commsch12

Me! I applied to comm PhD programs at Michigan, Stanford, Berkeley, Penn and UWashington. Hoping to specialize in international communication, particularly the effects of media coverage on developing countries. I have plenty of other things to keep me busy next year if I don't get in, so I won't be desparate if that happens, but this waiting period is still sort of nervewracking. I've been reading a lot of books.

I don't think I've ever heard of someone writing a complete dissertation in two semesters, unless you're including prelims/exams as part of your coursework and enter the program knowing exactly what you want to study and basically start researching your PhD immediately. I do have a friend in a poli sci PhD program who is planning on finishing his diss. a year after finishing his exams, but that will still put him at four years to finish the program, and that's unusually quick.

Isn't the diversity statement optional? I have literally no diversity to add so was thinking of skipping it.

Berkeley might fit your interests as well: http://www.ischool.berkeley.edu/people/faculty

I have experience in political science, not comm, but from my very limited comm experience poli sci is a more stats-heavy discipline in general. In my entering class, which contained two master's students and six or seven PhD students, I would say overall we possessed very basic stats knowledge (maybe on the level of one, possibly two, undergrad stats courses). I had taken a semester of calculus but never taken statistics. Our program's research methods sequence was set up to start with a very basic stats course and work up from there - and it was not difficult at all. I imagine comm to be similar; of course it probably depends a lot on what school and type of program you apply to, but all the course requirement lists I've seen include some stats-based research methods courses that should teach what you need. I haven't seen any programs that have stats prereq requirements, either.

Ashlee - did you have any luck finding programs? Penn's Annenberg school also seems to be good for this area.

Yeah, that's what I'm referring to. I applied for a grant to University College Falmouth and haven't heard about an interview, so I'm wondering if they interviewed for all the partnership awards or skipped interviews for some of them.

I know this was kinda discussed a few weeks ago, but I'm curious what U.K. special programs applicants had interviews and if any didn't. Feel free to PM me or post here. Thanks!