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MediaMom

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  1. MediaMom
    I don't think it's unfair for you to ask them to clarify the "upgrade." Tell them that you're considering another offer, and that in order to make the best choice possible you'll need more information. If they're sketchy about it then that might tell you something about whether or not this is the right program for you.
  2. MediaMom
    There is probably a lot more to this than what you've posted here, but what I'm reading is that regardless of your status--student, employed, whatever--your family will only view you as worthy of their love and acknowledgement if you make "enough" money, whatever that means. Your family sounds like a bunch of shallow, mean spirited, useless asses. Just because you share their DNA doesn't mean you have to share their BS. I would just go on living my life with my friends and let them do whatever it is people like that do. But that's just me. Oh, and the cousin can take her wedding registry and shove it. I wouldn't go.
  3. MediaMom
    Congrats, edost!
  4. MediaMom
    Yay! Sounds like an offer to me. A lot of people are initially offered acceptance over the phone and have to wait for the "official" letter to come, so I think this is a pretty standard procedure. Congratulations! And you thought you were going to get a whole boatload of rejections.
  5. MediaMom
    I have work experience, but I have to agree with commsch12 and say that what's likely to impress an adcomm more is a clear sense of what you want to study (communication is such a broad field and you really need to be able to narrow your interests down and show that you have a clear focus) and a strong writing sample that shows you have an understanding of the current research in the field and how it applies to your research interests. You also need to show that you recognize which faculty members in the department are doing work that aligns with your chosen field of study, so that you can demonstrate you are capable of making significant contributions to the work being done in the department. I have a friend who is a faculty member who was admitted to several PhD programs with almost no non-academic experience - she went from her BA to a MS, worked for less than a year and then went into a PhD program.
  6. MediaMom
    You might want to consider starting a casual and friendly back-and-forth with some of the grad students. This way you can learn a lot about the overall culture of the department; how the grad students view their experience there, what they think of particular faculty members, how collegial it all is, what the city is like. And if you end up going to school there, you'll already have friends in the program.
  7. MediaMom
    Not to be rude, but I have never understood why people get so stressed out about how to say no to an offer--I see this with job offers as well. You don't owe anybody a long, drawn out explanation. It's business, not personal. Dear So-and-so, I am flattered and excited to have been accepted into the program at YOURSCHOOL, and I appreciate your offer. However, after careful consideration I have chosen to enroll elsewhere. Thank you. Sincerely, YOUR NAME The end.
  8. MediaMom
    My guess would be that it's different in every department. Each department has its own "culture" and its own way of doing things; I'm sure some allow and even expect the DGS to take the lead in these decisions, while others expect him/her to have only the same say as other faculty members. I'm finding that no two schools seem to handle the application and admission process in quite the same way.
  9. MediaMom
    FYI for edost - and anyone else who may be interested - I exchanged emails with the DGS at UAlbany and he said that applications have been/are being prescreened by the admission committee, and then final decisions will be made by the faculty as a whole in a meeting that will take place in a couple of weeks. So decisions are coming...but not for a little bit.
  10. MediaMom
    I saw that, but the wording was vague, something like, "Decisions are made six to eight weeks after the deadline OR the completion of the application." I submitted my application in the first week of December, so it's been a long time, but surely they can't wait six to eight weeks from today's deadline. So yeah, hopefully I'll know more soon. The department website says that they begin to review assistantship applications on March 1, so I wonder if they just wait until early March and notify of acceptances/funding all at once? Oh well, either way I guess it can't be much longer.
  11. MediaMom
    I'm glad you finally found something out - fingers crossed for you.
  12. MediaMom
    It's worth noting that when talking with friends of mine who are either faculty members or PhD students, most of them agreed that while the GRE may not factor in heavily for admission decisions, they are often very important in deciding on funding. This may just be for my field (communication), but one faculty member in another discipline also told me this.
  13. MediaMom
    I seem to be in the minority in having applied to Albany, but today (Feb 20) is FINALLY the application deadline so I hope to be hearing from them very soon. The saddest part is that I'm already leaning toward another school I've been accepted to, but I don't want to make a decision until I have all of the information in hand, and I know I'd be upset if I went ahead and committed elsewhere and then an offer finally came from Albany that was good. Ah! I would love to know why they have such a late deadline, especially since they don't do rolling admission reviews. It seems to me like it would put them at a disadvantage, since many of the people they extend offers to probably have already accepted elsewhere. Anyway, that's where I am!
