2021 Application Thread for Communications Program

[Larik001]

3 minutes ago, twosweet said:

I don't think it will make a difference right now no matter how you contact them because there is no spot available for new considerations at least until 15th. After 15th, you can contact the head of the program and copy your PIs for this inquiry. Also, you want to ask when they will stop considering new admissions for Fall 2021 this year. In addition, you can ask them about any suggestions for the future application. Good luck!

What do you mean "they will stop considering new admissions for Fall 2021 this year" you mean those who are waitlisted for funding do not have to respond by April 15?

[twolucky]

Just now, Larik001 said:

What do you mean "they will stop considering new admissions for Fall 2021 this year" you mean those who are waitlisted for funding do not have to respond by April 15?

No. For those who are currently waitlisted, they won't need to respond because there is no spot in the cohort right now. The purpose of waitlist is for the program to recruit new students when the primary candidates that the program both admitted and funded cannot and will not satisfy the expectation of the admission for that year. Sometimes, none of the waitlisted applicants would be able to enter the program because the waitlist was never given consideration due to the satisfaction of the primary/ first-round admission (usually with funding). April 15 is commonly seen as the deadline for people who are accepted for the first round with funding and other benefits to decide, but often, the program might still accept new applicants doing the summer. For this year, I am not sure how covid might affect this process because it seems many programs have many more applicants than they expected.

[twolucky]

9 minutes ago, Larik001 said:

What do you mean "they will stop considering new admissions for Fall 2021 this year" you mean those who are waitlisted for funding do not have to respond by April 15?

I would say unless they ask you to respond before April 15th, you won't need to give them an answer. Otherwise, although you are offered with admission but not with funding, and you won't be able to self-fund (which you shouldn't and they should not recommend that), you will just need to hear back from the waitlist consideration after April 15 but before the fall semester starts, usually known as second round.

[Larik001]

1 hour ago, twosweet said:

I would say unless they ask you to respond before April 15th, you won't need to give them an answer. Otherwise, although you are offered with admission but not with funding, and you won't be able to self-fund (which you shouldn't and they should not recommend that), you will just need to hear back from the waitlist consideration after April 15 but before the fall semester starts, usually known as second round.

So after April 15th, there will be a new round during summer? Do you recommend I email the coordinator to see whether I should respond by April 15th or after until a funding position has been opened?

[twolucky]

2 minutes ago, Larik001 said:

So after April 15th, there will be a new round during summer? Do you recommend I email the coordinator to see whether I should respond by April 15th or after until a funding position has been opened?

I think you should directly contact the program!

[twolucky]

Just now, twosweet said:

I think you should directly contact the program!

If they haven’t asked you to respond about your decision, that means you don’t need to respond to your acceptance yet. However, you want to know if you will still be considered after April 15 and if they are still accepting new applications for this fall.

[6fifths]

Well, Decision Day (for the first round at least) is approaching, and I accepted the offer from LSU. The virtual visit wasn't ideal, but my gut still says it's the best choice I had available (and frankly, the thought of taking this year off, and waiting to see what happens with the programs that did not accept applications this year sounded miserable) so I pulled the trigger.

Now for the "how do I afford to live and not starve in Baton Rouge on my assistantship" song and dance.

[knight26]

So after all of this, I will be attending UF's Political Science program! I'm very happy and appreciate everyone on this thread, even if I did ultimately become a defector  Congrats to everyone, whether you are attending this round or not, you all worked so hard

[Larik001]

On 4/12/2021 at 11:31 PM, twosweet said:

If they haven’t asked you to respond about your decision, that means you don’t need to respond to your acceptance yet. However, you want to know if you will still be considered after April 15 and if they are still accepting new applications for this fall.

Hey again. I emailed the department coordinator on whether i should respond by the 15th or after it. But so far no response. I emailed her yesterday. Shall I send a reminder or wait till tomorrow and email the HOD?

[twolucky]

1 hour ago, Larik001 said:

Hey again. I emailed the department coordinator on whether i should respond by the 15th or after it. But so far no response. I emailed her yesterday. Shall I send a reminder or wait till tomorrow and email the HOD?

