MS/MA in Public Relations

[smw0805]

Does anyone know much about the MS in Communications Practice @ Columbia, MS in PR & Corporate Communication at NYU or MA in Strategic PR at USC? 

I'm applying as an international student, so there's only so much research I can do online. Online, they seem to be pretty well-established programs, but would love to hear the thoughts/opinions of people that live in the US.

Edited November 18, 2015 by smw0805

[CFBrown]

I visited USC last year. LOVE the campus, staff and student atmosphere. I was accepted, but they offer little to no funding.  I can't speak to NYU because I never really considered them.  Meanwhile, Columbia's program wasn't terribly interesting to me because of the strict curriculum.

[anothergradapplicant]

With regard to what CFBrown was saying, it is incredibly rare that any master's program will offer any sort of substantial funding, particularly such professionally oriented programs. I've taken courses with folks in SPR at USC, they seemed quite satisfied with their program.

[smw0805]

On 23/12/2015 at 0:32 PM, CFBrown said:

I visited USC last year. LOVE the campus, staff and student atmosphere. I was accepted, but they offer little to no funding.  I can't speak to NYU because I never really considered them.  Meanwhile, Columbia's program wasn't terribly interesting to me because of the strict curriculum.

 

On 23/12/2015 at 11:00 PM, anothergradapplicant said:

With regard to what CFBrown was saying, it is incredibly rare that any master's program will offer any sort of substantial funding, particularly such professionally oriented programs. I've taken courses with folks in SPR at USC, they seemed quite satisfied with their program.

Thanks for the input! It's super helpful as I'm applying as an international student. 

The USC program really appealed to me. One of the big reasons being that the NYU and Columbia programs are part of the School of Professional Studies. 

What are your opinions on the Schools of Professional Studies (especially at Columbia being an Ivy), compared to USC's program being part of a specific field school/department. 

Also, I've been in touch with Columbia and they've informed me they've changed the curriculum for 2016 to allow for electives from different schools such as the business school. It hasn't been published yet, but I'm interested to see what changes they've made. 

Edited January 7, 2016 by smw0805

[CommsStar]

Hi,

I just read the post above and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the Master's in Mass Communication Course at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore? How does it compare to similar courses internationally?

 

[anothergradapplicant]

On ‎1‎/‎7‎/‎2016 at 0:12 PM, smw0805 said:

 

Thanks for the input! It's super helpful as I'm applying as an international student. 

The USC program really appealed to me. One of the big reasons being that the NYU and Columbia programs are part of the School of Professional Studies. 

What are your opinions on the Schools of Professional Studies (especially at Columbia being an Ivy), compared to USC's program being part of a specific field school/department. 

Also, I've been in touch with Columbia and they've informed me they've changed the curriculum for 2016 to allow for electives from different schools such as the business school. It hasn't been published yet, but I'm interested to see what changes they've made. 

Congrats on the interview invite I noticed in your post.

Well, I can't really speak as to the comparison between being part of a comm school vs SPS. What I can speak about, however, is that if you plan on continuing in communication at any point in the future, the Annenberg name carries a (un?)surprisingly hefty weight in the comm scene. Thought I do also imagine people go all :OOOO about the Columbia name, too.

[smw0805]

2 hours ago, anothergradapplicant said:

Congrats on the interview invite I noticed in your post.

Well, I can't really speak as to the comparison between being part of a comm school vs SPS. What I can speak about, however, is that if you plan on continuing in communication at any point in the future, the Annenberg name carries a (un?)surprisingly hefty weight in the comm scene. Thought I do also imagine people go all :OOOO about the Columbia name, too.

Thanks! I was surprised to hear from them so early seeing as they post decisions late March. I actually just completed the interview. I thought they were going to ask questions about my qualities, strengths, weaknesses etc and want to get to know me more personally. Instead, it was my thoughts and opinions of the industry.  

