<p>I am a soon-to-be high school senior an I've been putting a lot of thought into my future college major. I have recently started looking into public relations, but I don't know a lot about it. If anyone has any experience with this major and could give me some opinions on it, along with some information about career paths associated with the major, that would be much appreciated! Thanks!!</p>
<p>A public policy major doesn’t require much math past college core level. Public relations specialists often work in companies/people of interests basically helping them to keep an image, avoid scandal and cover up scandal. They also get hired in journalism, magazines, event planning and marketing. I would not suggest you pursue this degree unless you are extremely social, are good at making connections and marketing. It’s one of those fields where you have to be aggressive, meet the right people and get your foot in the door in order to make a lucrative amount of money doing it. I would recommend that you go to school in the city/close to the city in order to get the best opportunities internship wise.</p>
<p>I work in PR for a rather well-known agency in digital entertainment. This pretty much sums up my daily demeanor:
[#iworkinpr</a> ? When you barely have time to go to the toilet and…](<a href=“http://iworkinpr.■■■■■■■■■■/post/53854456548/when-you-barely-have-time-to-go-to-the-toilet-and]#iworkinpr”>http://iworkinpr.■■■■■■■■■■/post/53854456548/when-you-barely-have-time-to-go-to-the-toilet-and)</p>
<p>I second HurdGirl’s comments, but it also takes a particular kind of person. PR is generally extremely boring with long hours of emailing, drafting announcements, copyediting, keeping various spreadsheets in order, making coverage reports, etc. You will spend 8-10 hours a day at a computer. You will be paid to not only promote the things that other people are doing, but also to take on the associated stress.</p>
<p>Something to think about long and hard before you step into PR. Do you have the desire to create, to express yourself, to take pride in shaping nothing into something? If you said “yes,” stay away. In the end, I get paid to promote other people doing cool things. Oh, and extreme cynicism is very common in this field ;)</p>
<p>I graduated from Syracuse’s Newhouse school with a PR degree. I truly LOVED my school and my program. I cannot speak highly enough of it. I suggest looking up the P&G “Thank You Mom” campaign. It’s a great “crash course” for understanding what a consumer PR campaign is. It’s one of my all time favorite campaigns. </p>
<p>PR is great because there are a ton of different industries that have PR and communications needs. It is an incredibly fast-paced and growing industry. I’m very close with many of the people who were in my PR program and we’ve all found niches that we absolutely love.</p>
<p>My bottom line for you is if you are thinking of going down this path, read some articles from PRNews, research agencies listed on the O’Dwyer Report and you’ll see the type of work you can do in various industries and last but not least, find a school that offers a strong PR program and one that can offer you a strong alumni network. Obviously, I’m partial to Syracuse :)</p>