IronicStatement

I am now a PhD Candidate in Rhet/Comm. I think your gut feeling is right, and your advisors are wrong. Or, to be more diplomatic, their point is of less concern. In the job market, research interests and your quality will matter over the prestige of the school. Once you get the PhD, you present yourself with a cover letter and references, not just a "Big Impressive Name" + "G.P.A." And there are so many more important factors to weigh in making a decision for one program over another. 1) Minimize your debt. The higher ranking schools can frequently get away with paying less, so they do. 2) It is better to complete a degree at a slightly less prestigious university than to fail out of a higher ranked one. If you think you match a program's pace (you'll get a feel for this during campus visits), I would use that as a barometer for fit. Good luck!

Hello everyone, Question out of curiosity: What is the most bizarre or unusual TA situation you've ever seen or experienced? For example, I have a bachelors in Statistics and Anthropology, and I will be going into a Communication's Research PhD. I have no experience with comm courses. So my TA experience might be bizarre. . . teaching students things I have never studied before. (I am a bit nervous about it, really.) Thanks for your replies!

I agree. You should take your time and feel comfortable making a decision. FuzzyLogician is right, this is your life for the next 5 years (or so). Don't worry about "wasting" a few hours of their time for a visit. Also, just a reminder: no school can threaten to take your offer away from you if you don't make your decision quickly enough. You have the right to wait until April 15th to decide. (Graduate Student Legal Rights) Take the time, make a decision you will be happy to live with.

Hey @gurlsaved, I applied to UT Austin for a Masters in Communication Studies. My interests weren't that great of a fit with the department. *shrug* I am sorry to hear about ASU! I am sure you'll get many acceptances elsewhere. Speaking of acceptances... I just got word late last night that I was accepted by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Did anyone else apply to their program? It focuses heavily on communications technologies, so I don't know if anyone in this thread would have noted it as an option. Best wishes to everyone!

Thanks for all of the support everyone! I just got my first rejection today from UT Austin, so I needed the good karma. Does anyone here use LinkedIn? I am curious if it is useful as a networking tool.

Hey Alex, I recently heard back from Wisconsin-Madison with an informal acceptance to their Communication Science PhD with a fellowship; (under the Communication Arts department). I don't know of anyone else who has received word from them. I personally think your chances are fine. My Undergraduate g.p.a was 3.42; Luckily, that isn't the only thing they look for. Best of Luck!

bar exam

When does the Narwhal bacon? r/politics, r/f7u12, and r/pics are usually where I hangout.

Congratulations! That is fantastic news. Now you can begin the fun part- deciding where to go.

Don't feel too bad- I recently noticed that ETS, the GRE testing company, frequently misspells lots of universities!

It is wise to have a plan B, yet I always feel guilty telling people what my "back-up" plan is when they have dedicated their career to that field... Regardless, if I have to, I am already scheduled to take the Actuarial exams so that I can crunch numbers if rejected. *sigh* Do you all think that the "gap" year(s) improves your appeal to ad-comms?

If I get into... When I get into my ideal program, I think I will buy myself a record player and a complete tea set. Just because I am facing another 5+ years of student loans and time consuming PhD research, it doesn't mean I have to go without some basic comforts! Best of luck to everyone!

Puss'n Boots

Hello Iamhere, Many Universities with premier Communication/ Communication Research programs also offer Statistics programs with "concentrations" or even dual-masters in social statistics, or at the very least those programs will have one or two courses in quantitative methodologies. For example, I know the University of Washington has a Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences, and similar programs are not uncommon. --> http://www.csss.washington.edu/

Hello fellow applicants, I just stumbled across this sub-forum and was excited to find a community dedicated to Communication/Media Studies Graduate Programs. I became less and less excited as I read that many of you wish to pursue I-C-T related research. . . but that of course makes sense. Only technologically savvy people would find themselves posting on a web forum. I can rest easier knowing that not every person applying to Communications Research programs wishes to study my preferred field, computer mediated communication. I am also playing the waiting game for eight schools: UPenn, UCSD, UNC-Chapel Hill, Univ. of Washington, Univ. of Illinois- UC, UT Austin, Wisconsin- Madison, and RPI. It is exciting to see such a large degree of interdisciplinary research. I have a B.A. in Anthropology and Statistics from The George Washington University and assumed my non-communication research background would be a problem for admissions. Best of luck to everyone! I hope you all find the perfect spot for next year.