2021 Application Thread for Communications Program

[jujubean]

Saw someone do this for 2020, and hoping to get one started for 2021!

Also hi there ? first post here, newbie to the grad cafe. I'm a Communications PhD hopeful, looking to study the intersection between sports, social media, and culture. Below are the schools I'm finishing up my apps to / looking to apply:

University of Alabama

UT Austin

USC

NYU

UNC

Penn State

Texas Tech

 

I read another post where I learned a bit about Brown's Modern Culture and Media PhD program, anyone have more info on that program? Anyone who is applying again and noticing big differences between applying this year and last year? Also, are there interviews generally for comms programs?

Good luck to all my fellow peeps!

[jujubean]

Looks like Brown's Modern Culture and Media program has actually paused admissions this year: https://www.brown.edu/graduateprograms/modern-culture-and-media-phd

 

So nevermind on that!

[MomoTodoroki]

Also a newbie here. I’ve been on Reddit but it seems to be primarily hard sciences and masters programs over there.

Looking to research ethics in artificial intelligence & digital media and its impact on marginalized communities.

I have had a difficult time finding schools that meet my criteria of substantive focus areas, PIs, cities I’d enjoy living in AND fully funded. As such, my list has been narrowed down to the following:

•UPenn

•Penn State

•UNC 

 

ETA: Communication & Visual Rhetoric (BA); Education, Secondary (MSEd). 5 years of professional work experience post undergrad. 

Edited November 20, 2020 by MomoTodoroki
Added background info.

[Kim2016]

Glad to see this thread open for Fall 2021!

I have a similar research interest as Momo - implications of growing influence of AI and IT giants in entertainment and media and impact of Asian American diaspora.

I applied to the following programs :

• UPenn ASC
• Northwestern Screen Cultures
• UT Austin RTF
• UC Berkeley Film and Media 
• UIUC ICR 
• NYU Tisch Cinema Studies 

I have a BA in Communication Arts - Radio, TV & FIlm, MFA in Documentaries and 10 years of professional work experience post undergrad. 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2020 by Kim2016

[chidi321]

Hi! Super nervous about the application season this year, I'm casting a wide net in hopes of getting into a program.

Applying to: 

• Northwestern 
• Umass Amherst
• Rutgers 
• Temple 
• AU 
• George Mason
• CU- Boulder 
• USC 

 

[kineto]

Hey folks! I'm interested in digital infrastructures, social movements, and transnational flows of technology. Would love to connect with anyone with similar interests so feel free to DM me. I also cast a wide net and applied to a couple information studies programs in addition to comms/media studies.

• American
• Cornell (Information Science)
• Michigan (Comm & Media)
• Michigan (Information)
• NYU (MCC)
• Penn Annenberg
• Rutgers
• Stanford
• UNC Hussman
• USC Annenberg

Good luck to everybody!!

[Kim2016]

20 hours ago, kineto said:

Hey folks! I'm interested in digital infrastructures, social movements, and transnational flows of technology. Would love to connect with anyone with similar interests so feel free to DM me. I also cast a wide net and applied to a couple information studies programs in addition to comms/media studies.

• American
• Cornell (Information Science)
• Michigan (Comm & Media)
• Michigan (Information)
• NYU (MCC)
• Penn Annenberg
• Rutgers
• Stanford
• UNC Hussman
• USC Annenberg

Good luck to everybody!!

I think we have somewhat similar research interest! I also thought about applying to few Information Studies PhD program but in the end decided not to...(already have certificate in Information Science+Studies from my Master's program) 

Have you looked into UW-Madison's iSchool? I saw their ad saying they fully fund PhD students but when I looked at their faculty bio none of them had similar interests as me. 

Curious if you reached out to anyone at Penn Anneberg before applying? 

Good luck! 

 

 

  

[kineto]

2 hours ago, Kim2016 said:

I think we have somewhat similar research interest! I also thought about applying to few Information Studies PhD program but in the end decided not to...(already have certificate in Information Science+Studies from my Master's program) 

Have you looked into UW-Madison's iSchool? I saw their ad saying they fully fund PhD students but when I looked at their faculty bio none of them had similar interests as me. 

Curious if you reached out to anyone at Penn Anneberg before applying? 

Good luck! 

 

 

  

Very cool to see someone else interested in IS and Comm!

