DI Alford story

[tm3308]

Based on what you are looking for the Des Moines gig wouldn't be bad at all. The Des Moines area is not as bad as you may think, you mention you live in Des Moines to other people and they cringe, for a young 20 something dude it is not ideal, but you can make it work.

I figure that if I end up working in Des Moines, I'd look to find a place to live in someplace like Indianola or Carlisle. Short commute with cheaper cost of living.

 

[trj]

I figure that if I end up working in Des Moines, I'd look to find a place to live in someplace like Indianola or Carlisle. Short commute with cheaper cost of living.

Adel, Norwalk, Grimes, you would have plenty of options.

 

[tm3308]

They are dying for the same reason the telegraph, 8 Track Tape, analog TV, and CDs died. We don't need somebody to try to make them survive. We need someone to come up with a better alternative.

IMO, small-town/county newspapers are essential. You're not going to find too much relevant news for places like Corydon, Chariton, etc. in the Register.

 

[1hawkeye1]

I really am not sure I want to go to a bigger paper; I'm a small town kid at heart. Even Iowa City, after living here for 5 years, is not really for me. So taking over and running a small town paper, hell maybe even in Corydon, would be fine with me. I love covering high school sports, and ran myself ragged driving home every Friday night this fall to cover Wayne's games on my own time and dime.

The only thing I think I would miss in a really small town are the in-depth profiles that I can write at the DI. In a town like Corydon, there really isn't a lot you can say about a kid that everybody doesn't already know. But those stories are a blast to write, and I'm not sure I want to go through the daily grind of covering high-profile sports for the rest of my life.

Can you make a living doing this?

 

[tm3308]

You would be surprised how much certain programs hand out for people who are in the 85th+ percentile of the GMAT, GRE, LSAT, etc. It might be worth investing a few hundred bucks in the study materials and taking the test to see what you score at some point in the next 2-3 years. If you actually study, your chances are good.

One of my roommates at Iowa was a ~3.0GPA without many extra-curriculars in college, but he scored highly on the GMAT a few months ago and has been offered a full ride with the MBA programs at Iowa, Wisconsin and some others. He hasn't heard back from everyone yet. The point is, you won't know until you try.

I also don't need it, though. The only reason I'd want to go beyond my bachelor's is if I wanted to teach. But I'm definitely not interested in that. I want to produce content, plain and simple.

Plus, my GPA is several steps below 3.0 lol.