curiousgeorge

Don't go to NYU or any private university for an MA unless you don't have to pay (and you probably will). No matter how much you love critical theory (and I take it you mean this broadly, i.e. just not Frankfurt School shit?), do not go for any of the sexy MA programs that cost a billion dollars like MAPH at Chicago. The publics like those already mentioned on here will prepare you just as well (if not better) for a Ph.D program. If that's not your objective, there's little reason to do an MA in any humanities field given the time and money you'll invest that could be spent in other ways. I didn't see Indiana's Culture & Communication Department mentioned yet -- they have excellent film/media faculty and they fund their M.A. students. You have to teach public speaking (and no, nobody who is accepted has a background in public speaking), but at least you don't have to pay. University of Oregon has a film studies track in their English Department that will get you an M.A. Finally, Georgia State has a Moving Image Studies M.A. track in the Communication Department with some very good faculty (if you like cognitive stuff or affect, Greg Smith is there). I don't know about funding, but it will surely be cheaper than going to NYU/Columbia/Chicago. You also might look into the Visual Studies programs at UC-Irvine and Rochester. They are both MA/Ph.D programs, though-- no terminal MA. The Rhetoric (Film Track) program at Berkeley has already been mentioned, and you'll obviously get all the critical theory you want there. Someone mentioned Duke -- the department which has film faculty is Literature. They have a bunch of film superstars (Jane Gaines!), and you can wipe the drool from Jameson's mouth for your critical theory fix. And there's always Modern Culture & Media at Brown. Just don't put all your eggs in those baskets...and again, those are all Ph.D programs with no terminal M.A (you're more than welcome to apply to them right out of college, though). Not sure if that's helpful at all. Maybe you didn't intend for your original post to be read this way, but it sounds like you're saying that you think you should look into programs that don't have "film" or "cinema" in the title because your B.A. isn't in film studies...even though that's where your interests lie for graduate school. Apply to programs that can support what you want to study; don't worry about the title. They won't care that your degree is in Biology or Business Administration if you can demonstrate in your SoP that you have a good reason to be going to graduate school for Film Studies. PM me if you want a longer rant about the public/private/funding/grad school in the humanities issue. There is also great advice regarding the last issue elsewhere on these forums, as you are probably aware. Read (Harvard Literature/American Civilization Ph.D) William Pannapacker's article "Grad School in the Humanities: Just Don't Go." Oh, and disregard nearly all of this post if you are independently wealthy and don't have to worry about money. Good luck!

Read Gravity's Rainbow?

So California is bankrupt. Bummer, dude. Are we going to have any funding by next year?

Stiles-- this is all great. Thanks so much!

Honestly, searching for "media" or "film" (or some combination of the two) in the results section of this site will probably yield a pretty accurate picture of where people really apply. I'll go out on a limb and say that if nobody on here has applied to it in the past 3 years then you probably don't want to go to it (unless it's a brand new program). And yes, I'm assuming that for every worthwhile program there is at least one applicant who is dorky enough to post his/her results on an online forum...

If you want to hear about conferences and special CFPs from journals, I think the two best resources are: UPenn English CFP site: http://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/ It's only "English" because it's run out of the English Dept. H-Net listservs-- there are about 5 million of them, and lots and lots of people submit CFPs through them. Plus, Peffy-- lots of people present at conferences if they aren't at the moment affiliated with an academic institution. Don't worry about that at all, seriously.

Apply more widely. This field is competitive, but it's not like we're working with the odds of winning a nobel prize. With those numbers I feel like you HAVE to eventually get in somewhere attractive with money. Seriously-- UCSD and Indiana (my meaningful acceptances) aren't exactly Duke and Harvard, but they're competitive programs; I have a low three gpa from a top 30 (and that's on a good day) SLAC, mediocre GRE scores only slightly higher than your first try, no publications (couple of conference papers though) and I've never done anything but go to school and fuck around with school in my spare time. Your new GRE alone would land you an assload of $$ when you're accepted for Ph.D. So-- if I can get in at Second Best University, you can DEFINITELY get in at Tell Your Parents University! In terms of real advice, why don't you have more people look at your SoP. Or did you already do that? It honestly might have just been the fac matches and some lack of clarity in your research goals that kept you back. A conference paper this year prob wouldn't hurt-- and talk it up in the new SoP. I think they like to have titles and topics to remember you by. Plus, network! Who are your rec writers, and who do they know? Milk that shit! Oh, and just to clarify-- from all that I've ever heard, "research goals" just means clearly stating the problems/questions you're interested in; you prob shouldn't feel the need to have a sentence in your SoP that says "I know that I definitely want to write my dissertation on representations of mailboxes in films made by colorblind fans of the show "Twilight" and that is what i'm going to do, thanks bye." Ugh, there's a reason why I'm not a guidance counselor. Seriously don't stress. I have a funny feeling that you're going to be FINE if you apply again. And if you choose not to, well, then you'd be following everyone's advice about humanities grad school anyway.

