CDRR

I think a film analogy can be useful here. Let's say a certain person, Doris Gabriella Smith (we'll call her DGS for short) wants to go see a movie tonight with her new boyfriend, but doesn't know which movie to see. She has a lot of tools to help her make a decision, which correspond nicely to parts of your application. DGS might initially look at a review aggregating website like Rotten Tomatoes (RT) or Metacritic. These websites are great because they give you a uniform metric that, presumably, represents the "majority view" of whether a movie is good or not. These tools function like a gatekeeper, they are quick and easy, and show how a movie stacks up against other movies you might see; although they don't really tell DGS that much about the specific movie. Your GPA and GRE are very similar. They are a uniform metric that most programs use to screen candidates at the broadest level. They are important, but most likely will only get your foot in the door. Analogically, DGS might only want to look at movies that are 80%+ on RT, which immediately excludes a lot of movies. Sure she might go back if she can't find anything else she wants to watch and look at a lower-rated movie, but not always. Now that DGS has a list of potential movies to watch, she goes to find their trailers. Now, trailers are really important for DGs: they give her a sense of what she can expect in seeing a movie, including a general outline of the story, the actors that are in it, the director, etc. Trailers have a lot of useful information, and it seems unthinkable that anyone would go see a movie simply based on its RT % without having some clue what the movie is about. And if the trailer is miserable, DGS might lose interest and decide then and there not to see it. Your Statement of Purpose (SOP) and writing sample are very similar. You are selling yourself to the committee. Indeed, what you choose to highlight in the SOP is exceptionally important because it shows the committee that "these are the qualities about myself which I think make me exceptional." That said, telling the committee why you're a great fit for them, and they're a great fit for you, is the most important part of the SOP. It is important to the remember that a trailer (like the SOP) only shows DGS what the production company wants her to see, and she knows it. The trailer wants to show the movie in the best light, because it wants DGS to buy a ticket! So, DGS has watched some trailers, and narrowed her choice down to a couple of movies. She knows that Movie 1 and Movie 2 are both very well reviewed generally, and while different, both had enticing trailers. Sure Movie 1 had an interesting story, but Movie 2 had some really cool special effects! They appeal to her for different reasons--how will she decide? Well, she knows that what she saw in the trailer was just a truncated version of the whole film, what if (as is often the case with movies, I think) the trailer took all the good parts of the movie and the rest is awful? She decides to seek out the opinion of someone who has seen the whole movie: she reads some reviews! Now, DGS knows that not all reviews are created equal. She thinks some reviewers are smart, others are not; she knows who some are, and hasn't heard of others. Regardless, she's interested now in detailed opinions that describe exactly why she should spend her time and money watching a particular movie. So she reads a set of reviews fully, and weighs what they have to say against what she's seen from the trailer. These reviews are like your recommendations. I have come to believe that recommendations are as important as your SOP/writing sample, if not more so. In-depth recommendations from someone who has worked with you and has something to say that is worth reading (NOT, for example, "he is punctual!") are the ones that will get you the furthest. Having a rec from a faculty member that is famous, or gets along famously with committee members from your target school, is great. That said, some parts of DGS's decision making process are totally arbitrary. Let's say that the best looking movie is an action movie, but DGS saw an action movie last week with a guy who dumped her so she's psychologically barred from seeing another one. Or maybe the new guy she's interested in doesn't like romances, even though DGS LOVES them, so they go see something else. You can't guess what those constraints are going to be, and it's best not to worry about them. And while I think the description I've given of GPA/GRE importance is pretty much universal, the importance of your SOP/writing sample and recs will fluctuate pretty wildly between departments. As someone who will (thankfully, and hopefully) never have to apply to schools again, I wish you good luck in the process!

This is a bit of a tangent, since I didn't apply to Pitt, but what other programs do rhetoricians consider to be "top tier?"

Also not waiting anymore! I declined three offers (CMCL at IUB, Communication Studies at UGA, and Annenberg at USC) and accepted an offer at (what has been for the past three years) my ideal program! Hopefully that frees up some wait list slots for someone! Looking forward to seeing where everyone else ends up.

I applied to the Communication and Culture program.

I was also accepted to USC!

I don't think that's true. The two largest divisions at NCA are, if I remember correctly, Critical/Cultural Studies and Rhetoric and Communication Theory, both of which fall squarely in the humanities side of things. Rather than categorizing it either way, I think it's fair to say that Comm. is a truly interdisciplinary field.

One beer will not adequately compensate my psyche for this prolonged anxiety. One keg, maybe...

I've been bad about keeping up with the thread (prospectus is due on Thursday!), but congrats to everyone who has heard something good!

I was accepted to the CMCL program at Indiana this evening via e-mail!

Thanks! GSU's admit process is a little different than most places because they have two admit periods. Unless you are rejected outright it probably means they are still considering your application. Some of the current PhD students didn't hear until March, and for the later application deadline some didn't hear until May. GSU's department is split between Public Comm and Moving Image Studies, with Public encompassing both the social science stuff, some media studies, PR, and rhetoric. I don't know how the MIS application process works. Stats: 3.97 MA GPA, 650v790q, one conference paper (won top paper in the Student Division at NCA), and recommendations from big names in the field (which is rhetoric, by the way). Good luck to those who applied to both GSU and NU!

I was accepted to GSU (where I am currently completing my MA) and was invited to the interview weekend at Northwestern last night! NU is my top choice, so I'm pretty excited.

If I remember correctly they send out interview invitations at the very end of January or early February; however, this might only have been for Rhetoric and Public Culture.

Northwestern Georgia State UNC Chapel Hill Indiana USC UGA

I'm the one who posted about the department contact, but here's the deal. As we all know you HAVE to get a Fellowship in order to attend NU's graduate schools. If you were contacted for a fellowship interview in February, then there's a chance you will be offered a spot. If not, then you most likely one will not be offered to you. I believe they will send out formal rejections via the website at the end of March once they've solidified their 4 candidates.

Has anyone heard anything from Northwestern's Comm. Studies program - either Tech/Soceity or Rhetoric?