Joel418

I would advise you that at least two out of your three recommenders be college professors (perhaps one from a fellow established professional), and here's why: These programs want to know how you will succeed in the academic environment so that they can prepare for continued success in the professional realm. At the moment, you are not applying for another job, you are preparing to reenter the academic arena. Therefore, you would be better served to use academicians as your references. I went through the same dilemma after three years outside of academia, but was advised by all who had familiarity with the process that a professor, even one who is not especially well-acquainted with your work, is the best option. Good luck!!! Joel

You're certainly not under any obligation to tell them. Most likely, they want to know for their own record-keeping and to market themselves better to students who choose College Type A over College Type B (especially if they are College Type . I don't think they intend to do you any harm with this information; they just want to be as competitive as possible next year.

Two very helpful resources: http://www.accepted.com/grad/personalstatement.aspx www.statementofpurpose.com Good luck!

I did extract a single subject from my thesis for publication (successfully, hooray!), and the best advice I can give you is: 1. Find the appropriate venue for your material, and don't hesitate to tailor the material to target a specific journal's audience (I modified my subject, which was focused on pure historical research, to appeal to music conductors as it was a journal that most commonly publishes historical research for the purpose of performance preparation). 2. Follow the stylebook! Find it, adopt your material to it, and only then, submit it. You cannot send a clearer signal that you are sending out a "mass mailing" with no particular interest in their periodical than to send a work that is completely unmodified from its original form. Best of luck Joel

For the best result, determine what is most important to you. Below are a list of suggested criterion for search parameters (in no particular order of course): 1. Your specific fit into the department (professors, lab groups, research focus) 2. Strength of funding vs. cost of living (don't forget that $10000 in a smaller town with a leading university can go as far as $20000 in a major metro) 3. What do the departments look for in their successful candidates (research experience; publications; top GRE scores (some schools really do care about this); recommendations from professors they know or know of. Each school and department looks for different things; ASK ASK ASK! 4. Professional placement rate: don't forget that the point of getting an advanced degree is to get a job, so don't apply to schools that do not place successfully. On that point, don't assume that the more expensive a school is, the better they place. Do your research on who places how well (start at www.PhDs.org for a broad picture). For all of this information, check out the website and then be sure to make contact with the people of the department. Professors are helpful, but the most candid opinions will come from students.

Grizzly Adams Professor Emeritus, Insanity in the Membranity, University of Incrediblawesome

If you're only looking for a tuition waiver, I would say that their availability is the rule rather than the exception (of course, not all accepted students get them, but financial awards almost always include some tuition reduction). I don't know about photography, but in music awards usually swing between "no financial assistance VS. tuition waiver + $X stipend". Of course, the more successful the program, the more money private organizations and alumni have contributed to the scholarship funds, so.... Also, as you are able, don't hesitate to contact current students at the various programs. As rosy as the school's official policy may sound, the reality can be quite different! At one of the schools to which I was accepted, more than one student warned me about the high rate of disappearing funding during the second and third year of the program

Well I won't be at Tufts per se, but I will be right up the road at Brandeis, and occasionally taking courses at Tufts via the consortium agreement. My field is musicology, so I'll popping into Tufts for at least one class (ethnomusicology), and may be bouncing around at BU and BC from time to time... My program is a fairly long residency (5 years), so my wife and I are planning to rent a room for the first year (hopefully in a house with another grad student or a working professional) and then look for our own place once we know Boston a little better. My wife is still looking for a teaching job in Boston, so once we know where that is, we'll probably start looking for housing.

Hi there Nathan! Although I don't know exactly what you mean by "great" funding... I've been accepted to Brandeis U (Boston), who offered really great funding (tuition, health care, and a very strong stipend as part of their fellowship package). Other schools that I applied to that offered great funding are Berkeley, Cornell, and UNC-Chapel Hill. Of course, sometimes this will vary from department to department, so go and check it out (almost all schools offer info on financial awards and their ranges on the website). Best of luck next year! Joel

Hi Stig, I wasn't really meaning to raise the issue of class warfare; my goal was to point out the lack of soundness with the testing method. In short, that the test does not accurately measure aptitude or intelligence, but among the highest brackets of success, the ability of the test taker to read the test makers. As commcycle mentioned, the test often can predict scholastic success, though again I would point out, not actual intelligence or ability. The predisposition that may be created by the "shared social heritages" that I mentioned above was a broad example of why certain social groups tend to score higher than others on average. I do have to disagree, however, with your assertion that there are clear right and wrong answers on the verbal section. I think one might better say that there are right and wrong interpretations of the verbal-logical correlations that the test makers have drawn. My point was that, to reach the highest level of success (the top one percent), the test maker must learn both the raw material (vocabulary) and how to interpret in a similar manner to the test makers. As I pointed out above, it is not as though only a fraction of a single percent of the verbal testers learned all of the words on the recommended lists; it is rather that such a small number have learned how to read the test to such an accurate level. All of that said, I am just relieved that I have "crossed over Jordan", and that I should not have to take another standardized test EVER AGAIN!!!

