kilene

Hi all, I'm looking to go into masters in film/media studies to eventually continue onto Phd. I have a BA in film, but was hoping to explore more into media/cultural studies than just focusing on film. As of now, these are the schools that I have gotten into, and I have no idea which program would be the best at preparing for me for my Phd: U Chicago: MAPH 1 year $40,000+ USC: Critical Studies MA 1 year $40,000 + 1 year of TAship LSE: Media and Communications MA 1 year $30,000+ but London is an expensive city to live in.. Emory: Film Studies MA 2 years $20,000+ So in terms of money, I feel like they will all be similar... does anyone know people who have done these programs? or has anyone done these programs themselves? Does TA experience help in getting into Phd programs? USC wants me to decide before next monday, and I really need some insight into these programs. Any comments will be appreciated! Thanks!

Hey all, Although my deadline is coming up in two days, anyone would like to give me ANY comments on my SOP? I would very much appreciate it..

Hi all, I'm in the process of applying for MA programs in Film/media studies, and while all other programs require 10-15 page writing samples, I have ONE program that asks for 15-25. As of now, I spent all this time almost re-writing a shorter paper I wrote, and it came out to be 11 pages long (13 with works citied) Would there be any chance of getting in with a shorter writing sample? Or do you recommend lengthening the paper out to 15 pages? To be honest, I hardly think it's possible given that the deadline is 15th... Please help! Thanks

Hey Swagato, did you attend MAPH? If so, could you tell me how big the cohort is?

Hello After weeks of research, I concluded that I would need a MA degree to get in to my dream Phd programs in the future. I have a BA in film and my interests are kind of all over the place but it's mostly: media studies, cultural theory, transnational art, and visual studies. I don't have much background in either sociology or anthropology, but I am hoping to draw more insight from these fields in addition to my undergrad film background in my graduate studies. Some programs I've been looking into are: LSE Global communications USC Critical studies MA UCLA Film and media studies MA NYU Media, culture and communication MA WUSTL American Culture Studies MA UW Madison Communication Arts-Media and cultural studies MA CMU Literary and cultural studies MA My dream programs would be Brown MCM or Stanford MTL but since they only offer Phd tracks, I'm not sure if I'll even try applying this year. Anyone have recommendations on a good MA program other than the ones I listed? I'd greatly appreciate any comments on the programs I already have in mind as well. Thanks!

PLEASE help, I have no idea what my chances are or even which programs I should i apply to... I recently graduated from a top 15 private school with a degree in film, and I'm looking to apply to phd/ma programs in cultural studies/communication/visual studies. My dream program would be Brown's Modern culture and media program, which only has a phd route. Here is where I stand: 3.67 GPA (my major gpa is slightly higher around 3.7-3.8) Graduated in three years (which is one of the reasons why I have NO thesis or research experience..) A certificate in marketing communications (which I think may even be detrimental to my application since the programs I'm applying to are highly academic) I do not have much coursework relating to the field that I want to pursue Crappy recommendations (I currently don't even know who to ask for my third recommendation) Non-existent writing sample (most programs require 10-15 pages, and all I could find that were even worth reading were 5-6 pages...and they are not anything like a thesis or research based, just papers written for classes. Would you recommend that I write a new paper on my own?) I haven't taken my GREs but I expect it to be around 160-165 for both sections if I do well. I haven't written the SOPs but I don't expect it to be anything special even if I tried. My initial plan was to apply to Phd programs and few MAs for backup, since I would hate to get student loans for two more years... But I feel like even MAs would not be backups for me at this point. Any recommendations on what I should do? Is there a way to better my chances without going the MA then Phd route? Any advice would be much appreciated!!