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CommPhD20

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Everything posted by CommPhD20

  1. I'm actually skeptical about whether MOOCs or much of any online-only courses will stick. The founder of Udacity has already basically admitted that his model didn't work and that he is now targeting corporate applications -- he found that people on limited resources had by far the worst attrition rates and that those with more resources did the best, but were still going to choose more expensive options like an actual college education.
  2. If you think it is relevant, I'd only mention it in vague terms (I overcame some adversity in the form of a learning disability during my sophomore year...). Do not dwell on it. I would also suggest not calling it by name -- ADHD, despite being widely and almost universally accepted in the psychiatric community, has become a stand-in for all kinds of evil for a lot of well-meaning people. You might as well not take the chance that some or all of the adcom has such a bias and thinks you just stimulant-ed yourself through your master's program.
  3. Bleck. I thought the worst part would be filling out applications! Now it's just...waiting. I guess it isn't worse than the stress of putting things together, rallying recommenders, etc., but it's very strange to know exactly what I want to be doing just months from now, but having no idea what I will be doing. I do have one informal de facto offer of admission, which is great, but now that is causing me to play all kinds of mind games with myself - "Maybe they'll take it back? Is it a fluke? Maybe everyone will let me in? No no, I stink! That's not possible." and so on and so forth.
  4. I think an "official" unofficial PDF copy would be fine. My school sends those through the clearinghouse (Rush Delivery -> PDF ($1.00))
  5. Had a similar experience with their Mass Comm. program. I knew about the official transcripts, luckily saw that about three days pre-deadline. They also wanted my CV in hard copy rather than electronic, like everything else! They took an electronic copy via email, luckily, but who knows what kind of impression that made since it was late.
  6. Also, be careful not to conflate "empirical" research with "quantitative" research. There is a good deal of qualitative research that is also empirical, like ethnography and content analysis. Go to the International Journal of Communication (it should be free and accessible online) and look for a feature called "Breaking Boundaries" from 2013. All of the pieces are great, but I'd suggest looking at the very brief introduction and then the back-and-forth between Michael X. Delli Carpini and Geoffrey Baym about methods.
  7. Hate (but also very happy) to be "that person," but I've been informally told I'll be getting into a PhD program. I'm not going to reveal the one because it would probably drive people crazy and I fear it would make me too identifiable to the outside world. The only reason I found out when I did was because I was contacted about an administrative issue, at which point I was told the good news. Very cool to know there will be at least one very solid option and makes me feel encouraged about the rest of the process.
  8. Welp, first ones down. Materials in, recommenders uploaded their stuff, and the waiting begins.
  9. The bolded comments don't make sense to me. 1. It's a great fit for you, as determined by you and your professor/advisor. 2. You seem to view the location as an asset. how does it follow that you "don't *need* to apply?" I'm just looking for some insight into how you are evaluating different schools since the two strengths that you mentioned are two of the most important (others being presence of funding, which there clearly is at Northwestern, as well as prestige, which there clearly is). I would say, especially for admission, fit would be the most important factor at most programs. With that in mind, fit is going to typically be the reason that someone with GRE scores/GPA/publication record that is a non-sequitur with the "average" admitted applicant is admitted. So long as you are reasonably assured that your application won't be tossed out because of your scores, I'd encourage you to apply so long as you really do fit there very well and there aren't other negatives (you like Chicago, it is a wealthy and prestigious program)
  10. Want to clarify - are you seeking professional programs (ie. improving your skills/resume for industry work) or academic programs to seek academic work? That changes some answers and suggestions. USC offers some information on admissions to their Annenberg school. I can't say as much about Columbia/NYU, short of the scarcity of funding for those programs. They are, however, not easy to get into despite the fact that I might describe them as "for-profit" programs.
  11. Don't shell out for GRE prep unless you're certain that you'll have very low scores. These aren't very important in Literature admissions so long as they aren't alarmingly low. 12 is the maximum I'd suggest, based on my knowledge. Remember, you have to prepare applications for all of these schools. Also, your letter writers have to do this for each school too. Your materials will necessarily be different for each school based on what they ask for and how you fit into that particular program. You're better off applying to 6 with meticulously prepared applications than 12 with very similar applications to each. Just make sure that you really belong in the programs you are applying to, make sure the funding you want is available, location, etc. It should be almost fun to work on each application because of how much you want to study at X school. Anyway, that doesn't mean you should cut it to 6. 12 is fine, but you'll find some folks who would be skeptical that any person really has 12 perfect fits out there. Just make sure on applications that the solicitations for letters go out before paying, otherwise you'll have to finish those apps sooner. You don't want to put your recommenders in a position where they have a 12 hour window to submit the letters. In general, it seems to me that you're in a very good position. Now, it's all down to applying to programs that fit and having those subjective materials in order. If you LoR, SOP, and writing sample are good, I think you'll be a happy camper come April. Easier said than done, of course!
