nikkiannpet

Hi! As of late, I've been very interested in majoring in Journalism (probably broadcast) but it's not something set in stone. The plan was to major in English and then go on to Law school after. However, I forgot how much I loved journalism and started reading into it again. A counselor helped me pick schools out of state (I reside in California) such as DePaul and U of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, U of Oregon, ASU, Syracuse (both parents matriculated there) etc. Most of these OOS are safeties (except UDubs) but are strong in journalism. But then I came across U of Iowa and U of Indiana. Iowa is more known for creative writing (piqued my interest there) and Indiana for journalism; both have creative writing and journalism, as my research suggests. Anyway, I'm kind of pairing them off with Oregon because they're all safeties for me. I LOVE Oregon and it's a lot closer to where I live. I already have UIUC and DePaul, so is it really necessary to add Iowa or Indiana? Otherwise, I'll keep my list as is. Thanks for the feedback!

FYI: Writing this through my iPad. I accidentally quitted the page so this is my 2nd time writing; kind of frustrated atm.

barrk123

If Oregon is your safety and you like it more than Indiana or Iowa then there is no point in adding them.

Erin's Dad

Can you afford the OOS schools?

nikkiannpet

Yes, I can.

crizello

Oregon does have a good journalism school. If you love it there, go for it.

Iowa is definitely a school for creative writing.

nikkiannpet

So maybe stick with Oregon since it does well in both?

nikkiannpet

I know Iowa is #1 for graduate Creative Writing, but does anyone know how UW's English department ranks for undergrad, if there is any? Thus far I've only seen English rankings for graduate school; I'm not sure if I should base my research on that, are undergrad and grad about the same?

nikkiannpet

Bump bump. Anyone vouch for UW's programs among these other universities like UT, Iowa, Indiana...? I've heard great things from UW and it is highly ranked. But in terms of these majors I haven't found rankings except people's opinions. I did read that UW's English program is good. I like UW for the climate better but is that enough, or are the rankings not negligible?

50ishwoman

On a like note, if you live in California and love it out there, and love Oregon, you might not love living in Indiana or Iowa for four years. I can say this because I have lived in Iowa for more than 50 years. Have you visited either campus, either in Indiana or Iowa? The people and seasons are really different from the West Coast. If you have doubts about living where the weather can be zero degrees for five months in a row, then go to Oregon. If you'd like to try something different, visit Indiana and Iowa and check them out. As you said, you like Oregon because of the climate. If you go to Indiana and Iowa and hate the weather, you won't be learning anything about Journalism because you're so miserable. Just my 2 cents!

nikkiannpet

Ah, thank you. What would be the different attitudes then? I used to live in New York and I remember how cold it used to be. But I prefer cold to humidity any day.
Anyone have anything on UW ^?

barrons

The weather is NEVER 0 degrees for 5 months in a row. You might have a few days in a month below 0 from December-February--almost always while you are asleep in a warm bed. Fall is usually great actually and you rarely get really cold before second semester starts. Cold, gray and rainy is easily as bad as just cold with some sun and snow.
And the Midwest people are fine. Way less pretentious and fun-loving.

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxcli...graph/USIN0046

nikkiannpet

Thank you barrons, but I think she was talking about Iowa and just generalizing Indiana. I'm not overly fond of either one, but I thought in the name of education they might be worth it. My counselors are always busy so I can only resort to rankings and Ruggs/Fiske's. Like I say many times, I'm not sure if ranks are neglibile. I kept u of Oregon to a definite, and now I'm not sure how UW compares to Iowa, Indiana and even UT.

barrons

Iowa City is a bit colder than Bloomington but not arctic either. The cold snaps are just that--a few days of real cold and then more moderate normal winter which means teens -30's
If you mean Wisconsin it has a very good English dept-Top 20 and a Top 5 creative writing group. Of course Madison is way more awesome than the other towns.

nikkiannpet

No, I meant University of Washington's English (creative writing) and/or Journalism departments.

Erin's Dad

UW is not normally considered in the same pool as Indiana or even UT.
Best Journalism Schools at U.S. Colleges and Universities College Media Matters

That being said they probably have a very solid program, certainly in English, and the location is great.