letmein

My current M.A. program admitted 7 from 120-some applications. I know Madison's Media & Cultural Studies program routinely lets in only 4 or 6 out of 130+. Indiana usually does 10-15 out of 200 (albeit, split along the different tracks of the department).

Great news, glenna_rochelle! UT is a great program. Let us know if you manage to receive funding. I know the UT system can be a stickler for that. Received a voicemail earlier this afternoon from UCSB notifying me that I have been accepted into their Film & Media Studies PhD program! It's a little too late in the day to call back, but I'll let the group know any pertinent info I find out when I talk to the program director tomorrow.

Nothing yet from UCSB. I'm hoping this means I survived the initial round of review, but who knows with these things. At any rate, IU was always slightly higher on my wish list than UC, so I already bagged one of my main prizes. Now, if only I could find out my status with Northwestern... I hope some of the other folks here start hearing positive news!

Just received email acceptance for Indiana!!! Woot! No word yet about class size or funding. Fingers crossed for the remaining apps. I can at least breathe a heavy sigh of relief now that I got in somewhere.

Received my first rejection today from Madison. My POI sent me a personalized email explaining that I had made the shortlist, but there just weren't enough openings to go around. If you haven't heard anything (including an interview request) from Madison's Media and Cultural Studies program by now, you probably didn't make it in. Official rejection notifications aren't sent until late Feb. or March, though. Feeling bummed out since Madison was always my first choice, but I'm slightly encouraged by the tone of the rejection email. Hopefully my other apps bear better news.

Sorry for being quiet the past week. I resume teaching next week and have been working on getting my syllabus/lesson plans in order. For some reason, obsessive check-ins to GradCafe were hurting my productivity. Congrats to everyone who has heard positive news so far. Things are still dead silent on my front, including Madison, which I have all but written off since other applicants seemed to receive interviews last week. However, the forums and results board only indicate Madison interviews for Film and "Communication Arts" (vague, since the dept. has 4 subsets). Does anyone know the status of Media & Cultural Studies interviews specifically? Having more specific info on that would greatly relieve the pressures in my mind. Apparently Northwestern routinely sends out interview notifications in very late Jan/early Feb. Here's hoping!

FYI, for those interested: there is an existing thread for fall 2013 media/film/communication applications here: Feel free to join that conversation!

Either Madison is taking an unusually long time to send out interview notifications this year, or none of the shortlisted folks are posting to GradCafe. Judging by previous years, the Media & Cultural Studies program usually starts contacting people by now. If I don't hear anything in the next few days, I'm crossing UW off my list of likely accepters... Or maybe I'm overthinking this. The waiting is already starting to get to my nerves.

Nothing yet for me. Not a peep from any of my programs. Granted, it is still fairly early yet and some departments don't contact interviewees until relatively late in the game. That said, if I don't receive anything in my inbox by mid-to-late Jan., I'm going to start to feel jittery.

Hi, EdgeOfMySeat! Welcome to the waiting room... Did the message from USC seem addressed to you personally? What was it about precisely? I've never had experience with messages like this, so I can't offer my two cents.

To everyone who has applied to UW-Madison (which looks to be an ample number of you), be sure to update us if you have received any emails to set up a phone or Skype interview. Browsing through the results searches from past years, it seems that Media & Cultural Studies notifies applicants about interviews by late Dec/early Jan. (not sure about the Film program). I've been anxiously monitoring my inbox hoping for something to arrive...

Austin, UCSB, and Northwestern sent off two days ago. Remaining applications are also in the can. I'm just waiting to hear if I got into the SCMS conference next year before I completely finalize them. It's actually kind of a relief to finally let them go. I actually started on most of them during early summer, and they have been stressful to have hanging over my head. They're in someone else's hands now...

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I'm sure that attendance will rise when we all start sweating through the Dec-March waiting period.

Hi, ling01. If you're applying seriously for academic-track programs, I would hold the following three considerations paramount: 1) The prestige and placement rate of the institution (will you be able to get a job with a MA or PhD from the program?) 2) The focus and faculty of the program (are you a good fit with the program? would your interests gel with the strengths of the faculty?) 3) The program's funding opportunities (will you be financially supported or forced to cover tuition costs yourself?) You should really ask yourself those three questions about any program before you even worry about its location/climate (unless you have familial or professional obligations tying you to one particular area). It's competitive enough to get into grad programs that you can't afford to be picky about something like geography unless it is truly important. Trust me, shivering through a few winters is infinitely preferable to not getting a job or going into debt from grad school. If you receive a PhD and start looking for an academic job, you will have to accept the possibility of having to move to cold/dinky/"undesirable" areas of the country anyway (academics are worse than sailors).

Right. My research is in film/cultural studies more broadly, and audience and reception theory more specifically.

Hey everyone. First time poster! I will be finishing up my M.A. in media studies this coming May and looking to hop into a PhD program the fall after that. Currently applying to UT-Austin (Media Studies), UW-Madison (Media and Cultural Studies), Northwestern (Screen Cultures), IU-Bloomington (Comm and Culture), and UC-Santa Barbara (Film and Media Studies). Only five, but I know all of them are good fits.