Hi I’m going to be a senior in high school this year. I was just wondering if anyone had any advice for me as to what I should be doing right now to be successful in the magazine industry after college. I was also wondering how important the school you graduate from is. I’m very interested in Marquette University but I’m not sure it will prepare me well enough for magazine journalism. Is it worth it to go to a school like Mizzou which is nationally recognized for its journalism programs?
Any tips or advice you have is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Ed2010™
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My best advice is to go to
My best advice is to go to school in NYC. You’ll have more opportunities to intern, which gives you a HUGE advantage when you graduate. I have friends who went to Syracuse and Northwestern, arguably the best journalism schools in the country, and they’re struggling to find jobs because they just don’t have as many internships as kids who went to school in NYC and interned year-round. Internships are so important because not only does it look awesome on your resume to have a bunch of big names, but more internships gives you more connections, which gives you more insider job info.
At this age, your choices
At this age, your choices and opportunities are limited (trust me, I know very well). But still, make the best of it.
So you could work at a retail store, for example, to gain fashion knowledge. Read a ton of magazines; look at your favorite ones and be familiar with its masthead, formatting, and style. Put on charity fashion shows for a philantrophy project, whatever.
Secondly, there are a few internships out there that you can do as a senior. Very few. It depends on where you live, really. If you live in NYC, there would be more choices. If not, you could do a contributor-based eZine, for example. If you give me your email, I’d be happy to give you some titles. Then you could start building your portfolio.
And with schools, you should check out the link that the other poster listed. It’s a great source. But no matter what, you really should actually like the school despite their J program.
Is Mizzou University of Missouri? Yes, that seems like a good school. I don’t really know, but it really is recognized. Then some of the other ones are U of Wisconsin, U of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Columbia, NYU, and many others. You have some time to decide which schools to apply to, so do your research.
Anyways, I hope that helped. Good luck with everything!
Thanks so much for your
Thanks so much for your advice! My email is jbuz7546@gmail.com.
Never heard of Mizzou?
Are you a New Yorker? LOL
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yeah i am
Mizzou is highly overrated.
Mizzou is highly overrated. My school was one-fifth of its size, had no J-school, and our publications regularly placed higher in competition. I was never impressed by what MU produced, at least not what I saw during my four years in school.
Speaking as someone who went to a university in a podunk town, look for a school in or close to a metro area. This will help you with internships, freelancing, mentoring, etc. Look for a school whose professors have real-world experience and connections.
I’m sure others here will give you more advice, so let me end with this: Make sure you’ll be content at the school for the three, four, five years you’ll be there. Even if the school has an amazing reputation, if you hate the culture/campus/teaching style/location you’ll have trouble justifying your decision to attend. You should enjoy your time there.
Major in a field that
Major in a field that actually interests you and develop your network on the side. Freelance, intern, etc. Journalism BA’s are a dime a dozen. Passionate expertise in a related media field makes a rarer, and more desirable candidate. Trust me on this. The industry needs out-of-the-box thinkers, and most journalism curriculums encourage anything but.
I double majored and also carried a minor. I had no interest in formally studying journalism at my uni, but my family forced me to adopt it as the more “practical” supplement to my English major and Philosophy minor. And I also took a lot of visual arts courses, but then again, I transferred from the best art school in the country to a liberal arts university (one of the “Public Ivys”), so my tertiary academic path was anything but ideal. I survived it, but it has been a total nonfactor towards my progress in this industry.
picking a path
Major in a field that actually interests you and develop your network on the side.
I second this advice. If you want to be in magazines (or most fields, really), the most important thing in college is to learn how to think and write well.
The vast majority of editors at my company do not have journalism degrees, and neither did the editors at the magazine where I interned. My school didn’t even have a journalism department or communications department.
You can get your practical, industry-specific learning through interning and networking with people in the business. Learning by doing is very effective.
(Focusing on journalism in your college studies is another—and completely valid—path, of course. Just sayin’ that it’s certainly not the only one to a magazine career.)
Well you’re a little
Well you’re a little premature. Go to a good school for journalism (do some research). Get good grades. Write alot. And get INTERNSHIPS. They’re very important. Do a few, paid or unpaid, no matter. Make connections in college, ask friends and friends of friends if they know anyone in the media industry. And don’t worry until you’re a senior. No point in stressing now.
PS - I’ve never heard of Mizzo or whatever. If you want to go all out, go to Columbia. Just pick a school with a decent communications dept and you’ll be fine.
Go here http://www.journalismjobs.com/journalism_schools.cfm and pick a school. There you go!