I’d like to study Journalism, with a concentration in advertising/PR, learn Programming and Computer Skills, perhaps through Computer Science, and take courses in Political Science. Is there a school that would enable me to study at least some of each of these without too much trouble? All suggestions would be appreciated, thanks.
What are your stats?
I’m only a rising sophomore, currently have a 4.3 GPA, but am confident I’ll bring it up to a 4.6 or 4.7 before graduation. Please answer as if academics is not a concern, and I could get in and succeed at any college you might suggest.
Sorry to be so insistent, but please help
I’d look at schools like Northwestern, NYU, and Emerson.
That’s pretty vague. You sound like you mean you want to take courses in those other subjects but not major in them? At most every school you could take computer science and polisci courses while studying journalism. Every school has requirements you have to fulfill to graduate (e.g. x number of social science credits, x number of math credits, etc.) so you could take a few compsci and polisci courses to help fulfill those requirements.
There’s a slew of [good journalism schools](http://www.collegemediamatters.com/2012/12/04/50-best-journalism-schools-and-programs-at-u-s-colleges-and-universities-updated-for-2013/), if that’s what you’re looking for
Sorry, didn’t intend to be so general. Something like that. I’d be OK with double majoring, or major/minoring, but no more than that. Thank you for contributing to a number of posts I’ve authored, I appreciate your help.
I was looking for schools that had either multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary courses with two or the three, two of the three houses within the same department to allow for easier overlap, or journalism/ poli sci programs with a heavy emphasis on digital skills such as web design.
Then it sounds like you’d be interested in multimedia journalism or data journalism. It integrates the internet and journalism (and can include coding and that sort of thing). Or at some schools you could kind create your own major and combine your interests into one major.
You also might want to consider majoring in communications instead of journalism, as communications is usually (but not all the time) housed within the Department/School of Arts & Sciences, whereas journalism is oftentimes its own school/department. Communications sounds, in a way, something that would combine your interests well together and might be more up your alley. Or strategic communications.
Strategic Communications is something I’d love to major in, however I haven’t found it offered by many schools known for their journalism/ communications programs.
Ohio State, University of Missouri, Washington State, Elon, Washington and Lee, American University, Temple, University of Wisconsin, Penn State. All are great journalism/communications schools who offer it as a major or concentration within the journalism/comm major.
Thank you so much for all of your help thus far. I hate to ask more, but could you tell me the reputations of any of the journalism schools at the schools below?
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Oklahoma State
Kansas
Kansas State
Kentucky
Colorado
Oregon
Mississippi
Alabama
Minnesota
Illinois
Rutgers
I currently have a massive list of schools I’m trying to narrow down, and those above I saw mentioned a time or two as respected j-schools, but not consistently. I know that you don’t have to go to a great journalism school, or even study journalism, to work in the industry, but I’d like to all things being equal. Also, I know you said earlier you’re from Virginia, and the only reputable universities offering it there (minus W&L, that’s smaller than I’d like) are VT and Mason, so please let me know if you’ve heard anything regarding the quality of their programs. So sorry I am asking so much, like I said I appreciate all the help, just want to be sure I end up in the right place for me.
Those are all state schools, so I doubt many have a higher rep than the other. Is there a particular geographic region you’re interested in? This would probably be more helpful.
I live in Virginia, which is why I brought up those schools, and while closer would be better (to a point), I’m not sure I can really nail down a specific region. I’d like to say I’d only go west to a specific point, but I can’t really put an exact limit on it. Midwest and mid-atlantic, or anywhere on the eastern half of the nation would be preferable.
Also, I know most of them are hardly worlds apart, but some are better than others, Missouri vs Nevada for example, and I was trying to figure out which are considered better.
I’d do Northwestern ED, UChicago EA, UWis, Virginia, and a couple others, then.
Only problem with UVA is lack of journalism program
@RMacRac No problem, glad to help. I know what it’s like to not know where you want to go.
I can’t speak for many of those schools, but I do know Oregon has an excellent journalism program; they’re one of the top journalism schools in the nation. I can also talk a little bit about Alabama. I applied to them and they have a fairly large program. I would recommend Alabama more for someone who is interested in sports journalism than advertising, as they have a lot more resources for sports journalism than other types, but they do also have a [Department of Advertising and Public Relations](Advertising Major – Advertising & Public Relations | The University of Alabama) that you might be interested in.
As far as VA schools go:
I looked into VT and really liked the school, but their communications program left something to be desired. You might be more interested in it since you’re more into advertising than I am, and I can’t speak on their resources for students interested in advertising, but I do know that the school newspaper is going through a bit of a mid-life crisis right now, you could say, and I felt that other schools offered better opportunities.
Mason–They have an excellent journalism program and their proximity to DC is fantastic for internships. They aren’t quite as big name as other j-schools (Syracuse, Northwestern, Missouri, UNC-CH), but they’re a good option for in-state.
I’d also look into U Richmond…they have a really good journalism school too, though I don’t know if you’d think it was too small (larger than W&L but still pretty small).
Thanks again, this helps alot. The problem with W&L, and UR, as you predicted isn’t really the size, but that I want to run in college, and those schools both have tiny programs. I just wanted to simplify it a bit, as running isn’t really something brought up often on the forum. Some of the state schools that i mentioned aren’t great for distance running either, but they at least have more sizeable programs. I figured I would try and sort out the academics here, and the athletic side on my own.