sriracha18

Happy news, though! I got into the rhetoric and political culture PhD at the University of Maryland last week! Fully funded for 5 years. I'm pretty sure that's where I'm going ❤️ The only place I haven't heard back from is the MA program at UGA.

Joining the NU rejection club, lol. Also not a surprise. I had all but forgotten the application was still active ?

Hey y'all! I'm so happy to see so much good news from everyone. I had an interview with for a PhD the other day and think it went really well. I hope to hear from the school soon because it's a great program and not too far from my family compared to my other current options. (I'm not mentioning the program just bc I'm a lil paranoid they'll find me here lol but feel free to message if you're curious). I thought all hope was lost because I wasn't contacted sooner but I was called a "promising fit" so we'll see, I suppose! Automatic funding, too, if I'm admitted. How is everyone coming to this point in the process? Who are you still waiting on and how are you making your final decisions about where to attend?

So sorry to hear that @deshypothequiez. do you think you will leave or reapply? (or move everyone with you lol) @black hippie soul & @Isocrates2.o congratulations on nc state! I'm an NC native if y'all have any questions. I love the triangle & have many friends who attend state for undergrad or, randomly, their vet school. & @pato if you like the program you should totally consider raleigh! the triangle (raleigh-chapel hill- durham) is really neat and NC has much more to offer than our reputation and political mess leads on (but i know there may be other factors in your decisions lol). going to visit IUB tomorrow! I'll be sure to ask questions but they've given both my partner and I very generous financial packages for our respective programs so I can't help but look at them through rose-colored glasses rn. still waiting on decisions from NU (expecting a no), UMD, and UGA. hoping for positives for everyone at this point in the cycle. <3

@Shay825 thank you about Indiana! I'll let you know if I hear anything about Maryland. Also on the Indiana front: The program has recommended me as a fully funded candidate and now I am just waiting upon the overall grad school to hopefully confirm me!!!

Does anyone have any particular insight into UMD College Park decisions? I still haven't heard anything from them and I see in the results that they have conducted some interviews and sent out acceptances.

@whitmanifesto wow. Thanks for letting me know that -- I haven't heard anything. I'll definitely ask when I'm there & lmk if you have any other insight. They're not my only option. @ProudCatMom Are you visiting next weekend?

Maryland - College Park seems to be trickling decisions out little by little. If I haven't heard anything, should I assume it's a no? My partner is really excited about getting into their poli sci PhD program and I'm worried my news will not be so positive. On a more positive note -- I've been invited to visit Bloomington! I'm so excited. It's where one of my advisors went and I think it'd be a great fit. The waiting is getting hard!

Y'all! I just got into WFU. Funding to come in a few days. Still, it's my first "yes" and not a waitlist. Congrats to the good news everyone has received and positive vibes to those who are still waiting on good news.

Thank you @surprise_quiche @Ishouldbewriting for your condolences. I'm waitlisted for a PhD at Minnesota & the other programs I'm looking at are UMD, UGA (MA), IUB (MA), & WFU (MA).

Got the no from Madison today (on the ride from the church to the graveyard at my grandpa's funeral ?). It was a kind email from the POI I interviewed with who said they were impressed with my app but went with applicants with more compatible research (so I guess they were not that impressed lol). Hope the first day of February was nicer to y'all. I really want to remain positive, though! I'm trying to remind myself it's early in the process & that I'm only an undergrad & PhD programs are wild.

OMG @GreenEyedTrombonist & @swazibound congratulations on the Madison acceptances!!! Also thanks @ProudCatMom for the graphs. Good luck to everyone today! Oh, also to the Madison folks: did your status change on the official application portal? TiA

@AnxiousKitty OMG! What a coincidence. I'm an undergrad at a mid tier liberal arts school but I'm in a consortium with an internationally ranked top school as well so I've taken several classes there through cross-enrollment. Even though I've always done well, and frequently better than my peers at the "better" institution, the disparity in our schools' ranks always shakes my confidence a little and makes me feel like I don't deserve to be there/ am not smart enough. The main difference between the students at my home school and the fancy school I attend part-time as well as the one I went to this weekend, however, seems to be class and opportunity. As far as the partnered application process, I'm trying to keep in mind that it's in the early stages and that most comm departments I'm applying to haven't sent out decisions yet. The waiting sucks, though.

I spent the weekend at a super prestigious school (that doesn't have a comm program) but it still really riled up my imposter syndrome. My friend who went to said school for a PhD in another discipline said I wouldn't be getting interviews/ waitlisted by top programs if I wasn't super qualified, but a "yes" would be great. Also, I'm applying with my partner who is going for a poli sci PhD & so far our bites have come from different schools & she's already got a spot at 2 of them, but was rejected by the school who has interviewed me. I want to be prepared but jumping to the worst case scenario probably isn't helping. I just can't seem to relax.

@anxiouskitty I'm so sorry to hear about this! I hope some good news comes soon. Also watching Dexter reruns on Netflix is a mooood.

@surprise_quiche thank you! good luck with NU! @pato yes! during my interview i was so excited i almost forgot my research experience. i pulled myself together but it was hard.

Hey y'all! I had an interview at Madison a week or two ago with an amazing POI who said someone else would likely call me for a second interview. Today I received my first decision: waitlisted at Minnesota - Twin Cities. I guess that's not too bad considering I'm still in undergrad but it's obviously not ideal. In other news, I'm presenting at an international argumentation conference this April so maybe I'll see some of y'all there!

