PRguy101

@Skiergirl--that is not only ridiculous..it's [insert expletive] ridiculous! I find it funny that they do this because I know they make a big deal out of their "Invitational Masters Student Institute" that is held every fall. I think 8 of us in my program applied and not one of us was invited to attend. I figured they have this institute in order to sell their school to future PHD applicants, but why invite the nation's masters students to check out your school and then only have ONE funding package?? Wow..unbelievable, that can't be good for the future of the program and its reputation. Anyway, like I said, you will have opportunities elsewhere. We will have a drink at one of the upcoming AEJMC conferences and laugh at all of this crap one day. @favoritedylansong--welcome to the board. I agree with skiergirl, I'd call. also Illinois ICR is MUCH more selective than the Illinois comm program. If anything due to the spots available in the incoming classes. Illinois ICR is sort of like Syracuse (mass com phd) and UPENN's comm program as far as sheer amount of applications for just a few spots. Like 150+ applications for a handful of spots to all of those programs. And one similar aspect of all of those programs is that every spot is fully funded. So that adds another layer of application interest. Not to discourage on that front but if you had your heart set on illinois, I'd be banging down that Illinois COMM door! I am glad you were true to yourself in your personal statement. I had this same problem because as I have mentioned before on this forum, research is just a necessary evil for me, as my heart is in pedagogy and professional development in the mass comm field. Hence my screen name as PR is not a field that has a solid place at the PHD mass comm table. As one of my professors told me "Everyone wants to hire PHD faculty in PR, there are more faculty spots than PHD graduates, but no mass comm scholar truly believes PR is deserving of research at the PHD level." Uh, ok. Great, thanks. So writing my personal statement was difficult to say the least. I am glad to have been admitted to a program that is known for having a 99.9% emphasis in qualitative research and a strong focus on critical aspects of the mass comm professions. I didn't have to downplay my professional interest in the PHD and I think that helped me in the end (admittedly, I did downplay it for the other programs I applied to and I have yet to hear back from most of them..hmmm..coincidence?) I do wish you best of luck for both Illinois programs despite my "Gandalf Stormcrow" attitude, lol. BTW, I have a friend that graduated from my program last year that got into Oregon's PHD program. She is now there finishing up her first year. Awesome person. If you want her contact info to ask her some questions (she is extremely candid, which is why I love her) I would be glad to supply that in a private message. Oh and congrats on Oregon. The thought of living there makes me grin. But alas, it looks like 4 more years of snow for me! @jadedid--welcome. Congrats on your acceptance to UNC! You are indeed in the right place.

Did Rutgers specifically say no funding or is it that they have yet to make a decision on funding offers?

Skiergirl hang in there! You WILL get a fully funded offer from one of your remaining programs. I truly believe that. Georgia State is pretty much a shoe in for you and the others are right there too. You are competitive. This has been a very weird year for everyone applying. I have noticed that admissions this year have been all over the place. Tons of applicants for a few spots and admission committees having a hard time choosing their incoming classes (for example I know of one school where they basically said ok we will admit 2 for gender, 2 for politics, 2 for media effects etc..which meant if u were stellar yet didnt fall within the research interest u were out!) Not that it helps, but someone with your background doesn't go without a solid offer. It may not be your number 1 choice, but you will get in. HANG ON!!

My friend here in my masters program was admitted into the life sciences/mass comm department going for a PHD. She is a Chinese national interested in international health messages, etc. However, she received no word on funding and the Madison Mass Comm program is notoriously known NOT to fund a significant amount of their students. So while she is honored, her odds of getting aid are pretty slim, especially as an international student. My background also translated a little weird to the departments I applied to. I have had great success and some failure so far. Sometimes I wonder if 10 years of media experience is an asset or a liability. It was hard to boil that down into a 500-800 word personal statement!! You have Cornell, Madison's loss red_crayons. Sorry to hear about the Upenn folks. Hundreds of applications for 15 spots? Yikes...Continued good luck to all.

