MintBrad

First and foremost, congrats to Ladyebird, Baccanalia, and MochaEarl-- its been a long ride gang, and I'm glad to hear that you guys have some great acceptances in hand. Wish I could say the same, got the official no room email from San Diego (that Bacc thankfully prepped me for) last night (interestingly they said they took 2-3, but may have been based off a form letter). I'm still waiting on Maryland, but I've mentally prepared myself to start thinking about next year's cycle-- I think my masters in education set me back as I had feared. I feel like I'm already in enough debt that I don't want to get another M.A.-- anyone know if there are any applicable M.A.'s that are wholly or even partially funded? Seanpet, I am by no means guaranteeing that we are still in the running, but no news isn't necessarily bad news-- according to MochaEarl they sent out the M.A. Offers, but it might take them longer to decide on PhDs-- I'm not throwing in the towel until I get an email telling me so, and given that they finished the M.A.s just a couple of days ago I'm hoping to hear by tomorrow, but likely won't know until next week. Fingers crossed for both of us! P.S. MochaEarl, I was telling my partner a bit about this forum and the people on it, and she has decided that if I get into Maryland and you decide to attend as well, that we should become a dynamic duo of hot drink goodness based on our screen names. Just some food for thought.

Bacchanalia, thanks for the update-- in some ways bad news is much better than no news, at least I can start thinking about plan B. I haven't heard from the department yet, which gives me some hope that one of the other three was waffling, but I'm not holding my breath. Still just waiting on Maryland -- fingers crossed!

Also, good luck Northwestern folks-- sending you all good vibes!

Seanpet-- welcome! I actually visited Maryland last week (not a formal visit, I just missed the open house in the fall and wanted to take advantage of Presidents' Day weekend), and they said that decisions historically are in March-- sounds like we have more waiting! The facilities are really quite impressive, and though I got snowed out of the classes and meetings I hoped to attend, I got a very pleasant impression of the the students and program in general. In other news, I finally got the gumption up to check in with San Diego and found out I am on the wait list and they are hoping to let me know more by next week-- so Bacchanalia, I am really hoping that you get into Irvine and decided to go there (as you seem like 'good people' and would be a nice colleague inter-campus departmentally), and because of the obvious numbers game at play with my own destiny. Still, it's nice to know that my interview didn't completely take me out of the running! Best of luck all, it seems like we're coming down the home stretch! Curious to hear where people decide to go in the end!

Bacchanalia, sorry to hear about CUNY- though given the last two winters we've had here in NY you may be better off in sunny SD (this admittedly is just my personal bias)! Thanks for the advice Bacc and ThatGuy, I've been holding off on sending anything until I hear how the Feb 15th deadline at SD went-- any insights you would be willing to share Bacc would be much appreciated! Before snowpacolypse descended I enjoyed a lovely informal tour of Maryland-- which, having not heard anything yet, just got me really excited about the program with no likely resolution until March. This whole process is barrels of fun.

And add Columbia to my no fly zone..... definitely ready for some good news. A question for you guys--- for those who have been following this board, I received an interview with UCSD that I don't think went very well on my end. I haven't received any news, good or bad, since that time, and hearing from Bacchanalia that they want acceptees to decide by the 15th, I am hoping that it means I may still be in consideration for the next cut or wait list. My question is this: I was considering sending a follow-up email to my professor of interest at SD to see if I could speak with her further because I felt that I didn't represent myself or interests as well as I would have liked in the initial interview. I think I can cite technical difficulties as having thrown me (which is definitely true), and maybe ask if I could speak with her again as a follow-up. Do you think this is a) a fantastic idea that will improve my chances of making a waitlist/second round of acceptances, b ) a terrible idea that will make me look pushy/desperate and might hurt my chances, c) wildly inappropriate to even consider at this juncture of applications, or d) might not be inappropriate but hard to guess whether it would be positive or negative. I've been mulling this over for a bit, and as notifications are going out, I feel like I should make a decision one way or the other. Help!?!

Just got the dreaded letter from Stanford-- fingers crossed for the rest of you!

Just checked the results page and it looks like people are getting good news from CUNY and interviews from brown and northwestern-- anyone on this board? Those three aren't on my list, so I'm rooting extra hard for you guys!