It is now official: I am a Brandeis grad!!! Woo hoo!!! Now I only have 3.7 craploads of stuff to do before we arrive in Boston...nope, I'm still too excited to worry about that stuff!

Mentalyoga, I think this is one of those situations that falls into "better to ask than not to know". I'm coming to visit on Monday, and even though I won't need housing accommodations, they were willing to help out whenever they could, even if I was the one to bring it up. (Remember: you've sold your candidacy to them; now it's time for them to sell their institution to you.) I think as long as you frame your question in the right verbiage (opening with, "if this would agreeable" or "if there is a willing student" rather than "is there someone who could put me up?") that doesn't assume it's expected. Good luck on this one!

Ok; I'll try over there...

"Dear University of Stuffy McStufferson: Thank you so much for your interest in my attendance at your institution. I can assure you that your offer and all other accompanying materials were thoroughly examined. I regret to inform you that the committee have not come to a favorable decision regarding your candidacy. Unfortunately, with the high number of exceptional schools offering of admission, funding, ponies, cotton candy, and "huge tracts of land", we have not been able to offer my attendance at all well-qualified institutions (see how we did that: we talked about well-qualified institutions without saying that you were one of them! Aren't we evil and sneaky??? :twisted: ). We wish you luck in all of your future student searches; please feel free to send another $95 application fee next year, even though we will never admit you. Best regards, Joel418

Actually, I can help here again I went to Athens about 10 years ago when I was considering moving there for my undergrad. The campus is very large, and the town is a nice college town (lots of interesting stores and restaurants). It's only an hour or so away from Atlanta, which is a really great city (my sister-in-law lived there for about five years, and she really loved it!). I have been to Austin too. Nice medium-big city that is surprisingly progressive for a southern city (voted for Obama in the most recent presidential election 65%-35%, the largest margin in any of the three Texas metros). A little more isolated from the big metros than Athens (about 3-4 hours from either Houston or Dallas). My friends who have been there more recently say that they've updated the downtown area and made it very hip! Unfortunately, they are both still the south, and though there are so many wonderful people, some of the ugly old racism and suspicion of foreigners still lingers. I guess the only warning there is: don't let your guard down. Most of the time it will just be an impolite or inappropriate comment, but every loooong now and again, it can get ugly UTA is very academically oriented, though they do give solid funding for travel research. None of the students I've met from UTA complained about stinginess (all of them, in fact, were presenting their field research at the conference). I'm afraid I can't say that I know anyone from UGA that could speak to their program.

I'm sure someone's already done this, but I thought it might be fun to make our own rejection letters to the schools that we will be declining. Those of you who didn't get in this year should feel free to practice your rejection letter for next year! I guess I'll go first :wink: "Dear University of Stuffy McStufferson: Thank you so much for your interest in my attendance at your institution. I can assure you that your offer and all other accompanying materials were thoroughly examined. I regret to inform you that the committee (myself, my spouse, and my dog Igor) have not come to a favorable decision regarding your candidacy. Unfortunately, with the high number of schools beating down my door with offers of admission, funding, ponies, cotton candy, and "huge tracts of land", we have not been able to offer my attendance at all well-qualified institutions (see how we did that: we talked about well-qualified institutions without saying that you were one of them! Aren't we evil and sneaky??? :twisted: ). We wish you luck in all of your future student searches; please feel free to send another $95 application fee next year, even though we will never admit you. Best regards, Joel418 cc: Wifey418; Igor418"

