Columbia J-school - writing test '10

[jakobjessen]

I'm applying for M.S. in journalism at Columbia this year and uhm, well, I'm from Denmark and my GPA is pretty good (about 3.9), I've done som prof. journalism and my recommendations are exellent. So obviously language and general knowledge (and money!) are my biggest concerns. Has anybody taken the test before? What where the questions like? Do you know if it's possible to fail the test?

[Dith Vader]

Me too... I'm so worried about it that no food tastes good ):

I don't think they would grade the tests on a pass/fail basis since they did say that they review all applications "holistically" --but sometimes that word is used to stop people from asking about the admission process, so who knows? What I'm doing now is basically reading up on U.S. and world history and memorizing people's names. I've heard it said that as long as you're a news junkie, you shouldn't have any problem.

[red_crayons]

Heh, hence why I didn't apply to Columbia.

Plus, their science journalism program would've had me living in the Palisades for a year. As cool as working at Lamont-Doherty would be, ew, Rockland county.

[grad_wannabe]

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't go for a master's in journalism at all. With publishing in such an upheaval, and the old guard of journalism and newspapers crumbling, there's not really much of a return on a masters in j. right now. Bloggers are getting more journalistic respect and a wider audience than reporters who went the traditional route. I can't even begin to list all the newspapers and magazines that are slashing their payrolls right now.

I have a friend at Columbia's j-school right now. All her professors talk about is Twitter. She hugely regrets enrolling.

EDIT: But then again, I'm going for an MFA in Art, which is a very expensive ticket to life-long poverty. I am the last person who should be giving advice on the return on a masters.

Edited January 19, 2010 by grad_wannabe

[LifeIsGood]

I was a reporter in a former career, but now I'm applying for a history PhD.

Pot? Meet kettle.

[red_crayons]

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't go for a master's in journalism at all. With publishing in such an upheaval, and the old guard of journalism and newspapers crumbling, there's not really much of a return on a masters in j. right now. Bloggers are getting more journalistic respect and a wider audience than reporters who went the traditional route. I can't even begin to list all the newspapers and magazines that are slashing their payrolls right now.

I'm applying to science journalism-ish programs. I've realized by working an awesome extension/outreach job that there are TONS of non-obvious things you can do with a journalism degree.

I'm picturing myself working in extension again, as a staff writer, or designing science museum programming, or writing for a university news service, or working as a staff writer for any of thousands of the little sustainable ag/environmental non-profits that are out there. You could do that in any field, too. It puts you somewhere in the middle of the organizational hierarchy, definitely above an admin assistant, but probably below the lawyers, and working in cooperation with the PIs and other research staff actually doing whatever research you're writing about. The PIs might look down on you, but you'll probably be at a similar part of the pay scale. You're never going to have a million dollars in the bank, but there ARE ways to find stable employment. You just need an angle in addition to "journalist", from what I've seen.

Going to journalism school thinking you're going to make a living working for a newspaper is like going to graduate school thinking you'll be an Ivy League professor. I would be hugely depressed to realize this AFTER starting a journalism program - especially because a lot of them are pricy and unfunded.

Edited January 20, 2010 by red_crayons