Stressica

Thanks Eigen. I do understand. I was surprised but overly accepting when they told me it wouldn't affect 2014-2015. The most frustrating part is that I made a decision to attend based on what I thought was locked in aid, and now I have no idea what my aid will actually be. If our combined income will impact aid to the point that I can't attend, it would be nice to know that now, just as other students do. I don't think I can submit a correction until after the marriage, however. I suppose most people are smart enough to avoid putting admissions, financial aid, and marriage into the same year. Combined with healthcare reform I really know how to pick a great marriage year. As somewhat of an aside, I do wonder if the program's "fee-based" existence is part of the reason this is so tricky. The award calculated a tuition estimate that is half the actual cost of tuition for the program.

Hello everyone! I was accepted to a master's program at a public university in the United States. I'm a resident of the state. The program is unfunded and fee-based. The cost for residents, non-residents, and international students is the same. I was offered loans through FAFSA. What was offered to me can cover the costs of the program, but just barely. As the title of this post implies, I'm getting married this year. My fiance is working, I'm not. I called my school numerous times to ask about how getting married will impact my financial aid. They said it would impact aid for 2015-2016, but not 2014-2015. I accepted the offer this week and am also accepting the aid. BUT, one of the terms in accepting aid: "I understand that this award is based on information I have provided about my financial status. I agree to report to the Office of Student Financial Aid any changes in my financial situation, including, but not limited to: changes in marital status, Washington State residency status, any additional income, scholarships or other funds I may receive after accepting this aid. This includes all departmental scholarships or stipends, RA or TA positions, room or board allowances or subsidies, or any other source of support. I understand that these changes or corrections may result in a reduction of awards and/or require repayment of aid already received." I interpret this as YES, getting married will impact my aid for 2014-2015, and I won't know how much until I get married and report it, which will be right before school starts. Has anyone ever been in this situation or known anyone in this situation? I'd love to hear your thoughts. "Don't get married" is not a solution -- we've been waiting for 10 years! Thank you!

I went ahead and asked which they prefer. The department specializes in research about computer-mediated communication so... I mean... I assumed... I think my reservations come from fear of being overly aggressive with my top choice school. I figure email gives people an opportunity to respond when it's convenient for them instead of me, but yes, this does lead to problems. I do like the phone for billing, insurance, veterinarians, and healthcare (so many redials). Not a total lost cause, but pretty close.

I was spared the agony of trying to figure out how to approach this diplomatically over the phone. Finally heard from the department through email this morning. D: Thanks again fuzzylogician.

Thank you everyone for your responses! The saga in which I attempt to correspond with my department continues. I've sent follow-ups and additional emails to different people (all listed as MS advisors), but I can't seem to inspire a response. I've expanded my questions beyond funding, as the April 15 deadline is approaching. I have searched for answers on the website, to the point of putting together a tentative schedule for next year, but I still have questions. Only theories I can think of: I'm getting caught in spam folders, which is possible, but I was in contact with another department at the same school a year ago and had success with the same email address. That department was timely, responsive, and helpful. Regardless I probably should try from another address. I just don't want to get annoying. They accepted about 130 people last year, and I assume numbers are similar this year. I'm not sure what typical master's numbers are, but if this is a large cohort maybe it's hard to respond to inquiries? My questions are being perceived as invalid or stupid, and I will be forced to sit at the unpopular table in the school cafeteria if I accept the offer. It's middle school all over again.

I'm glad to hear you were able to get in touch with the professor. That is good news! I'm anticipating the day I check this thread and see "I had my interview!" It will happen.

Thank you for these responses! The email sadly did not allude to a physical letter or more information to follow. I was wondering about this. The contact is an "Academic Services Manager" and from the directory seems to be the person new students should go to, but maybe I'm wrong! There are a couple of professors who are listed as advisors for "prospective and current master's students," too. Maybe I should try contacting a professor instead? Thank you for that great insight, fuzzylogician. I will try again this week.

Thank you for this question, I am in a very similar position right now and appreciate everyone's answers, too.

I'm trying to get a feel for how common this is. I was accepted to my top school a couple of weeks ago. Shortly after receiving the acceptance letter, I sent a short email to the new student advisor (who also signed the admit letter) asking about funding opportunities on campus. The program is completely unfunded (master's), so it's kind of a big deal. I haven't heard anything since then, and I'm beginning to think there will not be a response. I'm sure the department gets a lot of inquiries about this same topic. How usual is it to have trouble corresponding with your department as an accepted student? Do I need to chill, or should I be concerned? Is this a sign of things to come as an unfunded master's student? I appreciate any insight or advice.

I intended to apply this year, but the group I applied to previously is not accepting students. I checked the Open House listing at least 20 times before realizing: "I don't understand, why aren't they--OOOH NO! NOOOOOO!" My interview was conducted exactly a year ago this week. Keep in mind that my experience reflects only one application season and group. It could be very different this year. I did not check the portal very often, but I think it had been updated around the time emails went out.

I agree, this is unusual and I daresay poor form on the group's part. When I was contacted, we scheduled a date and time that same week. Since you have a personal contact, you could email him/her a short follow-up (nicely) asking about your interview. I'd like to think they wouldn't initiate personal contact unless they were serious. I'm sorry this is happening to you. No problem Yash! Best of luck to you.

I got the impression that all results (reject/accept/waiting list) were sent out at the same time last year, early on a Monday (March 11, 7:19 am). I can also share that the waiting list closed on March 26 last year. Ooooh believe me, I would know. @medialab14, how were you initially contacted about an interview? Did the request come from a "real" person/email?

