Music Fall 2022 Applicants

[frauleinstein]

just received an email invite for a brief interview/zoom conversation with my POI at NYU (historical musicology/ethno PhD). fingers crossed! anyone else hear stuff from NYU or a sense of decision timeline? i got rejected last year (was straight out of undergrad and tough cycle w/ covid, so understandable) but it took literal ages to hear any word.

[narwhat]

14 hours ago, frauleinstein said:

just received an email invite for a brief interview/zoom conversation with my POI at NYU (historical musicology/ethno PhD). fingers crossed! anyone else hear stuff from NYU or a sense of decision timeline? i got rejected last year (was straight out of undergrad and tough cycle w/ covid, so understandable) but it took literal ages to hear any word.

hey congrats and good luck! nothing from NYU (same field), but it looks like one of my transcripts never got there so idk if they're considering my app as complete. 

[BWV 211]

I've been accepted to the Ph.D. in Musicology at Cornell University with very generous funding! Unless I get a better offer from another Ivy, I am definitely going to take this. 

Edited February 12, 2022 by BWV 211

[BWV 211]

On 2/10/2022 at 4:17 PM, frauleinstein said:

just received an email invite for a brief interview/zoom conversation with my POI at NYU (historical musicology/ethno PhD). fingers crossed! anyone else hear stuff from NYU or a sense of decision timeline? i got rejected last year (was straight out of undergrad and tough cycle w/ covid, so understandable) but it took literal ages to hear any word.

Huge congrats on the NYU interview!! I was also rejected for musicology last year, and it did take forever to hear. But generally after a first wave of definite rejections, programs will not send out any other rejection letters until they have a full cohort that has committed to the program. So if you are accepted outright you'll probably hear within a month of your interview, and if you are placed on a private waitlist or rejected you will hear closer to April. But I've read lots of instances of acceptance letters trickling down at the eleventh hour, so if you find yourself waiting don't give up hope!

[BWV 211]

On 2/4/2022 at 6:36 PM, 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?  

Sorry I'm so late in responding to this — for my own mental health I don't log onto GradCafe unless I have good news to report. I got a rejection letter from Harvard yesterday, and it seems that acceptance letters for musicology were sent out at the beginning of the month. But today I was accepted to Cornell, so I'm not at all concerned! Hoping that you are doing well throughout the admissions process!! 

[pianoman2022]

19 hours ago, BWV 211 said:

Sorry I'm so late in responding to this — for my own mental health I don't log onto GradCafe unless I have good news to report. I got a rejection letter from Harvard yesterday, and it seems that acceptance letters for musicology were sent out at the beginning of the month. But today I was accepted to Cornell, so I'm not at all concerned! Hoping that you are doing well throughout the admissions process!! 

Huge congrats on Cornell!!  I was rejected from Harvard as well, but did get into Indiana last week.  Still waiting to hear from CUNY, Princeton, Columbia, and Yale.

[pianoman2022]

Has anyone heard anything from Eastman?  I had my theory interview over three weeks ago on Jan. 21 (and it sounds like musicology interviews were the same day) but haven't heard a word since then.

[QueerTrumpeter]

3 hours ago, pianoman2022 said:

Has anyone heard anything from Eastman?  I had my theory interview over three weeks ago on Jan. 21 (and it sounds like musicology interviews were the same day) but haven't heard a word since then.

Not a word, and they had told me that we'd hear by early February...today marks the end of early February lol

[taumi]

Anyone here wants to claim the Princeton composition acceptance?

[pennymarx]

On 2/8/2022 at 6:41 PM, waifucup said:

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. 

Okay my hope is very low now! You receive an informal acceptance?

[frauleinstein]

womp...rejected from NYU after a great interview and email from POI saying they'd likely be able to extend an offer to me. Better than last year's radio silence, but total emotional whiplash.

[BWV 211]

30 minutes ago, frauleinstein said:

womp...rejected from NYU after a great interview and email from POI saying they'd likely be able to extend an offer to me. Better than last year's radio silence, but total emotional whiplash.

I'm so sorry to hear this, you deserve better. You had said earlier that NYU told you that they might not be able to fund any ethno admissions at all this cycle? I wonder if that's what happened, because it sounds as though they really want you. 

 

Don't know if this is helpful, but I've talked with faculty and top institutions (including NYU), and the admissions process was messy for them as well. Even some of the big names in our respective disciplines got tons of rejection letters and would have to take a couple years to land a fully-funded acceptance. But they made it through to the other side, and so will we! 

[frauleinstein]

2 hours ago, BWV 211 said:

I'm so sorry to hear this, you deserve better. You had said earlier that NYU told you that they might not be able to fund any ethno admissions at all this cycle? I wonder if that's what happened, because it sounds as though they really want you. 

 

Don't know if this is helpful, but I've talked with faculty and top institutions (including NYU), and the admissions process was messy for them as well. Even some of the big names in our respective disciplines got tons of rejection letters and would have to take a couple years to land a fully-funded acceptance. But they made it through to the other side, and so will we! 

Hi! So that was the 2021 cycle. I work at NYU (admin in another dept within the graduate school) for tuition remission for my MA, and they definitely have plenty of funding to go around this year. Guessing it was maybe a matter of my POI being interested but the whole committee/profs from other fields within ethno not being on the same page. Staying optimistic! Got a lovely apology email from my POI saying they're doing internal waitlists...so we'll see. Thanks for the kind words! Def a rough post(ish) Covid cycle. 

