naptown

Interesting article at: http://harvardmagazine.com/2009/11/professionalization-in-academy "The argument that [doctoral students] need the training to be qualified to teach undergraduates is belied by the fact that they are already teaching undergraduates. Undergraduate teaching is part of doctoral education; at many institutions, graduate students begin teaching classes the year they arrive. And the idea that the doctoral thesis is a rigorous requirement is belied by the quality of most doctoral theses. If every graduate student were required to publish a single peer-reviewed article instead of writing a thesis, the net result would probably be a plus for scholarship." Thoughts?

I'd be interested in weekday mornings 8-10am EST.

Read Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying, over the holiday break. Also read most of Erving Goffman, The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life.

glasses

Ew, I don't like this game. Rejected: 1 Admitted w/ no funding, or waitlisted: 2 Admitted w/ full funding: 2

Blinging, Your potential scores and your GPA all look good. It might help your applications if your upcoming internship was more communication/media related. The PR gig is good, of course. Really, just find ways to signal that you're knowledgeable about the areas of communication you're interested in. I don't know much about West Coast programs myself, but it definitely couldn't hurt to broaden the pool of schools you apply to.

Welcome, blingingbling! As far as tips, it might help if you shared more of your profile (test scores, interests, worries, strengths, etc.) and posed some specific questions. Definitely make use of the application forum threads and listen to your professors'/mentors'/advisors' advice. Have you thought about applying to more programs? The amount of grad school applicants is going to be very heavy this year.

It sucks! Their system is so poorly designed. I agree that the "publications" area was awkward and hard to use. There was so little space to put the title of anything - the paper, journal/conference, or even who the coauthors were. With most of the IU stuff, I just tried to make it work as well as it could for me. But they still ask some bizarre questions. You have to answer "city of birth" in addition to the usual citizenship questions. Oh, and online payment at the end is really hard, too - I thought it hadn't gone through at first. The only thing I liked about IU's online application system was that it allows you to send online LoR requests before you finalize your app. I did send a paper CV to IU. For any schools where the department page was ambiguous about whether they preferred online or paper materials, I went ahead and mailed a paper packet of CV/SoP/Writing Sample/anythingelse to the graduate coordinator or secretary specified on their site. If they're vague in their directions, I'd rather them have too many options for retrieving my materials than not enough or the wrong ones. Some schools make you paste your CV into a box or several fields, and I guess that's to make everyone's info seem equal in presentation and to avoid being swayed by layout. In that scenario, I guess it could be considered bad form to send your real CV. Not sure...

Did you all have this yet, or is it upcoming? Hope it went / will go well.

It's terribly quiet around here! Sooooo ready for it to be February/March.

I agree. It's not a cover letter. Do pay attention if they want you to call it a "Statement of Intent," "Statement of Goals," or something else besides the standard "SoP."

Same story here. Honestly I don't care, I just made a decision and stuck with it. I asked one recommender, and they didn't mind one way or the other. I do have one recommender who I worry I might not get that much praise out of, but it is what it is at this point. I have no interest in ever reading the letters, but I don't think it would make a difference to my recommenders if I waived my right.

IU does this, too. Their online application system is pretty weird, in general. Is anyone else annoyed that a lot of programs' websites emphasize that they do paper recommendations (with no mention of electronic recommendations), but then it turns out they do have (or even prefer) an electronic option? It's as though these "How to Apply" sections are several years out of date, or don't keep up with university-wide changes in the processing of applications.

It's more to your benefit to solicit tough criticism instead of asking us to be gentle. I saw the earlier post you made and the subsequent comments, and this all seems very similar to what you had before ("deviants" "screen saver" "nations" etc etc). The various posters had a lot of really good comments for you... I would dwell on those and think about the fundamental issues they addressed. It's hard to totally chuck a section and start from scratch, but if you get helpful feedback, or you come back and read it later and don't like something, you've got to rethink it. SOPs are soooo crucial...

