Medill: I started off in Medill and was disappointed. I think Medill prepares students well for careers in journalism as they currently exist. However, the landscape is rapidly shifting, and there are many institutional problems with media culture, and I think an important role of student journalists is learning how to enact change in the landscape. Only 1 intro class really even addresses this, and the rest is skill building. I don’t think Medill students learn to think as critically as they should. Medill requires many classes outside of journalism, which helps, but I don’t think it’s enough. I also didn’t find the instruction particularly helpful from any of the 6 professors I interacted with. It all seemed like things that could be learned independently. But it has a number of unique programs (Medill Justice Program, Journalism Residency in South Africa) and opportunities for students. It helps with networking (all of the professors have had impressive journalism careers), which is probably the most important thing for a journalism career.
McCormick: I’ve only taken 2 McCormick courses. From my understanding, the first year just sucks. It’s building fundamentals without any practical application, and therefore very boring. Those fundamentals are then used in classes specific to fields the engineers are interested in. The professors were uninspired (though, so is the content), though they clearly communicate ideas. But inspiration will have to come from within, I think.
Weinberg-Political Science/Economics: I’ve only had great professors, but I think I’m biased since I tend to be more interested in the social sciences anyway
I don’t feel like I can comment on any of the other schools since I have not taken courses in them, but I will say, there isn’t much overlap between schools. They are usually isolated, and not many of the course requirements overlap between schools. When I transferred to Weinberg, none of the ADVISERS for transferring into Weinberg knew anything about Medill. It makes a cross-disciplinary approach to learning more difficult. Weinberg distros also are exclusively Weinberg courses (you can petition to count other courses, though), whereas courses from other schools might have sufficiently addressed an area in Weinberg but won’t count