kp_87

Hello,
My question is for anyone who has been accepted to media related PhD programs. I'm looking to apply for Communications/media studies programs and wanted to know for those who have been accepted to these programs what type of background did you have:
- what was your GRE score?
- past college GPA's
- did you have any publication experience?
- did you have and related work experience in the field of communications/media studies/film?
- what school were you accepted to and what did they offer full funding?

Reaching out to say hello...
I did a round of PhD applications in 2015 and did not get accepted to all the three programs I applied to (not even waitlisted!). Cried for a week, picked myself up, and prepared for the next round of application (studied for the GRE, researched more PhD programs & professors, applied for external fellowships eligible for int'l student, etc). Tried again in 2016 and get accepted to 4 PhD programs out of 5. Currently attending ASE @ USC & now in my 2nd year. Years before that, I was rejected to the same scholarship program 3 years in a row to finally get it in the 4th year to do my MA!
If you didn't get into your dream program, don't give up! My lived experience (of rejections and failures) helps me grow as a scholar and a human being. It was hard, but I wouldn't do it any other way 

How are people feeling? I hope the people who got rejected aren't too depressed. Now that I"m finishing up my Masters, I see that getting rejected isn't all a bad thing in every case. For me, if I get rejected from my final place, that will give me time to define my projects much more, and look at more programs and contact people, and find somewhere that will be a better fit. I know some of us are just trying to get the degree, and we are dealing with job insecurity and stuff. But I just wanted to throw that out there... and also trying to remind myself! I just saw someone say they're glad they were rejected bc it allowed them to refine their approach and they ended up getting into a top school. Personally I know my app wasn't what it could be, so I'm trying to see it as an opportunity... xx 

@kp_87 I was about to give up but im trying to not see it as about me... I just need to improve my application and define my project more clearly. and I can find a better fit, and perhaps apply to schools that are not "the top". I do wonder about that, as @SpaceMaker was just saying. 

Dont give up. Maybe another place or another field will work better for you in the future. I was just talking to my undergrad mentor about this.. yale in particular is an example of a school that has hoarded and stocked up on so many talented Black faculty that  many of us apply because we have so many people that we could work with and it creates a scarity in other places because of the limited number of Black faculty in other schools.

Really appreciate schools that send out all decisions all at once. It's not that hard!!!

Hi folks,

I called the Yale Grad Admissions office (sorry Yale admins, if you are by any chance reading this- I am a total bug) and the nice person who took my call said that decisions should be going out in the next day or two. They said they did not have information on whether or not all offers of admission have been sent out, only that decisions (not sure which) would be going out sometime soon (in next couple days). It is possible that they have sent out all offers, but I suppose we'll know soon enough.

Sure, in case it helps!
By the end of February, I received all by rejections. I was devastated. I just could not process it or make any narrative sense of it. I was pretty confident that I will get in somewhere; my friends and recommendation letter writers were even more confident. It was suggested that I contact professors at schools I have applied to, asking what I could do to improve my applications next time. I just couldn't even muster the courage to do that. Really, it was a period of darkness until June. I won't torment you with my depressive state of being.
Then in June, I took a 2 weeks vacation. It was a helpful change. After return back to work, I decided that I should reapply to grad schools again, after a lot of soul searching. My GRE were valid for one more year, and I was still passionate about doctoral studies, so decided to give it a shot. I read some of the statement of purpose of my friends that have gotten in. I realized they were more impersonal/citational/jargon-y in their statements, meanwhile I was more biographical and chronological. I also spotted that I had only applied to the top 10 schools (clearly overconfident, with a conflated sense of self). I decided to expand the range to top 40 instead. I decided not to apply to any below top 40, given that the job prospects are non-existent if you stray outside the hierarchy. I threw myself into the application process from July onward.
Then came the process of selecting departments, working on writing samples, and writing the statement of purpose. I decided to apply to only those departments in the top 40 programs that had at least 6 professors that I would want to work with. Arbitrary number, but I needed some selection criteria. I found 18 programs that met this criteria. I then read at least 3 essay by these 6 professors in each program. After reading them, I read some more essays, especially those that were cited the most by the professors I had already read and those that stood out as particularly promising. After reading all of their essays, I ranked the professors from 1 to 5, based on my subjective interests in their work. This was really helpful in eliminating other schools. Being cost sensitive and focusing on quality over quantity, I decided to only apply to 10 programs. I ended up applying to the 10 programs that I gave the highest points, based on my essay readings.
This informal literature review process was very helpful in writing my statement of purpose and tweaking my writing sample. I wrote highly individualized statements, based on what the professors had said in the essays I read, especially making use to use the keywords, highlighting key problems, and talking about how I personally would expand on this research question. My writing sample was similarly reworked to incorporate all the essays I had read, although this wasn't individualized to each program as that would be just practically impossible.
I kept reworking on this till the application deadline, and then I checked out. The rest in history.
I probably went overboard with this process. It was incredibly time consuming. But, I really enjoyed it. I am sure all those essays I have read will be very helpful for the actual graduate studies.
I hope this helps. Feel free to ask me anything else.

