CP3

I think it's a great sign! I would feel really encouraged about it. Sure, the POI might not have a big pull, but it's a good start. Just make sure to not read TOO much into it. Good news for you!

I'm 80% certain that I will apply again. If anything, I am re-applying for piece of mind. Like you said, if I don't get in, it wasn't meant to be. It won't devastate me this time. Really, it's a win win situation. If I get in, great! If not, I have other options in life. Thanks for the encouragement!

I appreciate the words of encouragement from both of you. One of the most difficult things that I am encountering is the prospect of going to school for another 3-5 years, with little income during that time period. I recently took a job outside of my college education that pays decently and has the strong opportunity for advancement. I love my art-form, and I couldn't imagine living without it, but I'm starting to think that maybe it would be better to make a living having a mundane, well-paying job while working on my music as opposed to earning another degree and struggling for another several years. Jobs are dwindling in the arts in academia. In the near future, tenure will be a thing of the past. In short, I am worried that IF I get into a PhD program, after I finish, there will be no job for me. If you are going to Harvard, Yale etc., you will find a job. But I am not capable of getting into those type of programs. Therefore, my chances at landing a "kick-ass" job at a University will be limited, to say the least.

Yeah, I'm in the same boat, I started a 45 hour a week job recently. I do have weekends off, which helps. So far I haven't done much work on applications. All I have done so far is make a monthly budget to save money for the apps, GRE etc. and research some schools. BUT, since I applied last year, I am knowledgeable about the tasks required in undertaking this process. What took me a week last year will take me ONE day this time around. I know what most schools want, and where to find the information. Last year I was fumbling through websites and greatly underestimated the cost of applying to these schools. (what started out as a budget of around 1000 dollars ended up becoming closer to 2000 dollars!!!)

I didn't get accepted to a PhD program last year. I didn't visit this site for several months. It was too hard to see other people complaining about which school to go to, when I was sitting here getting one rejection after another. My gut and instincts tell me to try again. Get a better GRE, write a better SOP, improve my music portfolio, dig deeper in researching schools. My former professor encouraged me to try again. But reason/logic tells me that maybe it's too late and too much to undertake again. The money, the time spent. I don't know, it's exciting to think about trying again, but frightening. Last fall I almost got fired a couple of times because I was spending too much time and energy on my applications, and ignoring my work responsibilities. I just started a new job this week, which has a high level of responsibility and the pay isn't too shabby (crappy for someone with a Masters Degree). I don't want the process to overtake my life like it did last time. It put a lot of stress on my wife, and my health and job performance suffered. Anyone else feel the same way? I posted this in the music section because I feel like our field has a much different process from other fields. Music is SOOOOO subjective. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated

Applying to a school on December 1st that cost almost 175 dollars just to wait until early April to get a rejection letter in the mail. The extreme opposite (also annoying) one: Applying to a school on Jan. 5 and getting a rejection email 3 weeks later. That app fee would've been more useful to me as toilet paper. The waiting sucks, but everyone has to deal with that part. I think the price you pay for the process is overwhelming. I want to reapply this fall, but reading all of these posts reminds me of how it was last time, and makes me re-consider things

this will be my third time around the block--- 1st time-applied to 3 Masters programs, accepted by 2, attended the school with full funding 2nd time-applied to 8 PhD programs, rejected by all of them 3rd time-applying this upcoming Fall for 2014. Planning on applying to 12 schools, possibly more depending on time and money It was harder than hell getting one rejection letter/email after another this past spring, but over time it became more and more obvious why my applications weren't being accepted. Many flaws that I did not recognize until AFTER I applied. I'm glad I tried last year, otherwise I wouldn't have any clue just how much work my applications need.

yeah, I guess the best you can do is apply to schools that have something related to your research goals, I think it's hard for many of us to find a school that fits well

If I didn't mention it several months ago Hiroshiman, congrats on Northwestern!!! So exciting!

