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DBear

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Everything posted by DBear

  1. DBear
    @phdthoughts we are we are!! I'm already out of "likes" today, I so wanted to like that YaY! And comm is such a small world (the world in general is a small world) so I feel like it's definitely necessary to build a positive atmosphere!
  2. DBear
    OMG OMG OMG!!!!! @phdthoughts THANK GOD - I've been holding my breath this entire time for you. Now, I'm gonna go get some celebratory wine for you and do a happy dance - I think wait list definitely is a good sign! and you can finally change that "nothing yet" figure in your signature!!! I'm sure you've been itching to do that!!
  3. DBear
    @kirbs005, thank you - I honestly don't believe how lucky I've been this cycle. I really think it's just sheer luck. Seems I got the date wrong though, was accepted 2/13 (my computer thinks I'm in Korea and says that it's 2/14)
  4. DBear
    I think that's why my gut was saying this sounds like a policy degree, because what OP MA in policy are mostly terminal, geared toward professional work. My first MA was in environmental policy and we basically did a LOT of coursework with practical courses on skills you'd need to function in an non-profit or gov't organization. Turns out the skills worked well in the private sector as well, but definitely did not prepare me for doctoral work. I'm sure there are Comm MAs that are more professionally geared, but at least while I was doing my research, it seemed like most were like what @heyDW said - geared toward academia. A lot of schools didn't even have a separate Master's track.
  5. DBear
    @heyDW ooh!! was he invited to the open house? That's great! No one said anything to me about that! @ejpril88 seems to be getting replies faster than anyone - only one left!! The biggest decision remains, but you're almost done! Congratulations!!!
  6. DBear
    I honestly don't know a lot about Comm so maybe someone can provide suggestions now that pretty much all the pertinent info is available. What I can say, though, is that it sounds like Policy programs may also suit your interests. I worked in policy for a good many years and a lot of my friends are in various NGOs and government organizations, a few do what you would like to do, but all of them are policy people - like my friend who did press/ PR work for the IAEA with a MA in non proliferation studies. It seems like with what you want to accomplish, you could go either way but I personally feel like if you gain more content specialization and maybe take some strategic comm along with it. Like your "drool job", I think getting a degree in international development or international law, human rights, conflict management types of policy work would also suit your purpose. Just a thought from someone who was originally not from Comm.
  7. DBear
    Are you looking for MA or PhD programs? What are your goals? Academia? Private sector? Gov't? What do you want to focus on within strategic communications? I think these are more important than your stats
  8. DBear
    When I emailed a POI there, she said they're taking less than 9 people or something like that ... Don't lose hope though. In some cases, interview requests are really spread out. I saw someone get an interview request for U Wisconsin Madison on Jan 5th-ish, then again on Jan 15th-ish.. so when Jan 20th rolled around, I was pretty sure I hadn't gotten an interview and was really sad as that was my favorite program. I ended up getting an interview request Jan 25th-ish.
  9. DBear
    Bowling Green State U - Accepted 2/14 Got an email to check because my status has been updated....... I don't know what I did to deserve this..
  10. DBear
    I noticed that NYU MCC is doing interviews now-ish. If I recall correctly, their deadline was early Dec. And they're just now doing interviews.
  11. DBear
    It's weird but I feel like nothing ever happens at the beginning of the week. Anytime I've heard anything other than a request for an interview, it was on a Thurs or Fri. Even with interview requests that came earlier in the week, the actual interview just happened to fall on Thurs or Fri. Dunno, maybe it's just me. So I feel like the only days of the week that matter anymore are Thurs and Fri, which makes for a really long Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues.. Weds...
  12. DBear
    I'm usually good at just shutting out worries about stuff that's left my hands - but for some reason I couldn't do that with this process. Probably because I didn't know when there would be an answer + the fact that I had no idea what I'd need to fix should it not go well. So for this, the very fact that it is out of my hands and there's nothing left to do just really got me.. ICK. I mean, if this was a job search, for example - one could easily apply for a job and then follow-up with some networking or perhaps look for other jobs to apply to should this one not work out.. but this just feels so different... But yeah, I think it's too soon to give up, especially since things seem to be slow going in academia this year!
  13. DBear
    I totally agree, this forum has been a godsend, especially because I don't know anyone in Comm. I know a lot of people who didn't get in their first cycle and then had a lot to choose from their second cycle - We still don't know if that's going to happen with you - but regardless, we're hear to help each other through this!!
  14. DBear
    I feel like this too, and I've seen people speculating about why this is so in other parts of TGC. So it's not just Comm. One theory was that with the uncertainty in the economy/politics, more people would be considering grad school so there maybe was an influx of applications. Someone also said maybe all the professors were busy out protesting. I mean, who knows. But definitely does seem like most of the schools I've applied to are behind schedule.
  15. DBear
    oOOh - I didn't even know this existed, looks like fun - I love how much there is to learn from this forum!