What's the best bar in the Hillcrest/North Park area? I have no specific criteria; just tell me where you like(d) to go. Best coffee shop to sit around in for a while? Will I kill myself riding a bike down University Ave. to get to the UCSD Medical Center shuttle? Can one realistically expect to see any pedestrian traffic in either neighborhood? Where in Balboa Park can one just kinda camp out and read/nap for a while on a nice day? Frisbee? Any free tennis courts? How much police activity in the area? How sensitive are the residents (and how old)? Likely that I'd be noticed/chastised for taking a piss on the street at 3 AM? Will the neighbors call the cops if friends and I are loud while walking down the street at this hour? It may look like I'm straining to seem "crazy," but answers to these questions will honestly help me determine if it's worth shelling out the extra money to live there.

Hyde Park is really nice (the high 30s and 40s from Guadalupe to Red River). It's on the shuttle route (as a previous poster mentioned), within easy biking distance of UT, and is even walkable (rare!) if you want a stroll on a nice day. There is a nice little strip of stuff on 43 st as well as up Duval that is probably all that most of the posters here seem to be looking for-- couple of places to eat, a great (though busy) coffee shop, laundry, supermarket, gas station, and...tennis/basketball courts if you aren't into the indoor gym thing. Rent is pretty affordable if you're in one of the motel-style complexes, but I think you can even get a little cottage house without going broke. (I'm basically writing this because living in a neighborhood like HP sounds surprisingly great right now...come on, Hillcrest) That said, West Campus really ain't that bad as far as noise and parties. You have to deliberately walk over to the frat section to have much contact with that stuff, and while the landlords may be a little less scrupulous because they're used to dealing with stoners and "musicians," there wasn't one night while I lived there when I found myself cursing the neighbors because I couldn't sleep or something.

I like, uhh, did some reading and stuff this semester? Oh and I watched TV (on the internet!) and read newspapers and shit cuz that's what we do in media studies school yup yup yup!

I knew this thread was going to be good...

If you don't mind living in a sleepier area that is in close proximity to the MOVE house, West Philly is quite affordable, provides easy access to Penn, and is honestly pretty nice (just don't act like an idiot, same as any city really). Philly in general isn't particularly expensive for a northeastern city, and you certainly won't need a car...

Ooh and let's take it a step further: let's say (in a really more than perfect world) you got offered a TT position at both a kind of second rate dept in a place you love and a top dept in a place you're a little apprehensive about. All things considered, the offers are the same except for location. For instance, for me it could be Drexel v. Boulder. Which would you take?????? My goodness, I feel so naughty even thinking about this!!!!!

See I was hoping that San Diego would be perfect in that way. You get to wear scarves, jackets, sweaters, sweater vests (!), whatever if you want, but you also don't really absolutely have to. Very flexible climate fashion-wise. No? One of my friends who grew up around there even suggested that you can just drive 15 minutes inland if you don't agree with the temperature in SD proper on any given day. But, when it comes down to it I'd much rather be living in other places. If I had to pick one as a grad student, I guess it would be the philly area-- either around penn or slightly west, slightly southeast of temple, or the suburbs. I honestly cannot imagine a better place to go to grad school-- or any school (gentrification, what?).

That shuttle really works? The 9:30 cutoff scares me...but then again, why would I have to go to campus at 9:30 pm? I'm sure I'll dig myself into some hole that makes it necessary. I guess I ask because when I visited all the students mentioned how the grad housing shuttles are sometimes so full that you have to wait for the next one. Any recs for a real estate agency to use? Craigslist can be unreliable, and when I lived in Austin I actually found much more cheap stuff through a broker.