Advice for J students from OJR

Incoming journalism students should take a science lab course, learn about business and network, according to writer Robert Niles (at right), whose tips appear in Online Journalism Review.

The laboratory science course can implicitly teach the scientific method, which can help aspiring journalists appreciate the goal of being "objective" -- or at least complete, fair and accurate.

Involvement in a business or even a student organization can expose students to the nitty-gritty of dollars and (financial) sense.

And networking extends from access to opportunities to developing sources.

"Without sources, you are a novelist," Niles writes. "(Not that there's anything wrong with that.) Use your non-journalism classes to build your personal network. Publish on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus. Blog. Video blog. Make meeting and conversing with people your addiction. Fail to network responsibly, and all the smarts in the world won't help you succeed."

College pays off: BLS

Buried down in Table 4 of the Bureau of Labor Statistics' report on "usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers" through the second quarter of this year are numbers that can be reassuring or chilling to students, depending on their attitudes toward school.

The Educational Attainment breakdown shows that Americans who've earned a Bachelor's degree earn 63% higher pay than high school graduates on average.

High school only -- $630/week.
Bachelor's degree -- $1,031/week.

The report also has breakdowns based on gender, age and race. See it at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/wkyeng.t04.htm