2020 application thread

[historyofamanda]

2 hours ago, jocelynbymarcjacobs said:

Did anyone else not get accepted anywhere this year? Still waiting on NYU and Boston College who are evaluating my application for the MA, but even if I get in, probably couldn’t go. 

I'm still waiting to hear back from the University of Pittsburgh, I got rejections from the other two schools I applied to.

[historyofsloths]

5 hours ago, Titus Flavius said:

Still waiting on Penn and Fordham; was waitlisted at Indiana.

Do you think Penn isn't done with sending out their acceptances? They sent out acceptances and waitlist emails a few weeks back. I'm in the same boat, though. Was waitlisted by Indiana and Michigan.

[historyofamanda]

Saw one acceptance yesterday on the results page for Pitt, but haven't heard anything myself yet. Starting to feel really nervous, but the only thing that's giving me some hope is a professor I was interested in working with that I met with a few months ago e-mailed me a few weeks ago saying that the Director of Graduate Studies for the department asked her to reach out to me regarding my application and asked me whether I would be willing to have her serve as my advisor. I replied back to her immediately and said yes and haven't heard anything back from her since, but took it as (hopefully) a good sign. Still keeping my fingers crossed, really hoping for some news this week!

Edited March 3, 2020 by historyofamanda

[alphabet soup]

Do we know if Carnegie Mellon is doing things through mail this year? I saw two Carnegie Mellon rejections on the results page but they were both through Postal Service and there’s nothing on my application portal.

[historyofamanda]

Just now, alphabet soup said:

Do we know if Carnegie Mellon is doing things through mail this year? I saw two Carnegie Mellon rejections on the results page but they were both through Postal Service and there’s nothing on my application portal.

I was one of the CMU postal service rejections on the results page, I just got the rejection letter in the mail and they never updated my portal or e-mailed me.

[jocelynbymarcjacobs]

Finally got an acceptance for the MA at Boston College! Offered an 18k a year stipend. Unfortunately will probably wait and apply again next cycle to try and secure full funding. 
 

Does anyone have advice on taking a somewhat funded MA? My first inclination is to (sadly) turn down the offer. 

[FruitLover]

2 hours ago, jocelynbymarcjacobs said:

Offered an 18k a year stipend.

Does the stipend come without a tuition waiver? Or you mean you got an 18k/year scholarship that essentially makes your tuition lower?

[jocelynbymarcjacobs]

6 hours ago, FruitLover said:

Does the stipend come without a tuition waiver? Or you mean you got an 18k/year scholarship that essentially makes your tuition lower?

No tuition waiver, just 18k stipend. ?

[dr. t]

58 minutes ago, jocelynbymarcjacobs said:

No tuition waiver, just 18k stipend. ?

Just a casual note that the median 1br apartment rent near BC is around $2,000/month.

[jocelynbymarcjacobs]

23 minutes ago, telkanuru said:

Just a casual note that the median 1br apartment rent near BC is around $2,000/month.

Yes, have done lots of research in that department. Unfortunately, I don’t think there’s a way to make it work this go around. Hopefully next cycle brings better funding. 

[FruitLover]

3 hours ago, jocelynbymarcjacobs said:

No tuition waiver, just 18k stipend. ?

Oh, I see. I’ve never heard of stipends with no tuition waiver before...

[cryloren]

Anyone know if UCLA is done sending out letters?

[jocelynbymarcjacobs]

Who else received the MA offer from NYU with no funding attached? 

Edited March 5, 2020 by jocelynbymarcjacobs

[historyofsloths]

Just received my first acceptance! I've been offered full tuition plus a TAship at Lehigh for their MA program. I've also just sent emails to my two waitlists to see if it's worth it to take this offer. Relieved I have one offer on the table now. 

[gatto]

3 hours ago, jocelynbymarcjacobs said:

Who else received the MA offer from NYU with no funding attached? 

Me! I won't be accepting. Though NYU is my dream school, it's just not possible with no funding.

Hoping that Columbia offers funding for their MA. If not, I'll have to decide between a PhD at Temple, or waiting a year to apply again to NYU with a, hopefully, more competitive application. Not sure yet! If anyone has any advice on whether it's worth waiting or to just take the one offer I have, I'd love to hear.

[jocelynbymarcjacobs]

Just now, gatto said:

Me! I won't be accepting. Though NYU is my dream school, it's just not possible with no funding.

