commcomm

I did not get this fellowship - but for anyone who stumbles upon this thread in the future, they chose four winners out of ~350 applications.

Anyone else apply for the Center for Engaged Scholarship dissertation fellowship? This award is not listed on the Wiki. It's new this year - $25,000 for social science dissertations that are relevant to "progressive values." I applied and haven't heard anything. Just wondering if anyone else had. http://cescholar.org/dissertation-fellowships/

Just dropping in to wish you all 2014 applicants good luck and calm(ish) nerves during the next few weeks as you hear back from programs. I remember sitting on my couch and twiddling my thumbs until about mid-February - couldn't seem to do much of anything besides wonder where I'd be come August. :-)

I can't provide a direct link - but if you have access to a database, you might look at these rankings: "Measuring Quality in Communication Doctoral Education Using Network Analysis of Faculty-Hiring Patterns" (Barnett, Danowski, Feeley and Stalker, 2010)

I second what Scrabble2 said. My scores were similar to yours and I managed to get into some great programs. My advisor at the time told me that when he sits on the admissions committee, GRE scores are just an initial way of sorting through people (and even low scores, when combined with an otherwise stellar application, won't rule you out). Your scores are fine, so I wouldn't worry about it. My personal assessment of the process is that who you want to work with and who is recommending you (via rec letters) are the two factors that matter the most.

Such a twist - I moved to Madison last year from Columbia. If you like Madison, you'll find it easy to fit in in Columbia. You'll also find that the winter doesn't last six months! I can deal with the cold but the crappy weather seems to drag on and on here... I prefer the near west side of Madison and I prefer the south side of Columbia, if that helps you get an idea of the vibe. Grad students are more dispersed in Columbia - but I'd say you should only live super close to campus if you don't have a car. I take the bus and bike in Madison but I drove everywhere in Columbia. As a grad student, you can easily get a parking spot in one of the garages on campus. There is no real Madison "near east" equivalence in Columbia. There's East Campus - but that's undergrad territory. Undergrads also love all the Brookside buildings - and other apartment complexes that offer shuttles to downtown and campus. I rented at Katy Place, Walnut Brook and DBC rentals while I was in Columbia. I liked them all. No matter what you choose, you'll get a lot of bang for your buck in CoMo. And while the microbrews aren't quite up to par with what Wisconsin has to offer, do try the beers at Flat Branch.

@Sconnie Will you have a car?

Is the program at the University of Colorado at Boulder still around? I thought something weird was going on with their J-school.

@VioleyAyame - ah, I did miss that. You have a good plan! I'm not sure how other programs work - but at my school, you would apply for the Master's track and write in your purpose statement that you have every intention of continuing on to get your PhD, when the time comes. There are three research-track MA students in my program right now and all three are continuing on to earn their PhDs - now with 25 credits completed and solid relationships built with faculty members. You point out a few key things, one of which is funding. One reason the MA track and PhD tracks are officially separated is because of available monies. Many of the members in my PhD cohort have four-year funding packages while the MA students have two-year packages (the ones continuing on will probably get a new package during this current admissions cycle - but that's not guaranteed). I have never heard of someone receiving six-years of guaranteed funding upon admission - and that's probably how long it will take you to accumulate the required number of credits (probably around 60). You also pointed out that you will up against people who already have advanced degrees and probably a mix of professional/research experience. That certainly doesn't mean you're screwed - admissions processes are somewhat of a mystery - but you're talking about two great comm programs, so don't be surprised if they tell you to go earn your MA. I think you should continue to press forward if you know this is what you want to do. I will suggest that you talk to some students from the programs you are interested in to get a better idea of how things work in the department. The graduate advisor (or contact person for admission) should be able to put you in touch with someone.

