Since this is my senior year, I thought I'd take a look at some of the things I didn't know to expect when I first became an advertising major at Marshall University, so I can hopefully let future ad majors know what's ahead of them.
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1. You'll be spending A LOT of time with Adobe products
Whether you're working on the infamous cannon and building assignments from JMC 241 or drawing up a flyer based on the information in the JMC 383 syllabus, you'll get plenty of experience with Adobe Illustrator as well as InDesign and Photoshop. Pay attention, because they're useful skills to have!
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2. Your senior year will be spent stressing out about the advertising campaigns class
The advertising campaigns class is the capstone of the advertising class and as such, it is a culmination of everything you've done as an ad major. In the class, you work with a real company to come up with a campaign to enter in the National Student Advertising Competition in the spring. It's stressful but fun and it's great to put on your resume.
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3. Trying to get people to come to focus groups or let you interview them is the worst
Qualitative research is an important part of the advertising industry, so expect to have to put together focus groups and conduct interviews when you're working on projects for class. The problem lies in how difficult it can be to pick a date and time for the focus group that fits with the participants' schedules and how some people tend to shy away from interviews. Pro tip: food is a great way to get more participants
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4. You will talk about search engine optimization constantly
SEO, or search engine optimization, is essential to online advertising and website building. Expect to hear about it in multiple classes, especially if they have anything to do with the world wide web.
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5. Hootsuite will become your worst enemy
The Hootsuite platform certification is one of the most boring things I've ever had to do for a class. Going through the courses for the certification takes forever and the test can be tough because they have a seemingly endless number of owl puns for their various features. Trust me, you'd get tired of reading the word 'hootlet' too.
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6. You get to listen to podcasts in class
I became an advertising major at the end of my freshman year, so I didn't get to take any JMC classes until my sophomore year. In one of my first JMC classes, the professor loved podcasts and we got to listen to some in class. If you like Serial and This American Life, take Professor Sias. Thank me later.
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7. Internships can actually be fun
When I first signed up to be an ad major, I didn't even know I had to have 300 internship hours to graduate. Leading up to my internship this past summer, I was nervous and I definitely didn't want to do it, but ultimately I had a great time. I worked at a small car dealership, managing their inventory on social media and I got to create a website for them. Having an interest in the field you're working in leads to getting more enjoyment from the work.
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8. The professors truly care about you and want you to succeed
I'm sure we've all heard horror stories about how brutal college professors are (especially if you ask any high school teacher), but the professors in the W. Page Pitt School of Journalism and Mass Communications are some of the nicest people I know. They all show an interest in their students and actually want them to succeed, so you won't be hearing any horror stories about these professors.
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9. You will be working on multiple projects/big assignments at one time
Many JMC classes involve working with real-world clients and producing actual content for them because real-world experience is some of the best you can get. Although it can be exhausting to have big projects in multiple classes, it's rewarding to be able to walk away with tons of experience and the satisfaction of knowing that your work could be used by the client.
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10. You'll graduate with knowledge about nearly every part of the advertising industry
Coming into the ad program at Marshall, I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting into (or what I even wanted to do in advertising), but I knew I'd figure it out along the way. Fortunately, it's a multi-discipline program that will have you working with everything from creative and research to account planning and media buying. Marshall makes it easy to find out what you're interested in, and more importantly, what you're not interested in when it comes to the advertising industry.
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11. Other ad majors feel like part of the family
There aren't many advertising majors here at Marshall, so the few of us that are in the program are a tight-knit group. We all take the same classes, so we often have to collaborate and look out for one another. Building friends for like, especially those in your industry, is one of the most rewarding parts of being an ad major at Marshall.
