-
-
Journalism school prepares a student for a career in print, radio, tv, or new media journalism. While graduation from journalism school is not the only way to become a journalist, it can be a great way to prepare yourself for an exciting career. If you're interested in journalism, read on! This page will help you learn how to get into journalism school.
-
-
Journalism school prepares a student for a career in print, radio, tv, or new media journalism. While graduation from journalism school is not the only way to become a journalist, it can be a great way to prepare yourself for an exciting career. If you're interested in journalism, read on! This page will help you learn how to get into journalism school.
-
Introduction
- Journalists gather information, prepare stories, and make broadcasts that communicate facts and opinions about events and issues. While a journalism degree is not required to become a journalist, it is helpful. You can study journalism as either an undergraduate or a graduate student. An undergraduate journalism degree is not a prerequisite for a graduate journalism program.
Step 1: Undergraduate Journalism Programs
- There are more than 1,500 schools that offer programs in journalism and related majors, such as broadcasting or communications. These majors generally have a broad liberal arts base, with specific courses in areas such as mass media, basic reporting and copy editing, history of journalism, and press law and ethics. In order to get into an undergraduate journalism school, you should:
- Decide which area of journalism most interests you.
- Apply to several schools with strong programs in these areas.
- Make sure your high school transcript shows strong grades in English, and participation in journalism related extracurriculars, such as the school newspaper, radio, or tv station.
Step 2: Alternate Undergraduate Journalism Preparation
- You can prepare for a career in journalism without taking a formal journalism major. Courses in philosophy, history, public speaking, and English will help to prepare you to be a journalist who can analyze issues and communicate facts and ideas effectively. If you are planning to attend graduate school in journalism, you'll be better prepared if you take a broad spectrum of courses in college, rather than focusing specifically on journalism.
Step 3: Selecting a Graduate Journalism Program
- When evaluating programs, you need to be clearly focused on what you would like from the program. If you want to be an investigative journalist, you should make sure that the school you select has a good program in investigative journalism, rather than just being well known for its success in placing graduates as ESPN broadcasters. Conversely, if you're looking to get into sports broadcasting, you wouldn't want a school that specializes in producing investigative reporters.
Step 4: Getting Into a Graduate Journalism Program
- Each journalism school has it's own requirements, but many require:
- Successful completion of an undergraduate degree
- Good scores on the GRE
- Proficiency in English
- Several personal essays, including one discussing why you are interested in journalism
Featured Pages