I am starting this thread out of pure "Misery loves company" motives so no boy scout points for me. Anyone else having a heck of time concentrating on writing his or her thesis while waiting for decisions?? Sometimes I am super motivated and sometimes too depressed to care. Yet, we can't really start our potential new academic careers without completing this sucker either! How are you staying motivated?? Oh...the humanity..

[Yay, I got into Cornell! Not trying to gloat, but I want to introduce myself on the thread. ] Congrats Red_canyons! Welcome to the board. We are happy with everyone's success on this board, so be proud! Cornell sounds amazing and very geared toward technology and communication. When I was looking for PHD programs I did some looking at Cornell. Since I am hopelessly qualitative I knew that it wasn't a good fit for me, but I was impressed with their faculty (MIT graduates, tons of visual technology and technology effects researchers.) Given your background, I see you will definitely prosper in a program like that. Congrats again.

My friend just got accepted to CAS PHD, so maybe it is CAS?

Vit1825 congrats on Purdue. That is a top comm program! Good attitude MediaHistory! I am also working on my thesis, so I am very distracted. It is weird because knowing I got into where I THINK is pretty much where I will end up has actually made it harder for me to concentrate. I am ready to go now! I am impressed at everyone applying to U of Penn. With over 300 applications received last year, I just wasn't about to play that game! But kudos to my fellow applicants for braving that storm. I am still waiting to hear back from two schools. I took a huge risk not applying to more. For those of you who are still worried about getting into a program, please don't forget about Texas Tech's new PHD program in Mass Comm. The deadline is not until March 15 and they give GREAT funding packages because they are trying to build up their program. Plus, they have some pretty good faculty and a great undergraduate program. I am in love with how they have their program set up. They claim to look at the application process "holistically" so that is always a good sign for people who may have a weak part in their application (mine was my low GRE, barely cracked the minimum) Texas Tech is a great school too (my cousin went there and I loved the campus and energy of the place.) The program is very MASS COMM though. I am sure you know what I mean. Naptown, stop taking all the admission slots!! HAHAHAAHA...pick Ohio and let the rest of us have a chance please. THanks! JK! Great job, Florida has a pretty solid program and you can't beat the weather. They are tops in my field, along with Maryland, but for some reason I wanted a smaller program. Congrats again Naptown. For the new people, welcome and I hope more good news starts coming in for everyone.

In at University of Iowa--Mass Comm. Pretty excited, but no word on funding until the Spring it seems. I wish I knew who posted on the results page that also got into Iowa-Mass Comm. Whoever it is mentions that they "don't usually admit without funding." This is to hoping they are right!

How is everyone doing? Naptown can't be the only person who has gotten in so far...Skiergirl, socialcomm?? Let's pick this forum back up my friends!

Naptown, Congrats my friend! It is nice to hear positive news for us PHD mass comm or comm applicants! Your stats and experiences are awesome and I am glad that you have some word back. When did you decide to apply to Ohio State? I know that it wasn't on your initial list. That place would be a dream school for me, but I decided not to apply due to their required GRE score. Such is life. It appears that their PHD grads get jobs and they are one of the top schools in politics and media/comm. Keep us updated Naptown. If anything we will live vicariously through you, ha!

Hey engwish, yeah I think we were all gung-ho at first, but I know for me, last semester kicked my butt. It was just a weird semester for some reason. Anyone else find last semester just odd? I also realized that my goal of applying to 12 programs just wasn't going to happen due to finances and time. I am in a master's degree program in mass comm and I am applying to five PHD programs in mass comm. They are not top 5 programs but they are solid enough to provide me a great education and a job in academia. I decided this year to bypass the whole 6 out of 200 application odds. For what I want to do in academia, I don't need a UPENN or Penn State name. Though I am sure it wouldn't hurt!! lol. The good news is that academia is falling all over itself trying to fill positions in my research area, because people graduating with PHDs in my field are rare (except for the top few schools that routinely produce such scholars, but that isn't enough to meet the demand). My thesis adviser mentioned that he wishes he could find a new job but commented that all of the jobs in mass comm are in my area of study and not his! I also found it difficult to write my personal statement this year (continuing the weird semester trend.) I finally got it done obviously (I already sent in one application, the others are due soon) but I think given the nature of mass communication and journalism today it was hard NOT to talk about the impact of new technologies on my field. I so didn't want to bring this up in my personal statement. I mean how cliche, right? Oh well.. I am babbling now. I think the first program i applied to makes decisions rather quickly because last year their admitted student's day was Feb 15 and the application deadline was Jan 10! Let's revive the thread and cheer each other on!