Hoping that Columbia offers funding for their MA. If not, I'll have to decide between a PhD at Temple, or waiting a year to apply again to NYU with a, hopefully, more competitive application. Not sure yet! If anyone has any advice on whether it's worth waiting or to just take the one offer I have, I'd love to hear.

I won’t be accepting either. I don’t want to be 100k in debt at the end of that!

Did Temple offer you a full funding package?

[psstein]

57 minutes ago, gatto said:

Me! I won't be accepting. Though NYU is my dream school, it's just not possible with no funding.

Hoping that Columbia offers funding for their MA. If not, I'll have to decide between a PhD at Temple, or waiting a year to apply again to NYU with a, hopefully, more competitive application. Not sure yet! If anyone has any advice on whether it's worth waiting or to just take the one offer I have, I'd love to hear.

Columbia's MA programs fund their PhD programs, so I wouldn't hold out for funding.

[gatto]

59 minutes ago, jocelynbymarcjacobs said:

I won’t be accepting either. I don’t want to be 100k in debt at the end of that!

Did Temple offer you a full funding package?

Exactly! It's really unfortunate that funding is so scarce for Master's students.

They did! The only issue is that it is my undergraduate school, and I would have liked to go elsewhere. However, the faculty is exceptional and I love all the people I've worked with so far. 

4 minutes ago, psstein said:

Columbia's MA programs fund their PhD programs, so I wouldn't hold out for funding.

Yeah, I've seen that in this thread. My hope is definitely more of the abstract kind. I wasn't even going to bother applying until an advisor for the program personally reached out. Then I figured, transferring the application is free and there's no harm in seeing! Thank you, though. If I hadn't been checking this thread earlier and thought I had a high chance at funding, I'd definitely be crushed later. 

[DanaJ]

4 hours ago, jocelynbymarcjacobs said:

I won’t be accepting either. I don’t want to be 100k in debt at the end of that!

Did Temple offer you a full funding package?

Funding is really tough for an MA. HOWEVER, if you are open to state schools, many of them require an MA before the admit PhD students. I was lucky enough to have a funded MA, but it was via a partial tuition scholarship and a partial scholarship the university allowed MA students to apply for. If you want to keep applying in the future, I would look for different combinations of funding to cover the MA. 

On a personal note, without an MA, I would have felt incredibly unprepared for my current doctoral program. Not to mention they don't accept students without an MA, but I think that time was incredibly beneficial. I think that all comes down to the individual, but I am incredibly thankful I did the MA.

[Manana]

I just got notified that I've been accepted to Oxford. I am so excited. Fingers crossed for funding... 

I was wondering, is it common practice to email your potential supervisor to thank them for their support and/or let them know whether you plan to accept the offer? 

[KTJ]

1 hour ago, Manana said:

I just got notified that I've been accepted to Oxford. I am so excited. Fingers crossed for funding... 

I was wondering, is it common practice to email your potential supervisor to thank them for their support and/or let them know whether you plan to accept the offer? 

I've been lurking for ages without saying much because no one else seemed to mention it...but me too!!! Congrats!

I may reach out to my supervisor, but am planning on asking some friends currently there if they think it'd be the norm. 

[Manana]

2 hours ago, KTJ said:

I've been lurking for ages without saying much because no one else seemed to mention it...but me too!!! Congrats!

I may reach out to my supervisor, but am planning on asking some friends currently there if they think it'd be the norm. 

Congrats to you too! I am beyond excited. Oxford is my first choice, I really hope to get funding.

I have just spoken to a friend who studies at Cambridge and she definitely thinks it's a good idea to write to them, so I've just sent an email. 

[history110]

Hi all! So I just got asked to interview for a fellowship (an editorial fellowship) at one of the schools I applied to. Does anyone have any tips for fellowship interviews? I've done a fair amount of job interviews, so I'm relying on those skills (though it's been awhile since I last applied to a job). Thanks!

[aco2]

On 3/2/2020 at 9:50 AM, jocelynbymarcjacobs said:

Did anyone else not get accepted anywhere this year? Still waiting on NYU and Boston College who are evaluating my application for the MA, but even if I get in, probably couldn’t go. 

I was also rejected everywhere this year, but I hear it's very common for the first time you apply. On to the next application season, I suppose.

[TMP]

7 hours ago, starshiphistory said:

Hi all! So I just got asked to interview for a fellowship (an editorial fellowship) at one of the schools I applied to. Does anyone have any tips for fellowship interviews? I've done a fair amount of job interviews, so I'm relying on those skills (though it's been awhile since I last applied to a job). Thanks!

You'll be fine.   just do your homework.