Alumni Tips: "How to Survive J-school" These are tips from alumni and are NOT sanctioned by the administration. Many of them contradict each other, many are duplicative.They are for your information only. No responsibility is taken by this site of the school if you follow any of these tips. The latest ones will be added to the top. Check last updated time to see if anything new has been added.   Last updated: Aug. 16, 2002 at 1:09 p.m. Check the yaya bulletin: http://www.youthlink.org/yaya/ For weekly non-day book events that often yield good stories/ledes. Definitely take some time off for yourself, at least an hour a semester. Start writing your Master's Project early. Go to the bathroom every chance you have - or you might end up stranded in the middle of REd Hook with no McDonald's in sight. Go to every event the Career Office holds, even if you aren't sure how that event can help you. It will. Don't leave your cellphone on in class. Set it to vibrate. Let voicemail pick up. If it rings in front of Klatell, you are in SERIOUS trouble. - - - - Last updated: Aug 15 Don't expect your professors to sell your stories. Work the contacts they give you. Even if you are print, take a radio or broadcast class because you never know when the skills will come in handy. Get out and really see New York Learn to make a Web page. Keep your Metrocard well stocked. Get some exercise at least twice a week. Listen to WNYC ever morning before coming into school. The supercheap giant Koronet Pizza slices are the best overall food value (though not nutrition value). The correct pronunciation of Pulitzer: "Pull-it-sir" and not "Pew-lit-sir." In your class there will be at least one student who seems to know exactlywhat he or she is doing. That student will have a breakdown before the first Master's deadline. Don't feel guilty about taking Friday night off--go to Happy Hour and keep unwinding thereafter. Read Medianews.org EVERY DAY - easiest way to keep up with the media world. If you commute from an outer borough, and pull all-nighters at the school, the showers at the Columbia gym are a godsend. To use them, you must first get a gym sticker on your ID card. The swimming pool and running track at the gym may also help you stay sane. Your Columbia ID will get you into many of the city's museums for free. Most or all museums stay open late one evening per week. The National Museum of the American Indian, an under-publicized resource in a gorgeous building, always has free admission. Be very kind and courteous to the staff in the equipment room. They have the power to make you very happy, or ruin your life. Be religious about writing down the names and numbers of your contacts in an address book that you must never lose. The best thing about being at Columbia is being in New York City. Go out and have fun every opportunity you get. It's only school, after all. Schedule your time more carefully than you ever have. My chief obstacle to success at Columbia was not having budgeted adequate time to report & write my stories. Overcoming this was probably the most difficult lesson I learned in the J-school. Be prepared to work harder than you ever have. The students whose work I admired most were not more gifted or talented than me--they just worked harder. 3) If you feel like you're going to lose it, use the student counseling services in Alfred Lerner Hall. They're good & they're confidential. Cultivate a good relationship with either your Master's Advisor or another J-School faculty member. It may sound corny, but it really does make a difference in getting through the program. Do NOT worry if you hate RW1. Spring semester is a hundred times better. Spoil yourself with a meal at Tomo (excellent Japanese food) once in a while. Walk everywhere. If you don't already know how to drive, learn. The first job you are offered probably won't be in NYC. Collect business cards from any guests you might be interested in working for. Send them thank you notes and contact them before graduation. Start job hunting early. Save all work done in the radio lab on a disk so you can rework it for your reel. Even though most work isn't being published this may be all you have to show potential employers. Make it your absolute best. it's okay to be a basketcase and feel umotivated if you're having a difficult time writing, drink vodka....it burns clean. wine will turn your brain to cement. if you're not married or in a committed relationship, find yourself a j-school fling and last but not least trust your instinct. Don't let other students' angst affect you...someone is always stressing about something whether it's the law exam, the thesis subject, the actual thesis, getting a job, obtaining honors...the list goes on. Get to know other students... this is the best way to 1) survive j-school, 2) find future jobs and 3) stay abreast of the ever changing media world. Start finding out about spring courses early on, ie in late October/November. Read last year's evaluations and remember that only signed evaluations make it into those folder (the really bad evaluations aren't usually signed, so they don't make it in). Read between the lines, talk to professors whose courses interest you. Don't forget about the option of doing an elective outside the j-school. everyone who did this in my year really benefitted. Read a poem a night before you go to sleep! (If you're in broadcast, read it out loud to yourself.) Fall semester is a joke compared to spring. Be prepared to bust your butt. Always carry a snack. You won't always have