Job Description: Medill, a leader in education since 1921, offers programs that combine the enduring skills and values of journalism with new techniques and knowledge that are essential to thrive in today’s digital world. Here, you will join a diverse group of students who are motivated by many ambitions. In journalism, no single size fits all.
Perhaps your goal is to expose wrongdoing through investigative reporting or to give voice to the voiceless. You might aspire to create finely crafted prose or tell stories with interactive tools. Maybe you want to be a beat reporter or a magazine editor. Or maybe you see yourself as a broadcast producer or media entrepreneur. Perhaps your path is still unclear, but—like your Medill classmates—you have a passion for journalistic storytelling, a creative instinct and a commitment to do good in the world.
You can find your niche at Medill.
Our full-time faculty are seasoned professionals with extensive industry experience and contacts. We also draw on Chicago’s journalism community for accomplished adjuncts who have specialized in reporting, photography, videography, non-fiction narrative, magazine editing, web design and more.
A Medill degree is one of the strongest credentials a journalist can possess. You’ll be able to go further and faster in a rapidly changing profession where there is a growing range of opportunities in new and traditional media.
Medill’s 12-month program is divided into four quarters. Students who elect to do a second Capstone project, a fifth quarter in Washington or a Global residency are enrolled for five quarters. Medill enrolls new students at three points during the year: winter, summer and fall.
After an intensive immersion in journalism basics, you can dig into reporting specializations in public affairs, business and economics or health and science. Or, you may prefer to focus on journalism techniques, such as videography/broadcast, interactive publishing or magazine writing, editing and publishing. You'll report from Chicago-area neighborhoods, work in our downtown Chicago newsroom, or perhaps spend a quarter reporting in our Washington, D.C. newsroom. You may even choose to spend an extra quarter on a Global media placement.
All students participate in a capstone project -- either an "innovation project," where they partner with media clients to develop new journalistic products, services and applications, complete with a business plan, or a long-form non-fiction writing or video/audio documentary project.
Jobs and Careers
Employers look to Medill as the pre-eminent source of young journalists who are well-educated in fundamentals, skilled in new techniques and willing and able to take on tough challenges. For information about where Medill graduates are working now, please visit the Careers page on the Medill Web site.
Throughout the year, staff in Medill’s Career Services office provide specialized expertise and resources, including individual career counseling sessions, workshops and access to a robust jobs database. Each quarter, guest lecturers and school-wide speakers generously share their advice on how to take advantage of existing opportunities and how to create your own.
Deadlines:Deadlines and Start Dates
Medill uses a system of "priority" application deadlines. This means that files completed by the priority date go immediately into review, and a decision will be posted in the applicant's secure online account by midnight on the corresponding notification date. Medill reviews late completed applications from outstanding candidates on a space-available basis.
Graduate Journalism program:
Prospective graduate Journalism students may apply to begin the program in the Winter Quarter (January), Summer Quarter (June) or Fall Quarter (September). MSJ applicants apply for their preferred quarter of entry, but may receive an offer of admission for a different quarter due to space limitations. Priority deadlines and their corresponding notification dates are:
Summer Quarter Priority Deadline: January 1; Notification Date : On or before February 15
Fall Quarter Priority Deadline: January 15; Notification Date: On or before March 15
Winter Quarter Priority Deadline: July 1; Notification Date: On or before August 15
Applications for the track for experienced professional journalist within the Master of Science in Journalism program may apply at any time for the next available quarter of entry.
Graduate IMC program:
The graduate IMC program starts in the Fall quarter (September) only. Priority deadlines and their corresponding notification dates are:
Full-Time Program Priority Deadline: January 15; Notification Date: On or before March 15
Part-time Program Priority Deadline: July 1; Notification Date : On or before August 15
