Music Fall 2022 Applicants

[pianoman2022]

On 2/2/2022 at 8:47 PM, BWV 211 said:

I'm not certain, but I got the email less than an hour ago — they could still be sending them out! It's also worth mentioning that some schools send out interview invitations over the course of a few days, and others send them out in waves. I wouldn't give up hope yet, especially as it sounds as though you are killing it elsewhere! 

Also worth mentioning that mine was a personalized email from a professor of interest. This is a less streamlined process than generic letters posted to the application portal, so it takes more time. 

Thanks so much for the helpful info!  I still haven't heard anything from Yale, but who knows what next week will bring.  

Still haven't heard anything from Harvard - have you?  I see someone received a composition acceptance today, though, so maybe the musicology and theory programs had more applications to review/are sending interview invitations out later than composition?  

[QueerTrumpeter]

49 minutes ago, pianoman2022 said:

Thanks so much for the helpful info!  I still haven't heard anything from Yale, but who knows what next week will bring.  

Still haven't heard anything from Harvard - have you?  I see someone received a composition acceptance today, though, so maybe the musicology and theory programs had more applications to review/are sending interview invitations out later than composition?  

I haven't heard anything from Harvard either. Seems like nobody outside of composition has heard anything, and I believe in years past it has taken musicology a bit longer than comp to send out updates. Not sure about music theory though!

[pianoman2022]

20 hours ago, QueerTrumpeter said:

I haven't heard anything from Harvard either. Seems like nobody outside of composition has heard anything, and I believe in years past it has taken musicology a bit longer than comp to send out updates. Not sure about music theory though!

Thanks for your reply!  Yeah, I think it usually takes longer for music theory as well.  Looking at previous years' results, it seems that Harvard hasn't even consistently done interviews every year...

[QueerTrumpeter]

On 2/3/2022 at 2:30 PM, Tuxiido said:

DMA applicant for Performance Violin here, I see lots of musicology and composition results but not much info on performance programs. I was invited and did an audition and interview in mid-January for one out of my two applications, and I’m sweating bullets. Probably at least another month of waiting to go, right?

I quit my job and moved across the country for these applications. I know that doesn’t guarantee acceptance. I knew that when I moved. That doesn’t make the wait any easier, though.

Any updates over the past few days? I'm a fellow performer, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you!

[taumi]

Hi everyone, I am a Composition DMA/PhD applicant. I was accepted to one program so far and I am wondering if anyone here received any acceptance offers and if 23K annual stipend considered average or low for this type of program? Do people usually take loans on top of the stipend? It seems like a really insufficient amount of money for candidates with dependents. 

[pennymarx]

1 hour ago, taumi said:

Hi everyone, I am a Composition DMA/PhD applicant. I was accepted to one program so far and I am wondering if anyone here received any acceptance offers and if 23K annual stipend considered average or low for this type of program? Do people usually take loans on top of the stipend? It seems like a really insufficient amount of money for candidates with dependents. 

Depending on where it is, 23K is on the higher end, unless it is in a major city. I'm currently doing a MA and mine is waaaay less, that being said I live in very cheap student housing and use the school food pantry to survive without any extra loans. (Oh, and I don't have a car.) It's doable, but do make sure your health insurance is good and includes dental and eyes.

[taumi]

7 minutes ago, pennymarx said:

Depending on where it is, 23K is on the higher end, unless it is in a major city. I'm currently doing a MA and mine is waaaay less, that being said I live in very cheap student housing and use the school food pantry to survive without any extra loans. (Oh, and I don't have a car.) It's doable, but do make sure your health insurance is good and includes dental and eyes.

That sounds near impossible as a single parent with a young child. For some reason I thought that stipend for PhDs avarages in the mid 30k. 

[pennymarx]

1 hour ago, taumi said:

That sounds near impossible as a single parent with a young child. For some reason I thought that stipend for PhDs avarages in the mid 30k. 

