Psyhopeful

I have never been in the position of being waitlisted for funding, but I would not pay $45k a year for a master's, especially if I already had one and wanted to be a professor. Also, I don't know how Toronto compares to Chicago, but Chicago is expensive. That is a big move for two years and over $100k and to still not be getting a phd. Would you be able to get a job that would allow you to pay off that debt easily and still have a good quality of life? What if you go for a phd after that and you are back to a limited budget but are also potentially paying off your MA loans? Ultimately it's about what experience you want to have, but I would also think about what kind of financial impact your choice is going to have in the long run.

The purpose of recruitment is to convince you to come. You don't need to be certain of your choice in order to attend. Given that they've already paid, and they have submitted you for a fellowship, I would absolutely go. I visited my top choice school only to discover it was actually my bottom, and another school I wasn't sure about became my favorite. You should look at all of your options and wait to see how the fellowship turns out. This is the next five years of your life and then some!

This sounds like a pretty standard offer from a comm program. What are your summer funding options like? Why is it that you want to ask for more funding? An assistantship is a lot of work, you would not want to do two at one time, or an assistantship plus a research fellowship, and I doubt that your program would want you to either. If you're talking about an internal fellowship, schools usually submit you for one before they make their admission decision. If you're looking for external fellowships, you don't necessarily need to ask the school for information on that. I think if you're going to be asking for more money, it's best to ask because you have a specific reason, such as, you have a child and you will need more money for their insurance, or preschool, or that you need help with moving costs (if they don't offer a moving stipend). This gives the school a direction to look in for more funds. Sometimes schools have separate funds specifically for these kinds of things. I wouldn't ask just because you think it's a disappointing amount. If you are their top choice, they might go out of their way for you, if you can show them that you have a better offer elsewhere, but otherwise, probably not so much. You should check out the schools' graduate resources websites, you might find other funding options or funding for specific things there.

UMich Communication and Media does not interview. They send out acceptances with invitations to their Welcome Weekend. Last year they went out February 8th.

UCSB doesn’t interview, they just send out an invitation to their open house. If you get one the spot is essentially yours to lose. I got my invitation last year on January 17th, and they had moved their deadline to January 1 last year too. I imagine with the fires this year that things might be a bit crazy. Good luck!

Yes, all of the programs I was admitted to were for the MA/PhD. It is a continuous program, when you enter, the correct phrasing is that you are in the PhD program. Because... you are. MSU has a standard 3-4 year program for students entering with a master’s but also admits those without a master’s and they then do an MA/PhD. There are many MA/PhD programs, and those programs accept people with only an undergraduate degree. I was one of two admitted (of 8 or 9 total) to UCSB who was coming from undergrad last year. Research experience and interest fit matter a lot. There are definitely programs that only accept people with a master’s but there are many other respected programs that accept undergrads. I am proof of this, as is my cohort mate, and several of the accepted people I met on my recruitment weekends. At my present school, I was one of three accepted coming straight from undergrad plus there was another that was a few years out but didn’t have a master’s. All four of us got multiple offers including another to MSU, one went to Stanford, another to Ohio State, and at a different recruitment weekend, I believe the other undergrad went to Mizzou. I don’t know what else to tell you. It is not at all impossible. Maybe we’re just arguing semantics?

Not sure if you're referring to me, but almost all of the programs I was accepted to were communication programs. I was accepted at comm programs at UCSB, Michigan State, University of Michigan, although I applied to psychology programs as well. I was also accepeted into a psych phd program and two master's programs, one straight master's and one offer of a master's rather than the phd. I am not the only one in my cohort accepted straight out of undergrad, nor was I at UCSB or Michigan State.

Of course! I was accepted straight out of undergrad to multiple programs and at every visit I went to there were others invited who also were either straight out of undergrad, or only had a bachelor's. I am social science focused, but another in my cohort has only a BA and is more humanities focused. I think the most important factor on top of grades and gre is your research experience and your research interest fit. Choose carefully. Good luck!

I got in straight out of undergrad, however I left college to work in the entertainment industry and didn’t go back to get my two bachelor’s degrees in new majors for twenty years!

The financial information including the details of all five years of funding for all my offers was included in my offer letters. I haven’t received any more info since accepting my offer, but it was made clear to me what it would be when I was offered admission. I would definitely contact them again. Do you mean you know you are funded, but you’re just not sure how it’s broken down, or that you don’t know if you’re receiving funding at all?

That’s very strange. This hasn’t happened to me. If it’s a program you’re still interested in, I might send them an email just to make sure your rejection email wasn’t the mistake. Otherwise I’d let it go.

I would probably give it until Monday. Let them have the week to sort out things. I know it feels like it's been forever, but the deadline for funded offers was only 4 days ago, and if they are going to make new offers, they still might have to go through the same paperwork and vetting process with the graduate school and everything before they send out anything to waitlist people. They would've only started that process on Tuesday, once the deadline passed and they were sure about who had accepted what. Then I would simply say that I would like to know the status of my application, or something like that. Keep it simple. Just ask if you are still on the waitlist, or if the cohort has been filled. Good luck!

Oh okay, master's programs have different timelines. You are probably still in the running, especially if you haven't seen anyone post that they've been admitted. Definitely contact them and ask though. Good luck!

That is very strange. Have you checked all of your portals and your spam folder? Sometimes you don’t get notified of a portal change. It’s possible you are waitlists for one or two, but I would contact the departments and fine out no have only one school I haven’t heard from but that is the way they work. I heard from everyone else by mid February. People had to commit by yesterday, so if you are on a waitlist you should hear soon.

I was told at the open house for the program I accepted that fees are about $150. $1000 plus is insane!