drownsoda

I'm seconding what sarabethke said about funding. I enrolled in Fordham's MA program without any guaranteed funding, and was recently offered a job working as a TA at the business school, which pays roughly $5,000/semester— do the math, and that's $500 a WEEK. It's not a full ride by any means and will mainly be used to help with living expenses, but I just wanted to say that there are ways to swing it if you don't get a fully-funded position. Many MA programs aren't fully funded actually, and the ones that are are few and far between. I know that Fordham's MA is only partially funded, which is basically what I'm getting, only I have to work for it (a handful of applicants with the top GRE scores usually get the funding automatically).

I was accepted to their MA program and am considering going, and just wanted to know if there are any current students or former ones who had input/reflection on their time there. I wasn't given any sort of stipend "at this time," they told me, so, sparing me the details of how foolish it is to go into an MA program paying for own way (been there, done that, I know what's up), I'm just curious to get a feel from others' experiences what the dynamics are in their department— what opportunities are there for MA students in terms of campus work, internships (in Manhattan or otherwise), teaching assistantships (is this reserved for PhD students only?). My focus is American lit. which their department has a specialization in, and I am enthralled to have been accepted as it was truly my dream school. I'm considering taking the plunge, dependent on what offers I receive from two other schools. I basically just want input to get a feel for what kind of situation I'd be in there, and what kind of department they have. I've heard it's close-knit for the most part. I'm obviously going to visit before making any decisions, but am curious about others' experience at this school.

NYU reject ovah here!

As SubmarineReflection has demonstrated (getting into Berkeley AND Harvard- congrats!), I don't believe the GRE is tantamount. I had a lower-than-average verbal score (159) for my dream program at Fordham, and I still got in. Granted, I averaged higher on the writing than their PhD students (I applied for their MA program), but my quantitative score was abhorrent (140-- yes, 140). I bought a $40 prep book for the test from Princeton Review in September, studied with that moderately, and took the test the week of Thanksgiving. I have to reiterate that it's hardly a knowledge test, but rather a test on the format of the test itself. Most professors know this. I think a solid statement of purpose, writing sample, and your letters of recommendation are more reflective of you as a student and you as a person; GRE just shows a very limited scope of your general aptitude. I have no doubt that my statement and letters of rec. are what got me into Fordham, not my GRE scores.

It's normal, I think. I applied to MA programs as well, and am still waiting on responses. I got accepted at Fordham University on February 19th, which was rather early I thought (the application deadline was January 7th). Correct me if I'm wrong, but PhD applications are typically reviewed first I believe.

I was actually thinking precisely that-- working while attending, wherever I can, whenever I can. New York has a plethora of job opportunities, so I assume I could find some sort of related work to do on the side. I am acclimated to commuting and public transit because I had to do that between work and school during undergrad, so it's a grind I know well (it's also the reason I was able to escape undergrad with hardly any debt; granted, this was a state school, but I only worked part time waiting tables). My acceptance letter said that they couldn't offer me funding "at this time," so I presume that doesn't mean it's an impossibility down the line; granted, I'd have to plan accordingly and be prepared for the worst. My father is passionate about me pursuing the degree, and could possibly help me, though I'm not sure how much, as he's not really rolling in dough. I also have an uncle who is a lawyer and is really well-off, and he and his son (also a lawyer) expressed the possibility of helping me finance the degree; again, not sure how comfortable I'd be with that. I have not had any help from my family with tuition my entire undergrad career. I paid for it myself. I applied for financial aid and am going to wait and see how it all pans out. Like I said, I've still got a couple other programs to hear from, so I'll weigh my options accordingly when that happens.

Again, I appreciate all the perspectives. I'm honestly kind of upset about the entire thing because I really love the school, but I have a massive amount of consideration to take with all of this. I wanted to be excited about the acceptance, but once I got it I kind of... well, wasn't. Throwing myself under a bus of debt to be the black sheep of a department who's actually having to pay insane amounts of money to be there just seems horrifying to me. I'm not sure what the percentage is of MA applicants who actually get funding, although I know it is low, but still. I'm still waiting to hear back from a couple programs, so that's still in the cards. I don't know. The whole situation sucks. I really want to be there, but I just don't know right now.

I only studied for the GRE for about two months. I tried to grind on the quantitative because I am terrible with math, but it got to the point where I literally gave up on it— I'm an English major and applied to English programs, so math is the least of my worries. Instead, I focused on vocabulary mostly. I didn't even practice for the writing section. Magoosh has a great GRE vocab app that you get on your phone for free, which I found really helpful. In the end, I scored an embarrassing 140 on the quant, but got a 159 on verbal and a 5.0 on the analytical writing. I was just accepted into Fordham's MA program yesterday, but am unsure about it as they didn't offer me funding "at this time." I guess my point is that you can still get decent scores and get into programs even if you don't spend an entire year preparing for the thing.