That's awesome that you have figured out your path so early. I don't think I really understood what research was by the end of my undergrad - and I certainly didn't appreciate it until well into my Masters program. I won't claim to know everything about all comm programs (I'm assuming you're talking about comm) but from my experience at two universities, I don't know of anyone who was admitted straight from undergrad. What you'll normally see is people admitted into a sort of "research-track" Masters program. They take all the credits required for the M.A. and then write a thesis. Once they've defended the thesis, the graduate committee simply allows them to trek on in the doctoral program. Everything they did for their Masters counts toward the PhD - so if your Masters was 26 credit hours and you need 60 for the PhD, you will only do another 34 credit hours (along with prelims and a dissertation, of course) I'm sure there are exceptions - and that people are admitted into doctoral programs straight out of undergrad. Still, it's far more likely that you would be classified as a Masters student until you have accumulated enough credits to be on even footing with the rest of the PhD cohort. So when you are chatting with professors or advisors at potential schools, make sure to ask about the possibility of being admitted directly into the PhD program AND the possibility of being admitted as a Masters student with every intention to continue into the doctoral program. I'm 26 and am the youngest person in my doctoral program - so you are waaaaay ahead of the game already. My advice is to find a school that will fund you for your Masters continuing on to a PhD (it will give you extra time to learn and publish anyway!)

I have both my undergrad (broadcast) and Master's (Journalism theory) from Mizzou, so the following statement is absolutely biased: Missouri is an incredible J-school. It's worth mentioning that I'm not the only one who thinks so highly of ole' Missouri... it is consistently ranked as a top journalism school. I'd recommend it for anyone who wants to spend less time in the classroom and more time actually practicing journalism. Most of Mizzou's courses are essentially part-time jobs at local media outlets. It sounds like you would want to work for Vox, a local arts/culture magazine. By the time you leave, you've got 2 years of experience on your resume. You listed a whole bunch of great schools and while my vote is always for MU, there's a lot of great options out there. NYU and CUNY have excellent programs to fit your interests but @GwenWoods is correct: those schools are more difficult to get into. Keep in mind: funding. A lot of MA programs aren't funded. Don't you dare pay for a Master's in journalism -- that's foolish in a field where it will take you a decade just to earn that money back. There are plenty of programs (yes, Mizzou is one of them) where nearly every grad student gets a teaching or research assistantship in exchange for a tuition waiver.

I agree with the above posts -- I'll add that I applied for doctoral programs when I still had a semester of Master's classes left (plus a thesis to write). I applied to programs based on recommendations from faculty at my current universities. Don't count yourself out for any program, no matter the ranking. It's all about research fit.

I'm desperate. I've got to recruit about 80 people in the next few days to watch videos that I'm pretesting for my main experiment. So if anyone is bored, I'd appreciate the help. Takes about 10 minutes. It's always interesting to watch stim material, right? Oh and -- besides asking on here or on Facebook -- does anyone have some suggestions for recruiting for online surveys? I have student participants for my lab experiment but didn't think recruiting online would be this hard! https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/thesisversionA

You're perfectly qualified to get into Columbia. As you've most likely heard from others, it's not as much about your qualifications as it is about "fit", AKA, will the program be able to offer you what you need and will your admission benefit the program. I love Colorado and hope to live there someday - but the University of Colorado's journalism program is probably not a place many would recommend right now. I'm sure you've read about the program's "transition". I'm not an expert on the subject - but would obviously encourage you to make sure the program will still be viable for a few years before applying.

That's quite a crossroads! The degree of "screwed" will ultimately depend on your coursework as an undergrad. My partner is graduating with her doctorate in physical therapy in a few weeks- I am in mass comm- and there has been little, if any, overlap in our undergrad coursework. She had to have all kinds of health-esque prerequisites in order to be admitted to the physical therapy program. In fact, her undergraduate degree is pre-physical therapy. If you've taken a lot of social science type classes, you may be missing a lot of the hard science courses that physical therapy programs require. My advice would be to look into a few physical therapy graduate programs that you are interested in and find out what prerequisites they require. That should give you a good idea as to what you would need on your transcript before having a chance of being accepted. You may already know this - but physical therapy is in the process of evolving from a master's program to a doctoral program. For my university's program, this has meant going from a 2-year program to a 3-year program. Not all programs have switched over- but many have. Physical therapy programs typically require GRE scores, no special test is required. You do have to take physical therapy board examinations after completing the graduate coursework and clinical rotations.

