NYU, Columbia, or Fellowship at American?

[rachaelm]

I need some advice, please! These are my top offers:

-NYU's Business and Economics Reporting program with $26,000 scholarship (leaving tuition at $32,000)

-Columbia's magazine program, no financial aid offer yet

-American, with a fellowship to Center for Public Integrity, full ride, $24,000 stipend

So, is the prestige/job opportunities regarding the fellowship comparable to the prestige/job opportunities coming from NYU or Columbia?

Any opinions and advice would be much appreciated. Thank you!

[markuse]

Congrats on the CPI fellowship! I really wanted to apply for that but just couldn't schedule the GRE prep in time. I'm jealous! I would definitely go with that one. Journalism school isn't a necessity, a full ride is ideal, and doing the fellowship will make you stand out more than a degree from Columbia or NYU, in my opinion. I'm actually already in the field and was eying that fellowship with interest. I got into Columbia but might not even go. My personal order of preference would be Berkeley first (such a good investigative program, travel grants, and opportunities to work on Frontline), CPI fellowship second, and Columbia's Stabile program third. Unfortunately Berkeley turned me down. I don't know anything about NYU's program, unfortunately.

[rachaelm]

Thanks! I decided to take the fellowship. I'm very excited!

Congrats on the CPI fellowship! I really wanted to apply for that but just couldn't schedule the GRE prep in time. I'm jealous! I would definitely go with that one. Journalism school isn't a necessity, a full ride is ideal, and doing the fellowship will make you stand out more than a degree from Columbia or NYU, in my opinion. I'm actually already in the field and was eying that fellowship with interest. I got into Columbia but might not even go. My personal order of preference would be Berkeley first (such a good investigative program, travel grants, and opportunities to work on Frontline), CPI fellowship second, and Columbia's Stabile program third. Unfortunately Berkeley turned me down. I don't know anything about NYU's program, unfortunately.