Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Which Are The Best Colleges To Study Advertising?

Posted by Anonymous on 2/21/2008 at 7:20 PM ET 250 Points
I'm an ambitious junior in High School who is extremely interested in advertising as a college major and future career. However, I looked up the average income and found it to be around $88,000 with which I'm rather dissatisfied. I seek a high paying career that will allow for my creative, leadership, and innovative skills to be sharpened. I'm talking $250k and upwards. Is that unrealistic? Should I seek a different career path? If not, what undergraduate universities are most apt to suit my advertising needs? Also, should I look into a graduate school for after college?
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  • Posted by CarolBlaha on 2/21/2008 at 7:53 PM Accepted
    You looked up "average" salary-- so are you content with being average? Tell me that big ad agency principals don't have 7 fig salaries.

    With only an associates degree (I went after my BA/MBA late in life)-- and a lot of moxy -- I made well over the number you stated. I know many people with less education in that pay range. Don't count on a degree to make it happen. A degree is important but an inanimate thing. You make it happen. Its like when people tell me their product doesn't "sell"-- hello?? Products don't sell YOU SELL.

    Google CEO's without any college degrees-- I am not recommending this path. But I dated one and damn-- that was a make it happen man.

    Here is my advice-- compensation rises with the amount of risk and stress you are willing to take. Risk does not mean spending someone else's money-- it means putting yourself on the line and stepping out of your comfort zone. Remember that gal who used to work for Trump on his TV show? She wanted him to give her a chance-- and went to work for him for zero. She put herself on the line. Do you think she'd have had a chance if she went thru the HR dept?

    I know of plenty of MBA's working in retail for minimun wage. I talked recently at my hardware store-- to a lawyer who told me building a practice is just too hard-- as he clut my blinds.

    Education can open doors-- but the door will shut to you if you don't perform and fly open to someone with a track record of performance.

    Never forget-- you are a profit center to your company. Do not lose sight of that vision. Make them money and you will be compensated accordingly.

    If advertising is what you would like to do-- get involved in practical projects. Then, when you market yourself to a potential employer you have proven yourself already as a self starter. That is what set me apart when I started out. I started as an intern (I remember well that $90/week paycheck-- $67.66 take home pay!) But within 3 months I was in charge of the department and 11 people.

    Its 30 years later and I won't tell you its all rosey. I still have to fight for my clients and somedays I want to run away and just bag groceries. Then things calm down and the cheque comes in. Proving yourself is a journey not a destination. I grew up in sales with the constant reminder "you're as good as your last 30 days".

    You will have to "pay your dues", and earn the right to more responsibility and compensation. This fact is universal no matter what field or degree you are in.

    Its up to you to decide to settle for average-- to survive or thrive.

    Carol
    Sell Well and Prosper tm
  • Posted on 2/21/2008 at 8:02 PM Member
    I was like you. My interest was advertising and marketing. But I was not for having a job in an agency. In fact, I was not able to get hired. Thank God! I then choose to be an entrepreneur, and use my advertising and marketing know-how to build my own businesses, with unlimited income potential. You might want to read my book. https://www.nmoa.org/DirectMarketingToolkit/
  • Posted on 2/21/2008 at 8:32 PM Author
    Thank you guys so much. You have some great advice. Firstly, David I completely agree with your comment about pursuing what I love. And honestly I wish I wanted to be a doctor, dentist, lawyer, or one of those "dryer", yet super stable jobs... but i don't. I have a real passion for advertisement or at least what i have seen of it. This industry seems to fit me perfectly. I have been told by many of my peers and mentors that this path seems to suit me like a glove. In my research I have found that account planners are the few and the proud right now, and that if one can get into that field they will be in the highest demand... and this seems to be the arena I am most interested in. I am organized to an obsessive extent, yet appreciate necessary chaos in order to integrate my creative skills with my "get it done" skills. I also feel strong in my writing and artistic visionary skills.
    And CarolBlaha thank you for your in depth response. It is encouraging to hear the possibilities made available in the field of advertising. I didnt mean to sound mediocre, I was just seeking an idea of what an income might be and 88k just seemed a little too low, even for an average. But i am very much with you. I want above all else to excel; in fact I am sort of a perfectionist. I am very ambitious and ecstatic about my future career and will never settle for anything less than my best. And though a degree may be only just that, I am still looking for a direction to head in, a university with programs that will sharpen my skills in the advertising arena so that I might live up to my potential... surely not any school will meet my needs. What would you suggest? If possible I would enjoy the west coast/ LA atmosphere over that of New York.
    Finally, Schulte I appreciate your alternative advice. However, I do feel inclined to head in the corporate direction at first... possibly branching into entrepreneurship later in life.

    Thank you all! Please give me some more advice... I'll take anything i can get!
  • Posted by sl/fc on 2/21/2008 at 9:03 PM Member
    in my opinion, school will teach you only a portion of what you will need in a real world. Advertising is understanding what makes people tick. You don't learn that in advertising school. you learn that from reading, talking to people, walking the streets, asking and digesting history, any history - the bowery to wall street. Understanding any subject matter in depth and applying that in advertising would be my suggestion. pick an arena other than advertising (that you would love) and combine it with marketing/advertising. You may find something there. good luck

    20 years in PR world, i have hired only 1 mass comm major. The rest were social science majors; psychology, political science, anthoropology, etc. They understood people, the culture and what made people do what they do.
  • Posted on 2/21/2008 at 9:43 PM Author
    Thanks, Sven Lee. That's something to consider. But do you not feel that the university is at least of some relevance? I am striving for all I can get here and I have worked my butt off throughout high school to build an impressive resume and gpa, and I am in the process of obtaining an excellent SAT/ACT score. I feel that the school I attend should reflect my academic agenda, which can only reinforce my experience. I need something to strive for and I want to be set apart from the growing breed of advertisers in the nation. Surely, interaction and tons of hands on learning is imperative, but if i can get into a great advertising school, why not go there? Thus my question is: What universities boast the top advertising programs in the nation?
  • Posted by Levon on 2/22/2008 at 12:38 PM Member
    250k per year at an Ad Agency is highly unlikely unless you own the agency. All working at an agency will provide for you is agency experience. Agency experience is good though, especially if you plan to start-up your own company.
  • Posted on 2/26/2008 at 2:02 PM Member
    I am an undergrad marketing student in my third year. I never did it for the money but I am sure I will worry about as I am cluing up my degree. But right now, the payoff of being able to use my creativity in my job is salary enough. You should want to do it because you love it - not because of the pay. From the limited experience I have had in my work terms, marketing is a very fast-paced, demanding field and you have got to want it if you're going to stick around.

    I advise you to work your butt off. For my first year I just focused on my studies, I did well but wasn't getting the internships I wanted. Then I joined SIFE (go to sife.org, they have chapters all across the world) and quickly amped up my resume with tons of relevant marketing - related volunteer work. Also, check out your local not for profit organizations, they can normally always use some marketing help! And READ READ READ; magazines, books, blogs, storyboards, stay up on trends!

    I agree that much of what you learn will come from outside of your degree but that piece of paper will get you in the door of some of the largest corporations in the world BUT your mind and passion is what will keep you there!

    PS: To do an MBA, most institutions require you to have at least 2 years work experience.
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