For starters, if you have already completed a 4-year degree that provides you with quality technical experience (not just media theory), then you don't need to consider forking over tens of thousands of dollars on a graduate journalism program. However, if your program was theory-based, you don't feel confident with, say, your video editing skills, or don't have the material to pull together a resume tape or write a portfolio, this is for you.
Instructions
1. Consider if graduate school really is the best option. Did you write enough published clips for the student paper or other publications to knock the socks off an editor? Do you have enough quality packages and standup to impress a news director? If so, you are probably ready to make some money, not fork more over to Sallie Mae.
2. Explore financial feasibility. Aid for graduate school is not as readily available as it is for undergraduate programs. Grants may be smaller, and scholarships of any size are few and far between. Again, if you are confident in your abilities and have the work to show it, a graduate program may not be worth the additional cost.
3. Identify the real-world experience you will receive. This is the most important element. If more expensive school offers a standout internship program, a national news service and regular opportunities for your work to appear on professional stations or publications, go for that option over a school which may be cheaper but will only afford the opportunity to produce a few packages a week for the student newscast.
4. Research the school's affiliations. If it has a strong network with media outlets across the country, it's a good bet. Don't necessarily judge these outlets by their prestige or size. You will get more out of an internship with a local television station or newspaper than you will at a network news program or national magazine. At the latter, you'll probably fax and collate all day; the former, you'll produce stories that will eventually be clips for your portfolio and spots on your resume tape.
5. Research the breadth of the curriculum. You want practical, real-world training, not simply classes where you sit and discuss media issues all day. Granted, there is obviously a crucial place for an ethics course, but the key is a balanced program.
6. Select a program with a strong writing emphasis and mandatory print training. Even if you are more interested in radio or TV, a program that starts you off with the basic fundamentals and AP style guidelines will provide a strong foundation for your broadcast career. That foundation is writing. You cannot be a good broadcast journalist unless you are a good writer.
7. Opt for a program that allows you to explore many different career tracks if you are on the fence about the type of work you would like to do. If you are, for example, wrestling with whether to write for newspaper or radio, a diverse program is the perfect (and probably only) time to experiment. Such well-rounded programs require that each student experiences radio, TV, print and new media before they graduate.
8. Research the quality of faculty and mentor programs. These professionals have been there, done that and hold a lot of clout. They can be key to getting your foot in the door. Journalism is one of those careers where it is more often who you know than what you do that will get you ahead.
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