Vanilla Tea
-
Posts
26 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Everything posted by Vanilla Tea
-
Finally got rejected from UCSB after they made me wait for a month and half after all other applicants had been notified, saying that I was one of their 'top applicants' and it was mainly a matter of funding. Well, I guess that's how life rolls. I'm probably headed to UT Austin this fall. Anyone else going there?
-
I remain entirely unconvinced about the validity of tiers and ranking in our field. We're not seeking an MBA here. For someone who's interested in South Asian Cinema, Harvard is clearly a misfit even if it's on top of everybody's ranking scale. It makes so sense whatsoever to apply there. Even if a certain school has an extremely renowned scholar in your sub field, he or she might not be the ideal supervisor for you- it depends on so many things, your background, what you intend to study, your interests in the faculty, their interest in you, the PhD trajectories each school follows, what kind of financial support it offers its students- the list is really endless. And i would go ahead and say that even a ranking system based on your sub-field is complicated, as I'm sure we all know very well, our research topics can sometimes get so well defined that it's easy to see that one or two scholars working on diverse aspects of your sub field in a particular department won't suffice. I think if one carefully evaluates all of these and other factors and picks a school, he or she has a much better chance of coming out a well rounded media/film scholar rather than picking a Harvard or Yale when your research interests are a long way away from those of the department. Finally, I don't know what the evaluative criteria for judging one batch of scholars from say a USC to a UT Austin really is (besides placements), 'interesting' is a heavily subjective term.
- 221 replies
-
- 1
-
-
- film studies
- media studies
- (and 8 more)
-
Do you know when UCSB hopes to make up their minds about this?
-
Hey, Don't feel confused about the funding, i was in the exact same position as you - till I realized yesterday that the package consists of 9 months of TA stipend and a part tuition waiver. Which means most students are expected to pay around 1600 USD per semester out of pocket as tuition. Most of the current grad students are on loans. I don't really know yet where this leaves me, because I was very keen to accept this offer, but I definitely have to do some serious thinking now.
-
Hi, I thought I'd start a conversation for those of us who are considering UT Austin for our PhDs this fall. I've been accepted into the film studies PhD and would love to hear from others grads who are thinking of moving there, stuff about the city, housing, funding, costs of living, the entire shebang. And if anyone else is thinking about joining the Department of Radio-Television-Film, would love to hear from you! Thanks!
-
Yes! I do. I'm kind of 80% sure I'm accepting my PhD offer from UT Austin, department of radio-television-film. Anyone else out there?
-
Just heard from UT Austin's Radio television and Film department, I'm in! They've sent out 8 admits, has anyone else here heard from them? There's one more acceptance posted on the results database, would anyone like to claim it? I'd be really interested in talking about UT Austin, as I'd given it the least amount of thought in the entire application process and nearly not applied because I didn't hear back from professors there.
-
Umm...the reason I applied there was that I thought I was a good fit with the department, a number of people are working closely on areas I'm interested in (Bhaskar Sarkar, Christina Venegas, Charles Woolfe, Micheal Curtin) and I would love to have them as my supervisors. I'm familiar with most of their work as well. I've been out of school for nearly three years now, so can't advise you on prestige, but I did email a couple of current PhD students and they told me wonderful things about department culture, resourcefulness and helpfulness. Funds are always a big problem with public unis, especially the UC schools, and Santa Barbara is no exception. I'd say it really depends on your area of interest and your POI's work ethic, support and excitement about having you as their student. I have in fact, only heard good things about the department. I guess it's prolly not as glamorous as USC or NYU.
-
For those still waiting to hear from UCSB, I got an email from the graduate coordinator - turns out, they've sent out all their rejects, they're still waiting for clarification on their funding before they can consider admitting me and a few others in my position. So it's okay to keep your fingers still crossed.
- 221 replies
-
- 2
-
-
-
- film studies
- media studies
- (and 8 more)
-
Congratulations on your UCSB and USC admits!
-
That's weird, why haven't I been notified by either of these places about my application status?! I'm guessing it's definitely a reject, but its nice to have some closure.
