KAMALAGRAD

Kind of. When I was having trouble paying my Columbia enrollment fee, I had a dream that I got to NYC somehow, but couldn't attend the school. I have no idea why I would have moved given the fact, that I knew I couldn't attend. Yeah, hopefully I don't get too many bad dreams like that.

Sorry I'm late to the party, but I just was accepted to the journalism school at Columbia University. So how is everybody doing as far as housing. I've looked into a couple of options, but since I'm in the West Coast for now its site unseen.

Just wanted to post a quick update about my situation. One of my relatives actually helped me out with the $1,000 charge so I am all set there. I also talked to a USC admissions representative and was just told to e-mail the school with a written request to decline. I am still waiting for final confirmation, but I should be all set. I'm really looking forward to moving to NYC in August!

I hate to double post, but I just wanted to post a quick update as I said I would (it may also be helpful for those who find themselves in a similar pickle). I e-mailed the Financial Aid Office and they said that they would allow it to be split up in installments of $500, which seems a lot more doable. They also advised to contact their Financial Planning Office after I inquired about possible waivers or loans to cover the payment. So, I'm still kind of on shaky ground, but things are definitely looking up!

Thanks for the replies so far everyone! I am still trying to figure out exactly what I will do on Monday when I have enough free time to hopefully get this thing solved. Anyway, some of you asked some questios so I'll address them below. Hey Jae B., Thanks for the congrats and nice to see that you have decided on Berkeley. It is a great program and looks like they gave you a nice package! Anyway, yes I will definitely try calling the financial aid office on Monday so hopefully they can help me out. I can try to feel out an answer from USC, but not sure how much info I can get. I guess it is time to put those investigative skills to use lol. At any rate if I go to Columbia then I plan on staying on the East Coast, so no worries about this affecting a hypothetical USC PhD. For Bad Breath, By "frowned upon" what I have heard is that its just inconveniencing administrative personnel so hopefully it ends there. I applied for financial aid a while back, but they have not distributed anything to me yet, so hopefully I can squash everything with them rather than being affected some way financially. For Yang, This is one possibility I will have to look into, if Columbia cannot help me out a better way. Anyways, thanks again for everyone's feedback and I'll be sure to post an update.

So here's the thing, I just got taken off the waitlist for Columbia University graduate school, my dream school. However, there are two big problems I am confronted with. 1. The school requires a $1,000 upfront payment within 15 days (so by May 20). Right now I essentially have pocket change in my bank account. I do not mind going into debt for graduate school as I know pretty much anyone who goes to graduate school incurs some debt. However, I have no idea how I can get $1,000 in cash to give them. Although i obviously have some success in academia when it comes to the money side of things I am pretty inexperienced. I am tempted just to go on Amazon and start selling whatever of mine that I can. However, I am hoping there is some easier way and one that resembles less of a desperate frenzy of a drug addict. 2. Columbia University was not the only school I applied to. I also was accepted to some other school including the University of Southern California. USC required me to sign an intent to enroll form about a week ago. From what I have been told by other graduate students/prospective graduate students, withdrawing an intent to enroll can be done, but it is frowned upon. Also, though USC did not require a commitment deposit, I am not sure if they will try to bill me in some other fashion now that they have received my intent to enroll form. Not, to mention i feel like a jerk after telling USC that I would go, but Columbia is my dream school and I am really surprised I actually made it in. So there's my pickle. Anyone have any advice or tips to help?

Hey guys, Thanks for the feedback! In regard to your questions Jae B., I have an undergrad degree double majoring in literary journalism and film studies, so no problem as it relates to being related to my future field of study. I have until April 30 to let USC know if I want to accept their offer and until May 3 to let Syracuse now. Syracuse also requires a $450 commitment deposit at that time, whereas USC does not. I know that seems pretty insignificant in the long run, but I thought it was worth mentioning as it relates to your next question. I am still on the wait list for Columbia and would go definitely go there, if I got moved up to acceptance. However, Columbia does not inform students that they are taken off the wait list until most likely much later than Syracuse's deadline. So, with that in mind if I take Syracuse's offer and then get accepted into Columbia I run the risk of wasting $450. I know with numbers like $54,000 being mentioned $450 seems like nothing, but still it never feels good for a starving grad student to throw out that much. At any rate, I'm not very optimistic about Columbia's wait list as when I called about it they refused to tell me anything. Also, I know that wait list much more often than not do not work out. I'm still looking forward to see what Syracuse has to offer in terms of aid. Hopefully its enough to blow any thoughts of going to USC out of the water!

