Well, I don’t know what to say anymore. First I wasn’t going to apply to grad school, then I did, then I didn’t want to go, then I did again, then I didn’t want to go again, then I got into Columbia, and yesterday I was ready to commit to going, and now, I’m not so sure anymore. I hate this.
Columbia is great, but the truth is, I do want a job. And I know I’ve been annoying some people (and believe it or not, myself the most) for my lack of decision-making ability in this matter. It’s not easy, that’s for sure — and there are loads of pros/cons.
Right now, I’m sort of at a point where I feel like Columbia would be my next-best option if I wasn’t able to get a job in the Bay Area. Résumé blitz will be happening this week. I think Columbia is great, but I think the NYT’s own (and my journalism professor) Katie Hafner has a point when she says that I’d learn more on the job than from Columbia — she being a Columbia alumna herself.
What is it that excites me about Columbia? Well, it’s in freakin’ New York, which I’ve only spent not even a total of 72 hours in — I’d get to live in Manhattan for a year, and revel in all of its glory. I’d get to go to Columbia and learn from the best j-school profs in the country, if not the world. And, I’d better my skills as a journalist and hopefully become a better writer.
What’s the downside? Well, I want to start working, for one. I feel like I have enough experience writing a solid news story and writing features that I could pull my weight at a small newspaper or even a full-fledged magazine. Could I improve? Sure. Could I learn more? Absolutely. But where would be the better place to do that? On the job, or spending $50k+ for a year? Plus, I love the Bay Area, and I have close friends and family here — and on top of that, this is where all the tech action is. When I think about it, what possibly could draw me to NYC when the major tech magazines are here, Wired, Red Herring, Business 2.0, Salon.com, not to mention the newspapers like the Chronicle, the Merc, and the SF bureau of the illustrious NYT? There’s a reason why their big tech reporters like Katie Hafner and John Markoff are both based out here, not to mention the LAT’s Joseph Menn and Wired/Slate’s Paul Boutin.
I have to decide by May 4.