I was finished with everything (minus one transcript that was "lost in the mail" twice already). Then, I went and had a change of heart and decided to apply to a 5th program. They have a late application date (January 15, I think), but I feel like a nuisance for asking 3 recommenders for yet another letter. It's worth it though... I was really silly for leaving out this particular prospective school.

I'm in the same exact situation... it was in high school, so I didn't think it was needed.. but you all have me reconsidering, because the transfer credit does show up on my undergraduate transcript. I also took 2-3 courses during high school at the school I ended up attending for my undergrad. Those make it look like I was in college for 5 years (2000-2005 instead of 2001-2005), so I did make a note on my online applications if there was space provided to explain irregularities or something out of the ordinary that needed to be known. ...I just didn't think the one class at the other school was a big deal. I'm wrong, right?

Like socialcomm explains, communication is a broad field with pretty distinct areas. If you're not serious about a particular aspect of communication, you'll have a hard time getting accepted and succeeding anywhere, especially jumping from a bachelor's degree to a doctoral program. Communication is not a catch-all or safety net. Academics in communication are just as valued as anyone else in the social sciences, and communication is a growing and thriving discipline. The hard sciences (STEM) may be better funded and more valued in some cases by university administrations, compared to social sciences and arts/humanities. Maybe that's what you mean. But there's no shortage of work and recognition for serious communication scholars.

I've submitted all my materials to my programs. :-D All I have to do is just make sure that everything was received properly... And, endure the miserable 4-5 month wait. :-(

I have no experience in this area, but thought I'd offer some general support. Do you feel like you're being singled out (i.e. treated differently from other students)? If so, it may be a matter of fit, in which case I'd personally move on to a different program. But if everyone's treated that way, maybe it's just the way that program is run, and I'd personally adjust my own expectations/attitude. Do you have other programs you're interested in? Check out their FAQs, or make some calls to see if they allow transfers. Penn, for example, does: http://www.asc.upenn.edu/prospective/Faq.aspx. I don't know what the sentiment in departments is about transfers, since I'm just an lowly applicant myself. My impression is that if your program is a bad fit, a lot of programs and faculty would understand why you would transfer, and wouldn't hold it against you. Other more prickly types (like some of the people you're dealing with) may look down on it, wondering why you joined that program in the first place. But if you're being systematically bullied and excluded, I would definitely look for other programs that would take transfers and would be a better fit. Good luck, and I hope you get some feedback from some posters that have experience in this area. Maybe try cross posting to a more general forum section.

Is it correct that the report that schools receive lists all scores from the past 5 years? I retook the GRE 4.5 years after I originally took it for my MA program, but the score report I received in the mail only listed my newer set of scores. My test scores this second time around were 50 points lower (and below my practice tests results), but high enough that I didn't want to retake the test (710v 710q down to 650v 720q). I was also concerned about what a repeat effort now would look like to admission committees. If my high score from 2004 shows up on my report, could that help or hurt me?

skiergirl24: Your experiences and GPAs all look amazing. If you're applying to programs that are very qualitative, your GRE scores are fine (but I'm no expert). Has your focus always been film studies (i.e. does your experience most reflect that interest?) Also, in your other post, you say that you have classmates with much lower scores and less experience that are incredibly confident about their Ph.D. applications... is that right? Where are they applying, and in what? Last year and this year are especially competitive for grad school applications, from what I'm reading on this forum and elsewhere. Do you have a preferred programs you'd like to get accepted into? Welcome to the forum!

PRguy101: Thanks for the support! To address your question, I guess I would say that I chose based on 3 things: Multiple faculty with interest in uses and gratification, reception, attention processes, and the like. Penn State is the weakest in this regard, but they have a policy/management area that appeals to me, too. I think the other three are a solid fit - as long as I'm able to articulate my interests in a way that is specific enough and makes sense to the committee. Geography - family in PA, FL, and IN, and all are reasonably affordable/warm locations where my spouse and I would want to live for 5+ years. Well-regarded and well-funded (major research institution) departments and universities. So what programs are you applying to, and why?

I would like to hear from successful applicants (at any school, really) on what they felt made their application stand out (beyond the basics we all know).