[BWV 211]

5 minutes ago, frauleinstein said:

Hi! So that was the 2021 cycle. I work at NYU (admin in another dept within the graduate school) for tuition remission for my MA, and they definitely have plenty of funding to go around this year. Guessing it was maybe a matter of my POI being interested but the whole committee/profs from other fields within ethno not being on the same page. Staying optimistic! Got a lovely apology email from my POI saying they're doing internal waitlists...so we'll see. Thanks for the kind words! Def a rough post(ish) Covid cycle. 

My apologies, I completely misunderstood your situation! Glad to hear that you made such a good impression on your POI, which is a big deal! There have been a lot of rough cycles lately, unfortunately. Hopefully some other programs will come through for you! 

[waifucup]

16 hours ago, pennymarx said:

Okay my hope is very low now! You receive an informal acceptance?

Nope, no informal acceptance ? My hopes are pretty much all gone now :(((

[BWV 211]

Official notification should be coming soon, but I received an unofficial email informing me that I've been waitlisted at Eastman! Congrats to whoever landed the coveted acceptance letter! 

[BWV 211]

It's been a whirlwind of admissions decisions the past 24 hours — rejected from the University of British Columbia, waitlisted at Eastman, waitlisted at UT Austin, and given a 5th year of funding at Stony Brook. I'm only waiting to hear from UNC (which has got to be a rejection at this point) and a post-interview decision from Yale. Good luck, everyone! 

[BWV 211]

Great news to all on the Musicology Ph.D. waitlist for Eastman! The letter assures that it is "a very short wait list." Furthermore, it is unranked, the waitlist response form reading "we do not rank our wait list. Instead, we make an effort to keep in touch with applicants on the wait list to stay aware of their ongoing level of interest in an offer of admission, should an opening become available." 

 

I've already told the faculty that I am likely taking the Cornell offer, unless Yale gives me a better one. This means that anyone else on the waitlist should be moved above me and get the offer first. Best of luck everyone, Eastman is a fantastic program! 

[narwhat]

Rejected from Princeton (wasn't top choice or anything), still waiting to hear from Northwestern and Yale post-interview. 

[taumi]

Has anyone in composition heard anything from UCSD or Berkeley? 

Edited February 20, 2022 by taumi

[QueerTrumpeter]

Is anyone else going to be making a big decision in the coming weeks? I'm finding myself stuck between all five programs that offered admission and funding (UNC Chapel Hill, UCLA, UCSD, Case, and CUNY Graduate Center). Those in a similar boat: how are you going about your decision? What factors are you weighing? 

[taumi]

16 hours ago, QueerTrumpeter said:

Is anyone else going to be making a big decision in the coming weeks? I'm finding myself stuck between all five programs that offered admission and funding (UNC Chapel Hill, UCLA, UCSD, Case, and CUNY Graduate Center). Those in a similar boat: how are you going about your decision? What factors are you weighing? 

Do you not have a preference in terms of professors that you want to work with? There are three places that I was accepted to, I am excited about working with professors in two of them, but in one of the departments I think there is only one professor I will connect with, and in the  other departments it feels like everyone would "get me" so to speak. The first place is a lot more prestigious, and the professor there is amazing, but I am  leaning toward the second place because I think I will enjoy myself there more. Other than this, the second one is in a much bigger city, which I prefer.

[BWV 211]

23 hours ago, QueerTrumpeter said:

Is anyone else going to be making a big decision in the coming weeks? I'm finding myself stuck between all five programs that offered admission and funding (UNC Chapel Hill, UCLA, UCSD, Case, and CUNY Graduate Center). Those in a similar boat: how are you going about your decision? What factors are you weighing? 

Congrats on landing so many fully-funded offers! I was counseled to consider job placement above all else, because faculty members retire or leave. But that is one person's opinion, and all factors (faculty, funding, fit, etc.) are of course important. 

 

I don't have as many outright acceptances, which does make my decision easier!  I'm choosing the program I'm likely taking based on job placement, prestige, faculty, opportunities within the program, funding, location, and of course overall fit. It's also my top choice, so once I got the acceptance I didn't need to wrestle with too many decisions. Best of luck with your decision! 

[BWV 211]

On 1/27/2022 at 5:55 PM, BWV 211 said:

Got an email from my professor of interest today; I'm being recommended for admission to the Ph.D. in Musicology at Stony Brook with full funding. I'll hear about the fellowship decision in a few weeks. I'm very grateful and excited! 

Won the Stony Brook fellowship. 

[justanothertheorist]

On 2/20/2022 at 3:01 PM, QueerTrumpeter said:

Is anyone else going to be making a big decision in the coming weeks? I'm finding myself stuck between all five programs that offered admission and funding (UNC Chapel Hill, UCLA, UCSD, Case, and CUNY Graduate Center). Those in a similar boat: how are you going about your decision? What factors are you weighing? 

You (and EVERYONE on this thread, even those of you with your heart set on one program) should talk to current and recent graduate students and ask pointed questions about whether people are unhappy, if many people drop out for non-personal reasons (ie are bullied out), whether graduate students are prioritized/taken seriously, how much support in their research they get, how accessible faculty are, how much professional development they get, how many students are actively doing conferences and publications, whether the money is enough, whether the coursework is valuable, if there's in-fighting, if graduate students support each other or are over-competitive, if there's a good balance of ambition and not tearing each other down, if the prof(s) you want to work with are actually good advisors and nice/reliable/conscientious people, what the department culture is like, etc. Find the red flags NOW, not when you're already stuck.