2021 Application Thread for Communications Program

[bbarbara]

9 hours ago, doctoralwannabe said:

Just got my rejection letter from USC. Quite disappointed.  

I applied to 5 and only waiting for Columbia now. 

Was rejected from 3 schools (USC, UMich, NYU) and waitlisted from UT Austin. 

I wonder how many students will get off the waitlist. 

 

I got my rejection from USC yesterday... I knew it was a long shot anyway, so I wasn't too disappointed. I hope you get into the program that you like  

[KatGrad757]

For those that have been accepted into more than 1 program, what factors are you using to decide which school/program you're going to choose to attend?

[MelissaConway]

Has anyone applied to the Comms PhD program at University of Maryland?  Based on the accept/deny dates from the past few years, it seems like the program is releasing their info later this year.  Trying not to be anxious ... hahahahahhahhaaaa, right.

[Larik001]

3 hours ago, knight26 said:

Any other Comm MA applicants around? I've been accepted to Alabama, UCF, George Washington, and American. I'm still waiting on Wake Forest and Florida, it's been about 10 weeks. Has anyone heard anything about fellowships/aid from any of these schools. Best of luck to you all, keep your head up!

Which one in Florida?

[graycoffee]

On 2/23/2021 at 5:01 PM, NJGrad2025 said:

Admissions Update: I got into Rutgers!!

Rutgers was the only school I applied to so I was nervous waiting to hear back. I am relieved that I was accepted and can't wait for recruitment day in March. Has anyone else committed to Rutgers? Let me know

I got an admit a few weeks ago, but I'm waitlisted for funding. I'm trying to work something out, but right now it's super up in the air. What program are you going for?

[6fifths]

11 hours ago, KatGrad757 said:

For those that have been accepted into more than 1 program, what factors are you using to decide which school/program you're going to choose to attend?

I've been asking a LOT of questions trying to determine which is the best fit culturally, academically, and financially. I was a little lucky in that I haven't gotten a rejection yet and every program I applied to offered funding, so I kinda got to skip Step One of "cut any place where I would starve." But then I compared funding packages in comparison to cost of living, and ended up cutting New Mexico from my list off the bat. Then I started asking about cultural fit in the department/college.

I asked Maine and LSU how they each manage to minimize burnout in the program/how students manage their responsibilities. Both had good answers (v basic "we try to be collaborative, not competitive!" stuff), so I asked for current students' contact info to sniff around what they think. Again, both solid answers. I talked to Dr. Herakova at Maine about some of the interactions I had with some alums, and that helped clear some stuff up, too. I also asked about what it was like to live in Orono or Baton Rogue, and both programs had folks who leveled with me because they pretty easily sniffed out what I was really asking. I appreciated that, tbh. But a lot of questions were about work load, the closeness of cohorts, travel groups for conferences, etc.

Then a lot of it came down to asking a LOT of questions about how my work/interests fit in with the rest of the department. I am into disability studies, but I don't wanna get shoehorned into health comm as a bad replacement. Like, I've done REUs and worked with data sets where I wasn't thrilled about the work, but I definitely can't do that long-term. I'd burn out instantly. So I asked about coursework, and how I would be able to apply my interests. Eventually, I sat down with my advisor over Zoom with all the emails pulled up and we figured out which program seemed like the best fit possible as a combination of funding, research fit, and cultural fit. It took like 30 minutes of chatting but we figured it out.

[knight26]

16 hours ago, Larik001 said:

Which one in Florida?

University of Florida! 

[Larik001]

I feel like today is the day where I will hear from CU Boulder and Florida State. I checked the result timeline for Florida State they give acceptances to PhD candidates mid-March, however, there is an interview and I did not receive an invitation yet. Does anyone know Florida State's process of admission for PhD communication program?

P.S. Florida state started giving out acceptances for MA in Communication and Science Disorder majors two days ago

[Anthrowantro]

Any news from NYU MCC post-interview? They said they'll send out results last week. 

[Laurag96]

Updating based on new feedback from programs.

U Oregon - accepted w/ full funding + scholarship (which is AMAZING)

University of Michigan - Rejected, no interview

Penn State - Rejected after an interview and a two day open house

LSU - Waiting to hear back after a two day open house and a combined four days where I had at least one interview with a faculty member per day.

After the LSU open house, I've discovered that I'm really interested in their program. Both Oregon and LSU both had the most open, honest, and interesting faculty for my research interests.

Penn State's rejection this morning was definitely disappointing after a fairly grueling two days of interviews and sessions, but I know it all happens for a reason  I knew Penn State was a really competitive program, and that there was only 2-3 faculty members who had research that really aligned with me, so it was always a reach.