So I was all set to go to Syracuse when today I just found out I got into USC. I had thought my craptastic GRE scores would keep me out of the running, but I guess the USC adcomm saw past them. The bad part is that at least with USC, they have flat out told me that I will not be considered for any merit-based scholarships or assistantships. So thought, I'd get some fellow posters advice. Also, the specific programs I got into were print journalism for USC and magazine, newspaper and online journalism for Syracuse. Here are also some categories I have thought out and who I think wins. Cost: Syracuse is only $36,000 a year and is a one year program, while USC cost $54,000 a year and is a two year program. I have not gotten the info back about Syracuse scholarships/financial aid(should be in, within the next few days), but just given this info, I think the winner is clear. Winner: Syracuse. Location: Yes, most people would probably go with USC, but I am an East Coaster originally, who has been living in southern California for what feels like far too long. Winner: Syracuse. Prestige: This is where USC really seems to have an advantage. While Syracuse's Newhouse college has a great reputation, USC in general is a big deal and there journalism school is no exception. Winner: USC. Ability to Advance in Academics for a PhD: Both USC and Syracuse have PhD programs that I may be interested in based on how well I enjoy my master's program. However, there are other PhD programs I am interested in, at least somewhat in communication in other schools. I would have to say that in getting into these programs, having two years to build up a more impressive academic record in a school that generally has a better reputation would work to my advantage. Winner: USC. For what it is worth in the roughly two weeks I have to decide I have really been leaning toward Syracuse. I even went so far as to think that I would only consider USC if they offered me a really good financial aid package, which is obviously not the case. However, actually receiving that nice, fat acceptance letter gives a feeling that really can't be prepared for. So any advice? Comments? Suggestions?

Right now I'm looking forward to going to a journalism master's program, most likely at Syracuse University. After I complete a one-year program I might just go into full-time journalism work, but depending on how the job market changes, I might instead decide to pursue a full blown PhD. However, I know that there is a ton of theory involved just by the nature of what a PhD is. What I was curious about is if there are any PhD journalism or communications programs that really emphasize writing articles and publishing them as part of the program. I have looked into it somewhat and have found some interesting programs at places like Cornell and the University of Maryland at College Park, but am not sure if these programs are really a great fit for me. Any comments, suggestions, etc. would be much appreciated!

Just from an ethical standpoint, I wouldn't. However, I also wouldn't panic too much about it if you have already sent him something. As someone, who is on the regular wait list for my dream school, I can relate to how frustrating being on a wait list is. Professors are people too, and this one since he already knows you really well, will probably not think different of you, if you sent him a hasty e-mail under pressure.

I can't really help you with this due to lack of experience with the field, but thought I'd ask about your current program. You said your past LORs got you into your current program so I am assuming you are in a master's program. If so other posters may be able to help you out better if you said which one. Again with my limited experience cited as a disclaimer I can give some comments. Your GPA and GRE scores may hurt you in other programs, but I have heard a lot of sociology school's are pretty lenient in this regard, even in the ivy leagues. Your range of experience looks really impressive and could help out a lot. Retaking the GREs could really work to your benefit as unfortunately some schools really emphasize them. Good luck!

Yeah that is really rough. It is like the letter writer went through all that extra effort to list out your accomplishments individually just to make you feel worse. As if your undergrad GPA defined you. Good thing not all adcomms appear to think that way!

Just as a disclaimer I did terrible on the GRE, but didn't study for it nearly as much as I probably should have. That being said, I used the Kaplan GRE Exam 2009 Premier Program (w/ CD-ROM) book. Again, it didn't do much for me, but it looked like it had enough material in it that if you really use it to its best potential, it could help you out, especially for your V score.