Thanks for the recommendation! I looked at Wisconsin but didn't find a strong fit for my research either.

[doctoralwannabe]

Hey guys! 

I've also applied for a communication phd for fall 2021. (Columbia, USC, UPenn, UT Austin, Northwestern, NYU, Cornell, WIsconsin-Madison) 

Does anyone know if there is normally an interview for USC Annenberg? or any other information on other schools? USC is my top choice so I wanted to see if anyone knows whether they conduct interviews. 

I've read a lot of the posts from previous years and I believe Columbia University and UMich don't conduct interviews. 

 

Thanks! 

 

[kineto]

2 hours ago, doctoralwannabe said:

Does anyone know if there is normally an interview for USC Annenberg? or any other information on other schools? USC is my top choice so I wanted to see if anyone knows whether they conduct interviews.

I didn't see anyone mention an interview for USC, Penn, or Stanford in past threads or on the results page, so I don't think they do interviews. I know NYU MCC does require them. Not sure about the others.

[Kim2016]

I am not sure about USC but I was told by Penn they don't do interviews but will have a virtual campus tour for admitted students. 

Good luck! 

[Freekayak]

Hi all! So glad I found this thread and good luck to everyone! I am applying to the York-Ryerson PhD in Communication and Culture in Canada. Would love to connect with people who are applying to this program. 

[VeniVidiVici]

On 12/9/2020 at 12:17 PM, kineto said:

Hey folks! I'm interested in digital infrastructures, social movements, and transnational flows of technology. Would love to connect with anyone with similar interests so feel free to DM me. I also cast a wide net and applied to a couple information studies programs in addition to comms/media studies.

• American
• Cornell (Information Science)
• Michigan (Comm & Media)
• Michigan (Information)
• NYU (MCC)
• Penn Annenberg
• Rutgers
• Stanford
• UNC Hussman
• USC Annenberg

Good luck to everybody!!

I know Kent State University has a Ph.D. Program in Communication & Information (Combination between Com & Info). Kent State University is known for their iSchool, also known for Communication. Essentially the program is set up so that doc students have a primary home in 1 of 6 areas: "Media, technology & Society," Global Communication, Interpersonal Communication (the 3 areas on the com side), human information behavior, cultural heritage or knowledge organization (iSchool side). 

https://www.kent.edu/cci/doctoral-program-phd-communication-information 

[Kim2016]

Curious what are ya'll plans until Feb/March when the decisions roll out?

 

[chidi321]

On 12/21/2020 at 4:38 AM, Kim2016 said:

Curious what are ya'll plans until Feb/March when the decisions roll out?

 

Checking my email every 5-10 seconds ....

[Ajb1234567]

On 12/10/2020 at 8:05 AM, Kim2016 said:

 

  

I currently goes to UW-Madison. The communication program at UW-Madison is hard to navigate. Base on your interests, I think you should look into the Communication Art department rather then the school of journalism and mass communication. There are people in the psychology department that have those kind of research as well. I know the collaborate a lot. People over at family study department has similar interest too. Obviously, it focuses on how it plays out in a family context.       

Edited December 23, 2020 by Ajb1234567

[Kim2016]

1 hour ago, Ajb1234567 said:

I currently goes to UW-Madison. The communication program at UW-Madison is hard to navigate. Base on your interests, I think you should look into the Communication Art department rather then the school of journalism and mass communication. There are people in the psychology department that have those kind of research as well. I know the collaborate a lot. People over at family study department has similar interest too. Obviously, it focuses on how it plays out in a family context.       

Thank you! 

I actually did my undergrad at UW Madison Comm Arts department so I know few professors there but I didn't think they did the type of research I am interested in.

Also UW Madison Comm Arts program isn't fully funded right? (correct me if I am wrong)

 

[Kim2016]

8 hours ago, chidi321 said:

Checking my email every 5-10 seconds ....

lol same... but don't decisions won't be made until mid Feb for most programs? No point of checking emails daily now. 

[ShivD]

Hi! Thanks for this thread.
I wonder if anyone knows about NYU MCC interviews and what are they like usually? I've applied to: Northwestern Screen Cultures, NYU MCC, Univ of Wisconsin-Milwaukee English-Cinema, Media and Digital Studies track, UCB Film and Media. 

