Harvey

Glad to hear that UCLA is just taking their time, though I have no idea why they would wait so long.

I still haven't received the acceptance packet from UCLA. Starting to get antsy.

Perhaps I'll see you in the fall then. Still waiting for that packet, though...

I sure wish that packet would come in the mail. Have you decided between USC and UCLA?

Got the official rejection notice from UT this morning. Looks like I am going to UCLA. I hope the official admit from the college comes soon (I've just been notified by the department so far).

Perhaps snail mail is considered by some programs to be more official. All my rejection and acceptance notices were via email this year, except for the University of Wisconsin, which sent a nice rejection letter in the mail.

The final list is looking to be this... UCLA -- Accepted USC -- Wait List University of Texas at Austin -- Accepted/Waiting* UC San Diego -- Rejected. UC Berkeley -- Rejected. NYU -- Accepted Northwestern - Rejected University of Wisconsin Madison -- Rejected *I still haven't heard from the RTF school, although I was accepted into the LBJ School. I need both to get in, however, since I applied to a dual degree program. Ugh, I wish I'd just hear so I can make up my mind... If I don't get in at U Texas, I think I prefer UCLA over NYU. The program and the cost are both superior. But I don't know which one I'd choose if U Texas was thrown in there (or, for that matter, USC). We'll see. I'm just happy to know I'll be somewhere come August. Congratulations to everyone else who has been accepted the past two weeks.

Just got word today that I was accepted by NYU, although I think I prefer UCLA. Does anyone else have any thoughts on the two programs? UCLA--accepted! USC University of Texas at Austin UC San Diego--rejected. UC Berkeley--rejected. NYU--accepted! Northwestern University of Wisconsin Madison--rejected.

Did Northwestern email you, or did you have to go to the application page? I suppose I should check that. Probably another rejection notice, alas.

I learned I was accepted to UCLA just yesterday (minutes before I posted that list, actually). Still waiting on all the others.

I've had it suggested by several advisors that USC has the better cinema studies program, but I can't speak to many specifics.

And, btw, I've applied to: UCLA--accepted! USC University of Texas at Austin UC San Diego--rejected. UC Berkeley--rejected. NYU Northwestern University of Wisconsin Madison--rejected.

1) MA or PhD? MA, then PhD. 2) What do you want to do with your degree? Write and teach. Maybe get into film festival programming as well. 3) What is your undergrad degree in? Cinema Production and Politics. 4) What topics do you want to study? Genre studies, with a focus on science fiction; the application of new media in fan/creator interaction (podcasts, blogs, twitter, etc.), Race/cultural studies, Political text and subtext in cinema. 5) What's the #1 thing you concentrated on when working on your apps? My personal statement. 6) What's the thing you fear the most about being accepted and if accepted are you going to pimp up your dorm or apartment like a true movie diva? I just want to be accepted somewhere, and hopefully funded. And of course I will pimp out wherever I live like a true movie diva. 7) Do you like making movies or just studying the history, theory and criticism of films? I'm more interested in the study now, but my undergraduate degree is in film production and I like getting back into that field from time to time. Particularly film editing, which is such an exciting discipline. 8) Do you even like going to the movies? Very much so. Almost as much as I like tearing apart the films afterwards! 9) When people know you want to study film don't you always hate it when they ask you, "What's your favorite movie?" Mostly my peers just want to know if I'm serious (film studies didn't have a great reputation where I was an undergraduate). But I don't mind listing off some favorite movies--it's not like such things are serious or permanent. 10) Tell me a story about talking to someone about applying and them "not getting you". "So, you want to make movies then?"

It's weird. Both times I've taken the test, especially this last time, I've just felt awful about it during the test. I feel like I'm taking too long on some questions and guessing on far too many. And then the results pop up, and are rather good. I've never had that level of dissonance between how I felt I was doing on a test and how I actually did. I suppose it is possible that the immediacy of the results has some effect on me. Still, it's weird, and truer words than I HATE THE GRE could not be written by this poster. I'm happy to hear that these results are acceptable, because I really need to move forward on the rest of the application process (and I really need to put this test behind me). jlee306, how have you been studying for the test? I had a practice booklet for the math section (the Princeton Review, IIRC), self-made flashcards for the vocabulary (culled from an online source), and beyond that, I just took as many practice tests (or practice questions) as I could get my hands on. That seemed to work for me.

I've taken the GRE twice in the past two months, most recently this past weekend. My first set of scores were 540 in verbal, 680 in quantitative, and 5.0 in writing. The second time I took the test, both my verbal (590) and quantitative (740) scores improved, although they could be higher, and I expect my writing score will be in the same ballpark. At risk of sounding like every other poster who comes into this forum, are these scores good enough? How important are these scores in program acceptance, anyway? To fill in the details, I'm looking at programs in film studies, the schools I am looking at being: USC University of Texas at Austin (I have my eye on a dual Masters program in Public Policy here) University of Wisconsin at Madison . . . NYU Columbia University (doesn't require GRE scores; I was wait-listed to this program last year) UCLA UC San Diego UC Berkeley