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Congrats to those who have received acceptances (and hang in there for those still waiting)! For the emails I received from my programs, almost all of them arrived during the regular hours of the timezone for each school. For one school, though, I actually received the email on a Saturday, which I was not prepared for. And for UChicago, it seems like, based on the results page, they didn't even email the 7 acceptances out on the same day (I didn't receive mine until 3-4 days later than the first poster on the results page, for example).

Hey kilene. I'm about to start a grad program in Cinema/Media Studies this fall at UChicago, and since I haven't gotten to the other side of it yet, I surely won't be the best person to answer this question. But since we have some overlap in programs we applied to (Chicago and USC, and I also seriously considered but didn't end up applying to Emory due to running out of $$ during application season), I thought I'd say hi! Congrats on your acceptances! All of the programs you got into are highly-regarded in our field, and since the cost is pretty similar, I would guess that the school that can make you the most competitive would ultimately be the one that aligns the best with your Ph.D. research interests. What aspects of media studies do you want to focus on? Another thing I think it might be good to keep in mind is that, from what I can remember while applying, USC and Emory's programs looked like they definitely fit within a traditional "Film Studies" curriculum as far as course offerings. I don't think the same is true at all for MAPH and LSE's M.A. program--it sounds like you can make your coursework much more interdisciplinary there, which might open some doors if you decide to apply to interdisciplinary Ph.D. programs later on (Rhetoric at Berkeley, History of Consciousness at UCSC, etc.) instead of a Ph.D. in Film. Hope that helps, in some small way! As I mentioned, I haven't had direct experience with any of these programs, so a lot of this is based on (hopefully not-too-misguided) conjecture--hope you get more helpful responses from other people before your deadline!

I've heard back from 3 of the 4 programs I applied to (USC, UCLA, Chicago). I'm not sure which schools do waitlists, but it's not out of the question that you haven't heard back because you've been put on either an official or unofficial waitlist... it looks like in past years, people have waited until April to get acceptances! But if the anxiety's really getting to you, it probably wouldn't hurt to give the dept. administrator a call to check on your application and see if you can get any info about the size of the admitted class, etc. Hope you hear back from some places soon! I'm personally waiting on an imminent rejection from my fourth school (Berkeley). I assume they have their reasons for not making it official yet, but who knows.

Thank you, Swagato! I've learned so much about the application process through browsing your previous posts, which are incredibly informative and entertaining--you're a fantastic writer--so thanks for that too! I was very shocked to get into U Chicago. I didn't get into USC, and it seems that I haven't been accepted into Cal either, both of which I thought would be a more obvious fit, so the adcom process is mystifying, to say the least. I'm coming straight from an undergrad degree (after a couple years of working), and I'm interested in doing research focusing on gender in musicals, melodrama and film noir. I'm really excited about the possibility of working with David Levin and Tom Gunning, but I still think Cal's program, especially with its strong gender studies focus, would have been a stronger fit for me. I'd love to hear more about your interactions with Chicago's film department while you were in MAPH, if you have a little time, Swagato. What are your research areas?

I'm one of the 3 U Chicago admits that posted on the results page. I received an email telling me to log in to the application website, where an admissions letter and funding package were waiting for me, along with an invitation for the department's campus visit (they haven't stated the dates yet for the visit). I received the email on Friday, later than the other two admits, so don't give up hope yet! It was one of my dream schools, so I'm really excited! Congratulations on UC Berkeley! I applied there as well (along with UCLA and USC) but haven't heard anything. Did you hear via email to check the website? What are your research interests?