What schools fit my needs?

College Search & Selection
21

<p>Wow this is all great info! I will use all of this information in my search. So, most would agree English and philosphy would be helpful. Also, would most of you agree that being a “dynamite” and insightful writer would make you a better journalist than one who majored in journalism?</p>

<p>Like I said feature writing is what interests me right now, not necessarily creative writing. </p>

<p>Thanks for all the suggestions everyone; I think an English Comp. and Writing Program makes sense write now.</p>

22

<p>One more thing, which would be more beneficial in writing skills, philosophy or an american studies history major/minor?</p>

23

<p>Now THIS is an interesting topic. What, exactly, should a journalist study in order to be a good journalist.</p>

<p>I would say that really, really good journalists needs these skills (almost certainly not an exhaustive list, so I’m eager to hear from others on this).</p>

<p>Ferret out the important information</p>

<p>Separate important information from non-essential information</p>

<p>Make friends/acquaintances who will feed information</p>

<p>Write concisely and in journalistic style (though I think this may be a dying art, considering how far I have to read down a story these days to get to essential information)</p>

<p>Be able to recognize misleading/unreliable information and arguments (in other words, smell a rat)</p>

<p>Extraodinary research skills</p>

<p>See patterns in information that, to others, would look like mush, and assemble a story out of a puzzle.</p>

<p>I like English and philosophy for their usefulness in putting together a coherent picture from a puzzle and for recognizing bogus arguments. I would also add history to the mix, since it requires great research skills and innoculates one from falling for bad historical comparisons. Background in social science research techniques and statistics are essential, I think, for recognizing bad research when one sees it (instead of just publishing it without comment or without looking for a quote from someone who thinks the research is bad). Either political science or cognitive psych would be very useful in recognizing manipulative persuasive techniques.</p>

<p>Summed up, I guess I would go for a degree in history while working four years for the student newspaper, picking up journalistic style. I would take a number of classes in philosophy (especially the philosophers who were political theorists), at least one course in stats, at least one course in social science research techniques, at least one course in macro and micro economics (so many arguments these days are economic ones), probably a number of courses in cog. psy., and a few courses in political science.</p>

<p>For extras, I think I’d look at learning another language, take some cultural anthropology to help me understand how norms of behavior come to exist and how these affect behavior in different parts of the world, and maybe even a course or two in business, including accounting, to prepare myself for a business beat.</p>

<p>What FUN that would be!!! </p>

<p>Please, can I be young again?</p>

24

<p>What schools specifically would fit these needs and goals perfectly? A great history program, student newspaper, and overall great academics.</p>

25

<p>If your family is low-income, private schools like Northwestern can offer you a lot of financial aid, possibly making it cheaper than an in-state public school. Don’t rule anything out! And regardless of what major you want to pursue, I still suggest Northwestern because of the big10 sports and reputable student newspaper.</p>

26

<p>Anyone else for my question in #24?</p>

27

<p>Everybody keeps recommending the usual journalism suspects: Missouri, Northwestern, Syracuse. My guess is that there would be a line around the block when it comes time for people to join the student newspaper at those schools.</p>

<p>Just about any college with a decent liberal arts curriculum would have a fine array of classes in humanities like English, philosophy, history. By the way, I have degrees in English and philosophy, and I minored in history. The insight and precision needed in reading texts and writing papers in the English and philosophy classes were far far greater than in the history classes. I would also avoid the social sciences like psychology and sociology–their writing is mush, and their standard method of gaining insight is to run a bunch of data through a computer. </p>

<p>The schools in the Patriot League (Colgate, Bucknell, Lehigh, Lafayette, Holy Cross, et al) tend to be good academically, and for their size, they have intense sports programs. I’d look at those schools first.</p>

28

<p>Apply to Syracuse. Yeah, it is pretty expensive, but SU is pretty generous with financial aid. Syracuse is tops in sports journalism, particularly broadcast, but has a top-notch sports writing program as well. Lots of connections to ESPN through SU. Also, you can’t beat basketball at Syracuse U. 33,000 screaming fans at a college basketball game is just intense, no words to describe it.</p>

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<p>Well, I can only speak for Syracuse, but that is not the case at all here. I know freshmen who aren’t even in Newhouse who write for the Daily Orange (daily student-run newspaper). Anyone can do it, and a lot of people do.</p>

29

<p>Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, KY is well known for its strong journalism program. Check the school’s website and you’ll see the many major journalism awards its graduates have won.</p>