Welcome Chottosassy-- sorry to hear about Berkeley, seems like we collectively were clobbered on that one! Bacchanalia, I'm glad you asked that, I was getting curious as well! I have to admit that I am coming to performance studies somewhat circuitously, in that my undergrad (Sarah Lawrence) didn't force us to have majors, so I 'concentrated' in Political Science, Theatre, and Film (production and history). After a couple years working in the film industry (and paying the bills as a private tutor) I realized that I wanted to teach, and got my M.A. at NYU in Educational Theatre and Educational Social Studies. The last couple of years I've been teaching Theatre, History, and English courses and getting a bit back into acting and directing. Suffice it to say, I've never been completely satisfied choosing between the arts and social sciences, and after a bit of research I came upon Performance Studies as a natural hybrid for my interdisciplinary yearnings. That's basically a longwinded way of saying, I honestly have no idea what the distinction between NYU and Northwestern styles of PS is. I know, from my time at NYU, that the NYU program is generally more geared towards practice than academia, and I definitely want to ultimately teach. My intended dissertation would be on the ways in which mass performance (journalism, film, theatre, campaign commercials, and political spectacle in general) has influenced the US cultural divide since 2000. Ideally, I'd like to use Verbatim theatre and documentary film as my models of research and performance on a piece that explores the creation of 'red' and 'blue' as cultural distinctions. There's a bit of identity theory and political science sprinkled in, but to be completely honest, I'm curious to see how my academic history affects my applications. I don't have intensive research since undergrad (which was in the mid 2000's), but hopefully make up for it with extensive teaching history, and a moderate amount of professional theatre and film experience. So we'll see! Eager to hear about everyone's goals and background!

Well, just got my Berkeley rejection email-- Ladyebird hope you get better news! A bit bummed, but hoping that not hearing yet from Stanford is a good sign--- fingers still crossed

Bacchanalia, congrats on SD!!! And sounds like the Austin contingent is doing well also! I just want to echo how appreciative I am of the good vibes here-, it's a nice change of pace from the week I've been having-- my high school is giving finals and semester grades out this week and it has been a little bit too much like the end of apocalypse now for my liking! To answer an earlier question I am not the berkeley acceptee (though they sound awesome with an MFA and an MA in folklore-- pretty cool stuff if you ask me!) I have yet to hear anything, good or bad, so I'm choosing to go with the optomistic route of this meaning that I'm making it to further consideration, or at the least some wait lists. Bacchanalia, is SD high on your list? Alright, back to madly grading midterms-- happy Thursday all!

Mocha Earl, thanks for the response-- the fact that UCSD's tech issues were universal and that they have a big graduating class are both making me feel a bit more optimistic! On the NYU front, I should preface what I'm about to say with the fact that I was on a slightly different track-- high school accreditation for theatre and social studies which may have influenced my views on the school. I definitely had some good classes and profs, and your potential track gives you a lot more flexibility and choice than mine did, but in the end I felt like it was almost exclusively hand-on teaching pedagogy with very little intellectual stimulation. That being said, C&C folks for sure had more options, and may have the right fit for your interests, though the majority of focus at the school is towards younger students (part of the reason I'm applying for PhD's!). One other factor is debt-- NYU is killer expensive, although I may just being saying that having lived on a teacher's starting salary the last two years. I'm happy to answer any other questions, but my overall advice is to maybe give it a pass if you end up with other options. Kind of a random question for all-- what kind of questions are you guys asking in interviews? I asked about performance opportunities (as an actor or director), and options for taking classes outside of the department, but I'm just wondering what other kinds of things I should be asking at this initial stage. Maybe how many slots they have open, or graduate job placement? Just thought I would pick your brains, thanks!

My apologies for not responding- I just figured out how to set up notifications on this site. I'm especially sorry to Bacchanalia, as I could have given you some insight into the UCSD interview beforehand. I ended up feeling a bit ambushed by it, as it had seemed that I was going to meet with the professor that I had been corresponding with (and hoped to be a potential dissertation sponsor), but ended up meeting with 3 profs, and didn't feel adequately prepped. Add on some skype technical difficulties, and I don't think it went well. Guess I'm glad you commiserate Earl, though hope it works out better for you! We'll see still, fingers crossed. Ladyebird. thanks for the timelines-- Stanford and Berkeley are where I'm putting most of my hopes, so hopefully will hear something positive in the next week! If I get an interview invite I may pick your brain. Mocha Earl-- did you happen to go to the Maryland open house in November? I missed it as I live in NY, and was just wondering if there were any important aspects to it. DocTheatre-- I actually just got my Masters from NYU Ed. theatre and Ed. Social Studies, and would be happy to answer any questions you may have on the program (at least from an MA's perspective). Good luck all!

Hello out there! Looks to be a bit quiet on the TAPS front, but I certainly would like to hear when people are getting interviews and offers. I actually had my first Skype interview yesterday with UCSD, and while it didn't go as well as I would have hoped, it at least geared me up if I hear from other schools. I'm applying to UCSD, Berkeley, Stanford, Columbia, and U of Maryland. Best of luck Ladyebird, let me know if you hear anything from Berkeley!