Rhetgirl

Hello Y'all, Best of luck or this time of emails and answers! For those who have questions about UT Austin, Department of Comm Studies, please do not hesitate to contact me! I'll be glad to try to answer any question you may have!

Hey everyone! I've seen that some of you are applying at UT Austin. I am there in the Department of Communication Studies, so if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

Hey ! I'm at UT Austin (Comm Studies) if you have any questions!

Hey y'all! I'll also be at UT Austin next Fall, Communication Studies PhD. How are you doing for the housing? As an International student, I don't really know how to do, and I find it tricky!

Congratulations!!!! What an awesome piece of news!

Hey, I follow VioletAyame on this one: you should go with your best fit. At the end, isn't it the most important in a PhD program? Besides, when reading your post, I think you already made (unconciously?) your choice!

Good idea Violet! Thanks y'all for your support, your advice and your presence! (it's good not to feel alone in this process, particularly when you're not in the US!) I'll be finally going to UT Austin! (same reason as Meanyus: too many cool things there to pass up! )

Hi! I'm an international student too (applying for PhD in my case) so I totally understand what you're feeling right now. I think looking at the programs and contacting the professors (seeing if they would be willing to work with you) is an excellent option. But since I guess you may be willing an opinion (at least, I'll die to have someone telling me what they would do in my position!), here is what I think (and it's just an opinion, so take it or drop it): you are balancing between 2 excellent universities, so you cannot make a wrong choice. As an international student, I would say that UW Madison has a stellar reputation, both inside and outside the US. If, as you write it, it is also less expensive than PSU, then it made be your place. Don't forget that you're going for a MA, so it is just one or two years, and you may be willing to save some money for later. Nothing prevents you from contacting PSU professors, see if you get along well with them and if you would like to work with them after your MA, and then (if you want to go to PhD) apply to PSU and aim to go there with funding as a PhD student! PSU and UW Madison are both worth going to, but UW Madison looks like a real opportunity from my point of view (and I say that even if they would not have been a good fit for me). Then, again, it is your choice and no one but you can know what's best for you!

Has anyone heard of UGA so far? Still without news...

Thank you for the intel!

Rejected by UW Madison. It seems that the official emails of notification will be coming soon, for those interested...

I'm in the same situation of balancing options, and really, I do not know what to do, or which criteria are the most important. It is truly too tricky! Hell, who could have guesses that making a decision could be so hard?

Nothing from Madison for me...

Congrats! How did you contact Pitt? Or did they contact you? I did not get any news from them either but I'd like to know...

LIGAF? (Sorry, I'm not American!) I see what you mean! Maybe your perception is different because Communication Studies are so specialized in the US, between PR, advertising, rhetoric, mass communication... Whereas in France for example, you have classes of pretty much everything in a College of Communication (even if you are more specialized in an area than in another).. So the feeling toward Comm students is sort of global!

No, I had no news either... and no timeframe. Congratulations!!! In which College did you apply? The College of Communications or the CAS?

Thank you very much JL24! I hope I can go there because I think I need to see it in order to make a decision, but I'm not sure I'll be able to do it, since I already go to UNC and that would make the trip harder and way more expensive... Are you considering accepting Penn State? Congratulations!!!

Hahaha! Sorry, I couldn't stop laughing when I saw the fan/air conditioner thing! Don't you have (at least, I kind of do in Fance) the reaction of "communication people" are like the "evil ones" who "manipulate" the rest of the population? "You are on the obscure side of the Force" type of reaction...

Hey! I am in the same situation as you are! I live in France and am hesitating between universities that I won't be able to visit all! But as least I am going to visit one university. I think it is worth the travel. After all, it is your future we are talking about, and, as we both know, a future far away from our home. So we both better do not make the wrong decision (I know, it is stressfull...). That being said, having to choose between Cornel and Berkeley, can you really make a wrong decision? Anyway, "skyping" with faculty and grad students, as well as perusing what is happenig in the university through their Facebook pages (I know it sounds stupid, but you can see what the main events and activities are, which can be interesting) is still a very good option.

@JL24 Thank you for your answer and your advice! I've been interviewing a few days ago with a faculty member of Penn State and I'll continue with others and grad students next week. As for UNC, I'll go to the Welcome Weekend so I guess I'll have a few answers! You are right, I've been offered admission at Penn State's College of Communication Arts & Sciences. So you went to Penn State's weekend? How was it? How did you like it? And did you like the place? Cheers!

Hey everyone! I am a first-year applicant to Phd programs in Communication-Rhetoric too, and I just found this forum this week (why did not I find it earlier? It is really cool not to be on the process alone)! First, I'd like to congratulate all the ones who got admitted somewhere! This is really awesome! As for me, I've been admitted to UNC, Penn State and UT Autin, and now I really don't know what to do. I'm not in the US so it is a bit harder to make a decision without going to the places and see with your own eyes! What can you tell me about these universities? What are their reputations? Would you have any advice?