by Greyson Corley ’23
When deciding what college I wanted to attend I often considered what options would be best to set me on a path of success that I felt was right. I knew that I wanted to do something that involved writing, but I also felt like I would need to do something to sustain that career. I was so in love with reading and all things books, so I felt like a career in publishing was what I wanted to work towards but I never knew where to start when it came to looking for degrees. Knowing that an English degree might not be sufficient enough, I also knew that I was not a business-minded person, so anything to do with a business degree scared me. I happened to remember one day that I saw that Pace University offered a combined degree program for a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Master’s degree in Publishing. This was exactly what I was looking for and it’s what I ended up pursuing.
This past semester was actually my first semester in the program, as you start taking the graduate school classes along with the last of your undergraduate classes when you’re considered a senior. My biggest piece of advice that I could give if you’re looking to go into any combined degree or five-year program is to try and plan everything out as best as possible. I suggest talking to people from the program and your advisors when you’re a sophomore to become acclimated with the process. When I did this I learned that I had to apply for my program when I was a junior. Also, I suggest reaching out and speaking to other people in the program you’re looking at. I thankfully met several people in Honors that walked me through what the process was like for them and what I should start doing to prepare.
The two graduate-level classes that I have taken have been absolutely amazing. I think one of the biggest benefits of being in a combined degree program is the fact that the classes are more specialized to the field that I want to work in. Don’t get me wrong, I love my English classes; I just think it’s beneficial for my future to learn actual information about the Publishing industry and it has actually helped me when it comes to applying this to work I do in internships. In my opinion, the classes are way more involved and application-based, which means that you’re actually using what you discuss in class. One thing that I was worried about was the added stress of taking these classes along with my undergrad classes, but I have not found any problem doing them both at the same time. As I already mentioned, if you’re interested in a program like this don’t hesitate to reach out and ask questions because it can benefit you so much in the long run.