letmein

Checking in to this forum again after a successful round of applications last year... During the 2013 cycle, I applied to IU-Bloomington, UC-Santa Barbara, UT-Austin, Northwestern, and UW-Madison, and was accepted into the first three (all film/media PhD programs). If anybody has any questions about these particular programs (whether about applying, visitations, department climate, or anything else), feel free to PM me. Applications and their subsequent wait games are horrible. As someone in your shoes this time last year, I wish all of you the best.

My personal rankings were: Placement (tied to faculty in some ways) Funding Faculty Social culture/atmosphere Resources/opportunities Location That said, the best advice I've received is to "go with your gut." Two to three years of your life (or 5-7 if you continue on for the PhD) is too much time to go anywhere you would be miserable. In the end, what kind of atmosphere do you think would best support the kind of work you want to do while keeping you monetarily and emotionally happy? If you don't think you would be happy in a particular program (even if it is for something as "petty" as the social culture), I'd be wary about going there. Grad school is tough as it is. Also, do NOT go anywhere that isn't funding you adequately. Going into debt is NOT worth it. I'd say this is a deal-breaker.

Looks like this application cycle is finally and officially over for me, with IU the ultimate champion. Thank the maker that I won't have to suffer any application-related stress for the next several years (until I hit the job market, which promises to be worse). At the very least, I will never have to take the GRE again in my life. Where does everyone else stand at the end of all this? There are still a few people whose fates remain unknown (at least to me). Big thanks to everyone who took the time to post here and share anxieties and information over the past months. And for those of you I was able to meet in person at various recruiting events, see you around

It's pretty common for people to double-dip two of their three degrees at one institution (whether BA/MA or MA/PhD). As long as you go elsewhere for your PhD, I don't think that continuing at UCLA would be an "issue" on your CV. However, if you wished to do your doctoral work at UCLA, you might want to consider picking USC or NYU for the meantime.

I defer to ci1717's wisdom.

Hi swingtime, Knowing relatively little about film history programs or faculty per say, I would imagine UCLA would be a good bet. I tend to associate USC with new media and NYU with production/preservation (though it does have Dana Polan). Again, this isn't really my niche, though.

Just rejected my offer from Austin. Hopefully this helps someone still on the wait-list.

I wouldn't worry too much about double-dipping for your BA and MA. I did both at one place and it has worked for me so far. In terms of jobs, I think employers are more interested in your PhD school than anything else. Just be sure that you don't stay at MSU for your doctorate. Also, applying for PhD programs without a MA isn't as foolhardy as you think. Lots of people do it, and committees will evaluate your application based on your overall strengths and clarity of focus. And, hey, some applicants actually get in! Given the funding and living situation that you already have established at MSU, I think you made a wise choice. Good luck in two years with the next go-around! Your personal statement will be much better next time, I promise (really, I'm mortified reading what I wrote for my MA applications a few years ago).

Did you look into UC-Santa Barbara or UW-Madison? I think there are faculty at both who work on international (specifically Chinese or Japanese) media, but I might be wrong. I think most if not all schools have notified their candidates by now. They would have to in order to lock in their acceptances before the April 15 deadline. If you haven't heard *anything* yet, you may be wait-listed. It's probably worth shooting an email to the program coordinator to find out.

UCSB's recruitment weekend isn't until early April, so I'm not going to make a decision until at least then. I hope to be more strongly leaning toward one program or another before that time, however.

Sure enough, my Northwestern rejection is finally viewable on the application site. Took them long enough. Not that it really matters at this point. I have enough acceptances to choose from already.

There were a whole slew of acceptances and rejections posted last month. On the results page, search "NYU media." Regarding Northwestern, to quote King Arthur, "Tis a silly place." Also: to the ever-mysterious mynameistrinity, please provide some more details in your posts. We are always starving for information.

Congrats on making it to the Ivy League, Swagato Now that most of the major places have sent out their notifications, the lucky among us must now start weighing our options for acceptance. I've already chatted with a number of you here, but if anyone has their two cents to offer about whether I should pick IU, UCSB, or UT-Austin, please shoot me a PM. All of my offers have been great and I'm really torn between all three, so any advice is appreciated (whether about program or location)

Yay, Swagato! You earned it, buddy

There are also waitlists to consider. Don't give up all hope yet. There's also still Northwestern....I guess....maybe? Whatever.

Hi, mynameistrinity! Congrats on all the acceptances so far. We may be future colleagues at Austin or UCSB. More info on your experience with Northwestern would be appreciated. Are you a Screen Cultures applicant? Have they already done their interview weekend? Do you have any idea about class size, number of applications, etc?

Potentially hopeful news, Swagato! I hope there's a drop so you can fill in. How many other apps do you have left?

By the way, a long-awaited acceptance for UChicago appears to have been posted to the results page. Anyone here claiming it?

Every university seems to have its own submission system, and constructions of some of them are downright baffling. For instance, when I submitted my UT application, I received a new "UT EID" username and password to log me into the university's central services. In order to check my status, I would have to log into the UT network, scroll to a bottom link called "Admissions," click on another link for "Application Status," and finally "View Details" to get to the actual decisions page. Ay carumba! I think most programs will send you an email directly if there is any change in your status (for good or ill). It's rarer that the application pages will be the first way you receive any decision updates. One exception is Northwestern, which has an apparent history of posting rejections to its website without bothering to inform applicants at all. But most other sites don't serve much purpose other than encouraging compulsive checking and refreshing...

Oh, I should mention that there were 8 acceptances at Austin from a pool of 100 or so. The email didn't specify how many of those acceptances were PhD vs. MA, though.

Just received email acceptance from Austin, including full funding details!!! Huzzah! I'm really shocked that UT sorted out its funding this early. I hope others have received good news in their inbox.

No kidding! Maybe people are unaware of this forum? At the same time, I have my doubts that someone taking the time to submit their results would not be familiar with the discussion board sections. If you're all out there, we need your knowledge. We don't bite! That Northwestern invite earlier this week is killing me. I have pretty much given up the ghost of hearing anything this week, but a pleasant surprise would still be welcome. Also, wasn't Austin supposed to be sending out notifications this week? Maybe some will finally trickle in today.

I unfortunately can't claim it, but I'm thankful for the posting. Now I know that Northwestern can be crossed off the list if I don't receive any notifications in the next day or two.

Outside of Northwestern, UW-Madison, UMichigan, and a few other places, most programs don't conduct interviews. They typically make acceptance decisions based on your application alone. Once you're greenlit, some departments will sponsor a recruitment or visitation weekend of some sort, but it wouldn't be an interview situation per say (the faculty would be sizing you up throughout, but you'd already be "in" by that point). Long story short, unless you're waiting on one of the programs mentioned above, I wouldn't worry much about interviews. Of course, this is all cold comfort when you only want to hear something, anything, to dispel the tension of waiting...

By the way - is it just me, or is Northwestern a bit slow to the game this year? It doesn't seem like anyone is hearing anything from the Screen Culture program, even though they usually contact candidates by now. Of course, they may already contacted their candidates, but they just haven't posted anything to GradCafe...