kitt kat

Yeah, I've looked at both UCLA and Columbia. I'd like to leave California (maybe?) and I am hesitant to think I'd get into Columbia.

In regards to keeping info in check, maybe a Google Spreadsheet will eventually come in handy to list country applied, program of study, stats, date heard back, etc. Google docs are easily editable and a permalink in the first post of the thread will make it easy for future applicants to find this info. I'm looking to apply for an mtvU grant, since my MA work largely involves popular music. I'm a bit nervous since the mvtU awards seem to go to very political/non-Western country type of projects, but that could just be the proposal qualities...? Has anyone here applied to the mtvU awards before?

Thanks, that'll be nice to hear. My thesis adviser is a professor/on the admissions board of the musicology program at my current university, so I'm thinking of asking him what the general admit stats are like...

I'm currently a graduate student working on an MA in "Arts Journalism" with a focus on music criticism. It's my intention to apply to a PhD program in historical musicology sometime within the next one to three years (depending on how my freelancing ramps up after I graduate in May 2013). I have a few schools I'd be interested in checking out further, including my current academic institution, but I'm coming up short in schools that would be the best for me given my area of concentration. My MA thesis is looking to be a 10,000 - 20,000 word piece on Southern California punk/hardcore in the 1980s — something I'd like to possible continue in a doctoral program. In any case, I'm academically interested in anything that happened post 1960s in popular music, with an especially strong dedication to American punk movements. I understand that pop music, especially my particular segment of pop music history, isn't something that's entirely broken out in academia. There's a few people here and there that teach or write on the subject (lots in the UK, it seems) but not a whole lot. I'd like to stay in the US just given my interests. Wondering if anyone can point me to programs or professors exploring this or similar subjects. One of my current professors is one of the few I know who dabbles in it, but that's about it.

I will earn my MA in May 2013 (assuming I finish my thesis) and it's always been my intention to go onto a doctorate program. I'm toying with the idea of applying for the Fall 2013 admissions cycle, but I haven't decided 100%. I was an arts practice-based BFA as an UG and was pretty disillusioned with the program; I didn't perform too well in my major coursework, but did fine in classes that reflect my current area of study. Was able to prove myself with a decent portfolio and a convincing SOP to get into my current MA program. My graduate GPA is just fine and will likely rise in this next year. Just wondering the weight doctorate programs will place on my MA career given the shaky stats from my UG career that aren't too indicative of my ability to perform at an advanced academic level. I'm currently studying arts journalism with an emphasis on music criticism and am looking to go into a musicology program. I'll finish my MA with something of a 10,000 - 20,000 thesis on a topic directly related to what I'd want to study in a PhD program, so I assume that'll help my chances? Will being published (as a journalist) with articles related to my intended area of concentration also be more beneficial to showing my academic promise? I should probably also retake the GRE, but not sure what scores I should shoot for in verbal.

Where did they notify you? On the application site or via some email message? I went to USC for undergrad, but I know that's different, so not expecting to hear the same way. I just applied last week (the program I applied to has a later deadline than the December 1st one) but I'm curious to how I'll be told. Also, I can answer any general USC questions to those interested!

I graduated in May of 2010 with a BFA degree (in writing) from a top 25 school. I openly admit to everyone that I loved my college -- so much so that I am actually in the process of applying to an MA program at the same school as we speak. (Odd application date, I know; it's due on Saturday.) However, I hated my undergraduate program. So. Much. For those not arts-savvy, a BFA differs from a BA in that over 75% of your college coursework is practice-intensive. I had no tests to study for, no papers to impress teachers with, no pop quizzes, no meaningless reading assignments. My "homework" was to go home, sit in front of a computer for several hours and write whatever the hell I wanted. Sounds great, right? Hah! Wrong. When your "academic" work is based on a creative endeavor and not actual academics, the grading is shady; one semester, you'll be placed with a teacher who loves your style, your voice and your ideas -- only to be stuck with a professor who loathes everything about you the next. I'm not trying to make excuses for myself here and I am hoping that someone from a similar background can attest to these discrepancies between traditional degrees and arts-based programs. When traditional classes were concerned, I excelled, naturally. A's and the occasional B+ across the board, professors who adored me, etc. I couldn't switch majors because my parents wouldn't allow it. So, I picked up a minor and now I am left with a degree that, I think, ruined my academic career forever. I'm applying to graduate school in hopes of redeeming myself and having that bookish experience I missed out on with the intention of later picking up a PhD in Musicology -- hopefully from UCLA, since I don't want to leave Los Angeles just yet. The MA program is a journalism program where your intended focus is self-directed; my journalistic interests generally revolve around local music "scenes" and cultural communities born from these local arts-centric niches, so that aspect of the program suits me quite well, I think. One of the main professors in the program is an old teacher of mine who has said numerous times that he will do everything he can to put me in the program, since he thinks I would excel in it. The issue is this: Because of my crappy arts degree, my grades in my major coursework are all over the place; sometimes As, sometimes Cs. It's dismal and disappointing. Similarly, I took the GRE without studying -- because (stupidly) I thought it would be a breeze given my 2200 SAT score. Hah! Was I wrong. My verbal score is average for the program, but my Quant score is laughable. Considering the fact that I only took three years of math in high school and was never required to take any math-related courses in college because of the BFA, I consider it understandable. But -- will admissions laugh at me for a low math score? Especially admissions for a JOURNALISM program that seeks to make student better WRITERS and not ENGINEERS? I've heard that the math score is just as important in humanities/arts programs; someone prove me wrong! (It's a 490. And it's embarrassing.) My GRE writing is "meh," but the applications requires a load of published clips -- and my old professor is on the admissions committee and he knows my writing quite well, so I am not worried about looking like a swine who can't piece a sentence together because of a 4.5. I should also add that I've been working professionally in journalism since graduation, which is a plus. So -- does anyone think I'm a lunatic? Or do I have a chance?