XOwlfan

It definitely gets more expensive as you get closer to NYC. In our neck of the woods, we consider anything West of New Haven to be an extension of NYC! It gets cheaper in our area the further you get away from campus (for example, Willimantic can be cheaper than $600....but what you get for that price can be questionable.)

Congrats, salome!! I'll keep my fingers crossed in terms of funding--feels like the mail can't come soon enough each day. My POI mentioned that there was plenty of work to do (for $) if the funding wasn't enough, but it would be a nice luxury to have that first year to focus on coursework alone.

I received a phone call from my POI at Hopkins (HBS) and was admitted into the program--she mentioned that the program director was out of town and that letters would be coming out later. My application status still says "submitted." I don't think any of the other Hopkins applicants on this thread applied to HBS, but I thought I'd share that "no news" yet doesn't mean bad news! (Also, I didn't interview. Each department within Bloomberg has it's own process and committee--so not interviewing isn't an indication of a rejection. Phew!) Good luck!!

I earned an MA at UConn and funded it entirely on loans. The financial situation there for students is a bit dismal (with the exception of some doctoral programs--and funding availability at that level varies dramatically by department in terms of how many students will get something). Good luck!

Where in Eastern Connecticut? I live in the Northeast Corner and I think it would be very challenging to get by with $14K (and we're in the cheaper corner of the state). Is it possible to take out a loan as well? Renting a 1-bedroom apartment in this area costs between $600 and $900 a month. It's rural--which means you would also need a car. If you are planning on attending UConn, there's housing that is walkable to the campus (or accessible by shuttle). If you have any questions specific to our area (near the University of Connecticut), feel free to PM me! I don't have any experience with the cost of living in other parts of the state--it varies greatly.

Thank you for the info! I must have read through the website about the Sommer Scholarship more than a dozen times and never even noticed the requirement for doctoral students to have been in the program a full-year before being considered. That's a bummer. I'll keep a look out for my letter--they said it could be a week or so before it comes. Were you granted any sort of stipend in addition to a scholarship?

I received a call last week letting me know that I've been accepted into the doctoral program in Health, Behavior, and Society at JHU (my online status hasn't changed yet though). I was curious if any other JHU admits have received word about their funding?? Also, does anyone know if the new Sommer Scholars for have been determined? I really love the program, but I have a feeling that they won't come anywhere close to matching an offer I have from another school. Thanks!

This is a great idea! School A: full tuition, health insurance, and $14K annual stipend for 3 years with RA/TA position School B: full tuition, health insurance, $21,300 annual stipend for 4 years (with RA/TA position during years 2 and 3), $2K annual travel/conference allowance, plus funding for family to tag-along for such conferences, childcare grants School C: waiting to hear back about funding School D: waiting to hear about admission status

Wow! SO much movement on this thread in the past week. Congrats, everyone!!!

I live 80 miles from my current program (an hour and a half without traffic), and I wouldn't recommend it. Living in the middle (and shaving the commute to 45 minutes) would have been much easier for me. I commuted three days a week, and it really limited my course selection and access to faculty members.

I wouldn't worry about the US News National University ranking--the ranking of the individual department or program is much more important. So if it were a top critical cultural program and the person you want to work with there is very well-known, I would imagine that would put you in really good shape as compared to the possible outcomes Annenberg East offers. I'm not certain though. Are you hoping to become a professor one day? The market is brutal at the moment....and there may be some schools that would prefer to hire someone from Penn over someone from any other place. In my area of research (which has a very small number of people in comparison to other areas), WHO you have worked with is much, much more important than the ranking of a program. I'm sure that varies by research area though.

In comparing Annenberg East and Annenberg West, I've tended to view them as almost equally competitive (with different strengths). I know that Annenberg East has tended to receive better rankings, but Annenberg West now has on Henry Jenkins (and some amazing projects that are in their infancy there). In comparing rankings versus how well-known an adviser is, I'd lean towards how well-known an adviser is as being more important (if the rankings are close, such as anything in the top 10 or 20 programs).

I just PMed you--but I said almost exactly what strangefox said

Congrats, Gooner, on UT-Austin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi! I was accepted to the Communication Science doctoral program--but it was super early (January). At that time, they told me that they hadn't made decisions on the other applicants yet. I haven't seen or heard of any other acceptances or rejections, so it seems like they are still deliberating. Good luck!! I hope you get some good news soon!!

