natebassett

I really wonder if those three applicants are for all of comm arts 4 concentrations or just MCS... either way my odds are probably really low with this news. That said I think that "one" application for me is now Northwestern... I'd love to go to Seattle but it's really far away from my wife's parents for her.

Hey all, As a distraction from all this anxiety, I just wanted to mention that Miss Representation is on netflix instant - I've been waiting to watch it for awhile now and just realized it was streaming. Really good stuff! uggghhhh that sucks. Sorry to hear that. Is that just for the the MCS concentration or the whole Comm Arts department? Either way that's bad news. Did you also apply for the MCS concentration?

This is a really good question. I did freak out a bit when I heard other people had gotten interviews at some of my picks, but there doesn't seem to be a hard and fast rule (probably because of the diversity of the field as others have noted).

UIUC was another school I was going to apply to (great rep, close proximity to inlaws, etc) but I was discouraged from applying to from faculty (the guy I wanted to work with said that he was the only person in the department with the same sort of focus as I had). Congrats! I was just curious, Madison is one of my top picks and just crazily obsessing on this is all (as are the rest of you i'm sure)

Anyone here get accepted to Madion's Comm Arts (Rhetoric) program? There a result in the survey

Interdisciplinality is important to me... if I had known the transition was going so smoothly, I probably would have still applied. My point was never to disparage the program though, just to encourage others who had been rejected with some of the things I had considered in deciding whether or not to apply. I think that CU Boulder (with it's devotion to creating a new school and the reputation that precedes it) very possibly could become on par with some of the best media studies programs in the country. There aren't that many of them at that level.

I know ever rejection hurts, but I thought I'd share some of the facts behind my reasoning to not apply to CU Boulder, and see how others feel/if they make sense. 1. When I was searching for information about the program, I found that CU Boulder closed it's journalism school pretty recently. 2. A College of Media, Communication and Journalism is in the works, but there's no indication of when exactly that structure will be in place. 3. When I contact the school, I received a very quick, very eager, very helpful (a-few-shades-from-borderline-desperate) response. Basically I got all the information I needed, that there was a Media Studies PhD Media Studies program (I got the 2011 handbook), the list of faculty involved (also from the defunct J school), and current doctoral bios. It was all ok, but I was still concerned with the state of things and how it would transition in the next 4-5 years. 4. The current scandal in the Philosophy department to me also points to some fundamental issues with CU Boulder's staff and faculty and the potential stability in other departments (keep in mind the big flux in structure for comm/media/journalism). I really love the idea of Boulder - location wise it's perfect. And if it had been 2015 or 16, I probably would have applied there when things settle down. But at the moment I figured it's better to try my chances elsewhere.

Dunno if it matters if I keep it a secret, but seeing as they didn't inform me, I'll just say it's not one of those three (Wash/Madison/Northwestern) I applied to Comm Arts at Madison and MTS at Northwestern, so the only overlap we have is UWashington.

Just got rejected from UNC Chapel Hill - I got an email saying the decision was available on the application website, when I logged in there was a rejection letter from the grad school dean. It's all good I guess... I didn't really want to live in NC anyway, I'm too much of a Yankee. But still troubles me about my chances elsewhere. In good news, I heard a few days ago from one of my recommenders that another one of my schools was nominating me for a fellowship... we will see I suppose.

Sorry to hear that... all my applications are still pending...

Sorry, friend. Where from?

ok, NOW I'm jealous. Congrats!

Congrats! as they say, those are the problems you want to have... WSU is in some beautiful country. I thought about it but I think I decided it was too remote - thought I wouldn't mind working out there some day.

FYI Stanford rejects - I spoke with one of the faculty members on the phone in November who couldn't advise me to apply to their program - one of their prominent faculty passed away very recently and I was told this kind of threw the Comm department into a state of confusion, and the person said they weren't sure what things would be like in the near-future. I didn't apply but hopefully this will make some of you feel better about rejections. Also about UWashington - Just checked and mine is still being reviewed too. Odd to see rejections out already.

Such a pretty place... didn't make my list but I still wish it had.

