PhDavid

Thanks! Yeah it's definitely nice to have the option. I think I probably will apply to a few other programs when the time comes but at least I'll have a backup if nothing works out.

Yes sir!

Congrats! I'll be headed off to Ohio State for music theory.

The deadline to accept an offer for most programs is tomorrow. Has everyone made their decision?

Ok seriously what is going on with university of Michigan theory?Their website says we will hear by April 1st.... this is the last school I'm waiting to hear from.

Well I haven't officially accepted the offer yet, but I will most likely be attending Ohio State. Congrats to you! That's a fantastic program.

My response was not at all intended to be unenthusiastic (although I can see how you would read it that way after reading through it again ). I am actually very excited to start on my master's in the fall, and I don't see it as a consolation prize in any way. While it would have been great to start on a PhD at Chicago or Northwestern this fall, I honestly would be totally happy attending any of the schools I applied to. In any case, I think the best way to strengthen my application at this point is by getting a master's degree, and since I've received a fully funded offer it makes the decision that much easier. I actually think it would be kind of ridiculous to wait another year and hold out for a "better school" when I have an offer like this waiting for me right now.

I applied to four PhD programs and six masters programs. At this point I have been rejected by three of the PhD programs, and assume I will be rejected by the fourth (Umich) any day now, and was recommend for the MAPH program at UChicago (a special one-year master's program in the humanities) to which I was accepted and subsequently turned down for lack of funding. Of the masters programs I was rejected by two, accepted into three (Louisiana State University, University of Arizona, and Ohio State University), and hope to be accepted by the fourth and final (Northern Arizona University) in the coming days. One of these acceptances came with a fully funded teaching assistantship, which will continue on to a PhD if I choose to stay after my masters. I will most likely end up at this school unless a better offer (unlikely) comes from one of the schools I am still waiting to hear from.

Whelp, Austin theory is out. No go for me.

Seems like it's been pretty dead for the last week or so. Maybe it's the calm before the storm. I'd like to think I've been pretty patient up to this point, but now I'm waiting for an email about an assistantship that should be coming at any moment. It's killing me.... Decisions from Austin and Umich ought to be out soon too. My heart skips a beat every time I get an email...

What's up with Umich theory? I see a waitlist posted but nothing else. Seems odd..... Especially in light of this:

I'm 22 and straight out of undergrad (and music theory, by the way). While that certainly may be true, I think that probably isn't the problem in my case. While I had a very solid undergraduate education and I think I am very ready for graduate school, I don't think I'm probably the best PhD candidate just yet. I have very little research experience as of yet, and, as a result, I haven't really nailed down my interests yet; they're still quite broad. While this isn't exactly a bad thing, if I'm competing with students who already have a master's, research experience, and a very good idea of what they want to do (especially if this is for only two slots like at Northwestern) then I think I'm just more of a risk than some other applicants. I think at this point I'll end up doing a master's first and then try again for a PhD in a couple of years. I was sort of wanting to do this anyway and have already been accepted to one master's program and had an interview at another. Sorry to hear about your rejections. I wish you the best of luck, and I hope something works out for you.

Whelp there's a no from UChicago and Northwestern for me.

It's still pretty early. I wouldn't worry too much just yet.

I'd say you are doing pretty well haha