hollywood Reporter) and film historian.
Chris Bury, correspondent, Nightline[5]
Erik Bye, Norwegian journalist
Tim Cahill, adventure travel writer, founding editor of Outside magazine
Ethan Casey, journalist
John Darnton, journalist
Nancy Dickerson, journalist
Doris Dungey, former blogger
Michael Feldman, Host of Public Radio’s Michael Feldman’s Whad’Ya Know?
Bob Franken, correspondent, CNN[6]
Elina Fuhrman, journalist
Jeff Greenfield, senior political correspondent, CBS
Ruth Gruber, author and journalist
Usha Haley, business journalist
Paul Ingrassia, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist[3]
Haynes Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist[3]
Ben Karlin, creator and former executive producer, The Daily Show and The Colbert Report
Andy Katz, college basketball writer, ESPN
Jay Kennedy, journalist and writer
David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist[3]
Patricia McConnell, co-host of Public Radio’s Calling All Pets
Robert D. McFadden, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist[3]
Karl E. Meyer, journalist for The New York Times and editor of World Policy Journal
Michael Meyer (travel writer), journalist
Edwin Newman, former NBC news correspondent
Arthur C. Nielsen Sr., founder of AC Nielsen (TV ratings and market research)
Michele Norris, journalist at National Public Radio
Miriam Ottenberg, journalist and Pulitzer prize winner
Gil Reavill, journalist and screen writer
Dan Ronan, former correspondent, CNN
Chris Rose (journalist)
Phil Rosenthal, columnist, Chicago Tribune
Susanne Rust, journalist
Joe Schoenmann, journalist, author
Joseph Sexton, journalist and reporter with the New York Times
Anthony Shadid, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist[3]
Algie Martin Simons, journalist
Tom Skilling, chief meteorologist, WGN-TV
James Suckling, wine and cigar critic
Nilofar Suhrawardy, journalist
Christopher Tennant, magazine editor
Steve True, Emmy Award-winning sportscaster
Sarah Turner (journalist), reporter and activist
Dave Umhoefer, journalist, Pulitzer Prize recipient
David C. Unger, noted journalist with the New York Times
Greta Van Susteren, broadcaster and news analyst, Fox News Channel
Joan Walsh, blogger
James Wieghart, journalist</p>

30

<p>I’m going to throw you a curve here. I work for a large magazine company. Most of the top editors and writers here did NOT major in journalism as undergrads. Rather, they took economics, history, literature, psychology, biology, philosophy, etc. Many of them worked on their college newspaper and got valuable experience there. Then, many went to grad school for journalism. We have people from Columbia’s and Northwestern’s j-schools working here.</p>

<p>So in short, my advice to her would be: 1) major in something she loves; 2) work for the school newspaper, preferably a daily; 3) work for a few years after graduation; 4) attend grad school for journalism.</p>

<p>Just my humble opinion!</p>

31

<p>I went to UW-Madison and got a degree from the journalism school in the 1980s. I thought the program was great then; I’m glad to see that it still is highly regarded. I took lots of classes in history and political science. I think I got a great liberal arts education at Madison.</p>

32

<p>LurkNessMonster – I totally hear you! But DD feels that the new world order in journalism is going to be so competitive, and so high-tech, that a specialized undergraduate degree in journalism is going to be a real leg up. At this point in the process, I am asking her to split her college list, so that she will (hopefully) have some j-schools, and some “regular” schools to consider in April.</p>

33

<p>As former journalist married to a current one, and with many journalist friends of varying generations, almost none went to journalism school as undergraduates. That said, if you choose one, make sure it is fully multi-media, platform neutral. </p>

<p>Consider NYU, where journalism majors also must have a second major in another discipline. Cutting edge work going on there, and it offers the incredibly rich reporting and media enviornment of New York.</p>

34

<p>Well, considering that there are maybe 10000 journalism grads per year and 1.5 million college grads per year the better question would be what percentage of journalism grads actually work in the field. You might get an answer like 65% or J grads versus 0.5% of all other college grads. There are about 1000 newpapers NOT located in NYC for starters. Get my drift?</p>

35

<p>Actually, as a person who has hired many journalists, including at entry level, it is what the application has done that counts. Has s/he been involved in college media (which does not require being in he journalism program), interned at professional media, blogged or contributed to online media, gone overseas and freelanced, etc? The undergraduate degree is just one element. And I wasn’t suggesting you have to be in NYC (though these days, I’m not sure the 1,000 newspapers elsewhere are the indicator of why that’s the case). And anyway, I was pointing to an actual J-school program @ NYU, which is very good and is worth investigating by OP.</p>

36

<p>I think the journalism concentration one chooses is more predictive of whether or not they will get a job in their preferred area. Some j-schools/communication schools offer more areas of concentration than others. PR concentrations are probably more likely to land a job in their field than newspaper, given all else is equal. All of D2’s friends from the PR concentration at Newhouse that she graduated with landed PR jobs within six months, despite the timing and economy (2008). And they’ve all remained employed in PR and some have already switched companies and moved up. But they have all been on the east coast, where the Syracuse/Newhouse alumni network is HUGE. The Newhouse alumni networking is very professional and organized.</p>

37

<p>Also take a look at the Universtiy of Kansas. Its journalism students win awards fairly frequently.</p>

38

<h1>1 University of Missouri School of Journalism/Photojournalism</h1>

39

<p>gojack - it depends on which organization is doing the ranking.</p>

<p>I’d say that Missouri, Syracuse and Northwestern have each had their fair share of #1 rankings, depending on which organization is doing the ranking. But those three seem to command the top 3 spots in different orders depending on which poll it is.</p>

40

<p>My D was making the same choice a couple of years ago - professional school or LAC?</p>

<p>She ended up at the LAC, but has volunteered for the college TV station and obtained several internships in the field. Her school is well-connected and this summer she is currently working in an amazing internship arranged and funded by her school. </p>

<p>Academically at the LAC she is pursuing her interests in the Middle East, including taking Arabic. She was able to spend January-term in an Arabic-speaking country through her school, and will be doing study abroad her spring semester next year.</p>

<p>Her school has very well-known journalism alums, despite the fact they have no journalism program/department.</p>

<p>So depending on what kind of educational experience she wants, it is possible to pursue this field at a LAC.</p>