Graduate school advice -- journalism, coffee, media, etc?

[metadetroit]

I'm getting excited about the idea of graduate study.

I've been away from actual classes for about 3 years. I've spent the past few months knocking out credits using CLEP tests to finish up my Bachelor's degree.

Under my belt I have 93 credits from B&M schools and 27 through CLEP tests =120.

I'm essentially just deciding which of the big 3 schools to use to obtain my actual degree.

I digress.

I'm eager to get back to actual in-depth studying, as all I've been doing lately is studying enough to pass CLEP tests in rapid-fire fashion (one after the next).

I'm 25 and fairly able to move if I found a truly inspiring graduate program that would allow me to study for free in exchange for academic work.

Distance education is also an attractive option for me and I'm looking at the Online Master's degree in Media Arts and Journalism from Clarion University.
Master of Science

So essentially my options are:

1. Move to go to grad school if I can find a program that will give me a scholarship/stipend in exchange for academic work.

2. Find an affordable distance education program.

3. Attend grad school in either Chicago (where I live) or the Detroit region (where my parents live).

My main interests (in no particular order) for graduate study are :

*Journalism
*Media/new media/web
*Communications
*International relations
*Urban Planning
*Coffee (either commodity buying, agriculture, sociological, etc)
*Law

Thanks so much. Any and all advice is appreciated.

[jnmhorn]

I'm a Broadcast Journalism major, and it is true the media spectrum is changing. New Media/Internet TV is the way to go!

[cookderosa]

I'm getting excited about the idea of graduate study.

I've been away from actual classes for about 3 years. I've spent the past few months knocking out credits using CLEP tests to finish up my Bachelor's degree.

Under my belt I have 93 credits from B&M schools and 27 through CLEP tests =120.

I'm essentially just deciding which of the big 3 schools to use to obtain my actual degree.

I digress.

I'm eager to get back to actual in-depth studying, as all I've been doing lately is studying enough to pass CLEP tests in rapid-fire fashion (one after the next).

I'm 25 and fairly able to move if I found a truly inspiring graduate program that would allow me to study for free in exchange for academic work.

Distance education is also an attractive option for me and I'm looking at the Online Master's degree in Media Arts and Journalism from Clarion University.
Master of Science

So essentially my options are:

1. Move to go to grad school if I can find a program that will give me a scholarship/stipend in exchange for academic work.

2. Find an affordable distance education program.

3. Attend grad school in either Chicago (where I live) or the Detroit region (where my parents live).

My main interests (in no particular order) for graduate study are :

*Journalism
*Media/new media/web
*Communications
*International relations
*Urban Planning
*Coffee (either commodity buying, agriculture, sociological, etc)
*Law

Thanks so much. Any and all advice is appreciated.

>>

Coffee?? REALLY? :willynilly: I'm loving that!

[alleycat]

I'm loving the coffee thing also Jennifer!

[metadetroit]

Yeah, there is so much action going on in the top-tier of coffee right now. I'm particularly interested in the artisan-grown, boutique coffee estates.

Also, coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world, after oil.

[alleycat]

How do you get into coffee? What would you get your Masters in? Boy talking about this makes me want to watch Out of Africa. She had a coffee farm.

[metadetroit]

Haha. Out of Africa.

Well I've been in coffee at the retail level for many, many different coffee companies off and on for better than five years.

Coffee has always been one of my great loves.

Now I work for a company here in Chicago called Intelligentsia. Our company is very serious about coffee quality 'from source to cup'.

We have buyers go all around the world sourcing and fostering the best beans; we also have some of the most dedicated coffee geeks and baristas here in the city preparing those beans.

From what I understand there is not a 'Master of Coffee' degree offered anywhere in the country. But there many be some degrees (like agriculture, international buying/trading, sociological studies, etc.) where I can design part of the degree to be tailored toward the specialty coffee industry.

That's what I'm curious about.