To become a competent magazine writer you have to develop the ability to write professional-quality copy within the required time frame, whether daily, weekly, monthly or other. You have GOT to be computer-literate in publishing programs.

I am an over-the-hill journalist, but I can tell you this much: none of the bosses I worked for in more than 20 years in journalism had degrees in journalism, and veterans in the reporting/editing profession at that time usually had degrees in something else, didn’t finish college, or didn’t go to college at all.

Interestingly, during those 20 years the bosses all began to require that job applicants have college degrees, not necessarily in Journalism or English. That was a long time ago, and since then the education requirements for entry level workers in all jobs have increased. But computer literacy including knowledge of page layout programs is vital– probably more important than a journalism degree. It’s included in most journalism degree programs now. But in my case, staying abreast of business and tax software would pay off better financially than continuing education in newspaper software.

My first job out of journalism school was with “Farmer-Stockman”, a regional farm magazine, but I was the only staff member then (in 1967) who had a journalism degree and had not had previous newspaper experience. Adapting was very stressful, but the first job is always stressful. The others on the staff included some with college degrees, and some who had learned on the job. I did not find journalism school to be any preparation at all for the real world of writing for publication, but it seems that a college degree of some sort is an entry-level requirement of most major publications now.

I am retired from journalism and am moving into a second career. But if I were a personnel director for a magazine publishing company, I would prefer candidates with either a degree or some newspaper experience. In choosing a degree-holding applicants for a public affairs reporter or editor, I would prefer a candidate with the proverbially “useless” degree in political science, history, or a related social studies field to a journalism graduate. If I were hiring an advertising director or an account executive, I would prefer someone with an education in marketing or a related field. An accounting graduate would be great, but better opportunities than that normally await accounting majors. To cover education issues, I would prefer a former educator if available.

In the nuts-and-bolts publishing world, all new employees have things to learn about the demands of a reporting or editing job, and I have observed that the learning curve of a bright high school graduate with some work experience is equal to and some times higher than that of a new degree-holder with no work experience.

The most outstanding editor we ever had in out small-town newspaper group– including myself, then in my mid-thirties– was a brilliant high school student filling in as editor of his home-town newspaper part-time one summer. Last I heard he was assistant attorney general of a large midwestern state. He made NO factual errors! I have never met another journalist who could claim that. He also didn’t make the error of staying in journalism.

My earnings doubled in the 10 years I was out of journalism, were cut into half upon re-entering, and, now that I have changed careers again, they are about to more than double again. And my new career is as certified teacher, a proverbially underpaid profession.

Dedication won’t always make the rent and the groceries, but I have found a good deal of satisfaction in my three careers thus far, journalism, private business, and teaching, each now spanning more than 10 years of my life..

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As an English major, I can honestly tell you that you can’t go wrong with it since most jobs that adversite for newspapers or magazine editors want an English degree. I would suggest you finish Graphic Design, personally…just b/c I’m not one to like to leave things unfinished. I’m sure you’ve invested lots of time and money in it. Also, the experience you earn in GD may come in handy when working on layouts for magazines. I’m a woman of many hats, and although completely unrelated, there are no jobs from which I have not learned something vital that helps get me through the next job. I would also suggest that you do pursue your passion for writing. You’ll do plenty of writing in college. Choose writing classes. You may be able to major in something related to English that allows you to write more. Try getting a job with the school paper just to get some Journalism experience on your resume. You will never come into a job knowing what to expect unless you’ve done the exact same thing before, so don’t worry about the experience being relevant or not. Best of luck

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If you want to do non-fiction Journalism. If you anticipate becoming and Editor or going into Fiction, maybe English would be better.

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Haven’t thought about that

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