  16. DBear
    @phdthoughts UGH I'm so sorry - I feel like that with a few of my applications as well and found myself wondering if the schools even got them... or maybe they just stole my application fee. I scoured the results database right after submitting my applications and found that some people were accepted to a program in Jan and some others were accepted to the same program in March - so I'm thinking that's the waitlist. Some seemed to notify rejections first that admits later of vice versa.. So I had told myself to be okay with not hearing anything til late Feb - but then saw people posting interviews and stuff starting Jan and began growing impatient.. All in all, I think that most people have more "nothing yets" than those who have news... I'm sorry this sucks so much.. I wish schools really had a clear cut process for this with set deadlines for notifications..
  17. DBear
    Hey! I really love those topics - I know what it feels like coming from a different field - The best advice I got was to look for journal articles in my topic of interest that really resonated with me - then look at who wrote them and where the teach/ where they were trained. Similarly, if you can find a journal that seems to publish lots of articles that interest you, look at the the people on the editorial board. If you're currently enrolled in school, your school library should give you access to a lot of journals for free, if not, you can plug in your interests in Google Scholar and see what that gets you. Honestly, this method got me a few names, but I didn't want to miss out on anything so I started with the phds.org list of Communication programs and just looked at EVERY single school. In the process, I did see a few faculty that did geek culture and stuff - The rankings on phds.org may not be so insightful, but I used that because the list of schools on NCA was too long and I just need a manageable sample to start with. Another thing that helped me around late November was looking at the schools everyone here was applying to or talking about. I think if you start your search with too many specific criteria, you may end up not finding anything so I'd suggest casting a wider net at this point and working your way down. I feel like UC San Diego would probably suit your interests along with U Colorado - Boulder. Also, what I did that helped me a lot was making a list of schools that did NOT interest me. I found that I ended up looking at the same website multiple times in some cases (especially for well-known schools) because I forgot that I already looked and decided against them.
  18. DBear
    Woot! @heyDW, that's great news - I have a good feeling about this! Also - another bit of evidence that weekends don't mean radio silence so there's that!
  19. DBear
    @kirbs005 I vote for grad school peeps living in a different universe where a day there is like a week here
  20. DBear
    For an MA - this may be easier to accomplish (the whole world ranking top 20 thing) as there are many terminal, non-funded MAs, but PhD programs for the top schools globally are highly competitive so making sure your current GPA is stellar and writing a SOP that shows you are completely dedicated to research and teaching would be essential. If your are trying to get a phd for other strategic purposes, writing the SOP may be the most difficult part for you. So doing research on the schools that you have a chance with and making sure that EVERY aspect of your application is going to be competitive - there's really no way around this. Also, one of the schools I applied to (an Ivy) didn't even ask for my MA GPA and only asked for UGPA - of course, I was able to upload all my transcripts, but in the section of the application where one inputs GPA, there was no blank for MA GPA. Just FYI. If you want to get into a top 20 school - that makes it easy because you can look at all 20 schools in the top 20 and really research which programs go best with your strengths and apply to all of these. Willing to be self-funded doesn't really make that big of a difference because there aren't (at least to my knowledge) programs that have two tracks of admissions - every applicant competes with every other applicant. A lot of private schools don't even ask how you're going to fund your studies, even if you happen to be an international student (many public schools, however, will ask you this). So being able to fund yourself won't be a competitive advantage.
  21. DBear
    @heyDW is it possible to get another pint??? You and your partner really deserve a pint (or two) each.. Not hearing really is the worst...
  22. DBear
    Anthology of vampires and etc - DONE! I can do a chapter or two on Supernatural as well! And yes - racial representation (or lack thereof) definitely should be a chapter or two! So we have @The Shade King, @av2010, @GreenEyedTrombonist - anyone else??
  23. DBear
    U of Iowa Communication Studies, waitlist - Feb 10~!
  24. DBear
    When friends told me last year that getting multiple acceptances really wasn't a good thing, I thought they were being insensitive @-holes. Now I see what they were talking about.. the constant weighing - and then even as you get closer to a final decision, the self-doubt about whether you made the right choice.. Good luck @Amanda87, at least we're closer to being done! Also, I think it'd be good to know if the faculty you really are crazy about will stay at that school throughout your studies. I guess this would be less of an issue for a Master's, but I've heard so many stories of advisors leaving mid-way through ppls' phds
  25. DBear
    That's my main choice right now, too - a bigger department with more funding or a smaller department. Being at a smaller department, I feel like the faculty will have more time to take interest in my research and academic success and I'll never be just one of 100 students. On the other hand, the larger school may translate into a larger alum network once I graduate.. but then again, would a large group of alums (who I don't know) be more helpful than a couple of faculty that will work really hard on my letters of rec or using their own networks to help me get a job? There are pros and cons, but I really do think it's good to know how excited a program is about you. Even if it's a big program, maybe you're really on the faculty's radar.. Unfortunately, we don't really get the answer to this question all the time..
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