What's a better major...Journalism or English?

Question

I love to write and to explore, I am currently majoring in English under Creative Writing but am beginning to feel that I am not allowed to be as "creative" as I want. I don't like reading old English....stories and poems from the past and remaking my own version of it..blah blah...I don't know what journalism is entirely about, I just want to know which of the two you guys would prefer and why? And if the annual salaries are outstandingly different?

Answer 1

i would say English myself. I have friends who have majored in english and gone onto some very exciting jobs, one for example works for a film studio and helps edit and work on screenplays. Also i would say English is good for despite how unexciting some of your lessons and exercises are, they still help cultivate the tools to create, proper grammer, vocab, critical thinking, ext... Not say journalism is bad, however i do think English is so much more broad and your learning the same skills a journalist would like recording information, sharing it in a form that is precise and captivating.

Answer 2

English

Answer 3

I'd take into consideration where you plan to live after you graduate college. Different sized cities and towns are going to afford you very different options. When I first graduated college, I lived in a town of about 35,000. Exactly what I could get a job doing is teaching English - and nobody wanted an English teacher; they only needed Math and Science teachers - or I could get a job being a secretary. That was it. Period.

When I was in college, many people told me to major in what I loved because potential employers would just want me to have a degree - any degree. While that still may be true somewhere, I found the exact opposite to be true. I applied for tons of jobs, but they wanted someone with a B.S., not a B.A. when a generic degree was acceptable. I also ran into just having the "wrong" degree from employers who wanted potential employees to have an industry specific degree.

I'll be the first to admit that in a bigger city, I might have had more job options. By the time I moved to one, I was so bitter and burned out from years of using my 3.969 GPA to fetch my bosses coffee, I never even tried to see if I could find anything better. Sometimes I clean people's houses. Sometimes I'll work a few months at a fast food joint. I've installed stadium seating, painted houses, and shoveled horse poop out of stalls. And that's what I'm now doing with my big bad degree. I wish I had majored in something else or at least made myself turn the B.A. into a B.S.

I'd say major in what suits you, but do your research and find out what kind of job you'll realistically be able to get, taking into consideration the area you'll live in. Think about salary, too. The most I ever made with my degree was $11.06 an hour. I think I read somewhere like MSN money that English degrees holders generally net around $35,000 in the first year of employment.

I'm not trying to be cynical or a nay sayer, but this is something I feel strongly about. That is why I wanted to share my experience, not to be negative.

Answer 4

as i'm a math and econ major i can't give you advice from my DIRECT experience, but i do have some thoughts as my roomate was in your situation.

she ended up choosing journalism, and in many ways it seems like the wrong option.

If you're feeling stifled creatively in English classes you are going to go out of your mind in journalism. my roommate is an excellent creative writer but she wanted to be safe and definitely make a salary so she chose journalism.
she has now wasted a lot of time in classes that are a LOT more boring than the one you describe.

she'll probably have a job when she gets out of school, but at what cost? all of the fascinating classes she never got to take and the possibility of putting her writing on the back burner for a 9 to 5 job.

as for your question about salaries- journalism jobs are difficult to procure, and the salaries are not amazing,but they are steady. post- creative writing degree it depends completely on a million different factors.

Answer 5

Problem may be considering two issues: what you feel comfortable studying and the annual salaries at the completion of each course.
I'd advise, concentrate on the one you enjoy more and do not think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. That would cloud your concentration. Just concentrate on English and creative writing and worry not about salaries at present. In both, you'll still have to score high grades first and secondly, they are close cousins.

good luck

Answer 6

I would say English. I majored in English Literature in the University and I even have a Masters degree in Literature but I am a journalist. Unlike most of my colleagues that majored in Journalism, I have been exposed to a very non- restrictive form of writing because of my exposure to different authors while in the university. I do understand how boring studying some old English readings maybe but trust me in the long run it paid off because now my imagination really runs wilder than some of my colleagues. Besides without any training in journalism, I am really doing well for myself with my depth of creativity. My style of writing just became a part of me maybe because I have studied so many authors. I also have an edge when it comes to reporting arts, I do fantastic reviews- many of my collegues have told me this. Besides with my degree in English, I intend to teach in future while I continue with journalism, so in the longrun, I get a better pay. I believe English affords you more creativity than journalism as well as giving you wider options in terms of employment; I have also had to edit because of my background. However it is your interest that really matters in the longrun; Cheers.

Answer 7

It depends on what your interests are, and what style of writing you wish to do. Myself, I majored in English until a heart condition put things indefinitely on hold. I would say the logical choice would be English, as there is so much more you can do with a BA in English than a BA in Journalism.