how much does college choice matter?

As this is an industry that values demonstrated performance it's important to pick the school that will give you the best chance at becoming a smarter, better, more experienced sportswriter, clip file included.

 

heard the chicks were much hotter at uconn ... you should probably reconsider.

 

If you dis my alma mater again, I'll have to knock you around.

 

Well, I have a girl right now. But when/if we break up, I may take your advice because the ladies here are mostly horrendous looking.

 

Optimistic about the relationship, are we?

 

Do you know a lot of people on this site? What's with saying we? Do you say we when referring to the Broncos? In my first foray into this site, it seems you think you have a lot of advice and knowledge for four years of experience. It just seems you think you know a lot for such little time on the job. I assume in four years you've been a lower end reporter for that entire time.

 

I think this all depends on what kind of internship ties a school has. Northwestern and Missou for example, are very strong. If the J-school doesn't work hard to get the recruiters in to interview potential intern candidates, that's a red flag. If my kid was choosing a school for journalism, I would have them ask three things:

1. What is the reputation of the student newspaper?
2. How many J school students landed internships in the previous few years?
3. How many journalism recruiters made on-site visits for interviews the previous year?

Personally, I chose a school with a top 10 J school, but it didn't end up being worth dick. The professors were all very dated or poorly qualified (one of them had the bulk of his experience at a F'ing community weekly!) and they rarely gave good advice when it came to landing a job. My saving grace was the student newspaper. I arrived at a time when we had a very, very strong junior and senior class working at the paper, and they showed me the ropes and explained how to get a job when I graduated.

Looking back, I learned 95-percent of my journalism skills at the student paper and the three internships I landed while in school.

 

One week and three posts in and you're picking fights. Lay off.

 

fight, fight

 

I'm going to upset the balance by posting this, but WSKY and I each had 100 posts when we posted these messages.

Ok, back to college choices....

(sorry for the minor threadjack)

 

I always thought most undergrad programs were the same? Get 'em in, teach 'em the inverted pyramid and not to libel anybody, and send them off into the real world. Clips, internships, experience and working on your people skills are way more important than the name on the degree (unless it's one of the elite schools and you're gunning for a big-time job right out of the gate). If I hadn't worked at my student paper I probably wouldn't have lasted two weeks at my first job.

 

I have promised myself I would not mention Steve Rushin again, so I won't.

But Sue Bird is a UConn girl. 8)