Hey all, Just thought I'd open up a thread similar to "The Negative Thread" which might make posters feel better by realizing they are not so bad off after all. I also thought this thread would help the posters themselves as since some rejections are just so bad or make you feel so bad, that with the last few decisions coming in, you can't help, but feel better than you did with that devastating rejection. I'll open it up. Thus far, I have only gotten one straight out rejection for grad school (hopefully it stays that way!). It was a generic e-mail sent out by UC Berkeley. It felt especially bad as it was the first decision I received in general. I thought of Berkeley as a reach school, which helped a little, but after getting called for an interview with a Berkeley rep and doing what I think/thought was really good on the interview, I was pretty surprised when I checked my e-mail one day just to find that rejection. Not even a paper letter. No waitlist. Nothing. Anyway, on the positive side I got accepted to Syracuse University and even waitlisted for Columbia (which I liked much better than Berkeley anyway). So it didn't turn out to be the end of the world after all!

Looks like we have pretty similar tastes:) . I was going to apply to NYU and Medill as well, but decided to narrow it down. As for the M.A., M.S., M.J. degree matter, it doesn't really matter to me. Also, I do not think that it makes much of a difference if any over all. For instance, it seems like Columbia's program is pretty much regarded as the best around and they award an M.S. degree. However, just about every other top journalism school that I have looked into (except for IIRC Medill) awards an M.A. So if you only had this info you may think M.S.>M.A. BUT Columbia also awards an M.A. that is regarded as more prestigious than their M.S. degree. As such you may come to the conclusion that whether the degree is an M.A. or an M.S. is unimportant. What is more important is how the specific program is regarded. Just my two cents anyways.

Awesome! Did you get your official acceptance yet? I got mine on Friday and am psyched! I only applied to four programs with no safeties as I figured if I was going to continue my education, I would only do it at a place I REALLY wanted to go. Anyway, here's my info: Program Applied To: MA, MS Schools Applied To: Columbia, UC Berkeley, USC, Syracuse Schools Admitted To: Syracuse Schools Rejected From: UC Berkeley Still Waiting: Columbia (Wait Listed), USC (Haven't heard anything yet) Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Irvine Undergraduate GPA: 3.25 Last 60 hours of Undergraduate GPA (if applicable): Undergraduate Major: Journalism and Film, Double Major GRE Quantitative Score (Percentile): 380 (OUCH! I know!) GRE Verbal Score (Percentile): 510 (Better, but still) GRE AW Score: 5.0 Years Out of Undergrad (if applicable): 1 year Years of Work Experience: 7 years Describe Relevant Work Experience: Working on various publications both in school and outside of it. Aside from print publications I have also worked in radio, at a media center and as an English tutor. I have lots of other work experience, but these are the most relevant. Strength of SOP (be honest, describe the process, etc): Really strong. I've always been a great writer and put a lot of effort into it. Hey, why try to be be modest, after all I didn't hide the fact that I suck at math:) Strength of LORs (be honest, describe the process, etc): To the best of my knowledge really strong, but I waived my right to read them so nothing's positive. I know that the three people I got to write letters for me all knew me well and were three of the best people to write letters for me. I got one from the head of the journalism department, where I earned my degree in journalism, a respected teacher there and my supervisor at the best publication I worked for.

My undergrad grades were not too bad, though some with those ridiculously high GPAs may think otherwise. I had a GPA of about 3.25, but I did two majors and a minor in only four years, so I had to pack a lot into a little amount of time. Also both my majors (journalism, film and media studies) were related to my field of graduate study (journalism). My undergrad school was among the top 50 ranked in the US News and World Report ranking system. One thing I think that really helped me out also was having a large array of extracurricular activities that were related to my field.

I'm happy with my current field of journalism. However, as an undergrad I double majored in journalism and film. For those of you unfamiliar with film studies, on the theory end it can be useful, but only if you try to pursue it beyond just undergrad. That being said, I think I'd combine journalism with criminology, if I were to do it all over again.

I just got into my number four choice for grad school after doing terrible on the GRE general test. I got a combined score of under 900. The only redeeming part was my analytical writing score, which was a pretty solid 5.0, but still not in the same league as some of the 6.0 posters roaming around here. Still, I got into Syracuse University, which has a great program in my field. It also has the top public affairs program in the country (another field I'm interested in), which I will be eligible to take classes in as part of my program. So those of you, worried about your GREs, keep your chins up!

I'm curious. What exactly do you mean you were informally accepted to Syracuse?