Brancan makes a really good point-- about 50% of my graduate peers have their undergrad degree in something else and they needed the Master's to get some formal journalism training.

The advice you've gotten from other members of this forum is spot on. The benefits of a degree from NYU simply do not make up for the costs associated with earning that degree. This is especially true for a journalism degree. Also, as you mentioned, has a fantastic journalism school.

I've shown this article to a few of my undergraduate students looking into a Master's : http://www.dailyorange.com/2.8657/is-it-worth-it-professors-question-the-benefits-of-a-master-s-degree-1.1231214#.T42bh1H2eyI UNC Chapel Hill is a great J-school, like you said. I think the general consensus is that a Master's degree in journalism becomes infinitely more valuable with corresponding experience in the field, so the school's stance on a few years of full-time practice is very sensible. There are other major advantages to gaining even a year of experience before grad school 1) You'll have a stronger application just to get into the program 2) You'll be able to contribute to the discussion in your grad classes, having experience to share with your peers 3) You will be able to come up with stronger research ideas after spending extensive time in a newsroom You don't need to go work in a newsroom for 20 years - but get out there and explore the field for a year or two. It will make you a much more valuable, efficient journalism scholar. If you do choose to go directly into graduate school, I highly suggest going to a school where you will get hands-on experience in a newsroom (and not just a university paper/TV station/magazine) during your time in the program. Gotta have something for that resume!

Welcome to the forum! I'll pass along the advice I got from every single one of my professors when I began asking about graduate school: You do not need a graduate education in journalism unless... 1) You want to teach and/or do research 2) You are eying a specific job which requires an advanced degree (for example, a consulting firm where research experience is needed) If you want to be a practicing journalist, I think there's a case to be made for getting an advanced degree in a particular area, say economics if you want to work at The Wall Street Journal; however, in this particular profession, experience in the field typically trumps years of education. If you're thinking about teaching at some point in the future, a Master's degree could come in handy. Depends on what kind of teaching gig you want. I'm sure there are varying views on advanced journalism degrees — but that's my two cents.

@commphily - I bet it feels good to have made the decision! I'm sure you'll love Penn (who wouldn't?!). Thanks for the well wishes, @Saviya! Anyone else ready to make their final choice?

My partner and I are moving to Madison this summer (me= phd student, she= physical therapist) and I'm finding the apartment hunt to be an absolute pain. I have friends there who suggest steering clear of the west side of downtown, since that's where the undergrads live. I tried to find a nice place on the so-called "near east" side of downtown but everything that isn't more than $1600/month looks quite outdated. I'm not all that concerned about living in the hottest spot downtown but I don't want to miss out on the parks, farmers market, nightlife, etc. Should we suck it up and over-pay to live downtown for the first year? Or get more bang for our buck 15 minutes away from campus? Any input would be appreciated!

I accepted my offer from Madison today! Please post when you guys make your decisions (of course, @commphilly, you can't go wrong choosing between UPenn and Madison!)

I have an assistantship for my MA and I receive a stipend in the form of a paycheck from the university each month school is in session. I have mine directly deposited into my bank account. It works just like any other income as far as I know. I have always paid taxes on those earnings. The graduate office at your school should let you know if the stipend is paid out in a lump sum or if it's made in 9 (possibly 12) monthly installments. I believe it's more common to have it paid in monthly installments. Hope this helps!

Thanks @commphily! I was really kicking myself for only applying to two schools but I suppose it all works out the way it's supposed to. That's great advice about asking about funding for while I'm writing my dissertation- I hadn't even thought about that. Let us know what you hear about funding. Sounds like quite a few people are considering Madison-- maybe a couple of us will end up there!

I finally got my financial package from UW-Madison today and have been graciously provided with 4 years guaranteed funding. I am still on the wait list at UC- Boulder. Madison is a much stronger program overall. I'd welcome any advice as to whether I should go ahead and accept the offer at Madison and tell Boulder to remove me from the wait list -- or keep Madison waiting just to see what happens at Boulder. I am 99% sure I will go with Madison either way. I'm not sure if I'd feel comfortable leaving the decision until the last minute just to satisfy my curiosity. Any thoughts?