Jcantrone
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Posts posted by Jcantrone
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My advice? Spend most (maybe even all!) of your time preparing for the quant section. Why? Because, even with practice, verbal scores don't budge very much. And you seem pretty confident on the verbal section anyway. Quant scores, however, can be hugely increased. I took the test twice, two years apart, once to get into my masters program, and again to get into PhD since I wasn't very confident in my first score set. The first time around, I studied maybe 2 or 3 weeks out, without much of a study plan. Verbal score was good, quant was pitiful. Second time around, I started studying 8 weeks out (with a solid study plan) and only improved 20 points on the verbal, but over 200 on the quant! Improving your quant score is the best way to increase your overall combined score.
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From what I understand, the Journalism/Mass Comm dept, and the Comm Studies dept are entirely separate. So, JMC shutting down will have no affect whatsoever on the Comm Studies dept.
Hi seasonal,
This was going to happen. I will be attending CU Boulder's media studies PhD program this fall and have been assured that the decision will not affect my studies or 4-year funding
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Thanks! Glad to hear you got off the Pitt waitlist as well! (Small world) Hope that your top choices get back to you soon; at least you have a great offer at a great school to fall back on
Congrats, Jcantrone! Great to hear that you finally got off the waitlist! It's your top choice, isn't it? I guess I'll be able to make my final decision in a couple of days, you know, I'm still waiting to hear back from the two of my top choices. But If both of them say no, or their funding offers are not as good as what I've got, I'm also going to Pitt!
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Hey commtome,
I've withdrawn myself from the waitlist at Umass and sent my acceptance letter to Pitt! Feels good to have that decision out of the way. (My girlfriend is very glad to not have to hear me obsess over the deeper meanings of emails with DGSs and so forth.) How are things going with you?
Thank you for your information, Jcantrone! I received the email on that day, I guess. Now I know, at least, there are actual people getting in there. Yes, it's one of my top choices and I have nine more days to make my final decision, though I think I'll be told in a couple of days. How are things going Jcantrone, have you decided where to go?
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Two of my friends were rejected; one was accepted. They all knew by mid-march. The campus visit weekend was Mar 18 I believe. Not sure how their waitlist works, so you may be waitlisted. It is one of your top choices? Perhaps you can ask for an extension on decision making until you've heard back?
Just like all you guys, I've seen lots of acceptances/rejections and even waitlisters from all the universities that have Comm. programs. But as some of you might notice no one has claimed an acceptance to the ICR (Ph.D.), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign so far - there were rejections and a waitlister (me) on the results board. One of my friends even didn't get any kind of notification (as of the end of March). Do you guys have any idea how many funded spots they offered? Anyone have a friend who got accepted? Thank you so much for sharing your info!!
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Hi lastminute, I'm in social sciences too, and was having similar concerns but ultimately feel at peace. Can I ask what the schools you were choosing between, or among, are? And what your field is? I can offer my honest, unbiased opinion on your options and your final decision.
I rather impulsively chose a school I thought I'd ruled out. Now I regret it. It's a great program but just doesn't feel right. Do I have buyer's remorse? Will it pass? Was I crazy to do that? Or... has anyone pulled a switcheroo and lived to tell the tale? [Edited to add that these are small doctoral programs in the social sciences. Not assigned to any lab but have talked a lot with the profs I will probably work with. Small field. So switching is probably not an option.]
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I've said it before on similar posts, but I really think there is some merit to telling people that "School A" is always going to be the one that, deep down, they actually want attend more-- otherwise you wouldn't call it School A in your posts; it'd be School B (or C or D etc.) School A all the way.
thanks guys!
To answer some questions:
The network I've made so far in this area is relatively modest, so there's room for a lot more networking I think.
There is only one professor at School B that does exactly what I want to do, so working with the others would mean a change in focus (although under the same broader focus area). I'm not too worried about this though because I am open to small changes in my research area and am not set in my current area of interest.
I'd like to stay close to home because of parents and siblings as well as the fact that I love the city I would be living in.
It is true that the two schools are relatively close when it comes to reputation - you could say its the difference between a silver and a gold medal
Does this information change anything?
- katiemk1230 and Bison_PhD
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Interestingly, although perhaps not helpfully, I have noted a tendency for people to label as "School A" the school that they really, truly, deep prefer; and "School B" as the school they are somewhat more ambivalent about. My take? Always go with your "School A"-- that's where you really want to go to begin with.
