MediaMom
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Posts posted by MediaMom
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Some schools seem to trickle out acceptances. For example, I got one acceptance on Jan 18. There was a Grad Cafe post for the same school/program that was an acceptance received Jan 2. Then another acceptance was posted last week.
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My best guess is that if it was on hold because of something administrative (for example, they were missing a transcript or something like that) then they would have told you the reason. So maybe that is their terminology for the wait list?
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What do you want to do with your degree? If you'd like to work in an academic environment and have a career that is very research-based, then the theoretical program might be a better fit. If you want to work in a professional setting, then the applied/practical program might be better for you. Look at your long-term career goals and then decided which program can best help you to achieve those.
Have you met with or spoken with anyone at either program? You might want to schedule a visit (or phone or Skype chat) so that you can ask them some questions to help narrow down your choice.
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I would ask for a refund. Why not? You'd be asking the graduate school, not the department, and even if it got back to the department, who cares? By the time they're ready to admit any students you'll be happily installed elsewhere, so big deal if you ruffle their feathers. It's not right for them to keep your money when there isn't any spot to apply for in the first place.
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It depends on the program and the field you're in. Many programs don't even hold interviews. I've gotten two acceptances and haven't been interviewed anywhere. Good luck!
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TALK TO THE GRAD ADVISOR!
For one of the schools that I applied to, the letter said I had 14 days to reply, well I spoke to the advisor today and he said that it's not true and I actually have until April 15th.
I wish I asked him sooner rather than freaking out for the first 5 days!
In most of those cases I don't think they mean you have to decide in 14 days, they just want some acknowledgement of their letter. Even a simple email saying thank you for the offer, I'm considering it and will let you know is appreciated.
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To clarify on my "12-page SOP"....
It was divided into sections. My first section was about 1 page long and was called "Personal Statement of Purpose." Here I briefly described my educational and professional backgrounds, my career goals, why I thought now was the right time in my life to pursue a PhD, and what I hoped that PhD could accomplish for me. My next section was titled "Research Interests." It was about a page and a half long and it gave a brief explanation of where my interests lie and then described several projects I have in mind that I would like to work on as a PhD student. The next section was called "Why XYZ University" and was specifically tailored for each school to which I applied. Here I talked about the reasons I liked this school's program--the courses that interested me, the faculty, etc. This is where I went into detail about specific faculty members' research as I discussed above. This section, too, was only about a page and a half.
The rest of my SOP was more like a series of addenda. I gave course descriptions of all of the classes I have taught within my discipline (I have several years of teaching experience as an adjunct) and included a sample syllabus I created for one of my classes. I wrote a brief summary of how my writing sample came about (it was a paper I presented at a conference and I wanted to discuss how it related to the work I was doing at the time).
It may seem like overkill and hey, who knows, maybe some of the professors who read it thought that it was. But I've got acceptances, so it ended up being worth my time!
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Good "stats" (grades, GRE, etc.) are important and things like research experience, work experience, publications are helpful. But so much of this process is about timing and fit. A department can look at your application and say, "She's clearly smart and capable and has a great academic record, BUT, her research interests just don't line up with any of the faculty members here, and there's no one here who can advise her." And so, no matter how smart or capable you may be, you get rejected. On the other hand, that same department probably admitted people with "lesser" stats than yours, simply because they wanted to work in areas that the faculty found interesting.
One thing I did in applying was to research faculty very closely, and to look up and read articles written by the faculty members whose work most closely resembled my own interests. In my SOPs, I identified these faculty members by name and mentioned the titles of their articles and other projects of theirs I'd researched, and talked about why I thought their work was so fascinating and why I thought my own interests tied into that work. I wanted to prove to them that I wasn't only "good on paper" (sure, my grades are good and I think my GRE scores were decent) but that I could really significantly contribute to the work being done in THEIR department.
Also, don't buy into this crap that an SOP has to be "a few paragraphs long" or one page. Mine was 12 or 13 pages in total. If you've got stuff to say that can sell you, say it. Academics are nothing if not long-winded. They like to see that you can write (and write, and write, and write...).
Good luck!