I think that studying in different places helps. I unfortunately made the decision to study at the same school for both my Bachelor and Master degree(s). (in the long run it worked out, because I met my beautiful wife during my Master's studies.) It seems like applying from a Bachelor's to a Phd/DMA is pretty difficult. If you are extremely talented and have great credentials, I'm sure you would have a decent chance. I was told by my mentor/professor of composition towards the end of my Bachelor's that "you need to get a Master's Degree to move on to the PhD etc." I don't think that many of us are ready to skip the Master's level. If you are a prodigy, then they will accept you for a doctorate program without the MM. The MM is like a bridge, it buys you time to prepare for the level of doctorate studies. This is mostly personal opinion, but from my personal experience and research, it seems to be fairly accurate.

I applied to 8 last year and got shut out. But, over half of the schools were extremely competitive with very limited spots. I'm planning on applying to about 12 or more this time around. I know, that's a lot of schools, but it's a numbers game with my major. If I find enough schools that I feel confident about, I may apply to less.

This isn't really a "waiting it out" type of thread, but I wanted to start a discussion about the process of applying for Fall 2014 (in my case, RE-applying). For those of you that are new to the process, please offer your hopes/dreams and what your plans are. To those that are re-applying, such as myself, share your past experiences and the things that you think will make your application stronger this time around. 2013 was a failure for me, but I learned quite a bit through the process. Here is what I learned that I can apply to the next cycle of applications: 1. Study more for the GRE---the score isn't the most important part of the application, but I'm sure a good score helps. My last score was embarrassing. 2. Request transcripts/letters of recommendations sooner rather than later. 3. Write a more compelling Statement of Purpose--looking back at the one I sent last fall, I talked too much about my past and the difficulties I experienced making it through college---instead, I will get straight to the point and explain why my work matters and how it will contribute to each school I am applying to. 4. Start saving money NOW!!!! Last time I was frantically trying to find a way to pay for the app fees, transcripts, etc. This kept me from applying to more schools, which hurt my chances. 5. Make sure each school is a good fit! ---last time, I mainly applied to schools that I wanted to attend, rather than applying to the schools I would fit with. A lot of the schools I applied to were HIGH NOTCH institutions, this time I will try to apply to more "safety" schools. (personally, I don't believe there is such a thing as a "safety" school) but you know, apply to less Ivy schools and whatnot. Let's get the conversation started!!!!!

Wow, I haven't been on this site in several months. Turns out I got rejected by all 8 schools in the application process for a PhD/DMA. I wasn't surprised, but I still felt very disappointed, to say the least. But, the good news is that I will try again!! I'm SOOOO glad I applied last fall, because it was a great learning experience. The amount of time, money, organization and energy required is pretty overwhelming. Now I know what it takes to make it through the process, which will give me a better chance the second time around. The gre is a bunch of bullshit, but that's the point of it....In my opinion, I think that schools simply use the GRE score as a way to "weed applicants out" Of course this isn't the same at every school. It's just a weight they use of the scales, a bad score just tips the scales the other way, which makes their jobs a lot easier. I mean, lets face it, would any of us want to sift through a thousand applications for a living, hell no! not me!! The gre matters, but not much. If you have stellar credentials, then the GRE score won't matter. However, if you have a mediocre GPA and less than stellar letters, SOPs, etc, it would be a good idea to study hard and get a good score. I completely bombed the GRE last fall....I didn't have the time or money to retake. I feel that it hurt my applications a little bit, especially considering I had a 3.25 GPA for my Masters Degree. But, I'm not going to waste all of my time studying for the damn test, just enough to get an acceptable score. Let's get this new round of applications going!! WHOOT WHOOT!!!

Im fairly certain that I will get shut out this year, but there is some glimmer of hope, just glad that March is almost here. I should know my fate soon

I just thought of something: Do any schools notify applicants about admissions decisions based on where their last name falls in the alphabet. For example, I know someone who was accepted and their last name begins with a letter at the beginning of the alphabet. I haven't heard anything yet and my name lands somewhere in the middle. So, these "A"s are rejections, this A is an acceptance, then eventually they make their way down the list, D-G, H-L, etc etc. This is probably just another crazy conspiracy theory, but it might make sense for schools that are large and receive huge amounts of applications. Just curious.....

