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J-school: Worth it?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by DCguy, Dec 8, 2008.

  1. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    I think that graduate school in journalism could be a good investment if they were teaching you what you need to know for the future of the biz and giving you the skills that employers crave.

    But I think schools are way behind in this area, employers mainly seem to crave fewer, cheaper employees and no one seems to know what the future is.

    But I still say a graduate degree is a great investment -- if you get it in business or political science or something other than journalism.
     
  2. BYH

    BYH Active Member

    No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No No
     
  3. mike311gd

    mike311gd Active Member

    What's the matter, BYH, record store all out of ABBA?
     
  4. Bullwinkle

    Bullwinkle Member

    BYH,

    Run, run, run, run, run, run, run ... away.

    Psycho Dream killer.
     
  5. RossLT

    RossLT Guest

    Had a guy at the paper I worked for (17k daily) who had a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern and that was his SECOND job, first was at a 5k weekly somewhere. That answer any questions?
     
  6. forever_town

    forever_town Well-Known Member

    It is for the J-school I was looking at.

    Though there's another one relatively nearby that I've heard has a bit more of the prior learning component.
     
  7. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    At this point, getting a degree in journalism at all is idiocy.

    My J-school keeps sending me letters to get me to donate. You'd think after 25 years and not having sent them a nickel, they'd get the message, but they still keep sending the letters.

    Last time, I sent them a letter back:

    "If you had any particular concern over the personal and professional futures of your students, you would shut down the School of Journalism immediately (in fact, you would have done so about 15 years ago). Does our university offer undergraduate degrees in horse-and-buggy construction? Of course it doesn't. Think about it."
     
  8. RTJ

    RTJ Member

    My only worthwhile J-school class was Magazine Writing. Everything else was learned at the college paper or stringing for the daily.
     
  9. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    I try to go the other way here. Look at your average school's list of majors and you'll find a lot that don't exactly have a cornucopia of ready-made jobs waiting for graduates. An English Literature degree is more useful than Journalism?

    Of course, I'll have a kid in college in 15 years. She and I will have a long talk if she wants to go into a j-school. But I'm not going to laugh her out of the room.
     
  10. mustangj17

    mustangj17 Active Member

    I'm getting my masters but it definitely wont be in journalism. It's going to have to be all that crappy web design and coding crap so I can have a job in 5 years. Wait. Five months.
     
  11. 2muchcoffeeman

    2muchcoffeeman Well-Known Member

    Tell them to find a new major quickly.
     
  12. deskslave

    deskslave Active Member

    With any luck, in 15 years J-schools will be teaching useful and relevant skills and it won't seem like such a terrible idea.

    But let's just say I'm not holding my breath.
     
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