GreenEyedTrombonist

I've received two rejections and one implied rejection. Only really waiting to hear back from a PhD program that's notoriously difficult to get into and an MS program that's also difficult to get into. I'm pretty much resigned to not being successful this cycle and planning out my applications for next year. I do think I'm lucky in that I'll have an MA after this spring and contract work is common in my field, so I could feasibly work over the year without abandoning a job if I do get into a program next cycle. It still hurts to be rejected, but I'm hoping the final rejections will come at the same time so I can mope and be miserable for a weekend while freaking out about my future and then just move on to the next steps. 

@Sleam Thank you for the offer! I actually have access to a cabin in the woods already, haha. I just need to figure out a car situation (don't own my own) so that I can go get groceries sometimes (and get to the house).

Well, want to hide in New Mexico in a cabin? I'm thinking of heading out to Oregon, I applied for a Ranger job there if the grad school option leaves me alone... Seriously, gonna rent it out! Anyone want to trade? 

Sneaks into the Facebook group @DBear 

I'm a digital ethnographer! My master's thesis was based on digital ethnographic methods, as well as my current project, and very likely my PhD dissertation, too!

@DBear your timing is impeccable, just received the admission email from Milwaukee. 3/3! 

@DBear You are awesome and clearly a good fit for these programs or else they wouldn't have picked you! Don't feel guilty for being accepted. <3 

^^What I was going to post when the forums were down.

Also, I only applied to one Comm program and was already rejected from it. Y'all are stuck with me.  

 

@DBear You are awesome and clearly a good fit for these programs or else they wouldn't have picked you! Don't feel guilty for being accepted. <3 

^^What I was going to post when the forums were down.

Also, I only applied to one Comm program and was already rejected from it. Y'all are stuck with me.  

 

I liked it for you @DBear  

Thanks @DBear! I feel like we are all eachother's cheerleaders here - it's great.  

Finally some news! Waitlist for Purdue. At least not a rejection.Yay! Glass half full...

I would contact programs and faculty of interest folks even if u think it might not be a fit to gauge their interests. Having no background myself I kind of tried to do that and sometimes it works other times it wasn't successful. 
But based on what little I know about  Comm programs I think you might have fit with  U of Michigan, Minnesota, maybe U Mass Amherst,  UNC Chapel Hill, Madison, Iowa, UT Austin American studies folks are very very nice I would study that program to see if you have any POI's, BU has a new emerging Media PhD and Maryland Amst has a professor who is into digital stuff I think u should check him out.  I know folks love Browns Media program as well. 

Not yet but expecting it any day.

I will PM you.

I agree! I talked to a professor from UC Davis on Tuesday and he told me I will get a funding email on Wednesday but I got it yesterday. It's a full funding offer so now I have to decide between Davis and Purdue.

I got my Iowa acceptance today for rhetoric with a fellowship nomination. I hope everyone else hears soon!

Of course, we have to situate all of this in the introduction lol .. This is cross-disciplinary and we gotta cover all the bases lol

@DBear it's an Anthro PhD, but in the Uk, thus the lack of funding. I'd love to work with the adviser I'd have there, but I'm really gonna need to think it through if I get an acceptance there. 
@ejpril88 no need to stop whining, we're all in this together.  

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!!!

The GRE is more about measuring how you take the exam than the content of the exam. If you've managed to memorize that many words without seeing a verbal score improvement, it sounds more that you haven't studied methods for taking the test effectively, just things that could be on the test. 
For the Quant section, you should know there are a few specific things the GRE tests on though they may test for these things in different ways. You need to study methods for quickly finding the answer (like only testing the answers given in the multiple choice) as one of the biggest problems people have with this section is not finishing. 
For the Qual section it sounds like you need to focus more on the reading comprehension sections (assuming memorizing words actually helped you for the fill in the blank sections). Look at the questions first for these sections before reading. This will help you understand what you're looking for and identify the info more quickly. If you aren't doing better on fill in the blank, focus on memorizing parts of words rather than the entire word. Understanding what a certain prefix or suffix means can help when picking the correct word.
For the Analytical section, how are you going about these essays? For me, I saw the most improvement when I wrote my essays after considering arguments and counter arguments for the prompts and focused on current social issues in my examples. By doing this, I improved my score from a 4.5 to 5.5, though I did get some graduate level writing practice in between test attempts. 
I don't like to study for things like the GRE because it's my way of protesting using them, but I did briefly review what the GRE focuses on and focused my attention during the test on strategies to get to the answers quickly. I ended up with 2 scores above the 90th percentile and a quant score of 156 after not taking math for 8 years.
I hope this helps you prepare for taking the test again (and helps you improve your scores)!

So mixed bag of news today.
Got an email from a prof about setting up an interview for next week. Yay, exciting!
Upside: This prof is very prestigious, works in the area I'm interested in, and I feel would be a great mentor and contact throughout my career.
Downside: It's a UK school, which means no funding package. At this point, I'd need to get loans to pay out of pocket my first year and hope to get a fellowship that works internationally (many US fellowships are only good at US institutions, after all) and covers all my costs for the next several years.
I'm talking to friends who live in the area to get a better idea of what I'd be expecting for cost of living if I go there.

@farflung Yeah, I know. It's extremely attractive to consider having this person as a mentor and I definitely will be weighing my options carefully if I'm accepted. It's the only non-US school I applied to. A friend reminded me today that it's not a race and I do have options if I don't get into a place with funding this year. Right now I think the most concrete thing I've decided is that I'm going to run off to the mountains for a month or two during the summer and work on writing a book.  

Well, you guys were right--got the acceptance letter from University of Florida a little while ago. Had been in close contact with my POI's there and they had seen my SOPs before I even submitted my application. They haven't decided on funding yet, but fingers crossed I get something!
Just finished undergrad in anthro in May (no Masters) and have been interning in the Anthro Dept. of the SI Natural History Museum since, so wasn't necessarily expecting to get in first try. Very excited, but still waiting to hear back from 5 other schools.
Hoping the rest of you hear good news soon!

So mixed bag of news today.
Got an email from a prof about setting up an interview for next week. Yay, exciting!
Upside: This prof is very prestigious, works in the area I'm interested in, and I feel would be a great mentor and contact throughout my career.
Downside: It's a UK school, which means no funding package. At this point, I'd need to get loans to pay out of pocket my first year and hope to get a fellowship that works internationally (many US fellowships are only good at US institutions, after all) and covers all my costs for the next several years.
I'm talking to friends who live in the area to get a better idea of what I'd be expecting for cost of living if I go there.

This is excellent advice and I find the differences in fields very interesting. Last year, I submitted a paper for a conference where I did exploratory research to show whether a topic was worth pursuing further. The paper went over very well, but I wonder if part of the reason I was comfortable doing this is because my actual presentation was a salon session (more seminar than lecture). The head of that session sent out a request for presenters on a listserv I'm a member of and I am passionate about the topic, so I didn't see the problem with doing something new.