Should journalists go to journalism school? Does “J-school” mean majoring in journalism in college, or going to a graduate journalism program, or both? Maybe these questions shouldn’t be that confusing, but when Marlee Baldridge, Nieman Lab’s 2018 Google News Initiative Fellow, started working on a batch of stories about journalism school, we discovered that even within the Nieman Lab team there was disagreement on what J-school actually is. And four of us graduated from colleges that don’t offer journalism as a major. We were clearly not the experts on this. So we went to our readers with a (highly nonscientific) Twitter poll.

POLL: Did you: (1) Major in journalism in college, (2) attend journalism school at the graduate level, (3) do both, (4) do neither?

What advice were you given about getting into journalism? Were you made to feel you had to major in journalism, to work in journalism? Tweet at us!

— Nieman Lab (@NiemanLab) August 1, 2018

As of Thursday morning, nearly 1,000 people had voted and were roughly evenly split between majoring in journalism in undergrad (37 percent) and not attending any kind of J-school at all (39 percent). Fifteen percent of respondents attended a journalism graduate school program. The poll is still open.

We also asked readers to share their experiences, and many are below. One thing is clear: People are told all different kinds of things, but there’s no one right answer.

I was told that it was more important to secure internships and be a generally curious person, and that J school wasn’t really necessary. Also, I wanted a liberal arts background and after that, just didn’t want to go back to school.

— Allison Eck (@allisonceck) August 2, 2018

D, neither, I worked at my school paper and had my own radio show at my university where I hosted and produced a weekly broadcast @aaja conference in SF was filled with mentors that made me realize I could make this my career without a j degree, so I stuck it out.

— Benjamin Pu (@benjamin_pu) August 1, 2018

y'all can find data on this in our news nerd survey results too: https://t.co/M3zw0282Z5

you can download data at the bottom of the table of contents too.

the fact the majority of respondents have neither a CS or journalism degree is one of my favorite data points.

— erika owens (@erika_owens) August 1, 2018

I’m a sophomore @scrippscollege majoring in history. I feel like I’m preparing myself just as well for a career in journalism as my peers at journalism school. I’m managing editor @TSLnews, work for @Courier91711 during the school year and currently intern @PhillyInquirer.

— Meghan Bobrowsky (@BobrowskyMeghan) August 2, 2018

But I did get now 2 jobs at 2 different small-town papers. Learned most things from working at my school paper and taking one J-school class.

I’d say J-school has the resources to teach multimedia skills and provide connections for experience. Harder otherwise, but possible.

— Leah Vann (@LVann_Sports) August 2, 2018

I remember people telling me to study all things under the sun to be a journalist. I got a BA in poli sci. My BS in journalism served more as a career network / support group / excuse to work in student media than an interesting field of study.

— Alison Noon (@AlisonNoon) August 1, 2018

Back then, yes it definitely felt like you had to study journalism or related fields to get a foot in the door of a newsroom! But I also know plenty of people older than I who started off as “copykids” and worked their way up through the ranks

— 🦄 Flip Prior 🦄 (@FlipPrior) August 1, 2018

I’m dyslexic so my Mom the magazine editor told me I couldn’t be a journalist & to pick another major. 15 seconds after I graduated spellcheck became a thing.

Frankly, I think my broader background has been a help in my coverage & career.

— True Blue Rhode Red (@rhoderedpvd) August 1, 2018

All the people on the student newspaper were j-school majors, so I switched. I also had a professor who encouraged me to try it.

— Ben Mullin (@BenMullin) August 1, 2018

I was told halfway into my graduate degree that I didn't need a journalism degree to work in journalism … But also to look forward to working for free for awhile before landing a proper gig

— Diane Leow (@dianeleow) August 1, 2018

Both! For undergrad, I was told journalism was a practical alternative to an English degree for someone who loves writing. Fell in love with the industry right round the time newsrooms collapsed and grad school (with a focus on the business side) was very much a conscious choice

— Max Levy (@maxisak) August 1, 2018

Best advice: If you want to be a reporter, don’t take a different type of job and try to move laterally in a company. Go for the kind of job you want. Btw,I had a nearly 20 yr gap btwn journo degrees. When I got my MA, goal was to learn things that didn’t exist 1st time around.

— Susan Valot (@susanvalot) August 1, 2018