@surprise_quiche sorry to hear that about madison, but I second the congrats about milwaukee! how is everyone else faring? i've only had one interview and no other word from any other programs. some deadlines were as recent as monday so i'm trying not to panic.

Finished an interview today with one of my top schools. I was very nervous but I think it will pretty well. My POI and I seem to have matching tastes & I could definitely see her as my adviser. Haven't heard anything back from any other programs so I'm trying not to panic yet.

Hey friends! I've been lurking but I'm late to actually posting. Huge congrats to @GreenEyedTrombonist for the acceptance at UConn! Hope the season treats all of you well. I thought I'd jump in and let y'all know where I am. I'm a senior at women's college double-majoring in Spanish Language & Lit and communication. I'm applying straight from undergrad to rhetoric programs. My list consists of: 3 MA programs (UGA, Madison, IU Bloomington), 2 PhD programs (UMD, UM Twin Cities), & one combined MA/PhD (Northwestern). I've sent all apps in except UMD & Bloomington, but I'm essentially done with those other than a few finishing touches. My main research focus in undergrad is the rhetoric & discourse of gender, race, and sexuality in traditional media (specifically, student newspapers) during the civil rights movement. As someone attending a "single-sex" institution, I'm interested in studying the different ways students report (and do not report) different issues at their universities based upon demographics. I've worked at a local paper & was EIC of my collegiate newspaper. I have a really good GPA, decent verbal and writing scores but a pretty bad quant score. (I have a diagnosed mathematics learning disability that basically just makes me process problems slowly. I'm hoping that won't hurt me too terribly much as someone interested in rhetoric & qualitative methods over quantitative ones, but I am aware that PhD programs require stats courses.) I'm new to this so sorry if this is too stat-focused or something. I'm excited to join the thread.

FIRST - You as an applicant 1. What did you study in undergrad? Master's (if applicable)? BA, double major in communication & Spanish, minor in critical race studies 2. What were your grades like in undergrad? Master's? 3.88 is overall GPA, 4.0 in communication major 3. What are your research interests? Rhetoric of race, gender, sexuality, religion in historic media (e.g. newspapers, especially collegiate news) 4. What teaching experience did you have before applying? As a current senior, I am a teaching assistant in communication 5. What about research experience? I am doing a ton of archival research for my senior honors thesis, but I have no professional experience 6. What about miscellaneous experience (unrelated to Comm/corporate/private/etc)? I've interned at a marketing company, a social justice-oriented non-profit, a local newspaper, & I was editor-in-chief of my collegiate newspaper 7. How old are you (or, what is your age group)? 22 SECOND - Deciding to pursue a Ph.D. 1. What made you decide to pursue a Ph.D. in Communication? I love academia -- teaching, learning, the whole thing. I want to inspire others to have that same love of language and rhetoric. 2. Did you contact faculty at the programs you were interested in? What did you say? How often did you communicate with these people (POIs)? No, I wouldn't know what to say, although of course I mentioned who I want to work with and why in my applications. 3. Did you visit or contact graduate students? How did thaaaat go? Not yet. 4. How did you decide who to ask for letters of rec? Were they all professors or did you get letters from outside of academia? I asked one professor from each major (comm & Spanish) and the director of my honors college program. THIRD - Actually applying 1. How did you look for programs? I asked professors, alumni, and others I knew in the field. I also did my own research to see who had the kinds of programs I'm interested in. 2. How did you decide where to apply? I could afford up to 6, so I applied to the six I liked the most where I believe I would best fit. 3. What was your biggest priority in a program? Well, funding. Beyond that, I want to study with others who care about rhetorical studies, qualitative methods & ethnographic methods. 4. How many schools did you initially set out to apply to, and how many did you actually apply to? I really liked 8 and didn't look out too much further than that. My scope may have originally been about 10 but I am applying to 6. 5. What were your GRE scores like (either specifics or vaguely)? How many times did you take it? Did you feel good about your scores? Pretty solid verbal and writing, terrible quant. I'm not a quant person and I have a math learning disability, so I (briefly) explained that in the applications if there was a place / it seemed appropriate. I am concerned about how that will affect me since I know stats are a big part of PhD programs. 6. How did you frame your experience/interests/fit in your statement of purpose? Did you focus on something more heavily than other stuff (like faculty or experience)? I focused upon my experience as a journalist & editor of my collegiate paper. I talked about the relevance of my interests with the faculty, especially my rhetorical and ethnographic methods for different projects. 7. Did you feel good about your applications? Why or why not? I still have two more to go -- there are not due for about another month & I'm hoping to submit this semester's transcripts once they come out to show I'm doing well in my advanced research methods course. 8. If you knew then what you knew now, what advice would you give yourself? I'll let you know about this (and the rest) when the process is over! FOURTH - GETTING IN (OR NOT) - feel free to update/answer later 1. How many programs did you get into (and which, if you don't mind sharing)? 2. How many were you waitlisted for? Did you make it off the waitlist? 3. How many were you rejected from? 4. Did you get into your top program? Did you expect to get in? 5. Did you receive funding? 6. Once you've made your decision...how did you decide which school to attend? 7. If you didn't get admitted to a program, will you apply again? 8. What do you want to do with your Ph.D.? FINALLY 1. In retrospect...what was the best part of the application process? 2. What was the worst? 3. What advice do you have for future applicants?