I'll be honest and say that I did enjoy the course.
Pros...
*It's quite practical and in retrospect, it was very easy.
*You learn a lot of the basics which should be enough to head straight into the work force the year after.
*There are some subjects are a waste of time like photojournalism, media law and a couple others. There are some interesting ones as well though, so it's balanced out.
*The lecturers are quite good because they're in the industry. They're easy to get along with.
*The smaller classes not only make it easy for you to make friends but also gives you more one on one time with lecturers.
*Smack bang in the CBD so it's close to a lot of things e.g. food, transport etc.
*Force you to do work experience which in turn makes you make contacts for possible future work.
*You get a showreel and a printed article to show off to employers.
*It's only a year.
Cons...
*4 days a week... some days a long, others are half. You just don't get enough free time. The hoidays are bullcrap too, only 1 or 2 weeks now and then.
*It's small. The computer rooms can get crowded.
*No extra curricular activities e.g. social groups or sport.
*You have to bring your own paper to print with.
*They threaten you a lot. They're very strict about attendance and are always threatening to fail you if it isn't like 90% by the end of it all.
*Shorthand. It's a bitch to learn and it's useless imo.
*It seems like a lot of work at once (it's easy but sometimes tedious).
*The 2nd year BA program they offer. Believe me, if you take this up you WILL change your mind about Journalism. I did.
*It's fucking expensive.
Overall, it's 1 year (a very expensive one at that) and you learn all the things you need to be able to start working straight away. You might be overwhelmed but it's mostly very easy to pass everything (except Shorthand). You make friends easily and has a very high school vibe to it.