Try to describe the typical student of DJS, and you’ll come up short. Rather, the 45 women and men who start their training every year in Munich are a diverse bunch. They come from all over Germany and other German-speaking countries. Some have only recently graduated from high school, while others already work as journalists. Biologists sit side by side with Literature majors, athletes, nurses and engineers.
Because journalism needs diversity, our examination boards strive to put together a mixture of talents for each class. This is why each class includes both introverted and extroverted people; promising sports reporters and feature writers; visual thinkers and entrepreneurial types, brilliant wordsmiths and data nerds.
Recent cohorts were 53 percent female and 47 percent male. On average, 78 percent of our students came from a big city; 22 percent came from the countryside. 75 percent spent some time abroad before they enrolled at DJS. Ten percent were Germans from immigrant families; another six percent hailed from other countries. Four out of five had already done an internship before applying to DJS.
While DJS trains students with a diversity of backgrounds, they do have a few things in common. For example, they are alert. They are passionate about the truth and telling stories. They strive for respectful interactions with others. They are curious about what happens in their neighbourhood and at the other end of the world.