[jujubean]

On 1/27/2021 at 9:08 AM, knight26 said:

I know it's a different program, but have you/anyone who is applying to Alabama heard back? It's been 9 weeks and I know the merit scholarships give priority to the applicants who are accepted earlier.

I had a phone call chat with a professor there, but it wasn't an official interview. She mainly thought my area of proposed study was interesting as it was super similar to hers and she offered to give me more insights, but I haven't heard anything from the actual school.

[knight26]

16 minutes ago, jujubean said:

I had a phone call chat with a professor there, but it wasn't an official interview. She mainly thought my area of proposed study was interesting as it was super similar to hers and she offered to give me more insights, but I haven't heard anything from the actual school.

I actually just got accepted about a week ago, but I'm an MA student so it might be a little different. It took almost 2 months.

Edited March 1, 2021 by knight26

[jujubean]

So exciting to see everyone's acceptances roll in -- congrats to all who have heard good news!

I've been a bit more unlucky -- the ones I've heard back from so far have been rejections. Those include:

• USC
• NYU MCC
• Penn State
• UT Austin

Which just leaves me waiting for Alabama. Fingers crossed!

[knight26]

1 minute ago, jujubean said:

So exciting to see everyone's acceptances roll in -- congrats to all who have heard good news!

I've been a bit more unlucky -- the ones I've heard back from so far have been rejections. Those include:

• USC
• NYU MCC
• Penn State
• UT Austin

Which just leaves me waiting for Alabama. Fingers crossed!

You got this! 

[bbarbara]

19 minutes ago, jujubean said:

So exciting to see everyone's acceptances roll in -- congrats to all who have heard good news!

I've been a bit more unlucky -- the ones I've heard back from so far have been rejections. Those include:

• USC
• NYU MCC
• Penn State
• UT Austin

Which just leaves me waiting for Alabama. Fingers crossed!

It's certainly a difficult year. Hang in there! Remember that it's not the end of the world if you don't go to grad school this year, but I hope you are happy with wherever you end up  

[LCZ]

Hi! I am getting antsy about hearing back, mostly because I want to make a decision. Has anyone heard from Nebraska or Mizzou recently? I am already doing virtual open houses with my accepted programs (UT, CU Boulder, George Mason) but haven't heard a peep from the above schools. I even tried emailing the program director but no dice. Why so late?

[Larik001]

20 minutes ago, LCZ said:

Hi! I am getting antsy about hearing back, mostly because I want to make a decision. Has anyone heard from Nebraska or Mizzou recently? I am already doing virtual open houses with my accepted programs (UT, CU Boulder, George Mason) but haven't heard a peep from the above schools. I even tried emailing the program director but no dice. Why so late?

Which program at CU Boulder? Is it PhD in Communication? If so, mind I ask you when did you hear an acceptance? And did they already made all their final decisions regarding PhD canddiates?

[LCZ]

8 minutes ago, Larik001 said:

Which program at CU Boulder? Is it PhD in Communication? If so, mind I ask you when did you hear an acceptance? And did they already made all their final decisions regarding PhD canddiates?

Yes, a Ph.D. in Communication Studies. I heard back from them on February 10th. I have no idea about what other decisions they have left. They are also the only program I've heard from about funding.

[Coeurl]

Hi all, a lot of results being posted here while overnight (for me). Fingers crossed for those of you waiting for a good news and congratz to people who got admission!

Just a question, I haven't heard from one particular program which the application was due December 1st. I have received admission from an another school but unable to officially accept it because of a single late result. Considering it's already March I'm presuming it's a no, so I have literally 0 expectations. 

The admission letter came on January 13th, it's been around for a while. It came particularly early but with no information about funding. It's an MA program. I'm concerned about whether funding is based on the date of admission or the date of official acceptance. Can I leave it lying around, or am I at a need to act quickly?

[Laurag96]

22 hours ago, jujubean said:

So exciting to see everyone's acceptances roll in -- congrats to all who have heard good news!

I've been a bit more unlucky -- the ones I've heard back from so far have been rejections. Those include:

• USC
• NYU MCC
• Penn State
• UT Austin

Which just leaves me waiting for Alabama. Fingers crossed!

Did you go to the Penn State open house by chance? I also got a rejection there (after the interviews + two day open house lol)

[jomo]

Hi everyone,

My admission cycle has officially come to an end after getting accepted to NYU's MCC Ph.D. program. I received a call a couple of hours ago and I am still processing this new reality. It has been a tough ride but I am happy that it paid off. I am also writing this to share my journey, hoping that future applicants can be guided by my experiences. 

