milara

Hello, all! Wow, I thought I was crazy with applications to nine schools, but fanon has me beat. *waves* I bow to your persistence. I just started a general thread about coping mechanisms here: I have a B.Sc. in physics from a top ten university, and a masters of journalism from a respectable but not nearly so venerable school. My undergrad GPA is a slightly high B, my grad GPA was an A-. One of my GRE scores was in the 98th percentile and the other two were in the 87th. But I have no published research papers to my name, and my background and interests are kind of scattered. My interests are in developing experimental online technologies for enabling or encouraging evidence-based discourse, and/or empowering patients to understand and gain access to medical literature. I'm hoping to learn to do more computer programming than I already can as part of my elective coursework, so that I don't have to rely entirely on partnerships to do my research. I applied to: U Washington (iSchool) - Rejected already. It was the first application I wrote, though, and it wasn't that great. It's really been a learning process. Cornell (Communication) U Illinois UC (iSchool) Northwestern Tech & Social Behavior (Comp Sci + Comm et. al.) Syracuse (iSchool) UMich-Ann Arbor (iSchool) Michigan State (Media and Information Studies) Purdue (Communication) UW-Madison (Journalism & Mass Comm)

What are you doing to keep yourself from freaking out while you wait to hear from programs? One thing I did is I made a calendar for myself that lists the earliest reported interview date for each of my programs in past years, as well as the earliest and latest reported acceptances. That way, I can tell if it's too early to expect to be contacted with an acceptance or interview request. I can also use this to get a sense of when to start bracing myself for rejection. If I pass the point at which most acceptances would normally be sent out, then I'd rather brace myself for a wait list or outright rejection and then be surprised with an unexpected late acceptance. That of course still means that I'm going to be slightly crazy during the month of February... between February 1 and March 12, there isn't a single day that I coudn't potentially get an acceptance from at least four of the eight programs to which I applied. (Well, nine, but one already rejected me; they must have really hated me). There are a few schools that might interview or even accept students before or after that window, but not many. I also agree with those of you who say that keeping busy is essential. I'm thinking of asking my friends for recommendations of really engrossing books or TV series I've never read/seen. Or I might have a Keep Me Sane Campaign, in which I ask local friends to schedule activities with me that will keep me distracted when I'm not at work. I'd consider scheduling a visit to some of my friends or family, but for me visiting friends and family often comes with a lot of introspection as we catch up on life, the universe, and everything. So maybe more busy-fun, like a sci-fi convention, where there's always ten bazillion things to do at once. One other thing I might do is brainstorm some Plan B options; some of the topics on this forum actually already helped with that. Knowing that I won't be stuck at my job, that there are other options to explore, and that this isn't the end if I don't get in -- that I could try again, or do things that are more in line with what I want to do and will help my next application attempt -- actually makes a huge difference. --below here, babbling about my personal experiences with waiting and rejection-- It also helps that I've been through this or similar processes many times. I applied to two masters programs straight out of undergrad, and got rejected by one and waitlisted by the other. Then, after an awesome internship, I was unemployed, temporarily employed, or extremely dissatisfied with my employment for five years, which meant I was CONSTANTLY job searching. Finally, fed up, I applied to three different masters programs and got accepted to two. There I discovered that I want to do research after all (which is not why I went). Coming out of my master's, I applied very sloppily to a few doctoral programs, and was not surprised when I was rejected. But by then I was at a job that was mostly satisfying. It's still the best job I've ever had, but it's changed in some ways I didn't want. More importantly, 2.5 years doing work that is almost exactly what I used to want to do, for a very satisfactory salary, has not changed the fact that I really want to do research. Hence the applications for Fall 2012. Anyway, I know my story can't directly help others. But maybe it shows that experience will make the waiting easier. And maybe it will show that pessimistic perseverance is a valid coping mechanism. Sure, when I think about the possibility that they might all reject me, I feel depressed. In some ways, I fear my reaction more than the actual rejection, if that makes any sense. I fear feeling worthless. But facing that fear, accepting it, and planning primarily for failure helps me to see that the world will not end if I fail. It makes it bearable. The antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds help too, but those are for conditions that existed before these grad school apps! Peace, tranquility, and happy distraction to you all!

especially: wow, that sounds unpleasant! The question is, what's in the jars? I've had more general nightmares than in years, but also a lot more of those school-related nightmares -- you know, the ones where you find out that you're enrolled in a class you haven't been attending all semester. Or the new one, where I'm trying to attend school full-time and I'm still working at my day job, and I can't be both a good student and a good employee because I can only be in one place at once.

So, this process of applying to graduate school is awfully stressful. What symptoms of stress have you been experiencing? Tell us about it in this topic poll, or in the comments if you're having stress symptoms that weren't listed there. Weee!