Some resources for you: The musicology job wiki (previous years' records found through a link at the bottom of the page): http://www.wikihost.org/w/academe/music ... musicology These aren't all of the jobs, but it gives you an idea of the institutions that are placing successfully. If you can, make direct contact with the former UTA and UGA students whose names are listed on the wiki. This was a great help to me! (Just did a quick search of 2007-2008 and 2006-2007, and there are at least four UTA grads with ethno-specific jobs you could contact. One UGA grad, though no direct mention of an ethno focus.) Another comparative (though much broader) picture of the schools can be found at: http://graduate-school.phds.org/ranking ... w1=3&w32=4 You can plug in your own priorities, and it well tell you how each school ranks. A word of WARNING on this one: the rankings take into account all PhD programs in the school, so if UGA or UTA have doctoral programs in music performance, their overall placement rates will be lower than the ethno/musicology department's. Also, larger programs (those that take more students per year) will have a lower percentage of placements by virtue of the fact that there are more applicants from that school with only so many jobs available (and vice-versa, of course). Finally, schools will sometimes skew their placement numbers by including those working non-tenure-track jobs. Just be sure to give the final results a good looking over to see if you think it resembles reality... Really the best thing to do is to call up both schools and ask for direct placements numbers, or at least the names of recent grads with which you can communicate. Of course, schools can be evasive on this question, so be ready to be persistent. Don't forget: you've "sold" your candidacy to them; now it's time for them to "sell" their program to you. I realize that I may be coming off a bit biased toward UTA (no personal connections, I promise , but I have met and heard papers by ethno students from UTA, and they really are happy with their program and their scholarship is really impressive. Best of luck with your decision!

Parts I liked Picking schools Getting the acceptance from a program that I was really excited about (namely Brandeis...to quote Homer Simpson: WOO HOO!). Parts I hated (in specific order) THE GRE: I already detest the idea of measuring anyone's competence by standardized testing, but all of the headaches and expense it caused throughout the process. I really hope that I will never have my ability judged by such a blind and arbitrary measure EVER AGAIN! The waiting: Second-guessing yourself, moving from the highs of acceptance fantasies to the lows of cold, impersonal rejection letters and all of the agitated mid-air suspensions in between. Seeing the opportunities that you were so excited about vanish in a cloud of "we cannot recommend"s and "we did not reach a favorable decision"s. I haven't been as unproductive over so long a period since I was in middle school :oops: The essays: Don't misunderstand me; I LOVE writing! If that weren't the case, I would certainly be heading in the wrong professional direction. I just hated having to make all of the choices regarding what to include (especially what I had to include to explain the more sordid bits of my academic past!) and what to leave out. (Most of the my applications limited us to 1000 words). Would I do it again? Of course, but only because I am certain this is the career in which I will feel the most fulfilled. That said, I'm REALLY GLAD I don't have to do it again until job-hunting time!

Don't misunderstand! If it were my choice, I would certainly choose the option that helped my family to be the most stable, financially and emotionally. I just wanted to put a few thoughts out there for her to consider on both sides of the issue...

Also, you might get better results by posting in the "Government" subforum of the "Professional" forum (just keep scrolling down from the main forums board).

Two of my schools had immediate funding decisions with admission; the other said decision April 1st.

My wife is just finishing her Master's at the U of A (I did mine there from 04-06), and I can tell you, there are some big cuts coming next year. You should definitely contact the university directly and ask about your program. Sadly, as the state legislature is having a hard time passing the budget for next year, it will be after April 15th when the budget is passed and final decisions regarding departmental funding and new fees that could save them. Gov. Brewer did accept the money from President Obama's stimulus program, though as a staunch fiscal conservative (along with a fiscally conservative legislature), it may be used in ways that promote anything but growth in education.

Can I ask a few questions? First, what do you intend to do with your degree (clinical work, professorship, etc.)? Obviously, whether you want to go into private practice or teach and research at a major institution could make a big difference as to which school best serves your needs. Regarding research matches: I study a subject in which no US professors specialize; as such, I'll be studying with someone whose specializations are related to my subject, and contact those working specifically in my subject directly (mostly in France). If your UG adviser's interests are closely-related to your subject, you might be surprised how open other professionals are to regular consultation. Also, do you think your primary UG adviser would go to bat for you regarding funding in future years? Having a professor firmly in your corner makes a big difference (as opposed to depending on the departmental process). Another much less appealing option that a few of my colleagues have done is living apart until the spouse/significant other can find a good job. Is that something you'd be willing to try? Good luck with your decision

Well, I've been trying to slack off this last semester. I finished my Master's in May of 06, and have been teaching music in a public school while my wife did her Master's. So since the time that I finished preparing my applications (end of December), I've been trying to slack so that I can spend as much time as possible with family (my parents and grandparents-in-law live here in Tucson). Now that an acceptance with funding has come through (Brandeis), I find it really hard not to get caught up in preparatory projects (my French reading comprehension; working my way through the bibliography of my subject; planning my next project; etc). Of course, all of these will be replaced soon enough with other fun projects like getting our house rented; packing; end of the year concerts at school (*sigh*...I'm going to miss my students ) All in all, I think I'm just too excited to slack

Congratulations manilowese! I'm sure we'll see each other around the history department from time to time (BTW, guessing from your handle, might you be a "Fanilow"?)