dcu or ballyfermot for media

jay dubya

hi, i was just wondering if anyone has any info on the higher diploma courses, such as media or print journalism, and how they compare in comparison to degrees offered in places like dcu. any information u guys have would be greatly appreciated on ballyfermots media/journalism courses. thanks

GTE

I didnt do the course you mentioned however the higher national diplomas are positioned below degrees on the framework of things.

I used my HND from Bally as a stepping stone to a degree in the UK. The HND let me skip a year or two (depending where you go) of the degree course so it works out more or less the same time as a full degree in the Republic.

If the BCFE course you are interested in gets great reviews and is an experience you wont get anywhere else I would seriously consider using the BCFE course as a stepping stone to degree courses. Best of both worlds.

However, the way Ireland works is stupid so there is little chance of finding a Republic of Ire. course that lets you skip a year or two with your hard earned HND. It only really works in the UK colleges since the HND is a British qualification.

Internationally BTEC (who do the HND's. The full title is a BTEC HND in something or other) is renowned as being very good at providing practical qualifications and even being equal to degree's in terms of what you learn although technically they are placed below. I would certainly be of the opinion that having the HND as well as a degree would be in your favour.

It will be down to you now though to do the research to see how good the course is, whether or not you want to link into a degree course after the HND and if you do decide to do that where can you actually do it and where is the best place to link too.

Hope it helps

2myless

I went to DCU straight out of school to do Communications. Absolutely loved the course but found I was qualified for nothing. A few years later I ended up back in college - this time in Ballyfermot doing the HND in Television. Several of the HND's allow you to apply for a degree in media studies that took another year.
Personally I recommend Ballyfermot but it does depend on what you want to do afterwards. It's much more practical and geared towards getting you employed, but you can get a degree if that's what you decide is important to you. Good luck!

jay dubya

thanks for the advice. personally i dont mind what i have as long as i can get a job. id love to work in either print or radio journalism, i looked into it and it turns out the extra one year degree is actually awarded by dcu! would you guys with experience recommend these courses, and also what are the feelings of employers towards ballyfermot?

docdolittle

jay dubya wrote: »

thanks for the advice. personally i dont mind what i have as long as i can get a job. id love to work in either print or radio journalism, i looked into it and it turns out the extra one year degree is actually awarded by dcu! would you guys with experience recommend these courses, and also what are the feelings of employers towards ballyfermot?

Well that would be the Media Production Management Ba(Hons) You're going for wouldn't it...?

That course is fairly hard to get into, you have to have fairly high grades in your HND and do well in the interview. However, if you go straight into a HND, then onto the Ba(Hons), You get the Ba(Hons) a year faster than you would of in DCU.

It really depends on what route you want to go down yourself..

Oh, Ballyfermot is a respected enough college, especially within animation and art, not too sure about print or radio, I assume it is, fair few alumni mentioned in those fields here

jay dubya

thanks for all the advice guys. oh yeah one more question, i was looking at the entry requirements and you have to present a portfolio and an interview. do any of you guys know what kind of things they would be looking out for in these?

Lollipops23

I did the HND in print journalism and then went on to do the degree in Media Production Management.

For the interview for the HND I had a small portfolio of work-stuff I'd had published locally etc. However,if you've nothing published,don't despair!Just do some reviews of new CDs, films or books. Maybe even an essay to show create writing skills. That's really all they look for,just so they can see that A)you've a bit of potential and B)you took the interview seriosusly enough to prepare for.

You'll be fine, a girl in my class didn't even have a junior cert behind her,she got in on sheer talent and dedication.

Regarding the degree-it's very tough and intense. You need decent grades from the HND and the interview was quite rough (the late Walter Hammond interviewed me for it just 2 weeks before he passed away, RIP). But with committment and hard graft you'll do fine.

jay dubya

okay thanks well heres what i have so far....

• 5 school newspapers i edited and wrote for
• 1 newspaper we published at a 3 week journalism class (ctyi) i wrote articles, features, reviews and was features editor
• 1 interview i nearly conducted with a minister
• about 3 book reviews
• about 3 film reviews
• a few feature articles
• 2 short stories (creative writing)

do you guys think this is enough? thanks

soc160

docdolittle wrote: »

Oh, Ballyfermot is a respected enough college, especially within animation and art, not too sure about print or radio, I assume it is, fair few alumni mentioned in those fields here

The college is probably the most respected in Radio terms, theres a huge turnover of students who go into the radio industry.

InkNut

OP I'm interested to hear which course you opted for in the end?

I'm going into 2nd year communications in DCU myself, absolutely love the course and am specialising in radio production for the next 2 years. As far as employability goes, its all down to how much you're willing to work in the extra curricular fields such as The College View newspaper, DCUfm radio station(which goes for the whole academic year) DCU tv, and the media production society. This is where you'll get real hands on experience, you can do all the practical course work in the world but theres no substitute for proper experience and these are all brilliant media outlets.
Radio production is taught to a superbly high standard in communications by Marie Louise O' Donnell, she's very tough but she'll literally drag you up to her high standards and won't accept anything less. You'll see her regularly on the panel for Vincent Browne and she's always on TV3's midday show panel. An absolute nutter of a woman but like they say the brilliant ones are always crazy ha. Its also no coincidence that theres no shortage of students going into radio after the course. Alot of students have gone straight on to be news readers in Newstalk, and as producers and researchers in a number of bigger commercial and indeed smaller stations.
To be honest if a student specialises in radio production for 2nd and 3rd year they get alot more out of it than the students who specialise in video production, as group work in video is done in groups as large as 7 - 8 students whereas in radio its roughly 2-3 and alot work is done alone. You get alot more out of radio in terms of scripting, drama, documentaries, comedy etc.

A previous poster said you can get the HND and degree in Ballyfermot quicker in 3 years. The Ba(Hons) in communications is 3 years itself. I realise Ballyfermots courses are very practical. I respect that alot. Universities usually tend to split their focus on 50% practical and 50% academic theory, which believe me is completely necessary as you can have all the practical training in the world but its useless unless you understand the theory of it how it works with regards to society and the world of communications itself.

Personally I love communications in DCU, and I think I'd love the Ballyfermot courses too. However, I love being in a big institution with so many different people and cultures. Then of course theres the college bar with €3 pints all the time:D And I also love the fact that people like Laura Whitmore, Tommy Tiernan and Ardal O' Hanlon(father dougal) amongst many many others have done my course. Really makes you feel like anything is possible with the degree.

At the end of the day a degree is still a degree whether it comes from a university or a smaller more intimate institution. I'd imagine you've already made your decision by now and are either setlling in at Ballyfermot or preparing for life at DCU.

Hope this helps anyone with the same dilemma in future who are unsure what media course to go for.

Good luck with your studies:)

blueboy123

I did the print journalism course and have to say i loved it. Majority of the subjects are continuous assessment which is pretty handy. If you put the work in, you'll do well.

Have been told by loads in the industry that they often prefer grads from bcfe rather than dcu because the bcfe course is very much practically based, rather than theory, tho you still do theory based subjects. In saying that tho, its often the stuff you do outside college that helps with a career, get experience working with different publications, whether print, online etc. You more that likely wont get paid but could get valuable experience and get spotted.

The media building and facilities there is pretty good for the size of the place, with computers etc. College newspaper is always good, and we won an award at the student media awards.

Declan Power is the main man in charge of the course, and he is a complete legend. Very tough but very fair to anyone who puts in the effort. He's very much the type who tells it like it is, and will have a go at people who dont work.

Overall loved the course and would recommend it to anybody.