Oh with a dependent I have no idea how people do it. I haven't heard of many 30k's in music, but I might be wrong! (STEM of course has higher stipends.) I'm so sorry!! Perhaps reach out to the uni and ask about additional fellowship options? Another option is to check if there is a union, they might have additional support for parents. Sorry I can't be of more help!

 

[justanothertheorist]

Hi all,

Gonna try debunk/clarify some stuff, as someone who's been in the music theory grad school business a while.

Stipends really range in the US. At some state schools you could end up with less than $15k, and that doesn't necessarily include a full tuition waiver, either. At Ivies and quasi-ivies, you're more likely to be around $30k or more and have a full waiver. Some schools might scale that up for cost of living. Also, some schools really make you work for that stipend money (eg teaching 2-3 classes per semester, 20h/week), whereas others leave you more time to focus on your studies (no TA, just grading/tutoring, easy-going RA, only teaching in 3rd and 4th year, etc).

Make sure you do the math on how much tuition you'll pay if it's not a full waiver. (How many credits do you have to take a year? How many are/aren't covered? Are you paying in-state or out-of-state tuition? How much is it per credit at that rate? Are cash scholarships renewable, and if so, can you keep renewing them indefinitely or do they have a 2-/3-year limitation, after which you're screwed? Do you have to pay things like building/student union fees? What's the financial situation when you're ABD?)

Obviously, also factor in rent prices, dependents, if you'll be paying health insurance, whether extra jobs like grading are available, and (if you're an international student) if you're allowed to work extra hours. Ask if you'll get a raise at any point (eg, some schools increase your stipend each year, some when you reach ABD). Consider if there are universities and community colleges within a short driving distance with music departments where you could adjunct towards the end of your program (if you're as much a pedagogue as a researcher).

If you have offers from more than one school, try to leverage them. Eg, if you want to go to the slightly less prestigious/well-paying school of two you got accepted to, see if they'll raise their offer upon hearing that the other school is offering more.

Money is important, but going somewhere with a good environment is also crucial. Don't take profs' words as truth. Nor the word of students new to the program--they might not have seen the darkest parts of the department yet. Ask people who just graduated the program or people that have been there a few years for their honest opinion. And ask about cost of living.

Re: Yale... my understanding is that they don't send rejections until after interviews, probably at roughly the same time they send out acceptances. I don't know whether interview invites are rolling or not, though. I'd work on the assumption that you'll be receiving a rejection towards the end of Feb; then you'll either be emotionally prepared when a rejection comes, or pleasantly surprised if I'm wrong and an interview invite is on its way.

Good luck, everyone!

[Tuxiido]

6 hours ago, QueerTrumpeter said:

Any updates over the past few days? I'm a fellow performer, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you!

No updates yet. There was a note that a “first wave” of rejections and waitlists may have happened before January 27, but I didn’t receive anything. Hopefully this means no news is good news throughout February!

[waifucup]

Heyy, I was wondering if anyone has heard back from the Columbia Ethnomusicology program yet? 

[pennymarx]

11 hours ago, waifucup said:

Heyy, I was wondering if anyone has heard back from the Columbia Ethnomusicology program yet? 

Nope...

[waifucup]

15 hours ago, pennymarx said:

Nope...

Damn ? Do you have any info on when they'll be releasing results? Or anythinggg

[pennymarx]

12 hours ago, waifucup said:

Damn ? Do you have any info on when they'll be releasing results? Or anythinggg

No... nothing. I was too scared to contact them prior to application, cause their website was so serious about "READ EVERYTHING BEFORE TALKING TO US!!!!!!" Haha, so alas I am useless... sorry! Did you apply anywhere else??

[waifucup]

5 hours ago, pennymarx said:

No... nothing. I was too scared to contact them prior to application, cause their website was so serious about "READ EVERYTHING BEFORE TALKING TO US!!!!!!" Haha, so alas I am useless... sorry! Did you apply anywhere else??

Hahahah i knowww that was so funny to me, they literally said that like fifteen times on their website. I did contact Aaron Fox to ask about decisions on the 27th of Jan, and he said the faculty would finalize decisions 'within a week or so', and then make informal notifications by email, with official offers to come later. So I wonder if I should give up hope now. 

