DBear

At some point, I'm thinking of doing a postmortem of this entire process, but I think thus far, the schools that did accept me were okay with the fact that I didn't come from a Comm background and may not be able to use terminology specific to the field of Comm. Coming from a mixed-non Comm background, I was very self-conscious of this and always mentioned it when cold-emailing POIs - and from how they responded to this and the suggestions they made were really insightful in determining whether they wanted students that were already very Comm-tailored and specific like @Conky3000 suggested, or whether they were a bit more open to mixed approaches and backgrounds. There were some really interesting programs that I would have loved to apply to, but the way their website or even the faculty profiles were worded made me feel I wouldn't be Comm enough. I also think I was lucky - the POI that contacted me from one school, who showed great interest in working with me said that a big chunk of their advisees graduated recently - so they just happened to be looking for a new batch of students to advise. I mean, the likelihood that @GreenEyedTrombonist just happened to apply to schools where faculty who'd most likely be interested in your research just happened to have a full load in terms of advisees, or maybe just happened to be on sabbatical this year and didn't get any input into the process is real. I'm sure every one of us can do something that would make their SOP a bit more convincing or well-worded.. we could have gotten a few more points on the GRE.. but then there are so many things that are out of hands.. all we can do is hope that our research into the programs was thorough and then keep our fingers crossed - I think that's what made me so anxious all of last year is just thinking that most of this is out of my hands...

@Marshall Ugh - so that one school is gonna cause you stress til the end, it seems. I would maybe ask if they had an estimated timeline for notifying applicants of results... Not sure if they'd like to hear about "rumors" of notifications. No matter how we're doing in this cycle, I think at this point we're all ready to be DONE. Hopefully you'll get some better news - I had a friend (probably told this story on this forum before) who got 11 or 12 rejections before a waitlist, followed by an admission

@av2010 and @GreenEyedTrombonist, with the 3 of us, we might as well write a Buffy book!!! Though it won't be the first academic book on the series, it'll be the best!! GreenEyed, so sorry it didn't work out - but this is really constructive - you know there was nothing wrong with your application, just maybe it's a niche within the department since your POI was happy enough with it to try and advocate for you. So should you need to apply again to that program, you can be confident + you know more about how they do things. There's just so many things we don't know about how ad comms work - I know some of us here do have some insider information for at least a couple of programs, but still, for the most part, it's really a black hole.. we don't know what happens inside.

UGH - the UK is so expensive - but I bet you can find some sort of scholarship (like a fulbright kind of thing) to study abroad - you'd be done faster! I really do have so much respect for UK higher education - so cheers to getting this far!!! Best of luck!!!

@GreenEyedTrombonist Ah, that makes sense.. that's the thing about the UK with funding.. they have such excellent schools and professors ... but.... SO expensive... either way, since you got the interview, let's rock the interview! But I'm really impressed you got the interview too, I didn't even dream of applying to UK programs because you would need a very advanced research proposal, and I just couldn't swing it! SO MUCH respect!!

@GreenEyedTrombonist is it a Master's program? no funding is a tough call, but you got an interview, which is great! Congratulations!! Is it for Anthro or for Comm?

In December, I expected January to crawl by and Feb would be action-packed and fly by.. but.. seems February has just stopped moving.

@heyDW It feels like someone's pressed PAUSE on my life ugh. I guess it could be worse, I mean, at least it's not early Jan anymore..

UGH @phdthoughts this really sucks, doesn't it? Right now, I feel like this part of the application process was the worst. Not the agonizing over the GRE, not the worrying about the SOP, but the waiting. I'm sure I'm not the only one, but I feel like I've been waiting since December. I remember even as I was writing up my applications thinking "when will I know the outcome" I guess now that we're nearing mid Feb - we're closer to the end than we were a week ago, so there's that....

I'm feeling really ambitious and want to be helpful so I decided once I have a moment, I'll try and consolidate which programs do interviews and perhaps review my journey and see what worked and what didn't. This forum has been so helpful for me especially because I felt very isolated during the process of applying... I'd like to give back a bit!

@GreenEyedTrombonist I'm positive yours is already awesome! But if the time comes, I'd be happy to share feedback! I became completely neurotic and literally had 10 people look at mine (and still there was a typo in two of them) so I have collected many useful tips! I still have hope you won't need them!

