<p>I want to be a writer first and foremost, but have been disincouraged from majoring in something like creative writing because it's considered pretty deadend. I mostly agree with this because I don't think any writer was ever successful because they majored in creative writing at college, whereas almost all successful writers have a background in news reporting, which is something I'd also be interested in doing, though again my main dream is to write books. That is why I think I'm going to major in journalism, but if anyone has any other suggestions based off my goals please tell me.</p>
<p>I'm also unsure of the school I should go to. I'm an Illinois native so UoI is pretty interesting, especially because I'm considering minoring in psychology, and I have heard that UoI has a really good creative writing program and is generally a good school for aspiring writers, while I don't know much about its journalism course. Also I have only done one year of foreign language, but I am also a two year transfer student so I'm not sure if that removes the requirement. If someone know please tell me. The other school I want to go to is Mizzou, obviously widely known as the best journalism school in the country, this seems like a pretty clear choice for anyone taking the subject. The thing that's giving me doubts about mizzou though is that it's the best for plain journalists, but I haven't heard anything about a journalist-writer. I believe it has a good creative writing program, but I'm not sure how it compares to other options. So basically what I'm wondering here is if it is a good idea to pursue journalism here even though my main goal is to be a writer, though journalism does interest me. Basically I'm wondering if Mizzou journalism is right for me and my goals or not, and how good of a choice UoI would be.</p>
<p>Which school and major should I pick? And if anyone has a third or more alternative recommendations, please share as well. I'm mainly asking about finding the a major right for me though.</p>
<p>It depends on what kind of writing you want to do. If you genuinely want to be a journalist, go to j-school. The best j-schools are actually Northwestern, Syracuse and Boston University. Mizzou is up there, but the rankings shift all the time–there’s a rotating top tier. I went to BU for Magazine Journalism and can attest personally to the strength of the program. There are reasons I’m not a journalist but none of them have to do with BU (recession + the death of print + the shift to free internship culture). My education was stellar and I learned a lot of discipline and breadth as a writer. I’m currently a TV marketing specialist and a novelist.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in “a career related to writing,” a creative writing degree isn’t the worst thing to invest in. It depends on where you go and what you’re learning, I’d say. Veronica Roth, now a mega famous author, got a creative writing degree from Northwestern (and wrote her book while in school). I have two non-famous friends who did creative writing at Wells. One is a copywriter & editor for a branding firm, another does training materials by day (which is legit a full time career and can be quite lucrative) and just had her debut novel published last week. Now, if you go to a school where creative writing involves writing poetry and talking about Art, you’re probably not going to learn practical writing skills. But many schools offer programs that are interdisciplinary–you learn journalism, marketing, fiction, poetry… often this is part of an English or Communications degree program. I’d say the most important feature is: does the school have an internship program and career networking for the writing-career related thing you want to do? That will take you farther than anything else. (Wells has an internship component of the degree that includes options to intern at book publishers, magazines, newspapers, agencies) Emerson is another school to look at btw: they have journalism, as well as creative writing and a robust alumni network. (out here in Los Angeles, they are called “the Emerson mafia.”)</p>
<p>That said! You could also be well-served by majoring in something completely different–Art History, Women’s Studies, a Science discipline!–and then minor in something writing related. Or double-major. Or major in whatever but go to a school that has a study abroad/internship program where you can intern at a writing-related place.</p>
<p>I said this on another thread as well: Major in whatever you want. It doesn’t have to be journalism. In fact, many journalists look down on journalism degrees. The number-one most important thing is to select a college with an excellent DAILY student newspaper, preferably one that is 100% student-run and independent of the university. Join it on your first day on campus and stay with it until your last day of senior year. </p>
<p>You can google “college newspapers” or “best college newspapers.” Click into some of them to get a sense of the paper.</p>
<p>As for a major, it’s great to major in a language if you want to be a journalist. Other great majors for aspiring journalists are history, political science, government, economics, art history. Any solid discipline that teaches you how to think.</p>
Full disclosure: Syracuse alum and DD2 is a journalism student at Mizzou. I second what @ATLtiger wrote regarding the creative writing program at the University of Iowa.
Regarding @proudterrier comments on journalism rankings, NewsPro magazine recently ranked Mizzou’s journalism program #1, above both Syracuse and Northwestern.
My nephew went to Johns Hopkins and got a degree in creative writing. His current job is a writer for Sports Illustrated and occasionally he has his name attached to his “spots”. He worked his way up through different writing opportunities and blogs, but actually began his career doing website development with custom writing.