Haven't applied anywhere else for ethnomusicology, have applied to Harvard for anthro though. 

[waifucup]

anybody wanna claim the Columbia music phd waitlisting? 

[plsdonttrackme]

2 hours ago, waifucup said:

anybody wanna claim the Columbia music phd waitlisting? 

This was me. It was my top choice, so I'm happy it wasn't a rejection, and will hold out a little hope! Anyone know how long waitlists tend to be? For everyone waiting, the letter heavily implied that (at least some) offers have already gone out. Also for those asking, my specialism was not ethnomusicology.

Edited February 9, 2022 by plsdonttrackme
edit for clarity

[cfi1980]

35 minutes ago, plsdonttrackme said:

This was me. It was my top choice, so I'm happy it wasn't a rejection, and will hold out a little hope! Anyone know how long waitlists tend to be? For everyone waiting, the letter heavily implied that (at least some) offers have already gone out. Also for those asking, my specialism was not ethnomusicology.

Thanks for the update. Do you have maybe some information about the DMA in composition? Have they also sent some offers laready? I applied and haven't heard from them so far

[plsdonttrackme]

15 minutes ago, cfi1980 said:

Thanks for the update. Do you have maybe some information about the DMA in composition? Have they also sent some offers laready? I applied and haven't heard from them so far

I didn't apply to the DMA, so I'm afraid I can't help you there. Good luck in any case!

[cfi1980]

Just now, plsdonttrackme said:

I didn't apply to the DMA, so I'm afraid I can't help you there. Good luck in any case!

Thank you and congrats again for the waitlist. I wish you'll get in

 

[Tuxiido]

An update for performance majors. I got an unofficial letter today from my potential advisor at UBC. The university has decided this year it can’t fund any musicians of my instrument. I have therefore been rejected as no violin is being accepted this year. Absolutely gutted to hear I’m rejected on a technicality, and my advisor is also clearly disappointed. Good luck out there, everyone.

[pennymarx]

10 hours ago, Tuxiido said:

An update for performance majors. I got an unofficial letter today from my potential advisor at UBC. The university has decided this year it can’t fund any musicians of my instrument. I have therefore been rejected as no violin is being accepted this year. Absolutely gutted to hear I’m rejected on a technicality, and my advisor is also clearly disappointed. Good luck out there, everyone.

I'm so sorry. That absolutely sucks. I wish university's would let departments know about funding before applications. Could have at least spared the money and disappointment!

[narwhat]

On 1/13/2022 at 6:18 PM, QueerTrumpeter said:

Hey, everyone! I'm still trying to figure out how to use the various components of this platform (different logins for results and the forum? Am I doing this right?). Fellow musicology PhD applicant here! My research centers around popular music, vocality, gender and sexuality, and Black feminist theory. More specifically, I submitted portions of my MA thesis on Janelle Monáe and a conference paper on gender and sexual fluidity in Handel's Alcina as my writing samples.

I applied to UCLA, Eastman, UNC Chapel Hill, CUNY, UCSD, NYU, Harvard, Case Western, UChicago, and UVA. I just had my UCLA interview two days ago, and I'm gearing up for my interviews with UNC and UCSD tomorrow morning and Eastman next Friday. Did anyone else apply to these schools? Very much looking to chat with others going through this experience as well -- this interview stress is REAL!

hey, your research sounds really interesting and like we'd have a lot to talk about (don't want to be too specific on here, but happy to elaborate in DM)! looks like we both had CUNY interviews too - best of luck with everything!

[pianoman2022]

On 2/9/2022 at 8:26 AM, plsdonttrackme said:

This was me. It was my top choice, so I'm happy it wasn't a rejection, and will hold out a little hope! Anyone know how long waitlists tend to be? For everyone waiting, the letter heavily implied that (at least some) offers have already gone out. Also for those asking, my specialism was not ethnomusicology.

I really hope you get in!  Do you mind sharing what your specialism is?  I applied to their music theory program and haven't heard a word...

[narwhat]

Has anyone heard anything from Princeton or Cornell?