This is a really broad question @jaejin and would really depend a lot on each program's practices. Also, different departments in the same school may have different procedures as well. I have been asked this question a lot by my friends in Korea as I have attended school in the U.S. I think they are curious mostly because they are accustomed to college entrance procedures in Korea where the steps are clear when it comes to choosing students: 1) Choose students who pass the "cut line" score for the national standardized test 2) choose only the top scoring students 3) look at other info, interviews, essay exam scores 4) quantify everything and admit only the students with the top scores Generally speaking, for a hypothetical program that gets more than 300 applicants, they may first screen students that have an excessively low GRE scores and/or GPA. They might have additional criteria such as whether your previous degree is from a certain field. Or if you have a high enough TOEFL score if you are an international student. However, after the initial screen, in general admissions committees do look at all your materials comprehensively and holistically - which means that just because you have really good GRE scores, it's not going to be okay that your SOP does not effectively communicate your research interests and aptitude. On the other hand it means that maybe if you don't have the highest GRE score of all the candidates, you can still have a good chance of getting in. How a program prioritizes candidates will vary, however. Some departments may try and distribute students equally among possible sub-fields or projects etc. So that's where fit comes in. If they only have 5 openings for students that want to study Apples, you many not get in even if you are the top 6th candidate if you end up somehow ranking 6th among the students that said they want to study Apples. I was talking to a friend yesterday who already attends a program that I applied for. The friend gave me feedback on my SOP and also gave me good tips about graduate studies in general. The tips were so helpful that I got into 3 programs, but I didn't get into the one the friend is attending. I thought this was funny and told my friend this, and my friend said that admissions really are mysterious. I think you want to know how your SOP would be weighted against your other materials and what role GRE plays in all this. Unfortunately, even if programs have such a formula for grading applicants, this is not open to people to know. Perhaps if you knew someone on the faculty of the programs you are applying for, they may tell you which component is more important etc., but in my interaction with students and faculty the only common denominator is the emphasis on "fit" and this is not something that can be quantified or even estimated... it really is a mystery...

@fuzzylogician Well, I think at this point, it is YOUR cat! If I ever see him randomly on the internets, I'll think, that's Fuzzylogician's cat! I think the whole visit/ in person interview stage (for fields that have these) is really difficult for international students. The time it takes to get out here, and if you have a few days or a even a week between events, that's money out of your pocket for lodging. And then there are the schools that can't cover international travel. I know that being in the U.S. doesn't make it perfectly convenient for everyone since people have jobs, work, and other obligations, but I really wish that it was just a little easier to plan... Like I don't know where I'll stay between my existing travel plans and the week or so before the visit. Then, if I end up visiting another school toward the second half of the month, I don't know where I'll stay till then. But still, I'm glad I don't have to plan that many trips - I'm amazed you got through that many before losing steam.

@heyDW trying to think of a bright side - at least you guys won't be on different coasts?? Really keeping my fingers crossed for you guys @ejpril88 I see you updated your signature! Congratulations on almost being done! @GreenEyedTrombonist Totally forgot earlier, but congratulations Auntie! I love Davis, too - I think if @ejpril88 ends up there, she will be happy. There are a lot of cute little pockets in Sac that I like, too!

@Feanor I do feel like I've seen more Mathematics posts on the results page! 9 more schools to hear from, correct? Good luck - this whole waiting/ decision process really sucks.

@Feanor I was thinking the same thing - I felt like the closer we got to mid Feb, the busier it would be, but been really quiet.. There was a flurry of activity the last week of Jan for me and then it all went silent. but maybe this is the calm before the storm?

@GreenEyedTrombonist that's true, I think there are any number of fields that I can pursue my research interests - sociology, literature, anthropology.... But after doing my MA in English and trying to research identity construction there, I just found the subtle differences in approach a bit stifling to be honest. I like how interdisciplinary Communication is. I feel like it will be a bit more flexible. Either way, awesome Buffy paper, here we come!!

Okay, fair enough.. Going through this cycle though, do you think you'll be applying for both Anthropology and Communication again if you're really done with this one? I really get a Communication vibe from your research interests (maybe because they're so close to what I like)... we could co-author a Buffy paper!! I guess we could still do that if you went down the Anthro path... but still...

I still don't know how notifications are sent out - I've been trying to see what the trend is, but I don't think there really is one, so keep up hope until you actually get the notification @GreenEyedTrombonist Some schools don't send out their admits all at once, it seems. Seems like ad comms are finally starting to send out notifications in earnest now. So either way, we'll be done with this cycle soon enough and I really really really really hope that we will be happy with the results..!!!!

hahaha, and I thought I was special for having a super elaborate spreadsheet! @TakeruK, thanks for the add-on, I'll keep my eyes peeled for that. @fuzzylogician WOAH. Okay. I won't whine about trying to figure out one flight change + 1, maybe 2 visits that are at least a couple of weeks apart. That is hardcore. Lucky for me, turns out that I won't have to pay any penalties to change my return flight as long as I leave in March. So seems like the airline gods are telling me to go to the visit as well! (P.S. @fuzzylogician - been super curious - is that really your cat?)