It's hilarious reading about these experiences. Sometimes it's too easy to feel like you're the only one. I tried setting up filters to catch some of the more predictable mail, but alas, those filters couldn't prevent my heart from skipping a beat each time a new mail came in.

For what it's worth, last year I didn't get an interview request until March 5. (I do think this was a bad sign, as I was waitlisted, but I was happy to have an interview and in many ways the experience helped me.) It's difficult to know where you really stand even from all the information we gather here. I will never forget the emotional distress I felt this late in February when I read that others were interviewing, and my heart goes out to all Media Lab hopefuls.

Haha, I second that. I love your user name -- it captures the confusion so well. I am not a PhD applicant, and really the worst person to give any advice on POI correspondence, but for what it's worth, I think compiler_guy is right. It's great to get a personal email like that. I also think that it's perfectly acceptable for a student to say he or she is waiting until decisions are sent to commit to any program or group. I imagine it happens all the time, especially in the middle of the season. Delivery and expression of interest matters, and it sounds like you're on it. Don't worry too much about not having received a response. Even professors I'm close to don't always respond to emails where I'm interested (project, class, program, gardening tip) but waiting for more information to come in. Congratulations on the master's admit, too.

Aaaw, I'm sorry to hear that mimuc. I'm sure they know that students are nervous. I can't imagine they would have interviewed you if they weren't seriously considering you. Hold in there.

I applied to Lifelong Kindergarten and Civic Media. No word on my end, either. I can see in analytics that my portfolio has not been accessed, which makes me think I was filtered out quite early. Interestingly Chris Peterson recently wrote an article about the problems analytics pose to the admissions process. I don't want to infer too much, but it's hard not to at this point in February. :*) Pair analytics with admissions forums like this one, and we the applicants really do accept a great deal about where we stand prior to official notice. Aaah, in any case, I am glad I applied. Good luck to everyone. You're not alone.

Thank you jjsakurai, this is good advice.

Thank you everyone for your helpful responses. Regarding getting in touch with HCI professors, I have felt this would help me find a good match, but I have also worried that contacting professors directly is "poor practice." What are your thoughts on and experiences with this?

Thanks for your response. I forgot to specify -- I am interested in a professional MS, not research. The types of jobs I am interested in are along the lines of software engineer.

Hello everyone, First off, I have been enjoying lurker status on these forums over the past several months. It's been inspirational, encouraging, and (at times) disappointing to read about what everyone is going through. You are an amazingly talented and motivated bunch. As for myself, I'm not quite as amazing. I'd like to share my background and, if anyone is willing, get some input. I appreciate any feedback, thoughts, or suggestions regarding where I go from here. I graduated from an unknown state university in 2009. I majored in visual communication design, which is essentially a slightly more academic version of graphic design. In the tail end of my schooling, I achieved a minor in programming. I took 6 classes overall, but I would only consider 3-4 of them foundation courses (programming principles series and data structures). I did well as a BA student. I graduated with a cumulative 4.0 GPA and was selected as one of four recipients of the university's highest honor among graduating health, science, and engineering students. After graduation, I was marketable to advertising agencies on account of my design and technical skills. I spent the next 3 years working as a web programmer in the advertising industry. 2 years ago, I was hired by an agency that serves as a web development vendor for other advertising agencies nationwide. This job gave me an opportunity to design and build web-based content management applications for many Fortune 500 companies. I recently left my job to return to school. I am interested in returning to school at this point for professional reasons. I feel there is more for me to learn, and I would like to branch beyond advertising and work on more socially-significant, experimental, and long-term projects. Ultimately I love building things on the web, especially community-oriented projects. It has been my passion for a long time, and is the reason I majored in design. I wish I had found my "CS legs" sooner, but unfortunately I was too afraid. I originally came here in search of graduate opportunities at well-ranked schools. However, I can see now that my undergraduate curriculum and achievements do not compare with qualified CS applicants. I feel at this point it may be appropriate for me to earn a second bachelor's degree, but I have also learned that many schools do not allow this. (My hope was that these schools would admit graduate students from diverse backgrounds and allow them to take prerequisites as part of the program, but it's been difficult for me to see where this is and isn't happening.) At this point I think I have a few options if I would like to partake in a well-known program: Pursue a second bachelor's degree at a known university that allows second degrees. Because I have a BA, I think I will qualify for schools that award second degrees to students who have not already earned a similar degree. This could be a good option for a number of reasons, one being that I am missing most science, math, and foundation courses that excellent grad candidates already have. From here I would hope to be a more qualified graduate candidate. I know, right? Long haul. Take the subject GRE. I'm not going to lie, this option intimidates me. If CS majors get rocked, I imagine I'd come out a glutinous pile of muck -- thoroughly lashed and humiliated. I do not feel this is something I could prepare for without taking additional classes and setting aside a lot of time for self-paced study, and even then it's hard to say what my results would be compared to those who have been studying math and CS for 4-5 years. Pursue a graduate program that is interdisciplinary, like HCI which seems to find a different home at different schools. I suspect that many who read my profile will say that I should consider HCI at a school that accepts students with limited math and science. (I do realize that many HCI programs are CS-oriented and do expect math/science majors.) Perhaps this is what I will do. My concern, however, is that these programs will not allow me much opportunity to further study CS. When I return to work, I would like to be hired as a programmer again, and I'm afraid an interdisciplinary degree will not change my current prospects. What are your thoughts? Are you part of a program where someone with my kind of profile has been successful? Thank you for taking the time to read about my predicament, I do appreciate it. Jess