By Elizabeth Jenkins
Many students struggle to decide what to major in. Perhaps students who are not enticed by their general education classes should look into majoring in communications with an emphasis in public relations.
The decision was easy for Liliya Velbovets, a senior majoring in PR.
'I did not have much trouble choosing the major,' she said. 'My dad was a sociologist and my mom was a literature/language professor. I wanted to do both and PR had the best combination of each discipline.'
Velbovets used the skills she learned in the classroom to land an internship.
'This fall I interned with Hager Sharp Communications in Washington, D.C., and absolutely loved my experience,' she said. 'I had a great account executive from whom I learned how to effectively work with nationwide campaigns.'
Some students take naturally to the major while others misunderstand what public relations is all about.
'I think people who are naturally social are great in this field,' said Natalie Mitts, a junior studying public relations. 'You can't be shy and you have to have good communication skills. Being a fast learner and being able to work through problems quickly also helps.'
Dave Schefcik, a senior from Las Vegas and the BYU PRSSA chapter president, said a lot of people don't understand what public relations professionals do.
'Public relations is not advertising and not free publicity,' Schefcik said. 'Public relations is the combination of strategic thinking and action, relationship management and technical ability that enables a person or organization to effectively communicate with the right audiences in order to achieve their missions and promote similar values.'
Michael Smart, a public relations and mass communications graduate from BYU, and media relations manager for BYU, said he knows what it takes to be successful in the field.
'They need a knowledge of written and verbal communications skills and an understanding of the news media combined with an understanding of the business world and how to successfully navigate within organizations.'
Dr. Rob Wakefield, associate professor of communications at BYU, said the number of applicants and the number of those accepted varies each semester.
'Generally speaking, the majority of the students who apply get in,' Wakefield said. 'The numbers sometimes surprise us, but it has not been under 50 percent yet.'
In an effort to accept only the most qualified students into the program, changes are made to the application process every semester.
'We are always looking for the best way to assess the capabilities and the potential of the students coming into the major,' Wakefield said. 'This next semester will be no exception to that. This coming semester they will be focusing more on the applicant's ability to understand how a public relations case unfolds.'
One thing to be aware of, when considering applying to the PR program, is the time lapse from application to acceptance. There are four pre-requisite courses: first-year writing, intro to communications, news writing and intro to public relations. The four courses can easily be taken together in one semester, but there is a 'dead semester' where students awaiting acceptance cannot take communications classes. After acceptance, the program courses can be completed in approximately three semesters.
The next application deadline for acceptance to the public relations major is Jan. 18. Application process information can be found at the Communications Department's Web site, comms.byu.edu.