I am an international student completing my MA degree here in the US. My bachelor's degree is from my home country and my research interest centers on news media and what shapes their coverage of contentious issues. I began the applications in June, 6 months before the December 1 deadline. While many people wondered why I did this, I am glad I started early. This made me narrow down to seven schools that had faculty members who worked on topics that I am interested in. This also allowed me to reach out to faculty members early enough. I started sending out emails in July and also had Zoom chats with some of them. This demonstrated that I am proactive and it allowed faculty members to me and my research interests. 

These conversations also shaped my personal statement. I started working on it around the same time. My draft has been seen and edited by at least 10 people; my colleagues, mentors, past professors, etc. This helped sharpen my writing and made it clearer. I wouldn't have achieved this if I did not start early. By December 1, my statement was concise and very clear. Please, start writing this document early. It really helps make you research interest clear and easy to read and understand. Doing it a couple of weeks or even months might make it difficult. If you are really interested in grad school, start working on the personal statement at least four months before. This will allow you to make changes as you read more academic work. You will also get time to share with academics and mentors who will advise and critique your work.  

As I mentioned, I narrowed down to 7 schools; accepted by 2 (NYU&Rutgers), waitlisted by 2(UT Austin & Indiana), rejected by 2(UPenn&Harvard) and Columbia is yet to decide. NYU was my top choice so I will go ahead and accept. If you are waitlisted by Rutgers, I will decline my offer to make sure waitlisted candidate get the offer.

To everyone who got admitted, congratulations. To the ones who didn't, it's not the end of the journey. Prepare and come back stronger in the next admission cycle. 

Thank you all. 

[ShivD]

15 hours ago, jomo said:

Hi everyone,

My admission cycle has officially come to an end after getting accepted to NYU's MCC Ph.D. program. I received a call a couple of hours ago and I am still processing this new reality. It has been a tough ride but I am happy that it paid off. I am also writing this to share my journey, hoping that future applicants can be guided by my experiences. 

I am an international student completing my MA degree here in the US. My bachelor's degree is from my home country and my research interest centers on news media and what shapes their coverage of contentious issues. I began the applications in June, 6 months before the December 1 deadline. While many people wondered why I did this, I am glad I started early. This made me narrow down to seven schools that had faculty members who worked on topics that I am interested in. This also allowed me to reach out to faculty members early enough. I started sending out emails in July and also had Zoom chats with some of them. This demonstrated that I am proactive and it allowed faculty members to me and my research interests. 

These conversations also shaped my personal statement. I started working on it around the same time. My draft has been seen and edited by at least 10 people; my colleagues, mentors, past professors, etc. This helped sharpen my writing and made it clearer. I wouldn't have achieved this if I did not start early. By December 1, my statement was concise and very clear. Please, start writing this document early. It really helps make you research interest clear and easy to read and understand. Doing it a couple of weeks or even months might make it difficult. If you are really interested in grad school, start working on the personal statement at least four months before. This will allow you to make changes as you read more academic work. You will also get time to share with academics and mentors who will advise and critique your work.  

As I mentioned, I narrowed down to 7 schools; accepted by 2 (NYU&Rutgers), waitlisted by 2(UT Austin & Indiana), rejected by 2(UPenn&Harvard) and Columbia is yet to decide. NYU was my top choice so I will go ahead and accept. If you are waitlisted by Rutgers, I will decline my offer to make sure waitlisted candidate get the offer.

To everyone who got admitted, congratulations. To the ones who didn't, it's not the end of the journey. Prepare and come back stronger in the next admission cycle. 

Thank you all. 

This is wonderful news-- congratulations on making it to NYU!!! It seems like a very robust program. Thanks for sharing details about your process as well. 
Since I didn't get any info from them, and I see that some people also got waitlisted yesterday... I will assume that it is a rejection, hopefully coming soon. I just need to know officially from them, so as to accept my other offer. ?

[bbarbara]

Anyone applied to Ohio State and heard from them? This is the last school I'm still waiting from, and I'd really like to hear from them so I can make a decision soon. Should I contact their grad coordinator at this time?

[lew334]

1 hour ago, bbarbara said:

Anyone applied to Ohio State and heard from them? This is the last school I'm still waiting from, and I'd really like to hear from them so I can make a decision soon. Should I contact their grad coordinator at this time?

One of my friends was in your situation--long-time silence. And she emailed the DGS, and got a rejection letter..

[Larik001]

I am still waiting for University of Colorado Boulder. They emailed me 15 days ago saying that with in two weeks I would have my result as the department has not made a decision yet. I emailed them yesterday but no one has responded yet. \

Shall I contact the head of the department or my POI?