So one of my institutions offers certified eTranscripts. And the service that handles the eTranscripts offers document tracking. I receive a notification every time the transcript is opened, closed, or printed. I can even see the transcript's movements on a nifty little map, which so far doesn't seem terribly useful, since it basically went from the place of creation to the place I'm applying to. Seeing the open and close and print events, I began to wonder what these events mean. And then I wondered if anyone else has wondered the same thing. So I came here to see. I'm not convinced that much information can be gathered from this data, other than the fact that it was received. It probably depends entirely on how that school handles applications. For example, do they print it out and place it in a paper file, and distribute it to admissions committees by photocopying it? Do the admissions committees look at them as they come in, or do they languish in a file until after the submission deadline? The one thing I can think of that might be meaningful is if a transcript that you sent to, say, New Jersey, is opened in, for example, Florida. I can't imagine a generic admissions drone looking at transcripts while traveling/on vacation. Professors, however, work in many different settings and on many varied schedules. They are the only ones I can think of who would have a reason to open a transcript somewhere other than the city of the university. Anyway, aside from those of you who want to tell me I'm thinking about it too much (I already know that! , anyone else ever wonder what we can gather from this sort of tracking?

Oh, regarding what profs will say when you approach them for recommendations... I had two obvious choices for recommenders, but I wasn't really sure about the third. I approached someone who had given me an A- in his class, and made it clear that I needed really good recommendations. He responded honestly that he could give me a positive rec, but not a glowing fantastic one, and that if that's what I really need, that I should look elsewhere -- especially since he was feeling strapped for time. Personally, I really appreciated his honesty. Although with the weird pussy footing people do around this sort of thing, I wasn't sure if this translated into exactly what he said, or if it translates into him having neutral or negative feelings about me. I prefer to think that he meant what he said.

Oh, these aren't undergrad letters of rec. I'm applying to doctoral programs from a masters program, but for a variety of reasons, I don't expect to get in this year whereas I do expect to get in next year. But yeah. The fact that he's an ethics prof made me chuckle, but it's also making me think twice about what to do/say.

The thing for me is that I'm almost certainly going to be applying again next year. Anyone think that gifts as opposed to thank you notes would be out of line, considering that? Also, one of my recommenders is an ethics professor. Does that make it likely, in your opinion, that a gift would be inappropriate for him at least?

I have a particularly intense workload this week, and it's definitely turning into a train wreck. Even when I'm not thinking about my apps, I seem to just be that much more of a basketcase right now. I have trouble focusing on my work, largely because I feel overwhelmed with anxiety about the future. I hate that I'm done with classes April 9, with my Major Project due June 30... but I have no idea what I'm doing or even where I'll be living after this. Could be I'll be off to grad school in NYC or Boston. Could be I'll get a job or full time contract or paid internship somewhere (I'd guess DC, San Francisco, or the UK). Could be that I'll be stuck living with my parents, job searching while doing freelance work, trying to develop business concepts, and trying to beef up my applications for the next admissions cycle. I hate the uncertainty. No idea where I'll be living, what I'll be doing, what my financial situation will be like, how secure I'll be... no idea. I can't think about that, though. Have to work, and have to remember that I probably won't get into any of these programs anyway, which means it's really the job/internship apps I'm waiting on. --- Waiting: 2 Accepted: 0 Waitlist: 0 Rejected: 1

Any of you who got into top programs with funding feel willing to disclose some of the simpler bits of your application details? I bet it would be helpful. For instance... 1. the field of your previous degrees 2. how well-known your most recent school is/was 3. your GPA 4. your GRE 5. number of published papers/conference presentations etc. 6. amount of relevant work experience 7. any particular strengths or weaknesses you felt your application(s) had

Too bad. I was hoping that it was a "rejection with hope," since I'd like to re-apply next year. Now I need to figure out if there's any point in re-applying. Wish I could be so complacent; I'm not likely to get into any of the programs to which I've applied. To boot, I'm graduating with an MJ in the midst of massive layoffs (online pubs excepted, of course). Oh well. I may be unemployed (er, freelancing) living with my parents next year, but at least I'm not living in the basement. Then I would be the quintessential loser. Congrats on your acceptances! Are you holding out for the last school, or have you made up your mind which one to accept? That must be exciting!

Right. So I want to do a doctorate that is relevant to applying cutting edge IT to create new journalism models. What programs would be appropriate? I hope to make a career of doing applied research in this field... use a firm grounding in theory to conceive of new ways of fulfilling the same needs that traditional journalism fulfills, create open source applications based on those conceptions, test them in controlled experiments, or even in the field, publish based on the results of those experiments, draw conclusions, and then use those conclusions to go back to the drawing board. Many communications programs don't have any new media content, or if they do, it's very theoretical. Most media arts programs require far more programming knowledge than I currently have, although I'm working on that weak spot. Anyone know of programs that might be able to accommodate these interests? I've looked around but haven't found any clear fits.

I have no specific wisdom, but I have a related question: Once you've been rejected, who do you approach to discuss how you could improve your application? And do you do it right away while they might still remember you, or do you give it some time? Rejected: 1/3

Actually that was cooperphd you were responding to.

Is this the same form rejection letter everyone got from Stanford?