I have been offered acceptance to two schools - and my heart is literally torn between the two of them. School A is ranked in the top ten for my field and there are two professors there I would enjoy working with. I love the school and its location. What I love most about the school is how collaborative everyone is - when interviewing, all the professors were quick to point out how they are helping other labs and how other labs are helping them. All the grad students I met were happy and bragged about how much they love living in City A. School B is a lesser known school for my field. I didn't think I was going to like School B, but after visiting it I fell in love with it, but I really dislike the location. I don't know if I will be happy in the weather - I know that is silly, but it is hard for me to imagine my day to day life there. Plus, there is literally nothing to do in City B. School B really, really wants me - they increased my stipend (still less than School A) and guaranteed me full funding, although if my lab loses funding I will have to TA. School A guarantees funding, no matter what (even if my lab loses funding). School B has four professors I would enjoy working with. What should I do? Any advice? Should location and a life outside of lab matter that much?
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Ugh, I feel for you. This sounds like a horrendously tricky position to be in. If there were ever an appropriate occasion to accept an offer and back out later when more information becomes available, this is the occasion. All the best to you.
Also Miami and Mizzou say they fund all their students (regardless of their nationality or of other grants) on their website. Well - they don't anymore.
I have full tuition waivers from both of them. But no other funding possible. So no TA/RA - no teaching experience, no job to provide for living expenses (and I'm not allowed to take any other job because of my visa). So I basically will have to pay for all the living expenses (except the first year) from my own money - which I don't have.
Bloomington didn't send funding decisions yet, although they announced to send them in early March! I can't pick them because I don't even know if they give me a tuition waiver. They could as well tell me that I've got to pay full tuition + living expenses and that's simply impossible.
I'm literally sick of all this pressure. I'm in tears because I don't want to make this big decision about my future prematurely just because the schools decided to set this stupid deadline and at the same time don't stick to their own deadlines or announcements. I can't handle this, seriously...
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hmm..well they HAVE to be letting in some people from the waitlist. Just depends where you're at on that list. I wouldn't necessarily abandon all hope.. if it was the grad secretary who told you that, there's a chance she might not be up to speed on the rankings of the waitlist (I'm sure the rankings change a bit, depending on whose accepted their offers and what their research interests are) and might be responding with a sort of boilerplate message to all applicants who ask.
I also heard from the dept. (April 11) letting me know that due to the high number of acceptances from round one, it "looks increasingly unlikely" that I will be offered admission. That is not good.
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If you have definitive funding from any of the universities that you have heard from, I'd pick that school. If you haven't heard about funding from any of them, I'd pick Bloomington (great program, and from what I've heard, they fund all their students, though I'm not sure how they hand Fulbrights.)
Good luck!
AAAAAHHH!
Basically I have to decide tomorrow, because of my Fulbright the message takes two days to arrive at my US-school... And I still haven't heard about funding from one school that accepted me and no admissions decision from another. How am I supposed to make a decision? It's simply impossible...
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that sounds very hopeful! congrats! which school? (if i may be so bold to ask!)
One of the schools I'm waitlisted at emailed me last night to see if I was still a "free agent." I wrote them back and said "yes, yes, yes!" They said they hope to go out to some waitlisted candidates in the next day or so....Oh I hope it's me! Remaining optimistic...
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depending on your budget, you may be able to afford a 1bdr or studio.. I'm looking into them myself, and there seem to be a lot of affordable options (600-700 for 1 beds and like 400-500 for studios.) landlords usually know about their fall openings in may or june.
+1 to the above question. I'm headed to Pittsburgh for a Masters program this Fall, and it seems that sharing an apartment would be the most feasible option (when chalking up comfort/preference against costs). If anyone has tips for finding people to live with, it'd be great if you could share them
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good karma to you, jmac! were you given any indication of where you are ranked on the waitlists? If you were told you rank high up there, you should definitely (fingers crossed) get off at least one of the wait lists, because nearly half of every admit pool accepts offers elsewhere. Best of luck
I didn't realize that I would be waiting so long for decision either. I thought I would know something by mid-March. At this point, I'm waitlisted at my top two programs. My third option was an admit that I would have been thrilled with, but there is no funding, so I won't be able to attend. (It's hard to stomach because I visited the program and really liked it a lot). I have two other options that I haven't heard from but neither was high on my list and I'm not sure I would accept them if I had the option).
I'm slowly coming to the realization that I may not be attending anywhere this year. It's a heartbreaking prospect and I'm trying to stay optimistic. Three weeks seems so far away! Good karma to you.
