mintless

@pato I hate this so much. Sending the best.

@deshypothequiez I applied to MCC; haven't heard anything, but I'm confident that one will be a rejection.

@pato and @twin35 I'll be there! Also waitlisted, but for media studies.

Anyone else here apply to Utah? According to last year's results, tomorrow should be the day they send out acceptances. A bundle of nerves over here! Going into this cycle my top two (they're always switching places!) have always been Utah and Minnesota. Minnesota waitlisted me, so hopefully at least one of my top choices will take me outright. I think Utah is a little less difficult to get into, so hopefully that will work in my favor... Good luck to anyone else who applied there!

@whitmanifesto interesting! Thank you

@whitmanifesto @pato @michellelaura92 Thank you; all you've said does make me feel better. Lot of nerves right now. @michellelaura92 Iowa is definitely near the top of my list, and my excitement is growing. I was less sure of my fit, but as I spoke with the faculty in interviews I could see really interesting angles I could take with my work that hadn't fully occurred to me yet. Very eager. The language of the email was "You are at the top of the waitlist, so there is a good chance that will be able to offer you admission should openings become available," and they invited me to the recruitment weekend, so hopefully it'll happen. Definitely appreciate the candor and detail; Minnesota is a program I am very interested in, but all they sent me a form email telling me I was on the waitlist and didn't respond to my follow-up inquiry.

Well. I went into this season feeling good. I have worked very hard over the past two years to make myself as strong a candidate as possible and thought I had done well. Apparently not. I have one acceptance from a program that is very unestablished, and all the really good schools I've applied to have either rejected or waitlisted me. This cycle is turning out to be rather depressing... I mean, even if I get off the waitlist I have to ask if I want to go somewhere where they weren't interested enough to actually accept me. Like, will the fact that I would be in like a second-class-citizen pool of admitted students hinder me when trying to get resources (summer fellowships or teaching appointments, travel money, etc.) or close attention from the department? Not a good day today.

@pato @sriracha18 interviews are the worst, you have to just make a fool of yourself and then wait weeks to see if they'll take you anyway

@Pato Wow that sounds amazing! I think I can guess...I may well hit you up in a PM, especially if I end up hearing from them. Glad to hear that its a great place to be. Sorry to hear that you're having to try and head elsewhere

Thank you very much @pato for the insight! I've applied to Minnesota, and they're my top choice (usually anyway! Sometimes Utah edges them out). The posted acceptance had me kind of spooked. If you have any insight as to what schedule the different areas are working on I'd of course love to hear it Sorry to hear about the circumstances of the transfer you're seeking but I hope the interview goes well! Just finished an interview with Iowa's media studies area yesterday, so I'm going through all that with them as well. Have you enjoyed the program at Minnesota while you have been in it?

Oh god. A Minnesota acceptance posted. My single top choice school. Freaking a bit...as usual.

Just in time to save me from hella anxiety...good news in the last hour! Email from Iowa for an interview on Monday (in the media studies area). Now for a new, but better, kind of nerves!

@Hao Hongtao @surprise_quiche Thank you, and hopefully you're right! This process is so grueling.

All the talk of Madison interviews is rattling me a little to be honest! I've heard nothing from anywhere else, and starting the season with a probable rejection is not easy. Especially because lately I've been thinking about what type of program I want to attend. I'd obviously like to attend the type of program whose graduates go onto prestigious jobs in PhD granting programs, and so I did some research. I looked at the faculty at all the PhD programs in comm to find faculty who look like they might have responded to job calls that, if they were open once I hit the job market, I would apply to. Unfortunately, I did this after applications were sent out. What I found were that five of the programs I applied to have a much more impressive record of their graduates going onto prestige jobs than the others. Wisconsin is one of those, and I'm less and less sure I want to attend a program whose graduates don't go on to prestigious jobs. My list can be divided into three tiers in terms of job placement, and I'm desperately hoping to get into a school in at least the middle tier. Hopefully the response from Madison is not indicative that I'll get dinged from all the top programs.

Welp. Looks like interviews for the area I applied to at Wisconsin have gone out, and I've heard nothing. Probably time to cross that one off the list. Not a fun way to start the cycle, but you gotta stay positive, right?

@Dan_Xu @GreenEyedTrombonist I've submitted there as well and been agonizing over it because I know this is the time their interview invitations come out! Can't believe that time is here already. I reached out to talk to people at 7 of the schools I applied to, but Madison was not one of them. I wonder how much that ends up having to do with who gets an interview. Good luck to both of you!

@GreenEyedTrombonist are applying to the SJMC or Comm Arts at Madison? I'm Comma arts, in the media & cultural studies area.

@bezzza08 @GreenEyedTrombonist It was so many! It was originally only 13, but the tax bill scared me into applying to some Canadian programs as well. The tuition-waiver taxing isn't in the final draft of the bill, but I didn't want to take any chances. At any rate, I've already paid now, and I ended up finding some really exciting looking places! Definitely had some near-breakdowns a few times, but I went through one year where I only applied to four programs. Two rejects, one interview that turned into a rejection, and one wait list placement that didn't pan out. I was not going to let that happen again. I also wanted to be sure to apply to top-tier, prestige programs because of the you never know factor, but also safer schools. A few years ago I only applied to top programs, which was a mistake. I think (hope!) I'll have better luck this time around, not only because of the sheer volume of applications, but also because I have put a lot of work in over the past few years to be a stronger candidate.

@Hao Hongtao It was honestly grueling! Hopefully it means I'll at least get in somewhere. Where all have you applied??

Welcome @bezzza08! Got one more app wrapped up yesterday, to Colorado State, a new/young program, but the faculty look great! Waiting on letters for my last six, and then I'll be done. Seventeeen applications. I'm a madman.

CONGRATS @GreenEyedTrombonist!!!!!!!!! Well done!

Thanks @GreenEyedTrombonist! Two more sent out now. 7 more to go. The thread is exceptionally quiet, it seems... Where is everyone's top choice?!

So, as you all know the right wants to destroy higher ed for all but the rich. This business about taxing tuition waiver is terrifying, but I have a question about the viability of a workaround. What would happen if I were to enroll in a Canadian university, as an American citizen, where I received a tuition waiver? In my understanding, there is a tax treaty that means, according to Turbotax: "Canada and the U.S. have an agreement that exempts a U.S. citizen from being taxed by the U.S. on income earned and taxed in Canada." A tuition waiver, in my understanding, is not taxed in Canada. The phrasing here says that the U.S. will not tax on "income earned and taxed in Canada." It seems that a tuition waiver would be earned in Canada, but not taxed in Canada. If then U.S. began treating tuition waivers as taxable income, would they then tax me on a Canadian tuition waiver because the Canadian government did not do so? It's all so confusing, but I hope my language has been clear enough to communicate the question. Any insight at all would be greatly appreciated.

I have submitted my first round! 8 applications sent out, and 5 to go. Although, I am still looking at additional programs abroad in light of this tax bill... Really bummed I wasn't able to submit to UNC in Chapel Hill. The way they describe their funding online sounds terrible so I didn't apply, but then I talked to some people at NCA who told me that the website is not correct, but I have not had the time to put together an application. Some really ideal people for me to work with there Best of luck to everyone!

@GreenEyedTrombonist What kind of show?!