First of all, I am 25 and will begin college fulltime in two months. I am starting out at a community college and will transfer to a university and probably major in journalism.

If I leave college with a B.A. in journalism, what kind of salary should I expect? To work on a newspaper staff is it best to major in journalism? How about minors?

Thank you for your time and honesty. I hope my questions did not expose all of my ignorance.

Gary

A: These are good questions and a lot of people wonder about the same things.

In addition to going to school, you have to work.

Without experience, you will have a very hard time getting started. Experience is even more important than what your major is.

A sound education will give you the fundamentals, but you've got to apply what you've learned by working. Experience may be the most important factor in determining your starting pay, which will likely range from $20,000 to $30,000 -- quite a wide range. Start getting that experience at the student paper and work as many internships as you can.

You need not major in journalism, but the classroom is the best place to learn about things like media ethics, law and economics. You can get some good mileage out of minors that may relate to newspaper beats. There are many. They include political science, finance, criminal justice, education, economics, law and sociology.