UIC just sent me ANOTHER automated email about potential missing credentials RE their Recommender Rating form - last time this happened a few weeks ago I called, found out it was a departmental thing, got in touch with their coordinator, who told me they were missing one of my recommender letters and another recommender's raiting form, so I got in touch with them and they CCd me on the emails to the department to satisfy the requirements. That was over a week ago. Maybe the system is borked? PS - Obligatory "waiting sucks." Congrats to those who have had some answers so far! No one has heard from my schools yet tho... although I thought about some of the others!

Good answers, you're both absolutely right... I had forgotten about when I applied to MA programs I had the same reasoning - professionally I could do what I want with an MA and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go into academics or not. It's a good way to toe the waters so to speak. Also didn't realize how MA students would be disadvantaged in a phd program.

question: Why would you apply to an MA program unless it was a terminal degree and that's what you wanted?

Hey nullsymbol, thanks! I actually got an email from the head of RPS yesterday, who had been talking to the head of MTS, and they wanted to make sure I didn't intended to apply to MTS. All the faculty I was interested in working with were actually MTS people and I think it was a mistake on my part - luckily enough they transferred the application. TSB looks very cool and very much related to my interests... but also seems closer to CS and maybe more technical? is that true? Also, are you involved with any of the cluster groups? I got really excited when I learned about the critical theory cluster there, would be awesome to work with. Feeling the exact same thing more or less - hearing about others getting interviews is a bit hard, when I'm thinking "if I was going to get an interview, I should have heard about it." then my reasoning goes, "if the interviews are just about fit, then I've had those conversations already with people I'd like to work with and there may be no need for them if they feel I'm already qualified." It's just a waiting game.

Congrats! Hope it goes well, definitely jealous.

Oh jeez... that's ridiculous. Definitely have me beat there. That's interesting - I was thinking of applying to McGill because I wanted to work with Gabriella Coleman, wound up not doing it because of their language requirement and questions over whether or not my wife could work as a nurse in Canada

I should have replied earlier... yes, I got an email very promptly Monday morning from the grad coordinator at UWM, who told me not to worry, that they'd still accept transcripts and to send whatever records I had in the meantime as a temporary measure (which I already had). So, a lot of freaking out over nothing If you think official transcripts transcripts are annoying, how about this - UIC wants unofficial scanned copies of your transcripts uploaded to their service. Web transcripts are no good. Which means, they want you to make a transcript request from your school, wait for it to get to you, scan it so you have a digital PDF copy, and then upload that. My undergrad faxed me my transcript, which means I submitted a scan of a fax of a copy. did it look like shit? you bet. but that's how they wanted it!

Thanks for the encouraging words everybody... Hi Duna, thanks for the advice, you may be right... they do say they accept a CV via email to the grad coordinator after the application is done. I've been emailing him trying to resolve this (of course it's the weekend) and so I just sent along the unofficial transcripts I'd used in other applications. Barring that they'd have to wait for Tuesday... it is what it is! But that is a good suggestion.

I think I missed a deadline... really frustrated right now. I was busy most of the week and put off my last round of applications until today. I thought that University of Wisconsin-Madison accepted unofficial, electronic copies of transcripts - turns out that was just EVERY OTHER SCHOOL I APPLIED TO. So today I did my very best to get the transcripts out today so that they'd at least be postmarked. Nope. My undergrad and my MA school both said that the earliest it'd go out was Monday. The 16th. A day after the deadline on the 15th. I emailed an admissions officer to try and rectify the situation, didn't get a reply but I did find this: What is the deadline to apply? It is better to think of it as the date by which all supporting documents must be received by us. An applicant's file must be complete by December 15 in order to be included in the initial review and considered for financial aid. It is a postmark deadline, but remember that this is the busiest season of the year for the US Post Office. Why tempt fate and risk a possible black mark against your name for failure to comply with a deadline? Be on the safe side and aim for December 1st. I know I really should have double checked earlier this week, but I was more concerned about getting my recommenders to submit their letters (which they JUST did yesterday) than I was the transcripts... since during my first survey of the application requirements I saw most of the programs accepting unofficial PDF copies. I'm really bummed about this one if it's true because this is the school my wife was really hoping for, as it's one of the closest to her parents... also had some good contact with faculty and was interested in the Rhetoric Politics and Culture track of the Comm Arts program... really bothered with myself right now.

surprised people are already hearing back... hrmmmmmmm, since you're applying to 3 of my 6 schools this makes me nervous... congrats though!