I actually had an internship in a writing center at a community college during undergrad; I volunteered there for about six months, and it was a great experience. Fordham has one of these, though I think virtually all schools do. No clue what opportunities they offer in that for students though. I appreciate everyone's input, really. I'm torn about the entire thing and I see the cons and the pros of it. I applied for financial aid and am going to see what happens with that and ultimately try to weigh the costs and figure out what it would take for me to pull it. Like I said, it was my top choice and I was shocked by the acceptance, but money is obviously always a factor in these things. I'm not opposed to taking out loans to an extent, which I know is foolish— but being around people at my public undergrad university who are in $70k+ debt for a B.A. in Spanish just makes me feel like the debt for an MA from Fordham wouldn't be the worst thing in the world given the opportunities the school has to offer. At the same time, I can also see how self-desctructive of a decision that could be long-term. I started out at a community college which I paid for out of pocket, and was fortunately able to get the bulk of my tuition paid for by grants at my undergrad university. I am going to look into scholarships as well. I'm a cancer survivor and I know there are scholarship opportunities in that undoubtedly. Obviously going to wait to hear from the other schools, but if I'm ultimately given no funded offers, I'm going to have to make an extremely tough decision— either pick one, or don't go.

This is the deal: I applied to Fordham's MA program and was notified of my acceptance today, although was also told that funding was not available "at this time." Bear in mind that this is my dream program and my dream school, I'm not a PhD reject who was handed the MA as a consolation either— I went into this knowing full well that funding for Master's students is scant and extremely rare, and that I probably wouldn't get it. So, I get my acceptance today, and I'm suddenly mortified. Extremely excited and happy, but also at the same time horrified. Maybe it's because I never thought I had a chance and didn't think it would happen, but shit. just. got. real. The sticker is that I hardly have any debt from my undergrad degree— less than $10k— so with that in mind, part of me doesn't feel too bad about throwing myself into debt since I didn't really have to for my bachelor's degree. Putting things into perspective, I have friends who went $150k into debt for undergrad degrees at private schools, and I know out-of-state students at my public undergrad institution who have roughly the same annual tuition cost as I would at Fordham (although living costs in Portland are considerably less than New York). The flipside is that I hear left and right to "NEVER GO UNFUNDED," but I always expected I'd be unfunded anyway, and I was comfortable with that given the fact that I didn't accrue massive debt as an undergrad. Now that I got accepted though, the reality has set in. Fordham IS expensive. With grants, it still looks like I'd be at least $60k in debt by the end of it, unless I could somehow secure aid another way, or if they ended up giving me a TA position (not even sure if they do that) or something else. I know in my heart that I would have been rejected from PhD programs, which is why I chose to apply to MA programs (hell, Fordham doesn't even take Bachelor's-to-PhD applicants). I see the MA as a viable transitional degree for me to hone my skills and gain focus and experience (research experience was essentially non-existent at my undergrad, and the program there frankly wasn't that great), and I know many people who earned Master's degrees before successfully pursuing PhDs; but everyone who is vehemently against spending money on graduate school has me second-guessing myself and worried that I'll be viewed as the cash cow for PhD students, or that I'll be shunned by the faculty or something. I just really don't know. I haven't heard back from the other programs I applied to, so there is still time and other potential options. I have until May 1st to get back to Fordham, but I feel this may be the toughest decision I've ever made.

Thanks for the input everyone! I feel obligated to let them know the results of course, but I just wasn't sure when I should shoot them an email. Had I gotten rejected across the board, I may have never spoken with them again and shamefully went into hiding, but since my first response was an acceptance, I want to let them know and thank them for their help. Just wasn't sure if it'd be odd for me to update them on the one acceptance, or if I should hold off until I hear from the other programs and make a decision. I may just let them know that their help got me into at least one school!

That's strange. Was this for the MA program or the PhD? I applied to their MA program and got an email this morning directing me to check my status for the admission decision, which brought me to my acceptance letter. I got a weird email from them a couple weeks ago inviting me to an interdisciplinary conference, and the letter addressed me as "part of the incoming cohort of graduate students," which I thought was really bizarre— firstly because I hadn't been notified of admission; secondly because it was written assuming I had accepted their offer; and thirdly, because it was basically asking me to fly across the country to attend a conference at a school that I wasn't even sure I'd been admitted to.

I was just accepted into my top choice program, but have not heard from the others I applied to. I feel obligated to let my letter of recommendation writers know the results of my admission, so I was just wondering if I should let them know as each acceptance/denial comes in. I only applied to three programs, and the one I was just accepted to didn't offer me funding, but I still may go for it (depending) since I am virtually in no debt from my undergrad. Would it be weird if I were to send them all emails and let them know about this acceptance, or should I notify them at the end when I've gotten all my responses back?

