Hello everyone. This is my first time on this site. I hope you’ll all indulge my verbose post and give me some desperately needed good advice.

I am looking for a photojournalism graduate program. I am interested in the following five:
ICP, University of Texas, Boston University, Missouri School of Journalism and LCC (London College of Communication).

ICP seems to get rave reviews on this site but I haven’t found much information here on the others. Let me tell you a little about myself: I passionately want to be a photojournalist. I have a BA in Comparative Literature, and am finishing up my MFA in creative writing. I have taken a smattering of photo courses but mainly I am self-taught. I really want the space and structure of a grad program in pj; I’m sure it’s what I need to become a better photographer.

So – some of my concerns in applying to these places: I don’t really have photography professionals to recommend me, though I am going to the Mountain Workshop in a couple of weeks and maybe can make a contact or two there. I do have writers who will say that I am creative and work hard. Also, I have no idea if these schools are going to give my application much of a chance since I don’t have a very strong photography background in academia or in actual work experience. Anyone know how much weight experiences like the above carry in an application?

ICP is a specific concern – this is really where I want to go but trying to get ahold of anyone there is like being in a Kafka novel – no one answers the phone, no one responds to email; I’m beginning to wonder if the school really exists! So – does anyone know the competition stats for the pj program there? For someone who wants a career-oriented program is ICP the way to go? What about the other schools?

Thank you so much for reading this long post. I look forward to reading your advice!
sarah