musician94

Did anyone get accepted to Princeton? Would love to know when they're hosting accepted students.

Hi there, I believe those three schools have already made offers.

Really though....I know I’ve been rejected from Columbia and Harvard, but it would be really nice to get the official letters and move on. The fact that it’s been nearly two weeks since Columbia made their offers and rejected applicants still haven’t heard anything is a little irritating.

Yeah I’m thinking the same about Harvard. In the past 3-5 years, acceptances were sent on the second Friday in February, which would’ve been last Friday. I’m hoping someone here is admitted and posts their result so we can all exhale.

I emailed Harvard a couple of weeks ago to inquire as to whether they conduct interviews and they very explicitly stated that musicologists are not interviewed. I think the only discipline that does is theory and maybe comp.

I believe Harvard will making their offers today. As of Friday, they had not and yesterday was President's day so it'll probably be today at the earliest, and definitely by the end of this week.

I assume it's because Princeton sent all their decisions at the same time as opposed to sending acceptances first and then rejections/waitlist 1-2 weeks later.

My impression from the phone call was that decisions have already been made. They didn't interview me for the ethno/musicology program but I don't know much about the MEME process. Yes the department is tiny! They apparently like to keep it small to ensure maximum individual attention.

If you haven't already done this, I would call the chair at Penn to find out where you are on the waitlist. I did the same for Princeton and found out I was No. 1 on the list. If that's the case for you at Penn, the chances of an offer are EXTREMELY likely. Also, if you express an interest very early and check in regularly, it could make a considerable difference. Some might even say to let them know you'd commit if you were given a spot, but I'd only do that if Penn is definitely where you want to go.

Hi there, I spoke to the chair of the music department yesterday and he said he was calling the accepted students for the whole department.

Anyone hear from Harvard? I was sure they would make offers today.

Yeah actually UCB was one of the first places to send decisions.

waitlisted at Princeton! I assume offers have been made.

Congrats! From POI or the automated email?

Same! Oh well.

Hi all! Im back and just received an offer from Brown don’t recall seeing this on anyone’s list but just in case!

I think "fit" can mean a number of things: how your research is situated within the department, whether or not your interests intersect with that of faculty members, whether or not your POI is looking to take on more advisees, etc. And then of course your strength as a writer, thinker, etc. Who wrote your letters of rec will also matter depending on the institutions. If one of your writers is a recent graduate of xyz university, then the weight of their praise will mean a lot at said university. Conversely, where the word of one letter writer means a lot at xyz university, it may be meaningless at another. Additionally, we have to consider the "type" of applicants we are. In other words, some schools like students who begin a PhD with broad interests that they can shape and mold into one of their branded dissertations. Other schools seek the opposite kind of candidate who already has a diss project in mind and it's just a matter of developing those ideas into a large scale project. Some schools are really interested in the gray areas between ethno and historical and will be interested in students who explore that undefined territory (Harvard, Berkeley), while other programs uphold the distinction and will hold you to it (Penn, Yale.) One is not better than the other in any instance, and getting rejected from a school doesn't necessarily mean we weren't "good enough." Unfortunately, none of it really makes sense and trying to predict decisions based on where we may feel we're a good fit is fruitless. At the end of the day, they make the decisions and it's a frustrating reality we must all live with. But I like to think admissions committee's are good at determining fit, even if it means breaking our hearts. It's important to remain open minded and excited about any acceptances we receive! And on that note, I think it's time for me to retire from this blog. As wonderful as it is to commiserate with all you wonderful people, it's also forcing me to conclude the worst even when it's not justified. We'll all find out sooner or later, one way or another! Best of luck to ALL and congratulations!

Congratulations! Who knew they’d release decisions on a weekend...

Someone in the results section said they received an interview request from Harvard even though their website specifically says they do not interview....anyone care to explain?

Oh that results page! I wouldn't give up just yet, as things vary from year to year. If we were not selected for interviews I wonder if they'll let us know now that we didn't make the cut. Would be silly to wait until they send out decisions....

What do you mean by "results page?" Sorry if that sounds dumb haha do you mean the "applyweb" page where we submitted the application?

Does anyone know if UPenn interviews historical musicology applicants?

Thank you!

Just received my acceptance from UC Berkeley!

I have no clue! He’s a mutual friend of mine who posted on fb. Congrats on the invitation!