美国传媒专业怎么申？（经验贴，内附大量案例）2014.8.24 更新

游离猫咪119UID：3263404

又拜读了一遍yanyan姐和Ryland大神的文章，真的很有指导性啊，顶起~！

xxlynnUID：3235141

给yanyan姐顶一个！好久没上寄托了哇！忙死了忙死了。。。咱是13fall的小伙伴~

yvonneli414UID：3440664

真是好贴! 特地登录进来顶一下!

tparkerUID：2597094

真是好帖！不顶不行啊！

caluluUID：2527942

[This letter is designed to assist applicants with their graduate program research. I have already covered the topic of thinking about one’s life and career path before exploring graduate schools. There will be two more letters closer to the primary application season where I will discuss:
2. How to think about your CV/resume and sharing your experiences, and
3. How to brainstorm for material to include in your personal statements.]

Anyone who is interested in applying to graduate school in the United States,

        Researching educational programs is ALWAYS an open-ended challenge. You must take the challenge seriously and understand the process enough to judge whether you are making an adequately informed decision. There are few decisions with a greater economic and social impact on your life than the educational choices you make. If you are considering applying to graduate school, you are about to spend at least a couple years of your life outside of the work force, when you could have been getting more experience in a particular industry, and at the very least, you will make only enough money to get by. In most programs, you will actually spend a sizable amount of your parents’ and/or your own savings, and you may also go in debt substantially. You may pursue a master’s degree that essentially requires you to pursue a PhD to utilize its primary value or you my focus on a professional program that is designed to take you into a very narrow range of professions. In some cases, you may be better off not going to graduate school at all, especially if you do not have your heart set on pursuing your chosen interests.

        The most important thing you must do to ensure you make a wise investment in your career and your future is to understand the programs to which you are applying. It is up to you to judge whether you know enough about the program to change your life course and choose it. With this said, I want to help you understand the process I use to research graduate programs.

        I have researched many educational programs in several contexts. I spend several weeks learning about the factors relating to choosing undergraduate schools and law schools for my own educational journey BEFORE I really looked into which schools may meet my set of requirements and preferences. I was lucky to stumble upon my current program with a very enticing joint degree overlap while I was midway through law school, and since that point, I have learned a great deal about the various communications, media production, and media management programs offered at other schools. My knowledge has been reinforced by researching every school for which I edit clients’ personal statements, and my department recognized my graduate program research capabilities by entrusting me with a key analysis project of competing media management and professional communications programs. I approach the process from a business analyst’s perspective, looking at who each program targets, and what graduates with each educational experience are trained to do when they leave. You need to understand that you essentially must perform the same analysis.

        First, let us focus on what graduates from any particular program are actually trained to do. Each program identifies what courses are involved within the curriculum. You must ask yourself what skills or perspectives each of the courses are designed to teach and how do those courses fit together as an overall program. Are the courses primarily theoretical, teaching mainly concepts or academic approaches to asking and answering questions, or are the courses practical, teaching mainly skills or methods used within the professional world? Are the courses generally quantitatively oriented, more about critical analysis, focus on business situations, or cover broad overviews of topics? From what disciplines do the courses draw their concepts? Do they use communications theories, economic concepts, law and policy concepts, production concepts, or a variety of business disciplines (like accounting, project management, public relations, advertising, marketing, etc.)? Each program makes claims on its website about what its graduates go on to do, but you must be an informed consumer and actually look at the curriculum. If you do not understand some elements of the curriculum, you may want to look up some of the concepts listed in the course descriptions. If you do not understand what people in mentioned industries actually do, you need to do some research into what role each job plays in either its specialized profession or within its industry context. You then must ask yourself whether you think each program really has the right blend of course offerings to let you develop the knowledge or skill set necessary to enter and excel within your ideal career path. The program’s alumni network is often a testament to its professional quality, while a program’s academic prestige is often a testament to its quality as a research training program. Also take a look at the experiences of the faculty. Are they largely from professional or academic backgrounds, and if they are from academic backgrounds, do they perform business or policy research that is of relevance to the industries in which you would like to work if you are interested in acquiring professional training?

Next, each program usually discusses its educational philosophy on its web page. Some programs are very open-ended and let you explore your interests while you are there. Other programs are very rigid and provide a robust portfolio of skills for people entering into a profession. Some programs focus on critical thinking, while others focus on learning essential facts and skills. Some focus on current practices while others focus on learning how to analyze and adapt to change. Some favor teamwork and projects, while others focus on independent scholarship. You must ask yourself whether you believe you will enjoy, excel, or benefit from this particular approach to education.
       