-
it's strange some people have heard from UCSB in early feb, I still haven't, nothing on the website too. Any updates on NYU (Stienhardt), RTF at Texas or USC Critical Studies?
-
Sh*t people say when you are applying to grad school
Vanilla Tea replied to Clou12's topic in Waiting it Out
'What's plan B" 'You must keep your options open' 'March-April? You hear from schools that late?' -
Same. I haven't yet received my scores in the mail but all my schools have gotten them.
-
I gave my test on 13th sept, I can see my scores online but I still haven't received them in the mail. Also the online report says the scores are not valid to send to an institution. What should i do?
-
Thanks for the encouragement Sigaba and emmm- I think I really needed to hear this from others! And Yellow Submarine- you're right, let's hope for the best! And thank god for other mediocre scores on the forum. Kind of unnerving otherwise.
-
I'm applying for a PhD in film/media studies. My GRE scores are pathetic- V: 159 (84th)/ 590 , Q: 148 (44)/ 600 and Writing (4)- (shocker, but when you're screwed, you're screwed). On the old scale this apparently adds up to 1190. (Also, is it me, or does everyone else on this forum score really well on the GRE?) That doesn't even make a 1200. One of the schools I'm applying too 'rarely admits anyone below 600 on verbal'. All my deadlines are December 1, so no time for retakes. I don't want to make any excuses for a bad GRE scores, but I think it seriously puts me at a disadvantage- and I guess funding might be difficult. Of course I know people making it to grad school with unusually low GRE scores, but I'm usually never the exception to the rule. Should I just resit the exam and apply next year? It's a bit of a bummer as I have the rest of my package together, done the whole emailing profs rigmarole etc.
-
even I have a shockingly low writing grade and a decent verbal score. All my deadlines are December 1, so I guess i'll just have to live with it, but it's weird, and I was definitely thinking about what I could do besides asking them for a review and paying 75 dollars for it.
-
I'm in a similar boat. My GRE scores are very poor. V 159 (84th percentile), M 148 (44th percentile) and writing 4.0 (48th percentile). All my deadlines are dec 1. I can't seem to decide whether to wait it out and apply next year or just give it a shot anyway. The rest of my profile is alright I guess, good scores in both undergrad and MA, work ex, a decent writing sample and hopefully a good SOP. any advice?
-
Hi All, Some schools state in their SOP brief that one should talk about their future plans or career objectives. I'm applying for a PhD because I want to teach- just like 98% of the others wanting to gain a specialized doctoral degree. I think it's a bit of a waste of space- does anyone have any thoughts on how to make this sound 'sell-able'?
-
Film/Media Phds Fall 2012
Vanilla Tea replied to Vanilla Tea's topic in Communication and Public Relation Forum
Hi agjenkins, I'm glad someone else feels the same, i think it's really difficult for the way things are going in our field to follow media/communications/cultural/film studies neat classifications. I've actually been writing to profs in the schools I'm interested in applying, I've picked them based on how many members of the faculty share my interests and might be interested in having me- I'm going to be working on South Asia, and would love to work with people with expertise in the area. I've got a few positive replies, a couple of no replies and one prof suggesting a completely different research track for me! I know most people do a PhD to be professors, but I think five years is a long time- anything can happen. So I'm not really sure, I've been working for the past three years- and all I know for now is that i'd definitely be happier studying. -
And also, any pointers on what i should say, something on the lines of 'Dear Professor x....I had written to you about a month back, just wondering if you got my email. I look forward to hearing from you?' Does that work? Or should it more polite and apologetic.
-
Thanks for the advice, I should possibly write a follow up email.
-
On another note, what is the average time a professor should take to respond to an email? I wrote to a professor about a month back, and I haven't heard from her, so I'm really not thinking about applying for a Ph.D there, and save myself 100 bucks. Has anyone else had an experience with non responsive professors?
-
Hi, is anyone applying for a film or cultural studies Phd for fall 2012? My research interests fall on the cross section of film and communication studies- so I'm applying to both film and media/cultural studies departments. What are you pick of schools?