I am a junior Radio/TV/Film major at The College of New Jersey. I spent my first two years of college at Rowan University. The school was definitely a party school and many of my peers cared more about spending their entire day getting drunk than going to class. For several reasons, I absolutely hated it there and transferred to TCNJ this year. Although I hated the social aspect of Rowan, I did love the major and did very well. When applying to schools as a transfer, I only applied to three schools and did not do much research on their RTF programs. As soon as I got my acceptance letter to TCNJ, I knew that was it and that was where I would be going for the next two years. I wish I had done more research on the program because I really hate their RTF program. Many of the courses are an “either or” choice. You take either film studies OR tv studies or you take either tv studio OR film production. At Rowan, you had to take all the aforementioned classes and film history and appreciation AND tv history and appreciation. I know that TCNJ is definitely a better school than Rowan but is it better to have the degree from the better school even if the program isn’t that great?
On top of all of this, I have to catch up on the general education courses TCNJ requires, including three semesters of a foreign language. This past semester I took French, Anthropology, Intro to TV Studio, and Intro to PR. I took only one course for my major. If I was still at Rowan, I probably would’ve taken at least four courses for my major. I don’t understand how a degree is “better” when I’m not taking all that many courses that are really going to help me in my field post graduation.
I also had a fantastic GPA at Rowan, was on Dean’s List, and was invited to join an honor society. Is it better to have all that or to just have a decent GPA at TCNJ?
Just because the major doesn’t require you to take all those classes doesn’t mean that you can’t take all of those classes. You have the option to take either Intro to Film Studies or Intro to TV Studies for the major - but that doesn’t mean you can’t eventually take both. If you want to take them both, find the time in your schedule to take them.
But of course it’s different. Rowan has a whole Department of Radio, TV and Film within their College of Communications. TCNJ only has an RTF specialization within a Department of Communication. Smaller unit, fewer classes.
Also, yes, of course you would have been taking 3-4 courses in your major at Rowan, because you would have finished the gen eds and be into your major. But since you transferred, you have to take the gen eds and therefore can take fewer classes in your major. If you had started at TCNJ, you probably also would be taking more like 3-4 courses in your major (which would probably include communications classes). That’s just the nature of transferring, not necessarily the program.
College is not vocational school. It isn’t about studying only the things in your major and that’s it - it’s about giving you a perspective from which to view the world and your major and other things. For example - TV and film is all about telling stories about people, stories that people connect with and want watch. Anthropology is all about studying human culture and development across the ages. Some of the best television shows and films have basically anthropological perspectives into a piece of history or of society - such as how Hidden Figures gave you a vision into the culture of 1960s Virginia and also 1960s NASA; or Modern Family, which plays on and against people’s cultural expectations about families; or Black-ish, which explores a minority family living in a mostly white community and the disconnects that result because of that; or even Moana, which literally would not have been possible without anthropological studies into peoples of the South Pacific. (Actually, both of Disney’s releases this year were anthropological in nature: Zootopia starred animals but was essentially a big metaphor for human behavior and interaction in places with people from many cultural backgrounds.) Having an eye and an an ear for what people care about, what makes up culture, what makes people tick, how to win that information from people - that can be priceless for a TV/film director.
So think more broadly about your education and how the classes you take can be related to your eventual career.
I don’t think it is a realistic option to transfer again without adding another semester, which I am really not interested in doing. I also have very few options because it has to be a public school within in two or so hours from my hometown (northern New Jersey). But if you have any suggestions, I would be interested in hearing them.
Thank you for pointing this out to me, I had not thought of it like that before. I’m still not completely happy with my situation because I have to take three semesters of French, a skill I will forget shortly after completing the requirement. I could be using those three slots to be taking classes like Fiction to Film or Looking at Women in Film. I understand that I have to have a well rounded education but I feel like I fulfilled those requirements during my two years at Rowan. At TCNJ, you have to take 12 courses to satisfy the requirements of the major. I’m unsure of the exact number, but I believe it is somewhere around 16 at Rowan. Even courses required for the major at TCNJ are Introduction to Communication Theory and Interpersonal Communication, where at Rowan every course directly related to radio, tv, or film. At the end of the day, I am at TCNJ and it is unlikely that I will be leaving, so I guess I just have to make the best of their program.
I bet you will always remember something useful you learned in French class, even if you don’t become fluent in the language. As a film/radio/TV major, you would want to have some understanding of cultures or languages other than the U.S. and English, and that is why the foreign language requirement exists.
Honestly, just because I do not want to be all that far from home. I really like being close enough that I can go home for a weekend whenever I want but not too close that I don’t feel like I’m away at school.
You make a very good point that I have thought of before. Although I may not remember quite a bit of it, having some understanding of French may come in handy in the next few years.
Understanding communication theory and interpersonal communication are both directly related to radio, TV, and film. For example, here’s part of the course description for Introduction to Communication History:
Students are introduced to different ways of thinking about communication as influenced by cultural, historical, and academic perspectives. Helps students to apply theories to actual communication events and experiences in interpersonal, organizational, mass, and political communication contexts.*
R/T/F are all forms of communication - they’re simply technologies that we have developed to make communication easier. It’s very important for you to understand how historical and cultural factors shape the development and production of RTF work, because that helps you understand the field and where it is going. I would argue that they are actually more vital for you to understanding than classes like “Looking at Women in Film” or “Fiction to Film.” You have to understand the basics around theories of human communication before you can dig deep into the fun stuff. I mean, look at the Looking at Women description:
Explores the impact feminism has had on film theory, criticism, and production. Various approaches to the study and production of the cinematic apparatus will be explored including psychoanalysis, issues of representation, spectatorship, ethnicity, and hybrid sexualities
That class is all about exploring feminism’s impact on film theory, but how can you dig deep into that without an introduction to the way that theory is used in communications?
I think you would become a happier student, perhaps, if you stopped questioning why you have to take certain classes that may seem unrelated and just enjoy college for what it is - a time where you learn a lot about a lot of different subjects, some of which are seemingly unrelated but really exist to make you into a person better able to understand and connect with the world around you.