sam83

I have noticed that many on this forum are PhD applicants. I plan on getting my PhD, but am required to go through the master's program first; the school does not directly admit students in the PhD program without a master's. Do many of you already have a master's degree, and if so were you able to get funding if you had to start at the master's level? Even though I indicated on my applications that I intend to pursue a PhD, I am wondering if the master's status will affect funding. I am worried that what little funding schools do have this year will go to PhD admits versus students admitted to a master's (even though they intend to complete a PhD).

Has anyone accepted to ANY school heard about funding yet? I just received an email from a friend already enrolled in my first choice (UW-Madison), and she said that the funding situation this year is "dismal." Supposedly, the school has had to cut several fellowships normally offered each year to incoming students. What is everyone's take on funding this year? Since the humanities notoriously lack resources for outside funding, how is everyone planning on paying for school this year if they don't receive funding?

I would not worry too much at this at this point. After all, it is still only February. I received an acceptance to the University of Wisconsin-Madison on January 21st (the letter was sent out the first day of Spring classes), but I am betting that the reason for the early notification is because I had already met many of the faculty and spoke to them about my work. I have two other friends at my current undergraduate institution who have applied to various musicology programs and still have yet to hear from most. One, I believe, was accepted to UNC-Chapel Hill pending an upcoming interview, and the other was invited to interview at Florida State (no acceptance yet). The person who was accepted to UNC also applied to about 8-10 programs, but as of today, has only heard from UNC. I have been freaking out too as a result of having to wait for funding; I have told myself that it is not realistic to attend if I have to take out loans. While I have been accepted, nothing is at all finalized. With the current state of the economy (and how it's affecting universities across the country), I would not be at all surprised if the process this year is much slower...schools are still figuring out budgets, and this heavily impacts their timetable and number of acceptances they will offer.

Has anyone applied/ been accepted to University of Wisconsin-Madison? I applied to the musicology masters and was accepted back in January. My acceptance letter stated that the department has not done funding offers yet and I would be hearing more about this within the next two months. Just wondering if anyone else has been accepted to UW or heard anything else about funding from them.