CP3

My main recommender was very supportive, my second one is IMPOSSIBLE to get a hold of, I literally had to wait until the day before the deadline for several applications because they did not submit the letter until the last minute (seriously, I had to submit one application at 11:00 oclock at night before the deadline!!!!!) my third recommender just received a doctorate a few years ago, so it was the first time they did a letter, they were excited to do it. As far as how many schools to apply to is concerned--It seems like mostly a matter of simple math--Sure, the decisions are in the hands of professors and admission committees, but if you apply to 10 schools, odds say you will get into 1-3 programs. If you apply to 15plus programs, the math won't change, you're still looking at 1-3 programs (unless you are a rock star!). So yeah, couldn't imagine wasting that much time and money!

haha, I'm working a dead end job right now just to pay the bills while I wait on the decisions to come in, starting to look into REAL jobs in case I don't get accepted

Accepted--buy an expensive bottle of liquor/wine and take a 2-3 day vacation (me and my wife got married in June, no honeymoon yet) Rejected--continue drinking my dirt cheap wine, apply to jobs:(

I sure hope not, that's how long mine was, all the examples I found were WAY over 500 words.

Mine was around 700-800 words, seemed acceptable for most programs. I read a Kaplan book with a long chapter regarding SOPs, and it seemed like the examples they gave were anywhere between 700-1000 words. I made the mistake of sending my 800 word SOP to a school that said "500" words, I wish I could go back and edit it down like you did, oh well

According to the database, I won't hear from anymore schools for at least a month. So far 2 were rejections, 6 to go. I'm starting to regret only applying to 8, but I couldn't afford all of the application fees, ideally I wanted to apply to 10-11. I had a friend who applied several years ago, he applied to 20 SCHOOLS!! how insane is that!? He ended up getting into 2 programs, one acceptance and one waitlist, he lucked out and got into the waitlist school. 18 rejections!!!!! Does anyone out there know people that have applied to 12-15 or more schools, that just seems insane and kind of counter-productive, I mean, I was losing my mind just applying to 8 schools, I couldn't imagine applying to more!

I made the fortunate decision a few years ago to make an email address that I would use for "junk" mail, then I made an email that would be used for real purpose, such as applying for jobs, corresponding with professors, etc Thank God I did that before applying to grad schools, I would be losing my mind if I kept getting random emails everyday! Then again, kind of sucks to check my email everyday and see NOTHING! uggghh

This may sound weird, but I received 2 rejections this week out of 8 total schools, and I actually feel a little bit better, at least I've heard from someone FINALLY! Does anyone else feel this way??

Yeah, I'm not sure for musicology, but my guess is that not hearing anything yet is a good thing. I emailed admissions on monday to make sure they had all of my application materials (basically my way of trying to get an answer quicker!) and then the next day I received the rejection email:(

thanks musicmage09! looks like from your list you have some pretty good credentials, those are top-notch schools. no interviews for me, only 2 rejections, probably won't hear anything else from the other schools until late Feb/early March. I always use this analogy: it's like pulling a band-aid real slowly----painful

Well, so far I've been rejected by 2 schools for PhD admissions. Starting to think that I won't get in anywhere, so I need to think of a plan B. Maybe a change in career? I'm pretty down and out right now Anyone else feeling the same??

I would've killed for those GRE scores, lol!

To my utter dismay, Northwestern just sent me a rejection via email, I wasn't invited to campus for an interview for the DM in composition. Just wanted to give a heads up to any music people out there who have applied to Northwestern, GOOD LUCK to everyone! Early congrats to those who have been invited for an interview!

Congrats to whoever got into the DMA composition program in Kansas City! I originally had them on my list, but I had to go with other schools, CONGRATS!!

My GRE sucked, my GPA was OK (I slacked off my first couple of years), but other than crappy test scores and average transcripts, my rec letters should be great, my performance history and recordings are pretty good, and I feel like I have a very original portfolio, I spent hundreds of hours making my scores look as professional as possible, and my recordings were all done by the best students at my former University. Its really hard being in music, because most people that post on forums etc major in completely different areas. For example, someone in psychology needs to show the ability to do research, work well with other professors, an ability to write intellectually etc etc In music composition, a portfolio is what we count on, and if someone doesn't "like" our music, even if it is really good, they will not bother with admitting you to the program. I'm waiting on 7 schools right now, the first one said NO a few days ago, so we shall see what happens:)

My GRE score was pretty low, I took it in October, after that all of the available dates were taken, so there was no chance of a re-take, I'm just hoping that it won't really matter in my application. It seems like it all depends on your major and the school you are applying to, most say that it doesn't matter too much MOST of the time, GOOD LUCK with everything!

Yeah, I received the same type of letter and email from a school a few weeks ago, then I was rejected a week later, not to be a debbie-downer, but it doesn't really say anything about your chances or progress, it just seems generic considering I got the same type of notification. Hopefully it works out better for you than it did for me! Good Luck!

1 response so far, should be hearing another one by the end of the week, ugghhh, wish I would've applied to more programs!! oh well

Hello all, I'm new here, I'm applying to PhD/DMA programs for Music Comp. I applied to 8 programs, a mix of top notch programs and schools with later deadlines that may be easier as far as admission is concerned. It's good to know that there are so many of us out there that are going insane waiting around on these schools. I AM NOT ALONE! I couldn't afford to apply to all of the schools that had Dec.1 deadlines (there were a million!!), so I had to spread it out, applied to 3 december deadlines and 5 schools with Jan deadlines It seems like a lot of these schools in music wait awhile to notify people (depending on which school you're applying to) I received a rejection from Bowling Green State University last weekend, a super generic email sent on a Saturday afternoon (pretty odd time) Other than that, I have 7 schools left to hear from. Its helpful to see on this site which schools are responding at what times, its also nerveracking!!!

Greetings, I'm new on this GradCafe site, really neat site. I'm applying to PhD programs in music. I just finished 2 out of 8 total applications. I began applying December 1, the last deadline is the end of Jan. About a few weeks ago I really started freaking out. Before that I didn't think much about it, but now that interview deadlines etc are approaching, I'm getting extremely anxious. I received my first rejection via email this past Saturday, wasn't one of my top choices, but it still stung to hear back from them only 3 weeks after applying. Such a quick NO was a little bit alarming to say the least. I almost feel like they didn't even look at my application, they just pocketed the money I gave them and threw my stuff in the trash, feels kinda sketchy! I'm starting to feel like the other schools have already said NO to my applications and they are just waiting until March to send me the rejections, why can't the admissions people just get it over with and send you a NO so that you can move on with your life. I mean, if I applied in December, surely they have looked at my stuff by now? Who knows, maybe they are actually seriously considering my application, and they won't decide yes or no until March/April. It's nice to see that so many other people are suffering the same way I am, Thanks for any future responses:)