NYU vs Syracuse

[jplunk85]

Grad Cafe:

I've got a bit of a problem right now. Recently, I was accepted into both NYU and Syracuse. Although my signature reads accepted to Syracuse, I didn't plan on getting accepted to NYU.

I'm wondering, which university will be better in pursuing Public Relations? I've spoken to people in this profession, and they claim that name is extremely important when getting a job. The difference in cost for me is estimated about 50k for Syracuse and 100k for NYU.

Syracuse (Newhouse School of Public Communications) Pro's

13 months

cheaper tuition

cheaper living

offering me TA position (including at least 25% tuition and possibility of more)

Class size is around 15

Syracuse Con's

Extremely cold, isolated climate

Does not have a tremendous name as university (although the Newhouse college does)

NYU (School of Continuing and Professional Studies) Pro's

Mega connections to NYC through sheer proximity

City life

New program, NYU name

NYU Con's

2 years

more expensive (living in Manhattan)

large class sizes (140+)

program is only ~5/6 years old.

Ask any questions... I'll check regularly.

Edited May 3, 2010 by jplunk85

[jplunk85]

Bump!

This is an important decision for me, so if anyone in the Communications field (or, if anyone has an opinion, for that matter) can chime in, I would be eternally grateful.

[Jae B.]

Sorry I missed this! Congratulations on picking Syracuse! Excellent choice. Smaller class sizes and lesser expense = win. Are you studying both Public Relations and Journalism there, or just Public Relations?

I sincerely hope to visit Syracuse someday. It seems like such a neat school, and I'm glad to hear about it in these forums.

[jplunk85]

That's actually why I'm here. I can't decide between NYU or Syracuse, although I'm leaning Syracuse.

[Jae B.]

That's actually why I'm here. I can't decide between NYU or Syracuse, although I'm leaning Syracuse.

Okay, I get it now! What a nice dilemma to have.

As I said before, I would go with Syracuse for the economic value and more intimate classes. Although I should preface that, because of the school's low-profile, I felt I did not know enough about it during my application period to actually apply there. But I'm a West Coaster, so maybe Syracuse has a higher profile in other areas?

Also, as a journalism person, I would never accept double the cost for one top program over another -- as is reflected in my own jaw-clenching decision -- because of the state of employment and wages in my field. But in public relations, I understand you may be able to expect better returns. So, maybe my harsh perspective about costs and debt (NOOO!) is overboard for you.

I considered applying to NYU, for their "Reporting New York" program. (And I was in looove with that program!) In fact, NYU was the last school I ruled out applying to, to save time, effort and money, and because of prestige, ironically. The school does have the more prominent brand, but I don't think that's necessarily worth the added expense. From a journalism perspective, my research indicates that Syracuse's Newhouse School has a higher (perceived) ranking than NYU's journalism programs, hence my decision to rule NYU out last-minute when I wanted one less application to fill out. But I'm not sure about a correlation in those rankings between journalism and public relations education. You're probably a better judge on that one.

I know there's more discussion of NYU vs. Syracuse in these forums, as well as each school separately, with conversation surrounding the actual value vs. inflated value, reputation, campus structures and climate (important stuff -- don't you have a campus and atmosphere preference?), etc. Public relations is a trickier topic, though, because I see how the stronger NYU name could potentially be more important for you than Newhouse rising as a new communications competitor.... Aww darn! Tough one to decide a winner.

Still, I say, when in doubt, go with the money.... Especially for a master's degree, an opportunity to save is golden. Also, couldn't TAing at Syracuse be valuable on your résumé for the time-being, or no? (Could you still potentially TA at NYU, since it's a two-year program? I ask because TAing is a separate application process once you're a student in my program, not something awarded in advance. But I know some schools, especially with shorter programs, don't offer it at all.) I believe you can work to gain the same New York connections from either school. Plus, you could be part of building Syracuse's reputation! That's also a neat opportunity, I think.

Good luck making a choice!

Edited May 4, 2010 by Jae B.