time to eat lunch (and really, how much Pinnacle and Nussbaum can one person eat) Always, always, always wear comfortable shoes. Comfort rules over cuteness when you have to lug camera equpiment or chase down a source. No matter what you might think, if you do a video master's, forget about spring break. You'll be spending it sleeping, eating and not bathing in the editing suites. Finally, it's a bad thing to miss air in nightly news. Trust me. Move near campus. I was living in Brooklyn, thought it would be a pain to move, and commuted for the year. But I would have saved time overall: time I could have used for reporting, sleeping, and socializing near the J-school. It would have improved my entire student experience. Take a stress management course early in the year. You will need it. It is okay to bitch to other students when you are feeling stressed. They feel the same way. Fret not about the job hunt. Everyone gets employed sooner or later. Wake up every morning and tell yourself that you are God's gift to journalism. do not meausure your success/progress by what other people are doing/achieving. socialize in school and out; schmoozing at magazine industry parties helps get your foot in the door. keep in touch with your classmates and profs. give 120% to your master's project (which you should begin early). it pays off. just because you're in graduate school does not excuse you from asking questions when you don't understand. look cute -- there IS a best dressed award. It may seem like you have negative extra time, but take some time every week to think about where you can freelance your RW1 pieces, especially in the small neighborhood papers. You're digging up some great stories, and they deserve to be read. Get to know Dodge Fitness Center, and as busy as you might be, use it. It'll buy you energy and rally your internal troops beyond belief. Read, read, read. Find out what your classmates are reading in their magazine classes, get the reading list from Sam Freedman's book class, read a few different papers, etc. You'll find that you start to recognize good writing and what makes an excellent story. Plus, you'll appreciate how difficult it is to write a clear lede about a complicated issue, because you've had to do it in your drills. This is your year to learn, so immerse yourself in as much good writing as possible; yours will undoubtedly improve. When it comes time to start sending out resumes, get to know Arlene Morgan--a hidden gem on the 7th floor (and see her tips). When RW1 professors ask for volunteers to cover breaking news or take on an extra assignment, always TAKE IT, no matter what kind of excuses/schedule conflicts are running through your mind; it's a priceless experience and even if your story isn't award-winning, this may be your last chance to fail and not have to deal with catastrophic consequences. Never get on the subway without plenty of reading material; you never know when you'll be stuck or have to wait for a meeting/interview. After all those late-night visits to the vending machines, don't forget to visit Columbia Dental on Amsterdam for that 6-month cleaning; at $20 (with CU insurance), your teeth are worth it. Socialize. Socialize. Socialize. Realize that you will remember your ex-classmates better than your law exam and act accordingly. Read the paper(s). Every day. Do not, I stress, DO NOT wait to get started on the master's project. Make more of an effort to foster social, professional and accademic interaction between other African-American students both in the J-school and other Columbia schools. Apply for the summer internships with deadlines in the fall semester. No one else will be thinking that far ahead, so competition isn't as tight. Never be afraid to go up to reporters and writers to tell them you are a fan of their work -- even if that's all you have to say. Embrace the opportunity to get such close attention from an editor. You will never get it again. Go to Happy Hour. Go to parties. Go to SPJ events. Try a new food every week. Get to know the deans. Don't hog the mike in Critical Issues. If you are a full timer, befriend part-time students. Read papers other than The New York Times occasionally. Freelance, freelance, freelance. Carole Agus always said to tend to your own garden...you'll go insane if you worry too much about the success of others instead of working on improving your own craft. Set two or three goals for yourself, and dedicate yourself to them. You'll get more out of the year that way than if you spread yourself thin by trying to do everything well and be all things to all people. Also, make friends outside of J-school. (That was a lifesaver for me.) Get to know your professors outside of class. Most of them have great stories to share. Remember when dealing with the school that you are an adult who has paid thousands of dollars in tuition. What the administration does affects the value of your degree and your reputation as a graduate. If you're not happy with the quality of what you're getting, ask for and expect a solution. Start writing as soon as you have at least one source. You can get the rest later, but you'll save yourself from overreporting. Food: Toast (sandwiches, dinner, beer) and Mi Mexico (figure it out). Both have inexpensive and excellent food, on Broadway just past south of 125th Do everything you can to get clips. Make a deal with an editor you know, your hometown paper, whatever. They'll be glad to get copy for cheap or free; for you the clips will make the difference in the job search.