Bachelor of Arts in Communication

Communication plays an integral part in the sports world, and it is imperative for sports professionals to have a strong communications foundation to be successful and competitive. Clemson's sports communication major provides a multi-faceted and holistic approach to sports communication that spans how sport is communicatively enacted, organized, produced, and consumed. Our students gain a strong theoretical foundation regarding the creation, consumption, and effectiveness of messages across sports contexts. During your time in this degree program, you'll be enabled to develop a customized study that allows you to focus on your areas of interest (e.g., social media, public relations, organizational communication and interpersonal communication), while networking with people who work in the sports communication industry.

Graduates from our program have found jobs in:

Thank you for your interest in pursuing a major in the communication department. Our goal is to maintain our number of students to that which can be well served by our faculty resources. We strive not for quantity, but for quality in our group of student majors. The information detailed on this page applies only to currently enrolled Clemson University students who are seeking a change of major (e.g., changing from undeclared to communication, changing from psychology to communication, etc.). The department accepts a maximum of only 30 internal transfer students per year. The selection process is very competitive. Meeting the minimum criteria to apply to the major is no guarantee of admission. The typical profile of a successful applicant to the major includes a GPR of approximately 3.0 or higher, a superior writing sample, and an overall application which demonstrates an understanding of and commitment to a career in communication.

Application Process

A committee of faculty members will review applications twice a year, according to the schedule printed below. Late applications will not be considered.

Minimum Requirements to Apply

To be eligible to apply for admission to the Department of Communication, applicants must have completed 15 credit hours, including ENGL 1030, COMM 1010 and COMM 2010 (with a B or better). Students must have a minimum GPR of 2.5 to apply. However, as noted above, a GPR in that range is typically not competitive in the application process.

In order for an application to be considered by the department’s Undergraduate Admissions Committee, it must include a completed online application, statement of purpose (a quality response to the prompt requesting an explanation for interest in pursuing a major in communication), a brief writing sample (e.g., a completed paper from a previous class with the grade removed), and an up-to-date resume. By providing all information listed in the application, the applicant agrees to a full review of all materials, including their transcript to verify the minimum course/GPA requirements are met.

It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that the application is complete. The Undergraduate Admissions Committee will not consider incomplete applications.

The department will mail notification of acceptance or rejection to students on or about the appropriate decision date noted above. If there are any questions about this process, please contact Andrew Pyle, Ph.D., at 864-656-1567 or apyle@clemson.edu.

Our academic advisors work with freshmen, sophomores, students changing majors, and transfer students. Services include:

• Academic advisement
• Course selection
• Transferability of courses; and
• Completion of various academic forms.

Academic advisors are also available to meet with prospective students considering various majors within the colleges. All students are encouraged to make appointments with an advisor in their intended major.

Students of communication are gaining wonderful, practical experience in a variety of fields not just across the country but around the world. Over the past ten years, our students have worked in every major job market in America with some of the giants in the communication industry. Communication students can use internship experience to discover their interests or to more finely tune the process of achieving academic goals. Jobs seem to cover a whole spectrum of interests. Places where students have completed internships include:

In addition, students have worked in a host of television markets and for public relations firms, political organizations and sports teams. Students participating in an internship must work a minimum of 120 hours and are evaluated by the site supervisor. They may complete two semesters of internship experience. For more information, contact Dr. Andrew Pyle.

Application submission opens on August 1. In order for your application to be considered, all information must be submitted/uploaded by the....

DEADLINE - Monday, August 26 by 4:30pm

IMPORTANT

At the bottom of this page is a link to a form to submit for your change of major request. BEFORE filling out the form, you must submit a Statement of Purpose, Writing Sample and Resume. After uploading these documents, please fill out the form below. Note: Students can only apply to one program (Communication or Sports Communication) per application cycle. Attempting to apply to both programs will mark both applications ineligible for review.

Submit Your Statement of Purpose

Your statement of purpose should be no longer than 500 words. Your statement should make a detailed, compelling argument for your admission that addresses: your reasons for applying to the Communication/Sports Communication major, your coursework, employment, extracurricular activity, and/or community service in Communication/Sports Communication or related fields to date, your professional and/or personal aspirations that would be well-served by a Communication/Sports Communication education, your plan of study if admitted to the major (i.e., courses of interest to you), and your unique contributions to the department, if admitted.

Submit a PDF file of your Statement of Purpose in the following format: LastNameFirstNameYearSOP.pdf

Submit Your Writing Sample

Submit a PDF file of your Writing Sample in the following format: LastNameFirstNameYearWS.pdf

Please note ONLY ONE WRITING SAMPLE is permitted and your writing sample should come from the  COMM 2010 course.

Submit Your Resume

Submit a PDF file of your Resume in the following format: LastNameFirstNameYearResume.pdf

Once you have submitted your Statement of Purpose, Writing Samples and Resume, please

The Department of Communication will hold virtual change of major meetings throughout the semester. These meetings are for current Clemson students who are interested in applying to the Communication major. The dates are below. You must complete the form below to receive the Zoom link for the meeting.  If you have any questions, please reach out to Kaela Gardner at kaelag@clemson.edu.

• Tuesday, August 20^th at 9am
• Tuesday, August 20^th at 2pm
• Monday, September 16^th at 11am
• Monday, September 30^th at 1:30pm
• Monday, October 28^th at 11:30am
• Monday, October 28^th at 1:30pm
• Monday, November 11^th at 10:30am
• Monday, November 18^th at 11:30am

Complete This Form

The Department of Communication will not hold in-person change of major meetings at this time.