LOL IT WAS ONE! Just got admitted to the Yale program! folks check your portal

You know, if I ever become a professor, I am going to remember this pain and discomfort just waiting for the rejection and make sure that students hear from my school ASAP. But probably because I know what that is like, I might never make it to be a professor. Big sad.

Alright fellow nervous wrecks: this is our week.

5:04 EST and I also have not heard from Yale. 
Please, Ivy league gods, end my misery now.

Thank you for that info

I think it really depends on what aspect of media studies you’re interested in. I have a psychology and anthropology degree, but am also a film school grad. I’m interested in media effects on children, race, identity, and underrepresentation and have been accepted into communication programs with a media psychology focus. Depending on your interests, communication, English, sociology, psychology, history, are all good backgrounds. Research experience is also really helpful. I think a really defined interest is also important, the more clear you are on what your research interest and approach is, the better chance you have if you come from an area that doesn’t tie so closely to media studies. That and finding a POI who is currently researching what you’re interested in.

If I had a dollar for everytime I thought about Yale I would have funded my own phd ! 

You just made my day with this news! It’s terrible not knowing when my doom will come lol. Thank you! 

(Sorry, I posted in an old account above) Hi everyone! I'm currently at Yale in African-American Studies & American Studies and just wanted to update... from what I understand decisions have yet to be released & they're supposed to come out late Feb. Also, if you have any questions about the program, feel free to PM me. 

@magnegresswrites and @aqua_sand so sorry to hear about Harvard! This waiting is indeed horrendous. ? And yes! I'm hoping Yale comes on with it! I'm hoping for Friday ???
 

Response from Yale regarding their decisions was that they don't have a set date and that all the decisions will be sent out by 1st Week of March! 

Waiting....g......g.....g.....g......g

Now, I just need Yale and UPenn to release their decisions so I know if I'm Ivy material or not ? . This waiting is TORTURE and I want it to end lol.

On another note: this waiting is so rough, I've had to increase mindfulness. Currently listening to nature sounds on repeat to calm me down. Also increasing social time, since it also helps keep my mind off the wait. ?

I too saw all the history admits... I said some kind of prayer after that!
Is anyone going to NCBS???

I'm a fourth year in an MA/PHD program.
Has your PhD so far been what you expected it to be?
Everyone is on fellowship during their first two years; it’s a great time to learn the ins and outs of everything the university has to offer. There have been some seminars which I’ve enjoyed greatly and others which I’ve enjoyed the material less but I learned a great deal from. The professors here are the best I’ve had and they really do want you to succeed. The style is a fair mix of lecture and conversation.

 Reading for comps was mixed. The department gives you a lot of control over the process. You’re responsible for asking people to serve on your committee. You’re responsible for choosing which books go on your list. I know that there are other schools that have pre-sorted reading comp lists and I think it is something that you should consider how much flexibility you want. I think there are perks to both cases.
What are you impressions of your program?
If you come with an MA, you can get up to 6 credits to be applied towards the Ph.D. degree. As a result, you really get to know people very well from your year and the year below and above you. 
Has anything about your program surprised you?
People here are very friendly and your cohort really does become an extended family at times. But because it is a such a small cohort; you’ll get to know people very well. If your goal is to remain anonymous, I think it becomes really hard to do that especially with individuals that share similar interests.

There are monthly meetings where people can share updates and concerns. And the department really does listen and does the best to implement change as best as they can if they have the ability to do so. It can be difficult at times because of how complex the Washington University system can be.

How are you feeling in general about your experience?
I’m feeling mixed here. My cohort was 6 people. The new incoming cohort will be 5 people. Traditionally, they've done a wonderful job of placing people and generally has more requests from universities than they could possibly place. At times, I wish more people within my cohort were interested in a tenure-track position because I want to talk to open up that dialogue of not knowing where we’d be in a few years. A lot of people see it as a place to settle down and raise a family so they refuse to look outside of this city when they’re looking for jobs despite being absolutely brilliant and being capable of having multiple offers if they expanded their search. WashU does try to have a balance of people interested in tenure-track jobs and those who say they are interested in Alt-AC jobs. People in my cohort and the year below me have expressed an interest in obtaining an MFA degree, getting a law degree, teaching at liberal arts colleges, teaching at research universities, teaching at community colleges, teaching at independent schools, become a lobbyist, doing research for a university, and being a course advisor. It’s a wide range of interests and it’s interesting to know that not everyone is competing for a tenure-track position.

