SJSU Catalog

Journalism and Mass Communications

MS - Mass Communications

Admission Requirements

The school admits students in both fall and spring semesters. Applicants are responsible for obtaining information on admissions criteria and deadlines from the school office.

To be admitted to the program a student must:

1. Complete an application for admission to the university, submit required transcripts and pay the required application fees.

2. Complete a school application, including a 250-500 word essay on the applicant's career objectives.

3. Obtain two letters of recommendation from current or former professors and/or employers who can testify to the candidate's ability to pursue an advanced academic degree. At least one recommendation letter must be from a current or former professor unless the applicant has not taken any courses during the previous five years.

4. Foreign students must score at least 600 on the TOEFL and must demonstrate English proficiency in a written essay.

5. The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is required of all applicants. The GRE score for the verbal, quantitative and analytical sections should be about 1,500; the verbal score should be about 550.

6. Grade point averages are given considerable weight in evaluating applications, but are not the sole criterion. An applicant should have an average of 3.0 or better (3.3 for foreign students) in the last two years of undergraduate study and the undergraduate major. Exceptions may be made for applicants if the candidate has had significant professional experience in the mass media, offers strong letters of recommendation, strong GRE scores or other evidence indicating a potential for success in graduate study. In addition to the school application, letters of recommendation and GRE scores should be sent directly to the graduate coordinator. In addition to sending official transcripts to the university, send unofficial copies of the transcripts to the graduate coordinator.

Requirements for Admission to Classified Standing

Students must meet requirements for admission to the Graduate Division; however, no particular specialization in undergraduate work is required of a candidate.

Requirements for Admission to Conditionally Classified Standing

Applicants who have less than a 550 verbal GRE score but who otherwise have strong records may be admitted, contingent on the completion of three to six units of writing courses in the School as prerequisites to the MS program. Prerequisites (writing and/or statistics courses) will not be included in the 30-unit program.

Requirements for Admission to Candidacy

To be admitted to candidacy for the Master of Science degree, a student must first meet the all-university requirements for the degree as stated in this catalog. The University requires that all graduate students demonstrate competency in written English as a condition for advancement to candidacy. Please refer to the SJSU catalog section titled “Competency in Written English” for details. For graduate courses that meet the competency in written English requirement, please refer to the Graduate Studies and Research website at www.sjsu.edu/gradstudies.

The applicant must demonstrate an aptitude for advanced work in communications, as measured by instructor appraisals, evaluation of previous academic work, recommendations by qualified professionals or other assessments.

The applicant will meet with the graduate coordinator to develop a formal course of study. The M.S. degree-approved program will be individually designed to meet the specific objectives of each student. It will take into consideration the nature of previous undergraduate work and post-graduate work completed, as well as any professional and related occupational experience. The proposed graduate program must be approved by the graduate coordinator before the student may be considered a candidate for the MS - Mass Communications.

Completing Requirements for the M.S. - Mass Communications

Plan A (with Thesis)

Plan A requires successful completion of an acceptable thesis and an oral presentation of the thesis to a faculty/student audience. The thesis proposal must be approved by the graduate committee which will assign three advisers to work with the candidate on the thesis.

Plan B (with Project)

Plan B requires a professionally-oriented project and an oral presentation to a faculty-student audience. The professional quality project can take a variety of forms - a series of newspaper or magazine articles, a radio or television documentary, a photo essay, an advertising or public relations campaign, surveys, etc. A project proposal must be approved by the graduate committee. When the proposal is approved, the graduate coordinator will assign two advisors to work with the candidate throughout the project. Presentation of the product must be in a form suitable for library storage.

Plan C (Comprehensive Papers)

This option requires taking an additional graduate elective in the School and completing three units of MCOM 298 by researching and writing two 30-40 page comprehensive exam papers: one in media communications and one in the candidate's specialty area.

Course Requirements
Required Courses			21
Plan A (Thesis)		21
MCOM 210, MCOM 290, MCOM 295 and MCOM 299 (15); Complete two of: MCOM 240, MCOM 250, MCOM 260, MCOM 270, MCOM 280, or other graduate electives (6)
Plan B (Project)		21
MCOM 210, MCOM 290, MCOM 295 and MCOM 298 (15); Complete two of: MCOM 240, MCOM 250, MCOM 260, MCOM 270, MCOM 280, or other graduate electives (6)
Electives			9
Courses at 100- or 200-level in the school or other departments, related to the candidate's career objective, chosen with the coordinator's approval.
Total Units:			30

MCOM 210 is required only for those students without experience or an undergraduate degree in a related field. The course is also required of all international students. If not required then course can be taken as an elective and three electives would then be required.