Hi, I think you are currently in good shape considering responding your earlier acceptance. That is I don't think you need to respond before April 15, and even no need to respond until they reach out to you first because departments are so careful about the first-round admissions and most funded students' decisions before that date. That means they will have the optimal communication with these students to collect their ideas about their acceptances. I had this situation with several programs in which they told me I was offered the admissions but they also told me they will contact me once the funding is available. I am sorry to tell you that you will need to be more patient at this stage because you are not on their first-round list. One program even told me to wait to hear from them in June, and I think that was just ridiculous. If you can make an international phone call, try to call their department and ask what is going on.

[Auss]

Hey folks! Lots of good info on here. And I am totally new to the Grad cafe. This post, a few months back had some chit chat about NC State’s CRDM PHD program. I got waitlisted back in February and obviously April 15 has passed. Has anyone else on here heard any news on their waitlist acceptance ? Anything at all? This was the only program I applied to so it’s make or break. Anyhow. Thanks for any responses. I hope things go the best way they can for everyone on here. 

[gizemnoktay]

TL;DR Accepted the offer from UT Dallas for the Arts, Technology and Emerging Communications PhD program.

Hello everyone,

I also wanted to post an update since I took help from many others here. I had applied to the GA Tech Digital Media PhD program, and after being waitlisted for PhD I received my admission letter into the "Master's" program, which didn't feel desirable. I talked to the Admissions Coordinator and she didn't seem encouraging regarding securing funding for MS, which I know is harder to get than PhD. I naturally declined the offer.

I got admitted to the Media Arts and Sciences program at Arizona State, which was my top choice, however, I found out from Admissions that although they never admit students without funding, this year is an exception and they couldn't fund any students. I talked to the professors of my research interest, and one of them spoke very encouraging and said he would definitely try to figure out something, but it didn't pan out. 

Lastly, I got rejections from MIT's Media Lab and UCSB's Media Arts Technology program.

Good luck everyone and let me know if I can help with anything

 

[KatGrad757]

On 4/3/2021 at 5:33 PM, donasen said:

May I know the offers you're declining? 

I declined PhD offers to the information studies program at Syracuse, the CRDM program at NC State (I was waitlisted for funding but their funding back is extremely low anyways), and I declined an offer to GA Tech's HSTS program. 

[donasen]

On 4/18/2021 at 7:34 PM, gizemnoktay said:

TL;DR Accepted the offer from UT Dallas for the Arts, Technology and Emerging Communications PhD program.

Hello everyone,

I also wanted to post an update since I took help from many others here. I had applied to the GA Tech Digital Media PhD program, and after being waitlisted for PhD I received my admission letter into the "Master's" program, which didn't feel desirable. I talked to the Admissions Coordinator and she didn't seem encouraging regarding securing funding for MS, which I know is harder to get than PhD. I naturally declined the offer.

I got admitted to the Media Arts and Sciences program at Arizona State, which was my top choice, however, I found out from Admissions that although they never admit students without funding, this year is an exception and they couldn't fund any students. I talked to the professors of my research interest, and one of them spoke very encouraging and said he would definitely try to figure out something, but it didn't pan out. 

Lastly, I got rejections from MIT's Media Lab and UCSB's Media Arts Technology program.

Good luck everyone and let me know if I can help with anything

 

Congrats on the UT Dallas offer and acceptance. At the end of the day, you can only attend one school. So the other rejections don't mean much. You've got your PhD dreams on a good footing and that's what matters. I hope that your offer at UT Dallas came with funding? 

[donasen]

On 4/18/2021 at 7:50 PM, KatGrad757 said:

I declined PhD offers to the information studies program at Syracuse, the CRDM program at NC State (I was waitlisted for funding but their funding back is extremely low anyways), and I declined an offer to GA Tech's HSTS program. 