  14. MediaMom
    Most graduate programs will not "force" you to make a decision before April 15; that should be true for both of you, regardless of which of you is notified of decisions first. This is so that people can make their choices based on all available information. It's only fair. If they are giving you a deadline of earlier than April 15, I would contact them and say that you're waiting to hear back from a few of the schools to which you've applied (even if you're not) and that you're not able to finalize your plans for the fall until you have all of your decisions. They should be accommodating in giving you a deadline extension. If they are not - well that might tell you everything you need to know about that program. One concern - my understanding is that while they must hold your acceptance until April, they may not have to hold funding offers. Make sure that is clarified. Good luck!
  15. MediaMom
    It depends on the program. Not all of them even do interviews. I've gotten two acceptances and have not been interviewed anywhere yet. If the programs you've applied to definitely hold interviews (if you're seeing on the results survey that people are scheduling them) and you're not invited to one, then it could mean you've been rejected or wait listed.
  16. MediaMom
    FYI - Monday is a holiday and most university administrative offices are closed. With it being admission season, that may not be the case for admission offices....but most professors probably won't be there. Same goes for department staff.
  17. MediaMom
    I'm not familiar with USC's system, but in the acceptances I've gotten so far, there is an "accept offer" link on the log-in page. I think you're in. Remember, those pages aren't updated by the committee, but by the grad school/grad studies office, and they're not on the same timeline as the departments. That might explain why your status was only in the "review" stage for a short time. Good luck - it looks good!
  18. MediaMom
    From undergrad and grad school, I have about 47K in loans. My hope is that I can put my loans into deferral when I return to school, but still continue to make occasional payments on the principal as we have extra cash. (I haven't talked to Sallie Mae about it yet, though.) I'm fortunate that my husband works full time and that our family health insurance is through his employer, so as long as I'm well funded with a TAship or something like that, I won't have to take additional loans. When I was in my master's program, I was single, and while my TAship provided a tuition waiver, it only offered a tiny stipend. So I had to take out loans for living expenses. It's a hard choice, especially knowing that it can take a while to work up to a decent salary as a professor. But I'm in the same boat as you are, age-wise (I'll be 37 when the semester starts) and I'd like to get at least 20 years in on a faculty, so it would be nice if I could finish my PhD by the time I'm in my early 40s. Isn't it bizarre to be this old?! I don't feel like I'm nearing 40, that's for sure. I never would have thought 20 years ago that I'd be launching a career at this stage. But like you, I was a bit of a late bloomer, and it took me a while to figure out that this is what I want to do.
  19. MediaMom
    @Scrapster - To build on Fanon's advice about taking the job and taking coursework part-time, if Amherst is not able to offer you non-matriculated or part-time status, consider taking a class or two from an accredited online program. Perhaps even talk to the people at UMass about what courses might be good to take, that could potentially be accepted into their program as transfer credits at a later date. If nothing else, taking a course online like a methods course could result in something publishable or presentable, so while you're waiting to reapply to school (should you choose to) you'll also be building your CV with research credits.
  20. MediaMom
    Most of the schools I looked into said that they did not have a specific cut off, but had some vague wording about admitted applicants being in the "competitive" range. Whatever that means. One of the schools I applied to said something like, "consider a combined score of 1100 to be a good starting point," and my combined score is 1290, so I took that to mean that I was probably in good shape all around. The one school where I thought my scores might be a problem has already accepted me.
  21. MediaMom
    Four days until the application deadline at UAlbany. Not that I'm counting, or at all impatient for some news. Nope, not me. I love uncertainty. It's super fun. I would have to apply to a program with one of the latest deadlines I've ever seen.
  22. MediaMom
    To the original poster - Sounds like an acceptance to me. My guess is that they've got a few people on the wait list that they'd really like to offer admission to, so they're feeling out a few of the definite yeses to see if any of them have changed their minds. If you come back and say thanks but no thanks, then they know they can just pull you from the running and jump right to the wait list.
  23. MediaMom
    Hey, it's not over until it's over. If you're on a wait list somewhere, you could get a late-in-the-game phone call when people start to decline offers. Good luck.
  24. MediaMom
    I can't speak for every graduate program out there, but I have a master's degree and my program was very diverse in terms of age and experience. I was in my mid-20s when I was in the program, but I had significant work experience already, and I think it put me at a distinct advantage over students who were fresh out of UG. (For what it's worth, I was a non-trad UG who worked full-time while in school, and I think the workplace and time management experience gave me an edge over traditional students then as well.) I think that most programs are looking to admit people who can be successful in the program, bottom line. Some young students are very capable, and some older students are not. What matters is competency and a passion for your work.
  25. MediaMom
    I think it depends on your field, as well as the size of the program. For example, there are two programs in my field that I know of (I did not apply to them) that accept fewer than five people each year, and they conduct interviews. The programs I've applied to accept more than that, but between 10-20 people per year. I've been accepted to two programs and was not interviewed for either, just notified of my acceptance.
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