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I'm in an entirely different field but I just thought I'd jump into the thread to say that I used to work (from 2003 to 2006) in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell and the people in DEA are great. There was some fascinating research taking place in the department when I was there, and I'm sure that is still the case. Human Ecology in general is a really good environment and, in my opinion, one of the most interesting colleges on campus in terms of the diversity of disciplines housed within the college and the overall history of the college itself.
Good luck
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I am not familiar with either program but there is a thread dedicated to communication disciplines that might be a better place for this.
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I believe that one of the schools I'm waiting to hear from starts reviewing financial aid requests tomorrow. Ugh, the waiting is rough.
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Jasmineflower raises an excellent point - there are a lot of well respected, wholly online graduate programs (especially at the master's level) that might be good options for you. I don't know how financial aid will work in those cases, since it's not like you can have a TA-ship in a distance-learning scenario, but who knows? Maybe given your situation a faculty member would be willing to work with you from afar and you could still get some kind of tuition remission for helping with research or something along those lines. Good luck!
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If they've specifically identified this person as your "interim" supervisor, then I would assume that the intent is for you to find someone who is a better fit and switch at some point. I would set a meeting with this supervisor (even if it's a phone/Skype meeting if you're not in the area) and say that you're very excited about starting the program, very interested in his work (even if you're not) and that you'd just like to get some basic info on how the advising process works. Ask about this "interim" designation and how he would suggest you go about finding the right fit for a permanent supervisor. Remember, it's not personal, it's business. You might be a "student," but this is basically your job. As long as you're straightforward and professional, this person should be happy to answer your questions and help you to get settled.
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I don't have the same challenges that you have, but because of family obligations I was very limited in terms of where I could apply to school. My family recently relocated for my husband's job; I am married and we have two young kids aged 3 and 1. The move was expensive, even with his employer helping with relocation costs (we had a house to sell, etc.) and it was hard on my older daughter to suddenly leave her home, her daycare, her grandparents, etc. So as you can imagine, moving again was hardly an option--this move meant that I had to leave my job, and the move depleted our savings, so we just can't be uprooting ourselves. My husband has been building his career for 20 years and is at an executive level, which means job searches take a long time to complete and we need to maintain a certain salary in order to keep ourselves in the black.
So....I applied to two local programs, and two programs that are within a 2.5 hour drive, thinking that we could live at a half-way point and each have a difficult commute for a few years. All four of the programs are excellent and I certainly don't feel like I'll be settling at any of them (I've been accepted to two), but if I was ten years younger, single and childless, my school search would have looked much different. But hey, if I were ten years younger, single and childless, I probably wouldn't be at a point in my life where I was ready to jump into a PhD. So there you go....life gives you what it gives you.
Good luck - I'm sure you'll find the best course of action. We do what we have to do to, and I know it's cliched, but I really do believe that things work out exactly like they're supposed to in the end.
- CarlieE and katiemk1230
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Often times, the interview is really just the final phase of the admission process. They've already decided that they like you on paper and that they basically want you, but before they make the commitment of their time and money they want to actually talk to you and make sure you're all a good fit.
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Home Goods is awesome. I suppose my mother's world is now complete: she can boast that her daughter was accepted into a competitive graduate program AND that she saved 60% on her throw pillows. Life is good.
Love it. And now I want to go buy throw pillows.
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FWIW, I have a M.S. from Ithaca and my acceptance and TA-ship letter both just came standard USPS. (But that was in 2001 and for the Park School.) So in telling you this I might be helping you to cross IC off your possible list of senders of the letter. But then, who knows?
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Home Goods is a discount store for home decor and furniture. How can I compete with that?
Well, in your mother's defense, Home Goods is pretty awesome.
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I have have contacted one department about decision timelines and another department about funding timelines, and in both cases I sent a polite and friendly email with my questions to the department secretary (check the staff listing online) and she forwarded my request on to the appropriate faculty members, who wrote me back quickly and answered my questions.
I suppose a lot will depend on how many applicants they had and how many requests like this they're getting. And not to sound negative, but it may also depend on where you are on their list. If you're someone they are planning to accept, they will be quick to get back to you with positive and encouraging responses. If you're on the "no" list, they're not going to be so worried about keeping you happy.