Wow! Congrats once again. You had a lot of choices and that's good. I also finally got a fully funded offer to Michigan State University. Got the decision on April 9 and I plan to attend this fall. By the way, one thing I found about funding packages is  that, unless you take the living cost of the location into account, the mere size of the amount doesn't really mean much. The living costs of the place really determine how much the amount is really worth. I'm very happy with my package, which includes full health insurance and guaranteed travel support! I'm so excited to enroll this fall. Best wishes to you  too. 

[tabbykiki]

On 4/21/2021 at 8:40 AM, donasen said:

Wow! Congrats once again. You had a lot of choices and that's good. I also finally got a fully funded offer to Michigan State University. Got the decision on April 9 and I plan to attend this fall. By the way, one thing I found about funding packages is  that, unless you take the living cost of the location into account, the mere size of the amount doesn't really mean much. The living costs of the place really determine how much the amount is really worth. I'm very happy with my package, which includes full health insurance and guaranteed travel support! I'm so excited to enroll this fall. Best wishes to you  too. 

I am going to MSU this fall too! Look forward to meeting you.

[KkKkYes]

13 hours ago, tabbykiki said:

I am going to MSU this fall too! Look forward to meeting you.

I'm going to MSU as well! Do we have a FB group or something like that? 

[tabbykiki]

9 hours ago, KkKkYes said:

I'm going to MSU as well! Do we have a FB group or something like that? 

Congrats! I am not aware of a social media group but I’m hoping we end up getting one started! I still talk to my masters cohort on our FB page and we finished the program almost two years ago.

[donasen]

On 4/18/2021 at 7:34 PM, gizemnoktay said:

TL;DR Accepted the offer from UT Dallas for the Arts, Technology and Emerging Communications PhD program.

Hello everyone,

I also wanted to post an update since I took help from many others here. I had applied to the GA Tech Digital Media PhD program, and after being waitlisted for PhD I received my admission letter into the "Master's" program, which didn't feel desirable. I talked to the Admissions Coordinator and she didn't seem encouraging regarding securing funding for MS, which I know is harder to get than PhD. I naturally declined the offer.

I got admitted to the Media Arts and Sciences program at Arizona State, which was my top choice, however, I found out from Admissions that although they never admit students without funding, this year is an exception and they couldn't fund any students. I talked to the professors of my research interest, and one of them spoke very encouraging and said he would definitely try to figure out something, but it didn't pan out. 

Lastly, I got rejections from MIT's Media Lab and UCSB's Media Arts Technology program.

Good luck everyone and let me know if I can help with anything

 

Sorry that things didn't exactly work out this term. But keep trying. I'm sure you'll finally get in. And also let's help each other by sharing our experiences, particularly those who succeeded this term. Maybe someone's experience might help someone tomorrow. All the best. 

[donasen]

On 4/24/2021 at 11:22 AM, tabbykiki said:

Congrats! I am not aware of a social media group but I’m hoping we end up getting one started! I still talk to my masters cohort on our FB page and we finished the program almost two years ago.

I've already seen about four people here going to MSU already. Maybe we can start something!

[gizemnoktay]

On 4/21/2021 at 3:30 PM, donasen said:

Congrats on the UT Dallas offer and acceptance. At the end of the day, you can only attend one school. So the other rejections don't mean much. You've got your PhD dreams on a good footing and that's what matters. I hope that your offer at UT Dallas came with funding? 

Thank you! Yes it came with funding, but as far as what I saw from your comments yours look like a better package! Congratulations to us all who got into a funded program. They really didn't come by easily this year.

[donasen]

Congrats to you for your funding offer. And best wishes to those who didn't make it this year. I cannot tell if mine came with a better funding offer. Initially I was quite disappointed when I saw it. Then I  joined this group on Facebook  "PhD in US Fall 2021" and I was shocked to see the kinds of stipends people were reporting.  Some departments of University of Arkansas for instance, were offering $14k plus something and I was shocked. That's because I saw that schools like University of Southern California were offering $32k in all. But when I wen to the websites where living cos rations were calculated, I was shocked to find that living costs in Arkansas were incredibly low compared to California for instance, which almost makes the $14k of Arkansas almost worth more than that of USC. 