When you are performing the above research, first start at the departmental page and scan it for keywords and an explanation of educational philosophy. First, is the program offered by a communications department, a production department, a humanities and critical theory department, or business department? Second, a department’s priorities are often revealed by what it highlights on that first page. Does it brag about its alumni network, its students’ production work, or the research being performed by its professors? Also, be cautious about judging a program by its website’s appearance; expensive programs can often afford more fancy designs than equally competitive and more cost effective competitors. However, if there are pictures, are they of professors, facilities, student projects, or equipment? After you look at these factors, now explore the graduate program links and try to identify the range of different specializations the program offers. Pick the ones that most interest you and explore the program’s course requirements. Are there many strict required classes or are there only a few core classes? Does the program allow you to take courses outside of the program to custom-tailor your experience? How much flexibility do students have to change their focus or to perform self-directed research? Remember to explore the ‘People’ or ‘Faculty’ page to see if you would like to study under any professors in particular.

        Once you have a sense of what the curriculum actually teaches and whether you like their educational philosophy, you only now should really write out your list of strengths and weaknesses to each program. The biggest factor is the cost. Many people do not realize that if they really value acquiring a strong range of professional skills, access to a prominent alumni network and great internship opportunities, and a top-caliber faculty but such a program is currently out of their range from either financial or experience-based reasons, then perhaps they should wait until they can achieve such a program. Other people are perhaps eager to change industries or achieve the next level within their professions, making a cheaper degree with a scholarship the perfect choice to a satisfying level of achievement. You must consider the cost, but you must also consider whether the type of educational experience will be worth the cost. Consider whether they offer assistantships to offset costs. Consider also how the location will impact several factors, including costs, access to alumni and internships, and the general cultural context with which you would feel comfortable. If you are concerned with renown, does the level of challenge, appropriateness of educational fit, and cost offset a reduction in some vaguely relevant ranking?

        Only once you have a really good understanding of the program should you really decide to focus your attention on it. If you write a personal statement with a program in mind and you really are a great fit for the program, describing your previous experiences and career desires will naturally establish your own educational preferences in such a way that the admissions committee will really believe you when you say you value its particular educational philosophy and curriculum. If you are not writing a personal statement for a particular program and are instead writing your generic version (which ALWAYS must be customized for each program at a later stage), pay particular attention to how your experiences may suggest what type of program you really should seek. In my previous advice memo on exploring your personal interests, I explained that you should try to express the spark that makes you a unique and motivated individual. That spark will tend toward certain programs in a natural way, and the admissions committees of the programs with the most compatible fit will recognize it most clearly.

        In terms of my role in the process, I try to take your story and the spark you show me in your basic personal statement and highlight elements of it to show the admissions committee just how much your attitude fits their educational approach. I generally avoid simply jamming an argument or two to make a generic personal statement fit the context, which is why it often takes me so much longer to handle most cases. Some alterations to fit very similar programs are minimal while others are substantial restructurings. I utilize my analytic method and understanding of the educational system to make such judgment calls, but in the end it is an inexact science. However, I take the process very seriously, especially when I see that the fit is already so strong. In those situations, I can tell you’ve already done your research.

IRIS凹UID：3471287

Ryland的文章读起来真舒服:loveliness:，给的tips也很有用，赞啊！

miao1205UID：3432813

来顶贴！妍妍姐和R神太给力了

wj35651UID：2789000

常读常新

Oreo_赵赵赵赵晨UID：3454101

收获不少。谢谢yanyan姐和R神！

Oreo_赵赵赵赵晨UID：3454101

希望明年考试会人品爆发！谢谢Lz!

yinyulin1014UID：3517168

早看到这个帖子今年就可能多拿几个offer了，哭。。

钱大少侠UID：3519661

我国内读的新闻传播，实习很多都是用到传播学但是我没做过新闻类的实习，最多就是学校里的电视台，实习基本上是做社交媒体的开发或者推广。企业的市场推广，或者创业，公益项目的线上推广。我去申comm都被拒了。可能我托福太低了。92。。。gre316 aw3.0。学校是985， 然后gpa 3.3.。我在ps基本就是写我在参与那些项目的时候想对网络上或者线下的传播进行更进一步学习探索，还有那种利用传播加强人们互相了解这中蛮浪漫主义的内容。

onlyemptylandUID：3451046

calulu 发表于 2013-8-9 22:28
亲爱的，新闻其实我有提一句说属于没有太多技术性的实践派。但是这个不是特别准确，其实新闻里有很多人是 ...

我们院好多journalism studies的博士！！！！新闻学有博士！！！！！而且不少见！！！！！

onlyemptylandUID：3451046

小ca迷糊君 发表于 2013-8-10 16:40
谢谢YAN YAN ~~

那是不是可以这么说 如果JOUR以后打算读PHD的话 就要自己在选课上调节好？

哎呀妈呀你从哪里知道密苏里没有理论课！！！理论课一大堆好么！！！！！你们没有myzou看不到课表好么………………表示理论课，定量的课，上的我要哭好么……

onlyemptylandUID：3451046

onlyemptyland 发表于 2014-4-26 20:23
我们院好多journalism studies的博士！！！！新闻学有博士！！！！！而且不少见！！！！！

准确的说是，新闻是mass comm研究的一个方向。在传媒里研究新闻的phd不少。