Strangefox

It's quite clear, thanks Zouzax!! About the pre-paid plan: well, that's how everybody does it in my country. First you pay money and then you talk - I didn't know it could be different... So another option is - first I talk and then I pay money? I guess I like the idea of the unlimited texting/talking plan for $60! And I will certainly bring my cell-phone. So it means I will have no problems with this huge deposit (meaning that I won't have to pay it)? Yay! Thanks again! Enjoy your wine

So what were the reasons?

And what is a pre-paid plan?

Interesting point! I guess one can volonteer as conference staff in a school when one is studying (not is some other place) so I must look out for conferenes in my department, right?

Are you sure? Two professors I talked with were honest when I asked them about their sabbatical plans and even said that asking that is very wise and cool

Then all I can suggest is contacting the schools (may be even these professors) and asking them what is wrong with your application.

The most obvious reason is that there was not enough fit between your research interests and those of the professors in the program. Had you contacted them prior to applying? Also you can ask the schools directly what are you app's weaknesses.

Congratulations, that is wonderful!

So we’ve been talking about ranking and its importance for our future employment. People (some of them, at least) say that a prestigious school and a famous advisor will make your job search an easy and pleasant process. But some of us will prefer (or will have to prefer ) fit over ranking and a friendly but not-so-renowned advisor over a famous but brutal one who makes his/her students want to go hang themselves. Does that mean that those who will study in not-top-tier schools will inevitably have great problems looking for a job? (I am interested in academic jobs so first and foremost I mean them but feel free to talk about industry as well.) I think there are other ways to boost your placement chances. And we must start learning about these ways as soon as possible and apply this knowledge starting from the first year in the grad program to truly make ourselves competitive. I will tell you what thoughts and ideas I already have on this issue and you please correct me if I am wrong and suggest your strategies. First of all there are publications, that is obvious (duh!). There is not much I want to say/ask about them here but I would like to know if you have any tips on how to maximize a number of your publications. Mind that I am not from the US so I do not know all details about publishing process in this country. I’ve heard that it takes ages to publish now – is it true and are there anything we can do about it? Do chances to publish become significantly lower if travel funds in your school are not very generous and you can't visit many conferences? By the way, how many conferences to grad students usually visit a year? Second of all, there is this post-doc thing that I have recently learned about (I am not from the US so this is something new for me). How to make yourself competitive for post-docs? How do people apply for post-docs actually, how do they search for post-doc positions? Third and most important thing I would like to talk about is networking. I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit recently. We say that famous advisors are cool because they have connections but why can’t we find some connections ourselves? Let’s say, I will work in a field that is not very big so I can get in touch with different professors working on the same issues and make myself stand out. If you read a book or an article that is thrilling and great in all respects and may be you have some questions for its author along the way – there is this magical thing called internet, so you can find professors who wrote these books/articles and strike up a conversation via email and may be meet them at conferences. Am I right? I think it’s even cooler than having your renowned advisor carry you on their shoulders. You independently can create a fairly neat network and it will help you a lot when you are searching for jobs and it will be your own doing ! But of course we should not wait with that till we are writing a dissertation, we should start working on our network from the very first day in our grade program (if we haven’t started that before, of course). So what is your take on that? Have I missed something? Any thoughts on how to make networking more effective and how to maximize our chances to find a job of our dreams in the future?

You mean, they are interviewing you for the 4th time this year?? Strange... On the other hand, it might be because they have several rounds off intrviews - then it it great that you made it to the 4th round! I would ask the school though, to be sure what it means...

Don't you think that they might be honest? Schools now have little funding so they have to choose only few people out of their top candidates who they would like to work with. Also, may be the professor who was impressed by your app and wanted to be your advisor had to give up their/your slot because of some political games in the department. There are so many factors! Don't think bad about yourself

Yeah, it's a good question! We've determined so far that ranking can be important or not very important depending on many factors Let's say I believe in rankings, what kind of rankings do I use? What rankings are the most reliable??

Do you have one?

Congratulations!

If you didn't apply for a distance learning program they must have made a mistake and you should ask them directly what it is all about. Good luck!

Though I was not accepted to their program I was almost accepted there so I can give you some advice. Make sure there is a very good fit between your interests and those of professors there. This was the reason they did not accept me. They would have accepted me if they had more money, that is what my POI told me. But as they did not have enough money they had to accept only those with the closest fit and I was not among them. May be they will have more spots next year, who knows. Anyway, I don't think that it matters what field you have your masters in. After all Communications is a pretty interdisciplinary field. The thing that really matter is fit. To make sure the fit is good, read about all profs of the program, write to those who might be interested in your research, tell about your academic interests and see what they will say. Tell them you know how important fit is and ask if they think you fit this program well enough to be accepted next year. I would advise starting contacting profs around the end of May - that's when all applications business for the next fall is over and they are free to talk about other stuff Good luck!

love this expression!

Wow, congatulations! I have been offered funding, waitlisted and rejected in one day (by different schools!! ) and it was a bit overwhelming - so I can imagine what you feel!

I did not apply to Texas-Austin but I am curious to know about their funding. I researched this program when I was choosing schools to apply to. Well, I think you still have chances! People reject offers all the time! Keep your chin up

Oh, it's very hard to say for sure... It depends totally on your program, on their rules and procedures. I think you can ask about that during the campus visit. Good luck!

I think it's fairly common. My POI wrote he same to me and thought I do not have any questions right now I will ask them questions as soon as I have some relevant ones. And I am almost sure I will - before the program starts!

I PMed you.

You should not think about that right now. Just relax, and think about strong points of your application. Thinking that you can get rejected by all schools is like thinking that you will get hit by a car tomorrow. All sort of bad things can happen to us but we should not spend our lives imagining them! Ok, that was not very optimistic Really, try to find some activity that will help you to take your thoughts off the application process. Start a new hobby. Watch interesting movies. Meet with your friends. Whatever that makes you happy. And stop worrying!

And by the way, I have not read all your posts but those that I did read were all very nice so I am sure you have nothing to worry about

Ask them for extension! People do that and schools agree to let them think a bit longer. After all, it's perfectly normal to want some extra time for such an important decision.