nyfilmfest
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Great news Swagato... really hope that works out. Location aside, Iowa's got a lot going for it. I've officially decided on USC for the Fall. For the sake of posterity, if anyone has questions about that program, or the Columbia program (where I did my MA), feel free to shoot me a message.
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To answer your original question, there is certainly less pressure to have a demonstrable research interest when applying to a terminal MA program. I know that I didn't express focused research intentions (though I did my best to figure things out by the time I began classes, so my course work could be more focused and build toward something), and I still got into both of the programs that I applied to, despite a Business background. Regarding your general anxiety, it's understandable, but I didn't hear from my programs until late March / early April... MA programs generally are much slower to notify. You're correct that at a PhD level, you are absolutely expected to have targeted research interests. At your level, not so much.
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Congrats, Vanilatea! I'm one of the waitlisted students there, which isn't surprising, as I don't feel like I have a wonderful fit between my research interests and the program's strengths. I'd be happy to give you my scattered thoughts on the program. PM me if you want to chat or correspond.
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Duke - I'd echo the conventional wisdom here, which is that there's no such thing as a safety school in our field. My strong impression is that your SoP is the most important part of your application, by far, because it conveys the passion for your project that will get a Professor excited enough about your application to make a case for it. That being said, I also agree that it would be pretty inappropriate to revise it at this point, if the programs who have not yet notified would even let you. You still have to hear back from a few schools, so don't give up all hope yet. I'd also add UT Austin & Florida to the above list of schools that seemingly haven't notified anyone yet.
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Concordia met and notified for the Ph.D yesterday. After a LoR mishap, I found out the good news and posted a positive result. I also know of a friend who was admitted and notified yesterday. I don't know what the cohort size is, nor do I have a timetable for possible future notifications.
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I'm on what I assume is the de facto funding waitlist at UCSB as well. The main point of attraction there for me (beyond my POIs, who are Penley and Branigan) is that they have a shortened Ph.D-only program. I have a Film Studies MA already so potentially taking a year off of the Ph.D process would be nice. As for the program itself, in a more general sense, it has good faculty diversity, to be sure, and it has a good reputation, from what I gather. If you're in, it's definitely an option to consider seriously, competitive with the other programs on your list. The biggest downside about the program would be the same funding issues that afflict any of the UofC schools, I'd say, but if you have that locked up already, that is a non-issue.
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nyfilmfest reacted to a post in a topic:
Cinema/Media Studies for 2012
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nyfilmfest reacted to a post in a topic:
0% Confidence of Acceptance
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Good to see we're starting to hear some results around here... Congrats to everyone who's in thus far, and good luck to those still waiting. My current standings are: Admitted - Indiana, USC, Wayne State Interview - Northwestern No word - Berkeley, Chicago, Concordia, Iowa, Michigan, NYU, Pittsburgh, Texas - Austin, UCSB, University of Florida, Wisconsin-Madison
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No problem... I remember going through this process myself a few years back. I only applied to two MA programs, but I got news from NYU the 2nd week of March and from Columbia on April 1. Check the results search on this site to get a sense of your other programs' notification patterns.
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Duke, It's obviously impossible for any of us to give a firm sense of your chances, as this is such a subjective process... That being said, your stats seem fine, and I don't think they will present any issue. I think your background, which is unusual for a Film Studies applicant, is probably likely make your application stand out (I say this as someone with an undergrad Management degree). The most important things are probably going to be the way that you've positioned your research interests in your statement of purpose and the quality of your writing sample. We can't judge that, really, but those are probably the most important parts of any application. For what it's worth, MA programs often take a little longer to notify, which is excruciating, I am sure, but it's best to have that expectation.
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responses for film studies phd applications
nyfilmfest replied to KTan's topic in Interdisciplinary Studies
I posted about the Northwestern interview. I don't have more details, really, and haven't had any faculty contact yet. -
responses for film studies phd applications
nyfilmfest replied to KTan's topic in Interdisciplinary Studies
Congrats to both of you... If either of you have any questions, feel free to send me a private message on here. I'd be interested in knowing research interests, POIs, rationale behind picking USC, other schools you've applied at, where you're coming from, and so on... -
responses for film studies phd applications
nyfilmfest replied to KTan's topic in Interdisciplinary Studies
Just to clarify, I had not initiated contact with any Professor at USC before being admitted either. I simply received a request to do a phone interview last week from one of the Professors of Interest noted in my statement of purpose. Contacting Professors in advance is by no means required (or even encouraged!) in our field. The appropriate time to do this, if you intended to, would be before applications were due (so you could check if they planned to take on additional students the following year, make sure that you'd be a good fit with the program, etc.). Once your application is in, I imagine that you'd probably just be seen as a nuisance. Of course everyone takes a different approach to these things, so how you conduct yourself is up to you, but they already have all the information that they need to make a decision. If they need to know more, they will let you know. -
responses for film studies phd applications
nyfilmfest replied to KTan's topic in Interdisciplinary Studies
I posted positive USC news this morning. The Critical Studies adcom met yesterday to determine PhD offers. I had previous contact with a POI, so he e-mailed me directly with news on my acceptance. I'm not sure how they're letting the rest of the applicants know their fates nor what the waitlist details might be, but I know that they were aiming for 6-8 admits. Good luck! -
The deadline for FASFA comes earlier than the April 15 deadline for Grad School acceptances, so schools will send out notes of this sort, even before an admissions decision is made. I received this same note (despite not getting an interview request from Wisconsin, as others on this forum have) and I received a similar one from USC back in December. I wouldn't read very much into it at all, although I would take it at face value, as a reminder to complete Financial Aid paperwork.
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Yeah... It looked dreadful for me too, but I am sure they all look dreadful. At least their application fee is $31.50 or something. I am willing to put up with things like that, given that comparatively reasonable fee. Regarding the LoR question, none of my recommenders ran into a problem, but e-mail requests aren't generated until the application is submitted, so maybe there's an issue there?