• I just want to be prepared in case I do get shortlisted at any of these programs. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

[Kim2016]

On 12/26/2020 at 7:52 PM, ShivD said:

Hi! Thanks for this thread.
I wonder if anyone knows about NYU MCC interviews and what are they like usually? I've applied to: Northwestern Screen Cultures, NYU MCC, Univ of Wisconsin-Milwaukee English-Cinema, Media and Digital Studies track, UCB Film and Media. 

• I just want to be prepared in case I do get shortlisted at any of these programs. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

Hi ShivD!

Curious why you applied to NYU MCC instead of Tisch?

Looks like we have overlap of Northwestern & UC-Berkeley. 

Good Luck!

 

[ShivD]

@Kim2016 Hi! I think for me... one was because even though Indian cinema is one of my sites of inquiry, I don't see it as a 'cinema studies' project. In that regards, mine is much of a "cultural theory" or "feminist and queer theory" project. I was still considering Tisch, but I didn't get much of an encouraging response from their faculty, and they noted that they don't have strength in Indian cinema. MCC made much more sense, because the way I want to study desire and fantasy in Bollywood has much to do with questions of public response, censorship and the cultural politics that it engenders, as much as it has to do with questions of representation. Then, I received very encouraging response from certain faculty at MCC, which helped me finalized my decision to apply to MCC, rather than Tisch. 

But because my project is a bit hydra-headed that way, I have actually applied to variety of programs. And hence Northwestern and UC-Berkeley. 

Would love to know what kind of project you have in mind? In any case, good luck to both of us for these programs! And a happy new year!  I really hope that 2021 will bring good news!

[Kim2016]

2 minutes ago, ShivD said:

@Kim2016 Hi! I think for me... one was because even though Indian cinema is one of my sites of inquiry, I don't see it as a 'cinema studies' project. In that regards, mine is much of a "cultural theory" or "feminist and queer theory" project. I was still considering Tisch, but I didn't get much of an encouraging response from their faculty, and they noted that they don't have strength in Indian cinema. MCC made much more sense, because the way I want to study desire and fantasy in Bollywood has much to do with questions of public response, censorship and the cultural politics that it engenders, as much as it has to do with questions of representation. Then, I received very encouraging response from certain faculty at MCC, which helped me finalized my decision to apply to MCC, rather than Tisch. 

But because my project is a bit hydra-headed that way, I have actually applied to variety of programs. And hence Northwestern and UC-Berkeley. 

Would love to know what kind of project you have in mind? In any case, good luck to both of us for these programs! And a happy new year!  I really hope that 2021 will bring good news!

Sounds awesome!! I've been to Mumbai once on a business trip last year and I thought it was a fascinating city. Yeah I contacted one of the faculty at Tisch too but her response was rather generic and was told that they only accept 3-4 PhD students every year. So not sure if I have a chance given the prolonged pandemic will see an uptick in applications this cycle. 

My topic is interdisciplinary as well! Rather than focusing on certain national cinema, I am interested in exploring how the global IT companies have changed the mode of production and distribution of media and its influence in Asian American diaspora. 

Hope all of us in this thread can get accepted into their desired programs! 

Good luck! 

[ShivD]

5 minutes ago, Kim2016 said:

Sounds awesome!! I've been to Mumbai once on a business trip last year and I thought it was a fascinating city. Yeah I contacted one of the faculty at Tisch too but her response was rather generic and was told that they only accept 3-4 PhD students every year. So not sure if I have a chance given the prolonged pandemic will see an uptick in applications this cycle. 

My topic is interdisciplinary as well! Rather than focusing on certain national cinema, I am interested in exploring how the global IT companies have changed the mode of production and distribution of media and its influence in Asian American diaspora. 

Hope all of us in this thread can get accepted into their desired programs! 

Good luck! 

That sounds really fascinating! I really hope too that you (and others) get into your desired programs. Yes, it is going to be a weird year though-- so many programs are crippled for funds and as you said, many might attract greater number of applications, with lesser intake (in some cases). That's what a lot of programs told me-- that their funding for international students might be severely limited this year, so... 
BUT, staying positive!

[svk21]

Hi, everyone. I applied to Temple, Penn, NYU MCC, Columbia, and USC. Nerves are starting to get to me. Wishing everyone luck!

[chidi321]

I am getting very nervous as well. ?

 

 

Edited January 4, 2021 by chidi321