Have you found your research interests changing?
There is a lot of collaboration going on within the university. As a result, students have a lot of certificate options they can choose from. My original interests were focused on the 20th and 21st century. It’s a time period I’m still very much interested in but they’ve grown to also include a certificate in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. I’ve also managed to have taken classes in Sociology, Digital Humanities, Film and African-American Studies. I think the combination of classes really allowed me to gain a better understanding of things which I may not have known I was interested in otherwise and I think it contributes in a very big way to my final dissertation because it allows me to draw from multiple areas.

Are there any hardships you've faced that you want to share?
People here care a lot about you and will help you if you seek them out for advice on whatever you’d like help with. Coming from a smaller school I was used to professors being a lot more involved in your advising and professors just being assigned to you. It’s your responsibility here to choose who your adviser is so it puts a lot of pressure to you to get to know how each professor functions and how that vibes with you. Each professor likely has something that they’re really big on so I can see how each project can be shaped and influenced differently depending on who you choose. I don’t imagine this would be very different at most universities though.

How about any successes you'd like to celebrate?
I’ve been published at 2 very well-known academic journals, have won a few institutional awards and have presented at 3 conferences. I think the university cares very much about student success and supports both your critical and creative pursuits even if those interests are outside of the English office.
I think my big question for current students is: what do you wish you had asked about or known when making your decision? Anything undergrads wouldn’t have the foresight to consider about PhD life when applying? 
I wish I didn’t bother retaking the GRE for a 2 point increase on the Verbal and a 3 point increase on the Math section. Everyone I spoke with at multiple universities told me that it wouldn’t have impacted my results either. I think that I knew this earlier 

I was fortunate enough to be accepted by various schools: Michigan, Brown, Harvard, WashU, and Tufts. I was rejected by Illinois, Colorado, Duke, Brandeis, Chicago and Nebraska. Cycles are a really interesting thing because they’re never quite what you expect.

I had a lot of conversations with my mentors regarding stipends and experiences. I was concerned about placements because I wanted to teach at the university level. They assured me that their belief was that schools aren’t good because of their programs but because some people overbelieve in the rankings and so top programs have a wider selection of students to choose from. They mentioned that they believed that ranking programs didn’t matter and shouldn’t play a role when selecting a university because they don’t play a role when jobs are listed. What leaves to the misconception most often is likely due to the fact that universities that are “better-ranked” have traditionally had more Graduate Students and have been around longer than those which were ranked lower. Publications during Grad School (as a commitment to the field) and what your dissertation paper is on and how it fits what field the School is looking to hire at will always be the most important.  A big name might get your CV a second glance but the name won’t matter at all if you have nothing extra to show from it. My undergrad college even mentioned that they won’t bother to look at someone who graduated from Harvard/Yale/Princeton because their experience has been that they don’t have the quality of teaching they’re looking for and they tend to leave as soon as an opportunity comes at a “better-known” school. As a result, I think good work is rewarded and that university prestige for admissions is unimportant. It might be easier to gain admission to a PHD program if you come from a more well-known school because they have more resources to help but I think the diversity of ideas is allowing the playing field to be more even. A great SOP with a great fit at a college will always beat out a bad SOP from an Ivy League college.

I think it is very important to think about the city you'll be in and how you feel about living there. If the environment isn't right, you won't succeed, you'll be depressed and fail. Depression is a really real thing that impacts a lot of students and each student will have different things that make them depressed. Is the stipend enough to survive? Do you work better in a rural, suburban or city environment? How big of a city would you prefer? Would you be upset if you went to a large city but was unable to really explore the city? Would you be upset if there was nothing to do in the town? Location is really important and a big part of your overall health. If you're depressed, you won't do as well as you could have and I think that shows when it comes to the Job Market.
 
 Have any of you been able to negotiate your funding offers? 

I never tried to negotiate any offers. And I don’t know anyone in my cohort or in any cohort above mines that tried. The university is extremely generous with their funding package and the city is extremely affordable to live on with the stipend they provide. In the past year,  they increased their stipend by an additional $2,000. There are also additional funding opportunities through various grants and summer programs available. 

I do know that some of my friends who did apply elsewhere did try to negotiate certain parts of their packages. Some of my friends managed to get a course-release at colleges which typically require you to teach 2 courses per semester. Others were more curious about the feasibility of living on their stipends and were connected to current students of the universities they were considering.  Some wanted to know if they could match the offers from other schools; some universities did but requested letters from other schools they were admitted into so they could bring that back to the committee. Sometimes, schools were able to scrounge up additional funds; sometimes they weren’t.
 

Lol my thoughts exactly....waking and seeing all those damn rejections is killing my anxiety. they need to hurry up and let us know already for every department...I wish they would just get a standard decision notification date for all departments like they do with the deadlines to submit applications when we applying 

I don't think we should conclude wait list or rejection from Yale. No one else has posted an acceptance. That one person seems to be an anomaly. I'm hoping for 2/22 to be a day of clarity.