Masters in Public Relations and Corporate Communications

[dwightkschrute]

Hi! I am new to this site and just created an account, so apologies if I am doing this wrong or posting in the wrong area!

I am a rising senior and I am pretty certain that I want to do a masters program in PR and corporate communications wanted to ask if anyone with experience in or knowledge of these programs would be willing to share some insight into your graduate school admissions process. I am looking to apply for the Fall 2018 or Fall 2019 start dates and would love to go to NYU, but am still discovering all of the other top programs (any recommendations or insights into programs would be much appreciated, too!). I'm at the very beginning of the admissions process--I haven't begun preparing for the GRE or anything yet and am still trying to figure out the lay of the land for these programs--and I wanted to know if there was any advice you would pass down to someone in my position. 

-Did you use a test prep service for the GRE?

-What was your GRE score and how important was the GRE in your admissions?

-Were there any other forums or websites you found valuable as resources when you were doing the applications?

Just trying to figure out how to get started. Any help or insight you can give me is appreciated!

[dwightkschrute]

Update 4 years later: I have attended and graduated from the University of Southern California with my Master's in Strategic PR in 2020! Just incase anyone has come across this and wants answers/insights...

 

I used Kaplan test prep. My scores were:

• Quantitative: 151
• Verbal: 159
• Essay: 5

 

Also, I LOVED MY PROGRAM! I learned so much and grew a lot as both a professional and a person there. I'd say I mainly learned a lot of soft skills and was exposed to a lot of great opportunities and professionals, making it the perfect environment to network. The Trojan Network post-grad helped me get a job in 2020 (incredibly stressful as you can imagine).

 

Happy to talk more if anyone has any more questions! As an FYI, the program I applied to changed slightly (Master's in Strategic PR was what I got, now it is Master's in Public Relations and Advertising) but I can speak to the overall USC master's PR experience.