b communication-journalism (1 Viewer)

[.:b-me:.]

is it REALLY hard to get into this course?
because i really want to do it, and my careers adviser said it's the shit...well not those words, but if she was allowed to swear, it would have been those words.

it sounds tops!

 

[bex]

i dont know... its weird- the admissions i mean, not the course (its awesome.. talk to jez.. sorry jizmeister he does it).. its all about the essays.. uai's dont matter so much... i know people who do journo whose uais range from low 70's to high 90's.. heaps of people get rejected from it but at the same time people get admitted who never wrote the essays in the first place! but dont get scared off! if youre half intelligent and write a semi decent essay, you should be sweet...

 

[fruitbonbon17]

what's so good about it? why wouldn't you just do journo somewhere in sydney?

 

[.:b-me:.]

Originally posted by fruitbonbon17
what's so good about it? why wouldn't you just do journo somewhere in sydney?

umm, because, according to people who have lectured at unis, media people and my careers adviser, when people in the media industry have jobs to fill, the first place they look is to charles sturt uni grads.

and that s a pretty good thing, which none of the sydney unis can lay claim to. and since the media industry is hard to get into, this seems to be my best option.

 

[Lou_86]

woohoo!!

 

[bex]

its a highly practicle course, taught by industry professionals who know their stuff. the course has a rep for producing grads who have a balance between practical and theoretical knowledge. we have an on campus radio station, student newspaper publication thingy and now student tv! so there are heaps of opportunities to get practical experience without even leaving the campus!

 

[bex]

i sound like a recruitment brochure...

 

[fruitbonbon17]

do you do this course bex?

 

[jizmiester]

well i'm a first year journo at charles sturt and yes i had the same problem as all of you... last year my uai was high enough to get me into UTS, macquarie, newcastle and wollongong... and i went and talked to the SUB-dean of arts at ALL these uni's. I got the same answer everywhere i went... "nothing beats a charles sturt journalism degree".

I live with 7 other first year journalism students... the person with the highest uai got 99.90 last year (obviously this shows the credibility of the course) the lowest of the 7 got 90.60 last year.

Although that is the beauty of this course, you dont need a massively high uai to get in! They base your entry on *2 essays, *A questionarre and *Past work experience and references. (Im pretty sure they would need to be of a high standard because i know there are only 68 journos this year... and god knows how many wrote essays!)

I've just finished the first semester and its been pretty basic communications stuff (cos all comm students do pretty much the same thing in the first semester - then u start branching out in ur streams later... correct me if im wrong bec)

But one thing that i love about the course so far is its amount of hands on interaction ! Like bec said we've got pretty much everything... student newspapers, student radio shows.... and as of about 3 weeks ago student TV. I like the size of classes and the fact that all my tutors know me on a first name basis....

Okay now i sound like a brochure... the one thing that really makes this course is (NOW I NEED BACKING UP BEC) is the fact that you get to live in BATHURST on campus... and being a Sydney boy i thought i would hate it... but let me just say, you will never have more fun in your life then you will in the uni-bar in one night! The social life is amazing and boys... a little more incentive... the ratio of girls to boys is 7 : 1

this is so weird cos this time last yr i had bec (I mean BEX) talking me into going to CSU for 2004... and im damn glad i listened to her...

 

[fruitbonbon17]

how much past work experience do you need- how important is that aspect?

 

[jizmiester]

bullshitting is always fun! Say you did work for the school paper... etc. It's probably not all that important, although try to get some experience in the media industry, otherwise you wont know what you're getting yourself into!

At first i was really into photography and in yr 11 i worked with a photographer for my local paper... i used that... along with a little bullshit... (just let your employer know that you bullshitted aswell - just in case CSU actually call up!)...

is the 2005 UAC guide out yet???

 

[.:b-me:.]

ah shit! experience....

 

[bex]

hi jez! how good is being on holidays?!?!

everything he said was damn right! i love being in bathurst! im a sydney girl but im slightly more adventurous than most so i was ready to try anything.. theres such a great atmosphere out there.. i mean theres only 3000 students so you get to know each other pretty quickly and recognise faces all the time. it seems that i run into bathurst people almost anywhere! being kinda isolated, the social life is awesome !our uni bar holds bar nights everyth tues and thurs nights and theyre always heaps of fun.. the food is cheap, the alcohol is cheaper.. its an awesome place to be!!!

dont be too worried about previous experience.. i just wrote that i had done a couple of weeks at the northern district times newspaper and then did it in the holidays before school and uni.. any kind of communications experience is cool.. like debating, organising school functions etc etc.. they all count

i still dont know what my career will end up being.. but at least i feel secure knowing that i have a (really) broad knowledge of heaps of different subjects that i can pick and choose from.. csu gives heaps of options..

so yeah.. think about it.. if youre worried about the whole moving away thing, make a booking for a campus tour during term time (they run in hols but in term time is definately better cause you get a real feel for the place), go down to csu and listen to what people there have to say. i really think you wont regret it!!!

 

[bex]

oh yeah the ratio... i guess it depends on what course you do.. mine (commercial radio) is pretty even boys and girls ( i think there are a couple more boys...) but others (ie PR) are really female dominated!

 

[jizmiester]

bec....we should be doing the PR and advertising for CSU - Bathurst!!!

 

[bex]

haha i know! i cant believe we dont get paid! we could have like a roadshow where we go around being propaganda people.. i reckon it could work...

 

[braindrainedAsh]

I go to UTS and do journalism and it's great, but CSU Bathurst also has a really good rep! It would have been my second choice for journo, but because I was coming from the country (Albury) I didn't really want to move to Bathurst because I wanted a taste of city life.

UTS and CSU Bathurst have the best reputations for journalism by a mile.... don't let anywhere like USyd fool you with their talk of "prestige", because UTS and CSU have the most prestige in the media industry.

 

[.:b-me:.]

thanks so much for your help!
yeah, the whole moving to bathurst bit seems a bit..unnerving. don't get me wrong, i can't wait to move away from home, but bathurst is the country...

 

[bex]

yeah its a bit weird at first.. there isnt a lot to do off campus... bathurst has most of the chain stores and has some good little shops... but its not to rural and is pretty big (30 000 people)... it has more pubs per capita than anywhere else in new south wales!

 

[Trigger189]

Wow, sounds awesome... but I really dont think I can move to the country