fortehlulz

It seems too early in that case to expect a decision. I still haven't heard from schools which had late November/early December deadlines. As they say, the length of time varies greatly. If you find out that other people are hearing from them, maybe wait a week after that then contact them.

Definitely wait. They may not even have made final decisions yet, especially if you have not seen anything to indicate that decisions have gone out for other people. Do they give a date by which decisions are supposed to go out? If so, I would wait until after that day to contact them unless you have an actual urgent need to know (such as an approaching deadline for another program).

I agree. I voted for publications only because it was the closest option to "research experience," but I do not think you necessarily have to be published to demonstrate this experience, especially in some fields where publishing is near impossible for undergraduates and even masters students.

The proper noun phonetic-type translations are the worst! I remember coming across the Chinese version of Dostoevsky's name in a short story and having a complete brain freeze. And they are not always consistent, either, because sometimes they are translations based on meanings, as I believe Expressionism becomes something along the lines of 表现主义 (?). It seems like a good background in art history helps with these translations, though. At least there probably won't be anything about earthworms (happened to a friend of mine on a general language test).

For Chinese, were you tested on both modern and classical? What was the test like? I am curious because I am planning to do Chinese art and cinema. I have background in both simplified and traditional characters, but I am afraid that since I only spent a summer abroad (though in a very intensive program) and my classes at my home school were not as rigorous as I would have hoped, I may be a bit behind when it comes time for testing. Did you continue to take language classes in graduate school? I do have reading knowledge of a Romance language, at least. They are much easier for me.

It seems to me that most programs want you to have a "reading knowledge" of one or two foreign languages. If you are studying a particular type of art, such as Chinese, then they would probably expect you to be reasonably fluent in that language. Basically, you should be able to conduct research in the foreign language. I am not sure if they would also expect you to be able to write and present in that language, though I am sure that level of ability would be a boon.

Yes, in mid-February my POI contacted me to ask for a second writing sample and it seemed like an informal interview with time to ask questions, etc. I was told that I had made it to the final cut (I don't know how many also made it; could be quite a few. I do not think this necessarily means I made it to even wait-list status), but that they would not be meeting again for final decisions until a couple weeks later. I like to think that my POI would let me know either way since we seem to have a good rapport, but as the days wear on I am going crazy debating whether I should send an email to check. I know the website says that decisions go out by March 15, so I don't want to pester them before then. Also, the lack of acceptances on the board so far is comforting (though with such a small program it could just be that no one who got in uses the board) and makes me hesitant to seem desperate to the school just yet.

Has anyone heard from Stanford? I was told by my POI that they would be making final decisions at the beginning of March, but I haven't heard anything since mid-February and I am starting to get nervous. I have seen a couple of rejections on the board, but no acceptances.

Before they implemented the stats viewer, I can see how this strategy might have been helpful. However, now anyone who wants to submit their stats can do so when they submit and it shows up without the need for clutter on the results board which can be confusing and look like multiple acceptances, rejections, etc. Stats themselves are not very helpful, anyway, as they may vary widely within programs and are not nearly as important as SoPs and LoRs in many respects. Very little in the admissions process is easily quantifiable, hence the forums for discussion. Just ask in the appropriate thread (or make one) and if the admitted person is interested they might be able to give you some useful advice. If they are not interested, then they would probably not answer your questions on the results board, either.

The results board is not the place to be asking questions, especially for stats. If the person wanted to provide their stats, then they had the option when they submitted. Questions only clutter up the results listings and there is no efficient way to ask or answer them on the board. Just ask your questions in the forum. That's what it is here for.

Another thing to consider is that the two universities are very close together and seem to collaborate quite frequently. I went to high school in the area, and my sister went to UNC as an undergrad. I was always under the impression that there are pretty strong ties between Duke and UNC, so choose the one you think is a better fit and you will probably still be able to do some networking at the other.

Same. Not too surprised since I never really contacted any POIs. They must be pretty efficient at WashU, though. They were the latest deadline for me by a month, yet still the first response. I wish I could make it to SCMS! Sadly, finishing my thesis takes precedence over both spring break fun and other academic interests.

A Question about Yale: I applied to the joint program, and my understanding is that you must be accepted to both the other department and the film program. The other department has already sent out notifications of rejections and acceptances. Do they still take the time to review your application in film if the other department is not interested, or do they send out a rejection at that point? If I haven't heard anything, could that mean I am still in the running? There seems to be a later wave of notifications for the joint film phds on the results board from previous years. Like a few of you, I am also waiting on NYU.