mediaarch

Hi! There is some stuff that I agree and disagree with in the previous post. First off, I think there is someone who was accepted to Duke's Comparative Literature program. Furthermore, Jane Gaines is an extremely well-connected and esteemed professor in Film and Media studies. She basically knows everyone. Programs like Harvard's Visual and Environmental Studies and Brown's MCM accept about 1-2 PhD students a year (from what I understand). Therefore, in general, the chances of getting accepted are fairly small. However, there are other people who have been accepted to East Asian studies at Harvard and other very prestigious programs. Overall, getting accepted into a PHD program is largely based on who you are as a student, your capabilities, and what your research interests are. It is by no means a one way ticket into a PhD, you have to work for it. I would also say that your Letter of Recommendations are one of the most important factors. Because this program is very well-connected, your professors have a very heavy hand in getting you into a PhD program. I had discussed this with professors, but the LORs and Writing Sample are the most important and it is important to have publications and conferences. Not everyone in this program is interested in pursuing a PHD either. While there are a few, I have noticed many of my peers want to do something else and are just interested in doing a Film and Media MA for other reasons they could be personal or they want to publish their own film criticism outside of academia. At the orientation, an SOA faculty claimed that the school, overall, had a 12% acceptance rate. While this number isn't specific to the Film and Media program, it might give you a general idea. The film program is very small at Columbia and there are not many courses. However, I have taken graduate level courses in the variety of departments at Columbia University, like their art history department. I know this is post is from so long ago, but hopefully it can give another opinion if someone else is interested in the program.