I agree Naptown. I haven't even finished my applications or finished my SOP at this point, so if there are others like me then that explains the silence lol. This has been a bizarre semester for me, so I assume this will be an "interesting" application process this year. I hear Masters Degree apps will be super high compared to last year while PHD apps will be only slightly higher than last year (but more because people are applying to more schools as opposed to more people applying in general.) Most programs in comm and mass comm require a masters, so that helps us PHD applicants a little. I am sticking to six schools and not 10 or something like that. Oh well, nervous as heck!

Naptown, congrats!! Don't worry, we will be here with you going through the same thing. My first application deadline is Dec 15! :wink:

Ok skiergirl, I assumed that, just wanted to clarify!

Commcyle, I am curious, how did you manage your application process the second time around? what did you do differently? I believe outside of a few people out there, this process is VERY unpredictable. I know people who have gotten into top schools with 5 conferences and some with 0. People with 1400 GRE and some with 930 all full funding at "top" schools. People with 10 years of relevant work experience, and people who went straight through...

Skiergirl24, What is your idea of a "top tier" school? Just curious, and do u mean in mass communication or communication in general? Many of my schools aren't top tier per se, but they are solid in my research area. My friend got into U of Iowa with full funding (mass comm) with between a 900-960 GRE. It was his research interest that snagged it for him. I am finding it difficult to narrow down my research interest for application purposes. I am also trying to make it general enough as not to be alienating and specific enough as not to sound ridiculously unfocused. This process is a tight rope! I am going to spend a lot of time on my personal statement and I am starting now (some of my deadlines are Dec 1! That is a little crazy). :shock:

I agree Naptown, it is going to come down to research interests and fit with the department. GRE scores and GPA aside, that will be a major deciding factor. I have friends applying to schools they think it would be "cool to go to" without really thinking about if there are people there who have their research interests and could guide them through the next 4 years. I was told that some programs rank based on research interest. Say for example one's interest is "media & politics" well the program may only admit 2 with those interests. I am finding this process to be a little intimidating. I also have a ton of industry friends who can't work in the media anymore (mostly newspaper/journalism types) and they are looking for a place to "hide out" for a while. However, I have faith in my ability to at least "show up to the ball game." If I win or not is a different story Skiergirl, I have friends like that here too. They are doing everything but moving into their apartments in Chicago so they can go to Northewestern lol Hey..more power to them! I wish I had that type of boldness. but let's stay encouraged and start this process with a healthy amount of confidence.

Naptown, those are stellar stats. Welcome to the board, good to see another PHD hopeful. I envy that GRE score, very good, and your work experience "in the field" will give you a further edge. I can't speak for UPENN because let's face it, with that many people applying, they will have to turn away a good chunk of well-qualified applicants. With UPENN it will come down to fit with department and faculty. As far as the other schools are concerned you are very competitive. One of my classmates (in the class ahead of me) applied to Indiana and U of Florida with similar stats (though no work experience) and was admitted to both with full funding (she ended up turning both down and taking a job with Warner Brothers. Not sure if she was silly or smart!) I recently visited Indiana University and I love the campus and program there, but unfortunately the program isn't a fit for my research interests. U of Florida is tops as well and one of the only programs that have my research interest with a sizable cadre of faculty dedicated to it. Penn State is one of the best in the mass comm field and they consistently rank in the top and I would love to work with a couple faculty members there, but I most likely will not throw my hat in that ring. How did you choose those particular schools? Did you look at faculty or did you chose the schools based on overall reputation?