  12. Yeah, it seems that this just increases the chance that you pay. The sooner you pay, the sooner you must decide that you want to go there, and the less chance that you back out at the last second because of a recommender/new information about the school/ran out of money. Several schools I'm applying to are doing this.
  13. I know the Comm. program at Iowa to be small, well-regarded, and selective. They employ primarily humanistic approaches AFAIK. They have a Journalism and Mass Comm. program that might be considered more interdisciplinary and multi-methodological, though I'm not sure of its prestige.
  14. Interesting! Anyone care to share who they are interested in working with there? I'm a big fan of Tewksbury and McChesney. I think I prefer to work with Tewksbury due to a bit more similarity in research interests, but McChesney might be the coolest guy ever (in my silly, academic opinion).
  15. Are you certain that you can apply to 19 different schools without sacrificing the quality of individual applications? Will recommenders be okay with that?
  16. Depending on your field, it may be a bad idea to get a PhD from a lower-ranked school anyway. Getting a job is tough and if you compromise on quality of school you'll find yourself fighting for non-tenure positions
  17. Getting closer to having things nailed down. The PhD programs to which I am definitely applying are UPenn-Annenberg, UWashington (Communication), and UIUC (Communication). All, especially the first two, are real tough programs but my research interests are a phenomenal fit. UIUC is a good fit as well and is no cinch to get into, but I am in-state and I'm hoping/wondering if that will help. I'm also applying to UDelaware and UW-MIlwaukee terminal MA programs, as both schools have researchers who are very closely aligned with my current research interests as well as a history of sending students to elite PhD programs. There is another group of MA/PhD programs I'm looking at: Indiana, OSU, Syracuse (Media Studies MA), Colorado (Comm.). I expect to eliminate one or two of them as I speak to staff about funding, advising availability, methods, etc. As mentioned earlier, I am half of an academic couple so we're trying to cover our butts for a variety of possibilities (the other half is in literature). Trying to have as many common schools as possible (UW, UW-M, Colorado OSU) and the places where we differ we are trying to be certain that there could be options nearby. For instance, it is highly unlikely I would refuse an offer from Penn-Annenberg, but we know there are a variety of schools inside and near Philly that she could look at. I've had some productive conversations via email with some POIs and am gradually mustering the confidence to contact some of my biggest academic crushes
  18. I think that list looks pretty good and fairly balanced, though I don't know that there is a 100% "safe" school in there; that isn't always a bad thing though, since sometimes a 100% safe school is safe because it's not good, lol.
  19. I'm still narrowing my choices for schools and some might not be technically "communications" since my work will occasionally be better directed to film studies or politics departments. Generally speaking, I would describe my interests to best be housed in "media studies" departments - I was once a fairly straightforward film studies major, but I've since broadened a bit and have been interested in interpretive study of media and culture, which incorporates my study of politics as well. I've been working on a project on "fake news" as well as about journalistic ethics. Some that I'll almost certainly be applying to are UC-Santa Barbara, Colorado, The New School (MA), Illinois (U-C), and UIC. I'm going to try to cast a wide net since I'm an academic couple w/ an aspiring English MA/PhD and we hope to have a match. My current dream school is Columbia School of Journalism's Comm. PhD...it is only fitting that there are about 4-5 members of their faculty that have written key works for my senior project. I have a feeling that it will be extremely competitive, especially as I'm just going to be a BA; might be a better place to consider if I go somewhere for MA.
  20. Also depends on the field. In film studies, "low" is not such a big deal, especially in Q. It would also be helpful if you shared what you mean by "low" - 140? 150? 160? Low to one person is just fine for some others.
  21. Yes, I pay to watch in HD and to be able to use my streaming devices to watch on my TV and/or tablet instead of my computer.
  22. MLB, NHL, and NBA can be purchased online for streaming through their leagues. NFL is not so simple as far as I know. I'm not sure if the same applies for European soccer, etc. I know that NBC Sports is carrying all Barclays League games this year, but coverage of soccer, tennis, rugby is very hit and miss in the USA.
  23. I have found that there are fewer fee waivers for grad schools compared to undergraduate admissions.
  24. It seems to me that that should be more than fine, especially given the nice GPA plus MA. If you're into quantitative methods/research, though, I'm not sure. I'm applying to Comm. programs with 163V/161Q, but I'm not a quantitative person.
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