socialcomm

I'm not sure what 'half tried' means, but I think the number of times you apply really depends on a lot of factors. Do you have the time/resources to apply again? Have you received any feedback as to why you weren't accepted or what might be done to make your application stronger? Sometimes there are issues you have no control over that ultimately determine if you get in or not (economy, profs leaving). This was my second round and if I didn't get in, I would have tried again, but that was just my personal decision.

When my husband completed his PhD, he was 1.5 hours from the school. For the first year (or maybe it was just the first semester? I can't recall now.), he had an apartment near the school he stayed at a couple nights a week. After that time, he only went in a few days a week, driving there and back in one day. He was good at time management and didn't feel like he missed out by not being on campus all the time. I'll be commuting about an hour to my program. I'm also hoping I won't need to drive in every day, but I'll have to wait and see. 2 hours is certainly a long drive -- do you know how many days you'll need to be on campus? What hours you'll need to be on campus?

I can assure you... you are NOT alone. I think now that I know where I'm going I'm actually more anxious than before! But I think it's fairly normal (at least that's what I'm telling myself) when there's such a big change and you're going from the known to the unknown! Maybe taking a day to step away from all things academic would help? Just concentrate on other hobbies/friends/family? OR taking a different approach, write down all the things that you're nervous about and look at them one by one to try to figure out if you have reasons to be nervous and what you can do to reduce the nervousness... but I think that would end up freaking me out more. I'm curious though... what books are you reading? Anything you'd recommend?

1. Contact faculty early and keep the conversation going. If you're local or can visit, DO IT! Also, if you're local, see if you can attend any of their colloquia series lectures. 2. Start your SOP early. 3. If you've been out of school for a few years (um, or more in my case), don't hesitate to contact past professors for LORs. Jog their memory as to who you are, if you need to. 4. Don't give up if you don't get any acceptances the first time around. Or even the second time. I got in during my second round of trying, but I would certainly attempt again next year if I hadn't. However, make sure you take a hard look at your complete application to determine where you can bolster it and create a better complete package the following year, don't just submit what you did the previous year.

I'm sorry, that stinks. Will you try again next year? Best of luck to you!

From someone in industry right now... if you're not looking for a prestigious job, I think gaining the skills/knowledge you'll need from 'a mediocre school' as you put it will be fine! I work for an organization that does research and I really couldn't tell you what school or what degree most of my colleagues have. Also, if you work hard at the mediocre school to get as much out of it as you can, perhaps publish and present at conferences etc... in a sense you can rise above the school. Have you done informational interviews with anyone who's in a position you might want in a future? Might give you a good idea of what's required for what you want to do.

Are either of you involved with http://www.citasa.org/ ?

I'm interested in social networking and social media in general. I've been doing professional research on the topic, but not academic. I think it's just really new, although the barriers you mention might also be factors. I find Jennifer Earl's work very interesting: http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/faculty/earl/

Social movements (environmental movement in particular) and technology (specifically the Internet).

I've applied to both comm and soc programs as well. I think you'd be able to look at soc topics through a comm lens... but perhaps look at articles/professors who are working on topics you're interested in and see if the topics are still what you're looking for. Talk to the profs you want to work with in your Comm program. I think part of what you have to figure out also is what you ultimately want to do and where you want to work. If you want to go into academia, what department do you want to work in? Comm? Soc? Most likely they'll be in completely different schools in the university. Is salary an issue? You might want to look up salaries for soc versus comm profs. Of course, if you don't want to go into academia, those might be less important. Good luck with your decision! It's a good problem to have!

No real advice, but just wanted to say that there are people who commute from New Haven to NYC for work. If you don't mind commuting a bit as well, you could live further down the train line to NYC. Probably not the ideal situation, but certainly could be worse! Good luck!

I will -- good luck to you too!

Same here. I was told we'd hear within the next couple weeks. Based on what I've heard from current students, however, I'm not overly optimistic, but hoping for the best.

Congrats! I can tell you about the area -- DM me if you have any questions.

From the website, it appears they're still accepting applications to the program. Hopefully we hear something, anything, soon!

I agree with this. You'd really be taking a gamble that they wouldn't see this as inappropriate.

Don't give up all hope yet! But it's good to have a fall back plan. I wouldn't go back for another bachelor's. My undergrad and grad are both in psychology and I got into a Sociology program. If you're going to go back to school, try for a masters degree in Sociology instead.

I got an acceptance at UC Riverside last night -- hopefully the start of the storm of acceptances for everyone else who hasn't heard!

Haven't heard a word. But I only applied to a couple schools and one Comm program and it was super reach so I'm not surprised. I've seen more comm programs listed on the results page, but it doesn't look like those people want to play in the forum.

Lots of people celebrating this weekend -- congrats!!

It may depend on if you're wait listed or not? Some schools might wait until they get answers from some of the people they accepted.

I haven't heard anything yet... but I wouldn't say I was being ignored. Nor do I wish any ill wishes on anyone who HAS heard back.

How exciting!!! Congrats!

Congrats! Add it to the results search!!

It looks like the first comm made it into the results search?