nativenewyorker

Ammar, I'm no expert, but I just attended one of these events at a school where I will be going next year. I think the blend-into-the-wallpaper approach is the absolute wrong one. If there are already matches being made, whether they are initiated by profs or students, I think you need to make a target list of profs whose interests align with yours and chat with as many or all of them as you can. In fact, to break the ice, you could send them a friendly email ahead of time. It's better to risk saying something stupid (which I'm sure you won't) than to be left out in the cold. And FYI, this is all coming from a total introvert. I completely understand where you're coming from on this issue and constantly have to push myself to open my mouth, have more confidence in my abilities, or at least appear that I do. Good luck!

Anonuser109, Sorry about that. It was turned off, but I've fixed it now. Feel free to ask away!

Anonuser109, I would be happy to discuss my app with you, although these things seem to be a bit of a crapshoot at times. I actually exchanged some emails with someone who got into Princeton, and it was very helpful to me, since I had been rejected. Unfortunately, NYU is probably a rejection for you. I attended the open house on March 7th, and there were both accepted and at least one waitlisted applicant there. I'll give some info here, but if you want to discuss more, we can always trade emails. I actually applied to Rutgers as well but withdrew my app before finding out whether I'd been accepted. Like you, I had no publications. My GREs were only 1190. I graduated from Fordham University, which is ranked somewhere in the 60s (I think), summa cum laude. I have an MFA in nonfiction from Columbia University, so the ivy league name probably helped balance out the low GRE. I had three strong LORs, but no big names or anything. In my SOP, I emphasized fit with the dept (one of my main interests is urban soc, which is one of their strongest areas).I also contacted a faculty member in September who had some similar interests and had an in-person meeting with him, since I live in Manhattan. He was very helpful and even said he'd "flag" my application, though he wasn't on the adcom. Hmmm. I don't know what else I can say. I don't know much about OSU, but I know that Rutgers is very good for certain areas, health for instance. If my primary interest was in health, and the commute between New Brunswick and NYC wasn't an issue right now, I would not hesitate to go. Hope this helped a little. Good luck!

Msocgradstudent, I'm sorry to hear about your predicament. While improving your GRE scores can't hurt, I'm not sure that's what's leading to your rejections, though maybe that was an issue at the highest ranked schools. Maybe something was off in your SOP. That's the only thing that hasn't been mentioned, and everything else in your application seems to be in order. In my case, I had pretty dismal scores (540q, 650v, 5.0 aw), and I was accepted to two programs out of three, NYU and CUNY. I was rejected from Princeton, but with my scores they may not have even looked at my app. I definitely second the advice to contact the programs and ask for some guidance in strengthening your application. And perhaps also contact professors you are interested in working with at the programs you apply to in the next round. I did that at NYU and it probably helped. Best of luck!

Realist, Great advice. I'm in sociology, and your insighful post has gone a long way towards helping me make up my mind. The "who I want to work with" issue almost swayed me to a lower ranked school, but your straight talk on the matter has made me realize what I've known all long. Sure, there are those exceptions we can all point to, that person who landed a great tenure track job despite attending a less stellar program...I just had a meeting with someone like this the other day. But it'll be hard enough to slog through a PhD program. Do we really want the pressure of having to now beat the odds? I know I don't. What if luck isn't on your side? If I go to the program with the better rep, at least I've got that. Thanks.

Bluewhenitsgray, I would definitely take columbia housing if you can get it. I just graduated in Oct from the MFA program, and though I didn't need the housing, I had several classmates were quite happy with theirs and even maintained their matriculation well past the time they could graduate just so they could hang onto their apartments. If you go the independent route, outside Manhattan is definitely cheaper but factor in that commute...I lived in the East Village at the time and had to switch trains three times which was a pain in the ass. Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any other questions you might have.

CarpeDiemOmniDiem, Thanks so much for offering your services. It's such a treat to have someone who's been though this already volunteer to answer questions. I only applied to four schools, and so far I've got one acceptance and one rejection. Since all the schools I applied to are on your list, I figured I'd ask: if you can remember, when did you hear back from Rutgers and CUNY? I'm getting a little antsy, since I've got a great acceptance and don't want to draw this process out unneccessarily, but I'd like to know what's going on with these last two applications. I'm getting the feeling these programs tend to notify somewhat late in the game. Am I right? Thanks!