Amazing!!!! What a great deal--congrats!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm attending the campus visit (interview) weekend at Northwestern for a program in the School of Communications. I've also been accepted with funding to UW-Madison. My family (husband and children) will be tagging along to see Northwestern and to visit with very close friends of ours that live nearby, but I thought we might take a day or two to visit Madison as a family. (Note: The program at Madison is flying me out for a visit in late March, but my family will not be joining me). My question is: Do I contact my potential adviser in Madison and let her know we will be in town for a visit? If so, do I mention why we are so close to the area (visiting Northwestern 3 hours away) or do I remain vague and say we're visiting friends? I'm sure she can put the pieces together and is aware of the timing of the event at Northwestern. (She also knows that I'm applying there...and knows my POI at Northwestern as well). Such a delicate situation--especially when you know that if you do turn a program down, you will still be seeing the people who might have been your adviser at conferences, etc. My specific field / community of researchers is extremely close-knit--everyone knows each other or at least "of" each other. thanks!!!

I was thinking the same thing--it seems to be someone consumed with bitterness or dealing with way too much time on their hands. If so, it seems posting in response to those fake results just adds coal to the fire. If the person is ignored, he or she might give up. Maybe?? Hopefully =)

Congrats on the acceptances to Temple, mediahistory and TVPhd!!!!! Cheers!!!

Ugh. My heart just sunk for you . So sorry! I hope you hear good news really soon to make up for it.

I've been going through various searches and threads to see what information is available through the forum for graduate students who have families in tow. I found this thread () that talks about what it is like being a grad student with a family, but I wanted to start a thread that might highlight the benefits and challenges locations or universities might pose for potential grad students with families. Feel free to post about your own experience here. Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA Hands down one of the best experiences we ever had. We lived in on-campus housing and found an incredible base of support among other young parents. We ended up with a close circle of friends, and we took turns babysitting for one another--I can't recall a single time where one of us was left in a jam without childcare. There is a also playground on campus that was built new when we lived there. We were also walking distance from a number of movie theaters, Target, a mall, and tons of restaurants. The seminary offered several family friendly events throughout the year as well, with tons of free food. =) The only challenge I can think of came down to the cost of housing off-campus (outrageous), the cost of childcare (if you needed something full-time), and the quality of the public schools. For families with little babies, it is near perfect though. University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT First of all, the area is breathtaking. The kids have ample space to play outside and surround themselves with nature. The public schools near UConn are incredible (though lacking in diversity....unless you go to the Windham area schools, which unfortunately do not provide the same quality of education). Four seasons--beautiful! Friendly. The biggest challenge we found was a sense of isolation--we had a really hard time finding other graduate students with families. In fact, we were often the youngest parents anywhere in the area (we had our daughter when I was 24). Now that our kids are in elementary school, we feel that age difference a little more. Our kids' peers have older parents and are well-established, while we are still in a tiny condo and getting by on one mid-level career income with part-time work on the side. The other challenge was finding childcare when our kids were under age 3. We NEVER found a full-time space for them, even after 2 years on a waiting list. When our daughter turned 3, we finally had options. Because of this, I had to pursue my masters degree part-time. UConn is aware of the difficulty of finding childcare in the area and has information available for students with a list of home daycare providers in an effort to address the issue. However, we found that the really good quality home daycare providers were full. We finally settled with a cheaper home daycare part-time (the woman was nice and kept our kids safe but let them watch a lot of TV and never provided them with any lessons or structure). I wouldn't recommend the area for students with younger children (unless you have a stay-at-home parent and won't be in need of childcare), but if you have school-aged kids, this area is fantastic. I'm curious to know what others have experienced as parents at other universities. I'm applying for doctoral programs now and the quality of life for graduate families is super important to us.

Totally food! Also, I took up playing piano and am teaching myself a few favorite songs. The anticipation is excruciating!

Oh my GOSH!!!! That is just awful. Whoever coordinated the applications needs to be held responsible for it in some way. Redonkulous. I would contact the director of graduate studies for the department and let him/her know. In our department, the grad director would never know if the department coordinator made a mistake unless someone told him. When I applied to my current program, the coordinator accidentally put my file in the "MA" pile, but I was applying for a PhD. They called to tell me I was "Accepted." And later had to call back and say "oops" and that they had never considered me for the phd because of the mistake. It worked out in the end, but I couldn't believe how careless the process was and how one person could have so much influence regarding a process that affects so many people. (zero checks and balances)

I applied to the doctoral program in Health, Behavior, and Society at Hopkins and have not heard anything yet either. Good luck with the wait! (and good luck with the interview!)

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is absolutely brilliant (http://www.amazon.com/Spirit-Catches-You-Fall-Down/dp/0374525641/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296757931&sr=8-1) It's a journalist's description of her experience with a Hmong family in California and the communication barriers/issues with the medical professionals that they work with to manage their daughter's epilepsy. I love love love this book. Anyone interested in anthropology, journalism, or cross-cultural work of any kind would find it interesting.