So, I consider the possibility of being waitlisted much more probable than the possibility of being accepted. And I was wondering, do schools ever ask for you to submit updated or supplementary information once you're waitlisted? Such as an up-to-date transcript with last term's grades? Or if you have a new portfolio, or a recently published paper? Just curious...

When I applied early action to my undergrad institution (a top 10 in the world school), I was deferred to regular decision. I called up, and despite the school having a 10% acceptance rate (and thus about 10,000 applicants), they took the time to give me a hint about the weakest parts of my application. If they can do it when I'm one in 10,000 with room to accept only 1,000, then I think they can probably do it in an application pool where you're one in 350 with the room to accept only 35 (for example). I certainly plan to contact the programs in question, but I plan to do it in a very personable fashion. You know... "I'm very eager to attend your program, and I was wondering if you might have any suggestions about how I might improve my application for next year -- or if I'm a viable candidate -- based on this year's application?" I would be pretty surprised if they ignored such a request, but it could happen, I suppose.

The impact on positions available would depend entirely on the school's endowment and funding priorities. For instance, MIT's endowment has dropped 20-25%, yet they are freezing top-earning professors salaries so that lower level staff and faculty can receive their increases. And they state that they are getting MORE research funding this year than in previous years. On the other hand, more families are approaching the financial aid department for assistance due to unforeseen familial hardship (job loss, etc.). This is only relevant to undergraduates, but of note for any graduate students applying elsewhere for financial aid. http://web.mit.edu/hockfield/letters/letter02192009.html Similar letters may exist for other institutions...

Hi veryeager. I just did an analysis of the three schools I applied to (none of them NYU). One of them mails or emails everything on the same day. One does acceptances over the course of February, and then rejections over the second week of March, and then at the end of the second week of March sends out waitlists. Another, which isn't strictly a communications program, sends out the acceptances and waitlists at about the same time, and then a week later sends out the rejections. So, there's no standard. If you really want to know about NYU, you'll have to search the results board to see when people got what kind of response. Good luck!

Optimistic: 1 wait-list with unknown outcome 2 rejections Pessimistic aka Realistic: 3 rejections This goes back to something people were saying earlier on in this thread... I have a really weird, spotty background. Undergrad in an unrelated field at a top 10 (in the world) school. Professionally-focused MJ in Journalism at a school that is respected in my country but not well-known internationally (but could be within journalism circles -- I just don't know). Between the two degrees I had a series of volunteer and intern positions and freelance work at prestigious publications, but only full-time job was in a crappy position that was almost as much PR as journalism (if not more). Now applying to three programs in a third field (albeit related to Journalism) at schools that are all three of them top 20 in the world. GRE scores that are well within what is expected for the programs I applied to. Excellent reference letters. GPA in the B++ range due to medical problems (and I have the A+ GPA from last term to prove it was medical problems that made it bad, but none of the programs received a transcript with that A+ GPA). No networking done with profs. Very little time to work on my apps and so may have completely missed the mark on those. No papers published in journals. Weak programming skills (which one of the three cares about). In short, I have no idea if I'm DREAMING to apply to the schools I applied to. They're the top of the Tier 1 schools, and for all I know my background is more suited to mid or bottom of Tier 1 -- or even Tier 2 schools. I just don't know. So I err on the side of defensive pessimism.

Hello all, I have no word on any of my applications. I keep on hearing about people checking their application status via a website, but I haven't found that to be an option with any of the application systems my schools used. Looking to do applied research in new media-based journalism. Apparently one person has heard back from Stanford Communications, and one person has heard back from MIT MAS for an interview. Columbia is probably running late because there were issues with their application system crashing and losing applicants' data. I was one of the unlucky ones. Anyway, here's to hearing good news sooner than later.

I applied to no safeties this year. I know that my application is much weaker this year than it will be next year. I didn't want to settle for a safety school when I know that I stand a better chance next year. So I applied to my top three choices. This year, if I'm rejected by all of the above, my interim game plan is: - see if there are any research positions that will take me with just my masters - apply to jobs in my field, preferably places that are exploring interesting forms of online journalism - apply to paying internships, if need be - start working on some website ideas I have that may end up earning me some money while beefing up my portfolio (and living with the parental units to save money) In the meantime, I'll work on getting myself more key portfolio items, beefing up my technical skills, publishing some of the papers I've written as a masters student, and networking with potential research advisors at schools that interest me. Unless I find a job I'd like to stay in for a few years, I'll start working on kick ass applications for both my top choices and some safety schools. And I'll seek advice based on this year's applications from the schools that rejected me, to find out if I need to revise my expectations about what sorts of schools are top choices for me, and which are safeties. I'm scared -- I've been unemployed in a bad economy before and it isn't pretty. But I'm also in a much better place now. I keep on telling myself that I need to believe in myself. That it will be okay. But that doesn't stop the fears. One of the programs I applied to is supposed to mail acceptances March 8, but one person listed an acceptance via phone today. The other two mail responses on March 31, but one of them (my top choice) does interviews for all applicants, and one person has already listed receiving an interview request on February 6. It doesn't look good for me. But I can still hope, right?