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theres been some movement! seems an MA applicant was sent formal waitlist notification. hopefully they'll start putting out more notifications very soon
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just another encouraging tidbit: (learned in an economic history course...yes, im a nerd. but then, isnt that why we're all here?) after a recession, federal and state gov'ts tend to pump money into educational institutions pretty much first and foremost. this will not only increase funds across depts, and possibly lead to new tenure track positions, as well as give senior tenured professors the confidence to retire. so in about 4-5 years, the market for comm phds should be much, much rosier than it is right now.
Like admissions, we're all in this together. Why not pass along the info?
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this waiting is getting ridiculous.. i cant believe there are still programs who have yet to put out any kind of notification to their applicants! (even if the notification is just to say "hey you're in a big waiting pool whose applications are still active blah blah blah.) anyway, hope all umass applicants get some (hopefully good) news soon!
I haven't heard anything since emailing and getting the response from them on Thursday. There was no indication of when I might hear from them again. It said they "were waiting to hear back from other applicants before making a decision" on mine. you might email them to see what your status is. It doesn't seem like they tell you your waitlisted unless you ask. It sounds like they contacted acceptances and rejections but not waitlisters.
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this waiting is getting ridiculous.. i cant believe there are still programs who have yet to put out any kind of notification to their applicants! (even if the notification is just to say "hey you're in a big waiting pool whose applications are still active blah blah blah.) anyway, hope all umass applicants get some (hopefully good) news soon!
I haven't heard anything since emailing and getting the response from them on Thursday. There was no indication of when I might hear from them again. It said they "were waiting to hear back from other applicants before making a decision" on mine. you might email them to see what your status is. It doesn't seem like they tell you your waitlisted unless you ask. It sounds like they contacted acceptances and rejections but not waitlisters.
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thanks for the info, commtomme! always good to connect with fellow waitlisters. only we can understand each others anguish! out of curiosity, where does Pitt rank in your list of potential schools? (it's pretty near the top for me, since i'm hoping to study rhetoric pretty exclusively.) i also get the sense that it's a fairly elite program if you're into rhetoric. (always hard to compare comm programs against each other though.) good luck to us both!
Hey, Jcantrone, I actually received the same notification at the end of Feb. And I found an acceptance posted a couple of days ago on the results board. I'm thinking that poster got off the list, though I'm not sure about it. But I'm sure this waiting will continue by mid-April.
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One of my classmate was accepted by this program at 10th，Feb. He is also accepted by USC's program at the same day.
bump! i received notification that i am on the waitlist.. any fellow waitlisters (or anyone turning down their admission to the program?) this waiting is killing me!
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*bump*
yes it is stressful! And, it's one month and one day to D-day. (I'm not expecting to know anything until april 15th). All I can say sararahmae is I feel your pain!
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ugh, im still waiting on amherst too. so assuming that means im waitlisted also.
when you guys emailed the coordinator, did she give any mention of how long their waitlist is, or whether it's ranked?
welcome to the club!
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damn, those are some nice offers. im guess School D is out lol..
Mass Comm PhD offers
School A: Full tuition, health insurance, $20,000 stipend, TA/RA-ship, 4 years guaranteed
School B: Full tuition, health insurance, $22,000 stipend, TA/RA-ship, 3 years guaranteed
School C: Full tuition, health insurance, $21,500 stipend, TA-RA-ship, 3 years guaranteed
School D: Full tuition, $12000 stipend, TA/RA-ship, 1 year guaranteed
School E: "Offering funding," details TBA
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School A- teaching assistantship; full tuition waiver, health insurance, 15,600 stipend. 4 years.
School B- teaching assistantship; full tuition waiver, health insurance, 15,300 stipend. Not sure how many years.
pretty standard.
I see a lot of questions on the board about funding offers. It seems people are trying to figure out what is a good offer and how it compares to others they might be waiting for or others that people have been offered.
I figured it would be interesting to post funding info so everyone can compare and judge quality of packages. You dont have to post the schools name (but feel free if you want). Maybe just post "School A, 15k year stipend, Teaching Assistant, Full Medical, Tuition Waived, 3 years guaranteed" or something similar. Just a though...
Anyone want to give me feedback on my potentional Ph.D. schools?
in Communication and Public Relation Forum
Posted
UIUC and UW-Madison are definitely top-ranked Comm depts and super competitive. If your GRE score isn't up to snuff, definitely throw a few safety schools in there.