Hello Jan, Welcome to the board. I am sure things will pick up here around September! About your questions: My M.A. professor gave me some good advice. He told me that I could be successful in academia by being good in two of the three areas: Teaching, Research, Service (community involvement, etc). He went on to say that of the three areas, ONE area that I will focus on HAS TO be Teaching or Research (meaning be a research superstar or a teaching superstar-preferably both but those people are far and few between). My interests differ from yours, in that I enjoy teaching much more than I do research. Meaning I do publish and research, but really "enjoy" myself in the classroom, student development, etc..With that said, a PHD is really nothing but research, with teaching to pay the bills. This should be right up your alley, if you enjoy research. Also remember that in our field-communication, mass communication, etc-we have a pretty active research component in the more practical industries. While you may not NEED a PHD to work in the communication industry, it will be a huge plus and if you plan on being a director or lead team member in a research-oriented communication position, then a PHD will not only set you apart but may be desired at the higher levels. A friend I went to undergrad with, got her PHD in mass communication with an emphasis in public opinion. She is now working for RAND. Her position desired a PHD. In short (hahaha) if you like research, then you are probably the perfect PHD student. I am in the position of having to deal with my average interest in research so that I can translate that into classroom teaching. You are in a much better position believe me! Your second question: These programs are tops in your field, but there are others that were ranked by NCA (National Communication Association). I placed a short list at the bottom . A longer list can be found at their site. By the way, why is everyone interested in Upenn Comm? You'd think they were the only communications program in the US. Sure they are the best in several areas, but geeeesh! (This is my way of saying there is no way I would get in so I envy those who have a chance to buck the 300 applicants a year statistic lol) I guess Americans love their ivys! :wink: Good Luck! I hope to hear more from you this year. Many of us will be trying to get into PHD programs for Fall 2010. Top 12 (according to NCA) in Health Comm 1) Pennsylvania, University of Annenberg School for Communication 2) Pennsylvania State University Department of Comm Arts and Sciences 3) Michigan State University College of Communication Arts & Sciences 4) Illinois, University of-Urbana-Champaign Department of Speech Communication Georgia, University of Department of Speech Communication 5) Kentucky, University of College of Comm and Info Studies 6) Texas A&M University Department of Communication 7) Purdue University Department of Communication 8) Rutgers University Department of Communication, 9) Ohio University School of Communication Studies 10) Southern California, University of Annenberg School for Communication 11) Ohio State University School of Journalism and Mass Comm 12) Oklahoma, University of Department of Communication

Hey all, I would also be interested in getting to know the Fall 2010 Mass Comm/Comm applicants. I am currently working on my M.A. in media studies (formerly Mass Comm at my school). I plan on applying for PHD programs in Mass Comm/Comm for entry Fall 2010. Would love to plug into an online support network. I also have my law degree and when I applied to law school I wish I would have had some emotional support during the process. Wildewit- Your interests are very close to mine. My research interests are in government communication/military press relations/IR & Media. My teaching interests though are in public relations/integrated marketing/international communication. I love your interests. I would be interested in hearing more. rparkerV- Those are awesome schools you are looking at. Do you have any practical experience in the field? I think GRE scores are somewhat important, but I find schools in mass comm/comm highly value prior practical experience, academic conferences, and obviously research interest fit with faculty. I also need to retake the GRE, but to be honest (we have the same verbal score!) I just want to get a respectable score in the math section ( I didn't need that section for my M.A. program and I am not so adept at math-but need to turn that around.) I don't plan on applying to most of the schools on your list. Most of the ivies and higher ranked schools don't have programs or faculty that specialize in public relations, except for U of Maryland and USC and I am not wasting my application money by applying to ivy league schools (I don't have a slingshot to shoot that high lol). I have had classmates ahead of me in the M.A. program here who just got into top ranked schools with 1000-1100 GRE scores (and full funding I may add). I think their unique research interests and fit within their respective departments really is what got them where they are. Not to say GREs are not important (obviously I am retaking mine too) but you are not as worse off as you think! Hope to make some new friends and colleagues here Best, J