GRE/GPA seems to be used mainly for the purposes of assistantships/fellowships. I think my average GPA (3.25) and low GRE scores (I won't even post them!) have hurt my application. My SOP is pretty solid (should've been a little more specific) my LORs are solid, my portfolio is solid. But I've bee rejected 3 times, and I am quite certain more rejections are on the way. Talent and potential is a big thing for composition. In a perfect, beautiful world, comp applicants would be admitted based on talent etc. But in the real world, these schools have certain rules and policies. Maybe I'm being naive or I'm in denial, but I feel like there are people out there with a weaker portfolio than mine that are getting accepted because they have higher GPA/test scores. It's a damn shame, but that just seems to be how its panning out so far.

Well, just found out a former student I once went to school with got accepted to Stony Brook in NY. I haven't heard a peep from Stony Brook since I applied in early December. I'm assuming this will be rejection #4. I emailed the program today to ask when the decisions would be sent, they didn't reply. I tried to contact them several weeks ago to make sure my application was 100% complete. Never emailed me back then either. Oh well, another 100 bucks down the drain!!! Time to go sell stuff again to make money I guess.....I'm sick of waiting, I've felt so dejected this last month, I don't think I can handle worrying about it anymore. I just want to be "somewhat" happy for once. I know how to make money, its not a profession I like, but it will be better than constantly hearing nothing except rejections. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU ON YOUR APPLICATIONS!! AND CONGRATS TO TO THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED!!!!

Yeah, it stresses me to wait on schools, but don't get crazy! life goes on, find a way until next year to get by. We are all here to support you!

I wish I could go to a bar with the ad coms, then I could get them drunk and convince them to admit me:)

Im a musician/composer, sadly I haven't been listening to much lately. I won't bore anyone with modern composers nobody has heard of. My favorite listen when I feel kinda down and buzzed on wine: "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles. Greatest song ever written/recorded

Wow, that's pretty crazy. I feel your pain. When I was applying to schools, I began to notice trends with websites. After awhile, I started to realize that some of the websites were really difficult to navigate and didn't offer good information. I came to the conclusion that I wouldn't apply to a school who didn't have their stuff together online. A bad website with little info is typically a good indicator as to how the school conducts itself. I emailed a University several months ago. I sent an email to a professor AND the admissions office just to introduce myself and get some information. Didn't get a SINGLE response. I found it to be unbelievable that a school would not respond, considering the amount of dough they make off of application fees!!! Needless to say, I didn't apply.

So, I'm normally pretty humble and patient on this site, but today I feel like ranting and raving a little bit. Can anyone explain why in the hell it takes a school over 3 months to notify applicants!? I won't mention names. XXXX university had a December 1st deadline, the app fee was 100 dollars (this doesn't count transcripts, postage, GRE, etc.) Why in the hell should I have to wait over 3 months to get a response?? I applied to a few schools early Jan that notified me several weeks later, and they cost half the price to apply. I don't want to put negative vibes out there, but honestly!? I could've applied to 2-3 schools with cheaper app fees in early December. It's completely frustrating. The worst, most aggravating part for me is that I can't help but feel like the decisions were made a long time ago. (SIDE NOTE: this school doesn't do interviews) I'm sure a lot of schools take this long, but it is still aggravating. Does anyone want to express any frustrations or constructive insight??? It would be much appreciated #fedupapplicant

I've always been an email addict, so whether or not I'm waiting on schools, I check my email too much! At this point, I have already decided that I don't really care anymore. I got tired of stressing out. I have 3 rejections and no acceptances, waiting on 5 schools. I don't think I will get in anywhere, so I've decided to get a good paying job and try again next year. Oh well..... who knows? maybe I will get in somewhere, I'm just sick and tired of worrying about.

Yeah, my professor suggested NYU because of it's acceptance rate, but thats the problem. They let more people in but don't offer good funding. Basically, if a school has a higher acceptance rate, it simply means that they won't pay for anything. Plus, I couldn't imagine trying to make a living in a place like NYC while earning a degree, no thanks!! How could anyone afford the rent, etc