It is really hard to pick up on school vibes when you're on the other side of the world. I've had 3 years' experience in the industry so either school/program, I'm sure I'll be able to develop my skill set  

Edited January 8, 2016 by smw0805

[anothergradapplicant]

19 minutes ago, smw0805 said:

Thanks! I was surprised to hear from them so early seeing as they post decisions late March. I actually just completed the interview. I thought they were going to ask questions about my qualities, strengths, weaknesses etc and want to get to know me more personally. Instead, it was my thoughts and opinions of the industry.  

It is really hard to pick up on school vibes when you're on the other side of the world. I've had 3 years' experience in the industry so either school/program, I'm sure I'll be able to develop my skill set  

I can tell you from my own experience comparing east coast and west coast institutions that there will be, in my opinion, a cultural difference between the two. I personally find people a little more rushed, serious, to-the-point, and socially formal on the east coast, while on the west coast people will be a little more relaxed, informal as long as there's clear respect/order and things get done, organic, and socially casual. For example, I feel like more faculty out east are less open to just letting a conversation or work meeting develop organically and instead expect all inquiries prepared in bullet point form; like, yes, I'm a proponent of having a set list of things to cover, but some things work better in an in-person meeting versus in umpteen rounds of bullet point email-response dances. So as you can imagine, I personally prefer the west coast, while to my understanding there are people who prefer the east coast - e.g. I was talking to a more east-coast-loving friend in another field who said she doesn't like how her PI likes to take people out to dinner or whatever because she feels obligated to go even though she has her own life, while I myself miss being able to casually emailing professors to set up a time to catch up and chat over coffee/lunch without mulling over the how to go about it and if I should as if I'm about to ask someone to high school prom.

Edited January 8, 2016 by anothergradapplicant

[smw0805]

1 hour ago, anothergradapplicant said:

I can tell you from my own experience comparing east coast and west coast institutions that there will be, in my opinion, a cultural difference between the two. I personally find people a little more rushed, serious, to-the-point, and socially formal on the east coast, while on the west coast people will be a little more relaxed, informal as long as there's clear respect/order and things get done, organic, and socially casual. For example, I feel like more faculty out east are less open to just letting a conversation or work meeting develop organically and instead expect all inquiries prepared in bullet point form; like, yes, I'm a proponent of having a set list of things to cover, but some things work better in an in-person meeting versus in umpteen rounds of bullet point email-response dances. So as you can imagine, I personally prefer the west coast, while to my understanding there are people who prefer the east coast - e.g. I was talking to a more east-coast-loving friend in another field who said she doesn't like how her PI likes to take people out to dinner or whatever because she feels obligated to go even though she has her own life, while I myself miss being able to casually emailing professors to set up a time to catch up and chat over coffee/lunch without mulling over the how to go about it and if I should as if I'm about to ask someone to high school prom.

Wow - that really is quite a difference. I will definitely keep that in mind if I have to choose between the two. I'm from Australia, so the west coast definitely sounds more like home. 

[lyrehc]

On 1/8/2016 at 6:43 AM, smw0805 said:

Wow - that really is quite a difference. I will definitely keep that in mind if I have to choose between the two. I'm from Australia, so the west coast definitely sounds more like home. 

It really depends on the university. Each has its own culture. I lived in west coast states most of my life and there are schools where the faculty are extremely formal there as well as schools that are informal. There are faculty who went to east coast schools at my university and things were very informal. Not only that, but faculty members are individuals and how things operate can vary widely even in the same department. Where I attend there are faculty who go out to have a drink with graduate students and faculty who never meet with students outside of their offices. 

The best advice I can offer is do everything you can to get a feel for where you apply. I *love* OU. Seriously I cannot imagine attending anywhere else - the fit has been amazing. But I am an individual - one of my cohort members has felt like a fish out of water because that person's research interests do not mesh well with the department which is not something that was considered at the time the admission offer was accepted. Fit with faculty research interests, fit with other students in the department, fit with personalities - these are all valuable considerations.