commsch12
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wildviolet reacted to a post in a topic:
Prestige vs. Funding
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I've been told so many times "DON'T GO TO GRAD SCHOOL UNLESS YOU GET PAID FOR IT" that I feel compelled to pass that advice along. One thing to consider, obviously, is whether you will make enough money in the career for which this degree prepares you to make debt worth it - and humanities jobs don't seem to be very common or well-paying these days, in general.
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@dec4rhapsody, I have a similar background (BA in English, MA in political science) and negligible work experience, and was accepted to two of the five programs I applied to this year. I don't know how representative I am, but I'd say work experience is much less significant than a clear idea of what you want to study. Academic publications also seem to help immensely, though I don't have any of those.
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If UW is University of Washington, I also was accepted Friday - global/political communication interests. And now I've heard back from everyone so will be far scarcer on the boards for a while while I recover the rest of my life.
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@edost and same for University of Washington, presumably. Waiting nearly over, finally ...
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@nix, ah, ok. I applied to the information school - though it looks like that program too makes decisions in the next few weeks. Just out of curiosity, are most people here interested in more qualitative research vs. quantitative? That's the general impression I've gotten from research interests described here.
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@Nix, what Berkeley program did you apply to?
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tealover reacted to a post in a topic:
Communication/Media Studies Ph.D Programs Fall 2012--Apps, Decisions, and Waiting...
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OH, and @s@lly, this raises a very, very good question. When WILL you tell your employer your plans (assuming you get in, fingers crossed for you!)? The traditional two weeks notice seems a bit cruel and disingenuous given that we will know our future at least three months before we leave for the fall ... not sure what is appropriate here, though.
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@S@lly, haha, me too - employed, that is. I think my employment is also helping distract me from compulsively checking boards, though - I mean I only check two or three times a day, instead of maybe 100.
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@brancan, if you haven't received a UMich email it could be a good sign. I think they send letters to accepted folks. At least, I haven't gotten an email, and was told to watch for a letter. @fanon_fanatic, thanks! I'm pretty excited about it. I was pretty happy with all the programs I applied to (I limited myself to a handful on purpose, so I'd be happy going to any of them), so I feel like I'll be satisfied even if I get in nowhere else. Of course, still not looking forward to those rejections :/
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@iamhere, that's what I was wondering re: ratings systems. That and the fact that it's a newer discipline seems to mean there's no real consistent ranking system that's very helpful.
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@brancan, I was shocked. I haven't really been expecting to get in to any of my programs - I applied half so I could tell myself I gave it my best shot before I settle down to journalism. Good luck to you, I hope you hear good news soon.
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This is an outdated question now that we've all applied already, but how did you all figure out program rankings/how much did that play into your app decisions? I had a terrible time finding ranking systems and finally scoured websites of a bunch of the programs ranked in the NRC rankings (http://chronicle.com/article/NRC-Rankings-Overview-/124717/) to look for programs that fit my interests. Did anyone have a better strategy? Is it my imagination, or do comm rankings not really exist?
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@nullsymbol oh, good point. Communication PhD for me.
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FYI all UMich applicants, I called to ask a transcript question and was told they put letters in the mail today. Waiting ... almost ... over ...
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Preparing for a PhD
commsch12 replied to JonesTheNoob's topic in Communication and Public Relation Forum
Do you know what sort of thing you want to study, and why? I've discovered that communication is a vast field that is entirely overwhelming if you don't have some idea of direction, and it's hard to figure out where to go next without knowing where you want to end up. What questions interest you? Do you want to teach when you get out? Do research?