teaganc

This might be true for some programs, but what about the programs that say, "we will admit no more than 3 people (in an incoming class of 10) who have an MA"? UMass does this, UC Davis Cultural Studies does this, and not secretly either. And I heard about this "myth" from some of my MA professors, who suggested I not apply to programs like Penn State because I would be less competitive with an MA. Yes, it's counter-intuitive that someone with more training could be less competitive, but maybe programs don't want the headache of accepting transfer credits or having some students take their "core" courses on a MA/PhD schedule, but having to accommodate students who already have an MA being on a different schedule. Or maybe they don't want to give someone with an outside MA credit for it within their course, and don't think students who have already earned an MA will want to earn another one on the way to a PhD, if the program is set up that way. Or maybe, they just want to form their own scholars, and find people with an outside MA to be "tainted" by the other institution. I don't know. Things like age or having a partner seem more like myths, because they really wouldn't affect the program at all if they accepted you, but having an MA isn't like that.

You are already accepted, right? Have they told you about funding and just not sent the written offer, or are you still waiting to hear about funding? If it's the former, I would say that the graduate school, not the department, needs to send you a packet, and that might be taking longer. You can call the department, but I doubt that will get packets out sooner; however, you should email/call the department to get any clarification on the funding that you need. I wouldn't be too worried about accepting an offer if they promised you funding in email but you haven't received a hard copy yet--email is "in writing." My partner accepted an offer that was just via email, but we know that the school isn't going to back out of that, and he emailed the head of the department with more questions than a written letter would have even covered. If you don't know about funding, though, I would definitely encourage you to politely contact them and figure out when you will know. We've already passed the ides of March, and schools need to give us time to think things over before April!

It might depend on the airline, but I found flying into Newark, NJ rather than Philadelphia cheaper, and Newark is much closer to New Brunswick.

I know this isn't what you asked, but here it is anyway: The biggest thing I would have changed about my MA experience would be not having done it. Even though it was mostly funded, I still racked up debt in the remaining tuition and living expenses. Yes, I learned a lot about how to write a graduate paper, how to complete graduate courses, etc., and met some great professors who have been very helpful. But I could have gotten all of that after waiting another year and reapplying to PhD programs. Retake the GREs, if you need to. Definitely re-write your SOP and really, REALLY edit your writing sample. Spend more time on applications and target them towards programs you know you fit at. Ask programs you were rejected from this time what you could have done to improve your application. I know that, facing a bunch of PhD rejections and a MA acceptance, I thought waiting another year would be the worst thing ever, that reapplying after I had just finished this terrible process would be too painful. It wouldn't have been. You will need to get perfect grades throughout your MA, and your application will be held to such a higher standard, AND some PhD programs (Penn State, off the top of my head) will barely even look at your application if you already have a MA. Keep working at your job, spend as much time as you possibly can making your applications for next year better than this year, and reapply.

My partner was heavily pressured to accept one of his offers (the rest didn't even try to sell themselves, honestly). He was asked to respond by Feb. 15th at first, and even when they gave him an extension on that (because it was insane), they continued to send annoyed email asking when he would decide. This school does use a waitlist, and is one of the top schools in that field, so they do want to be competitive with other top students on the waitlist--so they want accepted students to answer ASAP. And as a waitlisted student, I really, REALLY wish that all of the accepted students in my program would immediately decline their offers. Like, yesterday. But everyone knows that's not realistic. The best you can do is immediately decline a program as soon as you are sure you don't want to go there. If it takes a visit to do that, then it takes a visit. I am a little surprised that anyone could have 4 offers and not have any preferences among them, but if that's the case, you just have to do your best to make a decision when you are ready.

I would be really hesitant to accept an offer if I thought there was ANY chance I would have to withdraw, but... if I was offered admission at one school, and then accepted off of the waitlist at my top choice after April 15th (this is a possible scenario for me... or at least, I hope it's possible that I'll be accepted off the waitlist), then would I keep the first offer out of a sense of obligation or not wanting to mess with people on the waitlist there? Probably not; I would overcome the guilt I would feel after withdrawing an acceptance for the chance to go to my top choice. Basically, the entire wait list process is terrible; in some ways, it's worse than a rejection. I know that if I end up eventually rejected from my waitlist school, it will feel 1000x worse to have had hope for a month that just maybe I could go there, looking at all of their programs that I love and professors I want to work with and whatnot, only to have that taken away? It would be better to be able to give up earlier, without the cruel period of deluding myself that I could actually go there and be so happy.

As a fellow waitlister, I agree that the entire system is completely frustrating. I can't be excited about an offer of admission or make plans to move to a new city, but I also can't start mourning a rejection and move on. I hate limbo. I think that schools should agree to notify everyone by March 1, and agree not to ask for a final answer until April 15. This would give admitted students a month and a half to decide on ALL of their potential offers, visit, and turn down anyone they wouldn't be interested in. Of course, this wouldn't help someone who was waitlisted in one program and accepted to another, but maybe people with multiple offers + waitlist would decline all but one + waitlist, which would certainly help.

What do you mean, how is that "timeline handled"? If a school lets you in off of the waitlist before April 15, you still have until April 15th to say yes if you are unsure. And if you've already said yes to someone and then after April 15th a school you would like better accepts you off of the waitlist... well, it is frowned upon to withdraw an acceptance, but people do it. I mean, this is the next 5 or so years of your life (for PhD students), and the repercussions (debt, prestige, whatever) reach a lot further than that, so do what you need to do. If you pull out of an accepted offer after April 15th, I'm sure they will still have a waitlist of people to fill your spot who will be thrilled that you did so. Obviously it's better for waitlisted students and the school to give them an answer ASAP, though.

I really hope this was, indeed, a Scooby-Doo reference.

It really depends on the school. If they've notified a bunch of accepted students and still haven't told you anything, things are not looking good for your app. But if they haven't told anyone anything, then delayed notification isn't a good or bad sign--it's just frustrating!

If you are who I think you are, and have a different username than on that site, I think we might. But in all seriousness, I am very familiar with Pittsburgh, and yes, it is a somewhat high crime area. I mean, it's not the worst place in the world to live, but compared to other US cities of its size, Pittsburgh is somewhat dangerous and reasonably dirty (it's a steel city, what do you expect?). It's not bad enough to scare me off, but I'm from a high crime city myself, so I don't scare easily.

Yes, Tropes. Lots and LOTS of crime. Also, terrible weather. Basically a miserable place to be. You should probably just turn down that offer now.

I am on their waitlist, though I don't have any more information than that. I am crossing my fingers that someone will turn them down and I will get a funded spot, but... I mean, I wouldn't turn down a funded spot at CMU, why would anyone else?

I'm still waiting to hear from five schools, including Carnegie Mellon. I really, really hope that this is the week that they notify, because I want to start planning my life for the next year! And the LCS program is probably my favorite, of all the schools to which I applied.

I'm usually more of an English/Cultural Studies person, but I did apply to one program within a Comm department (Media Studies at Rutgers) and was just accepted. Has anyone else heard from them, or can tell me anything you've heard about the program?