curiousgeorge

Didn't realize there would be a choice of 24 hour places. Yeah, basically just wanted to know that I can get a coffee and some cigarettes (and even just see other humans) when I'm up in the middle of the night. Amazing that bars close later in bloomington than they do in Philadelphia, too. Thanks for the reply.

In addition to everything that others have asked (and answered-- thanks!), is there anything open 24 hours in Bloomington? Can you get there from campus without driving? I don't really care how seedy/unappealing it is, I'm just comforted by the idea of somewhere to go when nothing else is open.

Also, are there any Wisconsin Media & Cultural Studies admits lurking anywhere? I'd be very interested to know what you study, who you want to do it with, your background...all of that. I really enjoyed being in Madison when I went to do some research at the historical society there earlier this year, so I was pretty bummed to get the letter today (and from Lea Jacobs? I was hoping to at least get rejected by Michele Hilmes...or someone in the department I applied to!). I keep telling myself that I'll end up there someday. Yeah right. If only they knew how disturbingly handsome I am...

I think there might have been some sort of problem with the letters that were being sent out-- I'm just taking that from a lone post on gradcafe, though. I called the other day and asked what was going on because my status on the applyyourself page had listed that weird "we've made a decision but can't tell you here-- the letter is on the way" message for over a week and a half. The person I talked to didn't mention anything about a problem, but was kind enough to tell me my decision (I didn't even ask). So, maybe you can figure out some excuse to call and they'll tell you? Edit: maybe you haven't seen anything yet because they do the M.A. review second? I was applying for Ph.D. Forgot to mention that I guess.

I'm in for Communication-- I'm pretty far towards the humanities pole of the comm spectrum, though. Half of my undergrad major was in lit, too. I'm sort of stuck: really like the program and look forward to studying with a few people there (one of whom is technically in your department I think-- michael davidson?), but I have absolutely zero desire to live or even set foot in san diego. They give decent money apparently (I was only given an unofficial estimate of what they usually give for the first year), but san diego is so fucking expensive. Plus, I've heard that the area around ucsd especially sucks-- like going to school in Grosse Point, MI or Scarsdale, NY (plus a beach). Are you dealing with any kind of similar predicament? Aghh!! Regardless, congrats!

Off the top of my head: Syracuse's English program advertises a strength in film studies, and Pittsburgh has a few film/media scholars in their English dept too. Some media/film people I know applied to the Cultural Studies program through Pitt's Eng department, and I applied to Syracuse because I'm interested in working with Steven Cohan. I don't think either of these programs are particularly well ranked, but they aren't jokes either. Anyway, thought I'd post this just in case you're still lurking...good luck with the whole process.

Damn, it really seems like USC tries to put some kind of indelible stamp on the students that go through their program. I've heard that anywhere from 1/2 to 2/3 of their Ph.D offers go to candidates from their M.A. class...so if they redirect you (and others?) to their M.A. first then they must really want to grow the future Ph.D's from day one. Sorta seems a little out of step with other programs, but anyway this is all just a roundabout way of saying that I would definitely not just view the offer as rejection lite, Wazi! You prob won't be worrying about this either way, but it's gotta make you feel good at least. And yeah, it's seriously lame that we have to wait around biting our nails for an extra month while schools sit on decisions that are already made. I just don't understand-- how hard can it be to have some freshman office worker to spend an afternoon sealing rejection letters in envelopes once the acceptances/interview invites go out? The naive and forgiving side of me assumes there must be some good reason...

Hey all, Figured I should overcome my fear of posting this year and just let it rip. Nice to see a thread like this finally. It seems like there's a lot of overlap between my schools and other people's, too. I'm interested in studying non-commercial/instructional/educational media, masculinity, and youth-- mostly focused in the 20 or so years after the end of WWII (or that's what I put on my SoP at least). Oh and uhh, strictly in America for the moment. My academic interests began in film theory, though, so I'm curious to know what other people are pursuing there as well. My list (heavy on the critical/cultural side as well): USC- Critical Studies (Cinema-Television, prob reject as I hear they're normally an early notifier) Wisconsin- Media and Cultural Studies Minnesota- American Studies (prob reject-- they've already taken 4 people I think) UCSD- Communication (in unofficially, no word on funding) UCSB- Film & Media Studies (out) Syracuse- English (for steven cohan, basically, who probably has every non-lit person there trying to get his attention) Indiana- Communication & Culture/American Studies (in with a decent package) NYU- Media, Culture, Comm (I'm an internal and therefore will most likely not get in...no, of course it won't be my sub par app that's to blame... :wink: ) Texas- RTF (will probably be made or broken depending on who is on the committee this year). A couple of things I'm curious about at the moment: 1. Does anyone have any conception of the distribution of admits within Wisconsin's comm arts dept? In other words, do they take 4 film, 4 rhetoric, 4 m&cs, 4 comm sci (I chose 4 arbitrarily) or is it unevenly distributed? Are the applications to each dept about even in number? 2. Does anyone have any idea about placement records for any of the schools we're considering (a little "cart before the horse," i know)? I know websites have this kind of info, but they only give you a sense of the successes, not the failures. Best of luck to everyone! I'll be sure to post new and useful info if and when I get it.

Gonna recommend looking for places in prospect heights to anyone thinking about attending NYU. I guess the boundaries of the neighborhood are somewhat hazy, so what I mean is the area near the A/C line (clinton-washington stop, for example). The neighborhood is still relatively cheap, getting nicer by the minute, and will put you at W. 4th in about 20 minutes on the C. If I get into NYU for Ph.D, PH is where I'm looking first. Just sayin... Oh and btw, it's true that Harlem is geographically pretty far from NYU but (again) if you can get a place near the A/C/B/D up there then the commute is really not much of a hassle. Yes, you might get a few of the befuddled "...and you live all the way up there?" comments when you meet people during orientation, but you'll know you're set.

The other people who have posted positive comments about Austin here are not wrong, but I personally just found the city alienating, corny, and a pain in the ass most of the time. Weather, an overabundance of hippies, freegans, and others who imagine themselves to be totally "radical" (and hey, im about as far left as possible without being Abbie Hoffman), weirdo post-industrial urban planning, general desolation and ugliness (outside of UT)-- all the usual suspects. And fine, it really is probably better than living in Wasilla, AK (no disrespect to those folks, though). And and and, I'll probably be begging Austin to take me back when I'm still teaching 6 courses a semester at Hamburger Community College when I'm 35. Still, don't let the dreamers fool you: I predict civil war in Austin in the next 15 years. Just kidding.