I got an email this morning and I got into Fordham's MA program! No funding unfortunately. I have till May 1st to accept the offer; depending on whether or not the other programs provide funding, I may accept it as I barely took out any loans for my undergrad education (less than $10k). We'll see what happens!

I only applied to a small handful of programs; two on the east coast (Fordham and NYU) and a couple on the west coast (U Washington, Oregon). I am hoping I could get even a shred of funding supposing I get into any of them, but if not I wouldn't be opposed to taking out loans as I only am in debt $11k from my undergrad. I paid off my first two years of school and was able to get grants which helped quite a bit with the rest, so I'm not in terrible debt over my bachelor's, fortunately. I guess we'll see what happens within the next several weeks. Fordham is my dream school and I'd probably take any offer they threw at me, funded or not. I started this thread though because, for whatever reason, I never really paid attention to the fact that almost everyone on here was applying for PhD programs— I suddenly felt like the odd one out just shooting for my MA. I know PhD programs are notoriously selective, more than most Master's programs, at least so I've heard. I'm sure there are exceptions. I'm quite frankly a nervous wreck right now due to the anticipation, but I think we all are. Best of luck to you, and some resolution here soon for all of us!

Just out of curiosity. I've seen all the PhD responses filtering through here, but was wondering if there are any fellow MA applicants lurking about? I still haven't heard back from any of the schools, which I believe is normal given the MA deadlines were each about a month later than the PhD deadlines (which I believe is standard). Watching all of the results pour in for the PhD students is exciting and terrifying for me because I feel like I'm at the very end of the line here!

Approaching them in person during office hours or even after class (provided they have the time to talk) is not at all weird. I contacted two of mine via email and one in person, and fortunately didn't have any problems. It's odd that a professor just flat out wouldn't respond to any email, unless they didn't want to write you a letter; even if so, my assumption would be that they would tell you if they weren't comfortable doing it rather than just leave you hanging. I'd send another email, and if they don't respond a second time, I'd search for someone else to write a letter.

This is my jam when I'm feeling especially frustrated/overwhelmed/psychotic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH_rfGBwamc

I went through a bad period where I literally laid in bed and watched movies and ate cereal with 100% of my free time. I've eased off a bit and have been doing things with friends lately to distract me, but I totally get it. It's hard having to wait. I see so many people getting their responses, and I haven't heard a thing yet (I applied for MA programs though which had later deadlines than the PhDs).

Saw SO many Brown admits today, go you! Don't think I saw a single acceptance from Columbia though, which sort of surprised me. Columbia is obviously incredibly competitive, but I figured with so many Brown admits that there'd be at least one or two Columbia ones as well.

***interdisciplinary, GOSH, I am so bad at typing on iPhones

Thanks guys, I'm not gonna hold my breath on it. I did email them already though, so that ship has sailed. They encouraged to email if you had questions, so I just inquired. Like everyone has said, the email is pretty generalized, but the end of it is a bit misleading, which I'm not sure if they are aware of or not.

Yeah, I'm not holding my breath since it didn't come directly from the department. Those last two sentences though are enough to give a heart attack.

Yeah, the phrasing of the last sentence is what puzzled me; everything leading up to that seemed really generalized and not indicative of an acceptance/rejection. I emailed them inquiring and explained that I was slightly confused by the phrasing of the email and what it was implying (or not implying). We'll see.

Not sure what to make of this. I got the email this afternoon and almost had a heart attack because I thought it was the "big email," but I'm not sure what to make of this. Does this kind of thing get sent to all applicants, is it an implied acceptance(??) so confused Here's what it says: "Dear Scott, Thank you for your interest in the distinguished Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Fordham University. We see that you recently submitted an application and would like to encourage you to learn more about who we are and what helps GSAS foster its intellectual community. Interested in meeting potential future colleagues? Want to learn more about current research projects that could inspire your own future accomplishments? We cordially invite you to attend our Second Annual Interdisciplinary Conference, "Change and Its Challenges." This conference will be held on Saturday, February 28, 2015 from 8am-8pm in the 12th Floor Lounge of the Lowenstein Center at our Lincoln Center campus. The conference will explore change as a theme gathering inspiration from both academic discourse and scientific exploration, spanning antiquity to the present day and beyond. Register here. We’d be proud to have you join us as part of our incoming cohort of graduate students. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us as well as like us on Facebook. Sincerely, Lauren Carpenter Peter Murray President Vice President Graduate Student Association Graduate Student Association Fordham University Fordham University gsa@fordham.edu"