So I think basically, schools calculate the package according to what could just sustain the student based on living costs of that location. But not much more for saving etc. What I like about my package though is the health insurance and travel support. Other than that, I think comparisons are not very effective just looking at the quantity of the cash. I think we should just be grateful, just like you said, that we got funded offers in these difficult times. 

[KkKkYes]

7 hours ago, donasen said:

I've already seen about four people here going to MSU already. Maybe we can start something!

I like the idea!

[MomoTodoroki]

On 2/15/2021 at 4:17 PM, MomoTodoroki said:

This is such solid advice. 

My area of interest is so small, I only applied to three schools, and even then, it hardly fit. I kind of had to make fetch happen. Forcing big squares into tiny circles isn’t great, lol. 

Anyways, NCSU CRDM ended up being my top choice because of the interdisciplinary approach. I have a POI who is really interested in my work (though you don’t technically need a POI for this program), however, the funding for her project currently aligned to my research runs out this summer. Funding is a huge detriment for me and this program for sure. Their packages don’t seem as lofty as some of the other programs I’ve looked into and I see the people who have been accepted thus far have been waitlisted for funding (I thought during the info session they claimed that everyone accepted would be fully funded— maybe the waitlist translates to “funding packages coming soon”?)

 I’m interested to see those who have been extended offers with funding— and as someone else mentioned, are they waiting to send those notifications out, did they go out with the waitlisted funding offers, before, etc.?

I will state that my situation is a bit unique and requires more evaluation because I told them later on (post submittal) that I’d consider PT admittance because my job does do some tuition assistance. I’d prefer fully funded FT though and would only accept a PT offer with the option to be FT with funding in future years/semesters. 

Hi all.

It has been awhile since I posted but I wanted to do my part and leave an update for future candidates. 

In a twist of fate, I ended up at NCSU, but not in the CRDM department. When applying for programs, my research interests lied within artificial intelligence in digital media and the representation of women in media. I was sort of torn between the two, though leaning towards the latter.
 

The PI in the CRDM department knew their funding on an AI project was running out and recommended I look into an engineering and technology program at NCSU. I did just that. I ended up submitting my application (after attending an open house & having a chat with a faculty member to ensure it could be a good fit for my research) and I’m happy to say that I just wrapped up my first semester! 

Some quick facts:

-Fully funded 

-Research/Graduate Assistantship

-My research is on the representation of women in STEM in media forms such as anime, manga, comic books & video games (I LOVE IT).

-I still work FT. I say that to say that my schedule is so flexible. I’ve been easily managing school & work thus far.

For those of you lurking, I hope that this post encourages you to be creative and open minded with the types of programs that you apply to. Your research interests in Comms may have a home in another department and that’s okay!   
 

Good luck to all of you 2022 Candidates + BEYOND! 

[THenri]

14 hours ago, MomoTodoroki said:

Hi all.

It has been awhile since I posted but I wanted to do my part and leave an update for future candidates. 

In a twist of fate, I ended up at NCSU, but not in the CRDM department. When applying for programs, my research interests lied within artificial intelligence in digital media and the representation of women in media. I was sort of torn between the two, though leaning towards the latter.
 

The PI in the CRDM department knew their funding on an AI project was running out and recommended I look into an engineering and technology program at NCSU. I did just that. I ended up submitting my application (after attending an open house & having a chat with a faculty member to ensure it could be a good fit for my research) and I’m happy to say that I just wrapped up my first semester! 

Some quick facts:

-Fully funded 

-Research/Graduate Assistantship

-My research is on the representation of women in STEM in media forms such as anime, manga, comic books & video games (I LOVE IT).

-I still work FT. I say that to say that my schedule is so flexible. I’ve been easily managing school & work thus far.

For those of you lurking, I hope that this post encourages you to be creative and open minded with the types of programs that you apply to. Your research interests in Comms may have a home in another department and that’s okay!   
 

Good luck to all of you 2022 Candidates + BEYOND! 

Thank you so much for posting this info ? If you do not mind to, you could post it on the Thread for comm programs 2022.