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I'll be 37 when I start my PhD this fall, and while part of me does wish I'd gotten an earlier start, I also believe that everything happens in its own time and for its own reasons. If I had started school sooner, I may not have had a lot of the experiences I've had in the meantime--travel, marriage, kids. I may have put those things off or skipped them entirely. I'm in a good place and I know I'm ready for this.
On a side note, my husband is 43, and while he's not in the process of going back to school, I certainly don't think his age would be an obstacle if he decided that he wanted to go back. He works just as hard at his job, and at the home-work balance, as any grad student would. I'm sure he could be successful as a grad student at his age if that was what he wanted to do.
Go for it
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Anyone else waiting on funding info from a program before they can make a decision?
Yup - funding will be a huge part of my decision. Still waiting for funding info from one of the schools were I was accepted, and waiting for a decision from another school (which I hope will be an acceptance that includes a funding offer!).
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It's not personal, it's business, and no matter how much your POI likes you or genuinely wants you in her program, she knows that it's just business. Ultimately you have to do what is best for you. You'll never be judged poorly for doing the responsible, adult, and professional thing and there is nothing more professional than giving someone a head's up before they waste their time. A quick email to tell her you really appreciate the time she's spent with you but that you've chosen to accept another offer is all you owe her and all she'll expect from you.
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I think your first step is to narrow down your choices for a career path. You can't really start researching potential graduate programs if you don't know exactly what you want to do with your degree. (Besides, most people won't write you letters of recommendation if you can't give them a good reason for why you want to go to school, and you have to have a clear goal in mind to write a good SOP.)
I'm biased because communication is my area of study, but I say go back to your roots and start looking there. Communication is such a broad field with so many opportunities in teaching and outside of academia.
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Hey, thanks so much for your responses, everyone. I really appreciate the moral support!
Mediamom, are you a mom? Of course just ignore the question if it is too personal ... I'm only asking because I am a mom, as well as a grad student, and I'm always interested in other parents' experiences. I find that BEFORE I became a parent it was much easier for me to just tell myself that my judgemental family members could go xyz themselves ... now I feel I owe it to my daughter to maintain family relations. On the other hand, there's also the problem that some relatives feel a need to insult me IN FRONT OF my child -- saying things like "You've accomplished nothing in life," etc. -- and sometimes I wonder whether hearing these toxic comments isn't worse than just having no contact with them. Seems kind of like a lose-lose situation. Anyway, I'm not normally this negative ... just fishing for empathy and/or advice around here!
I am - my kids are only three and one, and I'll be returning to school this fall, so I haven't tried to juggle the mom life with the grad student life yet. But I think (know?!) I can do it! I understand what you're saying about wanting to maintain family relations for your kids' sake, and truly, having family support of any kind, even if it's just to take the kids for an afternoon while you grocery shop, is huge. But in the end, I think it comes down to what is most mentally healthy for YOU, which in turn becomes the healthiest choice for your children. You can't be the best mom you can be if you're constantly being put down, and your kids aren't getting the best possible role model if they're not seeing you stand up for yourself.
It's not an easy choice, but as my older daughter becomes more aware of what is being said and how people are treating each other, I've become much more aware of what she's exposed to. I used to put up with my father-in-law's often racist and misogynistic comments (mostly because we were always in his house and I didn't want to start a fight there, so I'd tune him out) but now that my daughter is old enough to repeat the things she hears, I'm not at all sorry to say that I've managed to keep her away from him.
Good luck....feel free to PM me if you just want to talk about mommy issues or anything else.
What should I do?
in Decisions, Decisions
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They can't "not accept" the cancellation. They can't force you to go to their school. But it is possible that you can ruffle some feathers and set yourself up to have some hurt feelings with someone whose path you have to cross later in life.
Personally, I say accept the offer and then pull out if you have to. There will be many who disagree with me, for a number of reasons. But I think that it's unreasonable and even unethical for a school to force you to make a choice before all of your other offers are in, and if that's the way they're going to play the game, then they're going to have to deal with people pulling out after having accepted. That's my thinking, anyway. I've been fortunate that my schools have not forced me to accept early and were understanding when I said I was waiting for one more decision. I think it's only fair.