One year a long time ago, there were penguins who didn't wear hats when swimming. This made their mothers livid. "Unacceptable!" Frightened, they screamed, "Bears!" Nobody seemed convinced so instead of going swimming they tried juggling. Their mothers tried everything they thought would teach her a skill. However, she couldn't even make oatmeal without disastrous results. So, the penguins gathered money (obviously) trying to purchase a bear. Towering over them, a grizzly beast danced, devouring all bears with such ferocity that even God enjoyed it. Afterwards, God congratulated the penguins and applauded them. "You did it!" Suddenly, the grizzly beast started dancing vigorously. There was an acromantula nearby. It challenged the preconception that magical mushrooms were magical. Sparkling, the magical mushrooms were spreading throughout town. Nobody with pyromania thought grilled cheese would spontaneously erupt into nine identical squirrels! Nevertheless, the penguins elucidated the benefits of sparkling water from Iceland. Suddenly, Iceland exclaimed, "Enough!!! No more penguins. Kill all of the arcades on Monday because King Arthur suffered from sphenisciphobia." Tragically, everyone forgot lasers cure bug madness, meaning none of them stripped the violet beast of his powerful jaw bones. So while some arms spouted Kool-aid, others chopped nuts. This phenomenon halted commerce. Together twenty-five yellow dragons danced sporadically inebriating all anger gods, while academics drank champagne profusely. Who were they? Snotty undergrads eating free Tetrahydrocannabinol Chlorate. Homicidal

@sammyo, I agree with @Conky3000. I'm not sure what your profile is, but jumping into a program just because the deadline is late may soothe your anxiety, and may work out nicely, but the chances of "liv[ing] in a van down by the river" exists. I would suggest taking some time to really search through all the awesome programs out there - also, who knows, you have no rejections yet so you may end up not even having to worry about this. But even after applying to 7 programs, I feel like maybe I should've applied to more. Mostly, I'm worried that I may have overlooked my "soulmate" school because it didn't meet my initial screening criteria. I think that there's really no way to feel confident about one's self during this process. Also, why are school's being so quiet?? Don't they know it's already Feb 8th??

You guys are all so persuasive..!! I've been spending the morning trying to call the airline to confirm I can indeed change my flight without having to pay an arm and a leg. I'm a bit sad that I turned down one school already without visiting, after what @TakeruK and @fuzzylogician (I so owe you guys after this entire cycle) but I really wasn't feeling that program, so I'll try not to dwell on it. That both of you had changes in your rankings says a lot about visits - I mean, I'm sure the pre-visit rankings were made VERY carefully and I'm sure you were pretty confident about them (as I thought I was) so the visit shifting all that .. got it. I'll go. @CaffeineCardigan Those are good ideas - I unfortunately won't be able to change my Feb schedule - so I'll make March work. I should be grateful, if I was back home, a lot of the visits would be physically impossible since the schools I've been invited to thus far will not cover int'l flights, or will only cover them partially so it is a nice coincidence that I happened to be in the U.S. around this time of the year (completely didn't plan this at all). Thanks again everyone!

@GreenEyedTrombonist very good points. It's a headache for me because I'm currently in the U.S. for a month to help out a friend and I'd need to extend my trip in order to attend the weekend which would mean figuring out additional lodging and paying penalties to change the flight back. Plus, now that I know I'll be moving to the U.S. to attend school and probably won't have enough money to travel home regularly, I am eager to return home and spend as much time with my family as I can, while I can. So I'd prefer not to extend my visit as I'm already scheduled to spend an entire month here. I've already been in touch with a current student and spoken with 2 out of 4 faculty members in my given concentration for nearly an hour each, so I'm pretty sold on the school. My impression about these events was that they were more geared to help students make their decisions... And I feel like I'm okay on that front. I'm also pretty sure that if need be, I can talk to additional students or have more Skype talks with the faculty again....

Hi guys, This may seem like a no-brainer, if you've been invited and they're covering pretty much all of the costs, why not? Well, logistically, I'm finding it a bit of a headache to visit the one school I currently have an open invitation to. I'm pretty sure I want to go there, and I'm really not picky about they type of city or not-city I live in, so I was thinking maybe I'll pass on the visit. If I have multiple schools I'm trying to choose between, I think I'd be willing to bear the headache of planning out the trips. But if you already are pretty sure you want to go to a school, is there any reason to visit if it's really out of your way?