unitstructures

Does anybody know anything about the funding situation at Illinois Urbana-Champaign? Are all of their PhDs funded or only some?

Congrats John Beckert! Have you thought of a concise answer to the question "why are you interested in pursuing a doctorate"? Also, be prepared to talk about some articles you read recently. Good luck!

Hey guys, this thread has reached page 2!

I somehow managed to overlook that fact about Berliner. It might turn out to have been a costly mistake. :/ Actually, it's been a few weeks since I submitted all the applications, and I've now come across a few misfortunes, including a recommender writing a couple of weeks after the deadline and a horrible and unforgivable mistake from ETS. But regarding this one, I can only blame myself for spending so much time on every detail of the writing samples and sops but not reading such obvious things on websites. Thanks, Hooray, for posting! Hiroshiman, thanks to you too, for that info on NW interviews.

Below that it says "first year students usually hold fellowship." It's the "usually" that caught my attention.

Tray, I applied to Duke because of Paul Berliner. Do you know anything about their funding situation? It doesn't look like an admit means automatic fellowship. Does anybody know anybody who got an interview invite from Northwestern? Their website says they send them out in early Jan. at the latest.

They get around fifty a year. https://gradschool.duke.edu/about/statistics/music-phd-admissions-and-enrollment-statistics

Thank you, tray! The interview is with The Graduate Center at the City University of New York. I also applied to Duke. Did you see that they extended the deadline? That probably means more waiting for us.

UNT. So far that's it except for an interview at CUNY. Which three schools did you apply to?

Hey PhDavid! Glad you started this thread. I've submitted to nine PhD programs in musicology. Already heard back from one school which was surprising and delightful. Procrastinating on the tenth app by reading everything written by their ethno and jazz faculty available online before finishing the last damn sop. Bummer about your rejections. Was it to Indiana and Eastman? I heard they are ultra, super, impossibly competitive. Hope this torturing process results in at least a bite of fruit in the best or any form. Wish you all the best in the next weeks!

Oops! Thanks for the friendly heads up. Best wishes to all philosophy applicants. Bye now!

Hello everyone- Musicology applicant here. Ten schools: NYU, CUNY, Columbia, Pittsburgh, Duke, UNT, Princeton, Illinois, and Northwestern. Got in UNT already. Anxiously waiting for the others. Applied spontaneously to a masters program last year, got in, but decided to wait and go straight for PhD instead. I did my masters at NYU Steinhardt and undergrad at CU Boulder, both in music, if anyone has questions. Wishing everyone the best.

If a change of career is what you really want, you'd be crazy not to try. The worst thing that can happen is that you fail. How bad is that compared to not even trying? Personally, I knew I'd be bitter for the rest of my life if I didn't have the guts to go for what I wanted. I decided I'd rather fail and move on with my life than to not try at all. Besides, there are worst things in life than not getting into a PhD program. Have courage, dear friend!

How I know this anxiety is real: Anytime someone asks how the applications are going, I start shaking physically. How I'm dealing with it: Laughing. Actually, this torture is kind of fun! I don't think I've seen myself so desperately full of desire. Desire is a good thing, no?

Thanks! Breathing. I hope the musicology dept doesn't require it either.

I applied to Northwestern. It's supposed to let you preview and re-record but the system has problems. Mine may not have uploaded properly because although it said "thank you for saving the video" or something like that, all I saw was a gray screen, where it should have shown a still image. I contacted the department, the graduate school, and IT, but none of them helped much. In the end, I submitted the application anyway because it was the deadline date, but my application is probably screwed. The department is not answering my email about this problem, either. You might not have this problem at all though. Good luck with your application!

Thanks for the replies! The application dates and directions are unclear, but perhaps I should just submit everything well before the deadlines. Probably would deflect suspicions of procrastination. I actually just need extra time with so many schools to write individualized sops for, but will probably just stick to the safe side.

Thanks for the reply! I know phds beyond twenties aren't rare. Still, I wonder if some programs favor younger students, mainly because they could appear to be more career oriented. I was told by a reliable source that it depends on the program...

Hello! I am nowhere near your field (mine's musicology) but would be happy to swap my statement of academic purpose with your SOP.

I semi-finalized the list of schools to apply for musicology phd programs based on the interests of their faculty matching mine, but would like to know from those "in the know" if the programs I chose would potentially be suspicious of my age. I'm 34 - spent the last ten years playing and teaching music - and now I want to finally go for the final degree. I know my age can look unambitious, compared to those applying at age 22. I was told by one professor it depends on the program. So if any of you are already in these programs, I would be grateful if you shared your comments and observations! University of North Texas at Denton ethno NYU ethno Columbia historical music or music theory CUNY ethno University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign musicology Northwestern musicology Duke ethno U of Chicago ethno U Pittsburgh ethno In particular, what is the age range of phd students in your program? Thanks in advance for taking time. It's greatly appreciated.

Must recommendation letters also meet application deadlines? All of my applications require my submitting the recommenders and their contact in the application, and them requesting the letters directly online. Does this mean it's in my best interest to apply well before the deadline, and ask the recommenders to write before the deadline? Anyone know how much schools usually take to send requests? (I'm stuck on statement of academic purpose, hence the more time I have before final submission, the better.... Would like to wait until a day or two before the deadline). Thank you in advance to anyone who can help me out of this confusion!