Film and Media Theory

[portraitinflesh]

I got an acceptance to NYU today!

Does anyone know if there is a chance of getting some funding after your first year at Tisch? And do have to pay increased tuition if you are from out of state?

[nyfilmfest]

I got an acceptance to NYU today!

Does anyone know if there is a chance of getting some funding after your first year at Tisch? And do have to pay increased tuition if you are from out of state?

Congrats!

If you mean the MA program, from what I understand their process favors incoming MA candidates. You need to reapply for the second year, and there's no guarantee that your funding received in year 1 will carry over to year two. If you didn't get funding offered to you as an incoming student, it's theoretically possible you could get it later in your degree there, but realistically you need to not count on them giving you someone else's funds.

Tuition's the same for everyone, about $20k / semester + about $1000 a year in registration fees (+ housing + living expenses, of course).

[IntaTea]

I'm in at NYU-Cinema Studies (M.A.). They sent the letter to my home address so I haven't actually seen it yet. Do funding offers usually come with that letter or later on?

[portraitinflesh]

Mine came with a letter saying that they cannot offer me any money.

I don't know how it works for those who get funding, though.

And congrats on the acceptance!

[dragynally]

Do you mind letting me know who posted the MFA acceptance to Hollins University? I got accepted to their MA program (my only acceptance so far) and I was wondering if you were planning on accepting? I just don't know if a summer program is a good idea so any opinions would be helpful.

HI...I'm the one who posted. The summer thing is an iffy thing for me too. But I think I can use the free time to study other things or travel. I'm going to accept but I want to email the program director with a few questions first. Hope this helps. Good luck!

[hornedfrogmeg]

*sigh* Rejected from both UCLA and UT today...

Anyone else off to a crappy start to the day?!

[CHSnyc]

I'm in at NYU-Cinema Studies (M.A.). They sent the letter to my home address so I haven't actually seen it yet. Do funding offers usually come with that letter or later on?

Attention all...I am now an undergraduate at Tisch. You have to understand that our Ph.D. program is abnormally large...8 people are accepted. Other programs, 2 to 4. These people are funded no matter what...NYU gives more money than most programs because of NYC's high cost of living...$25,000 per year.

This means that the MA program is a money-making machine, and that's why our MA program is ridiculously large. You are one of 30 people who were accepted. Around 2 to 4 people are funded (and I only mean partially...low, low sum) the 1st year. The 2nd year (or last semester), this is where you have the chance to be fully funded by becoming a research assistant, a position that is highly competitive.

In other words...Debt for sure.

Our department caters to undergraduates and Ph.D.

[hornedfrogmeg]

Got into The New School's Media Studies MA Program with a scholarship.... Does anyone know much about this program? Like reputation, housing, etc? I can't seem to get good information about this program. I am planning a visit in the next week or so but you know they are just going to feed me a load of bs haha.

[kwagner]

Congrats to everyone! I have decided to attend USC, despite the scholarship offered to me from NYU. I figure the cost of living will make up the for the dif.

This has been an exhausting couple of months. For all of you who didn't get the results they were hoping for- don't give up!! I didin't get the answers I wanted last year, but I definitely got the news I wanted this year! I did everything I could to improve my application this year and it worked. So don't give up!!

[hornedfrogmeg]

So I have decided I am going to try for a round 2 of applying to schools....

Who has tried this and what tips do you have to make a stronger applicant?

[peffy1962]

Like hornedfrog, I'd be curious to hear what advice anyone has for reapplying. I applied this year to four schools, and was only accepted to NYU (M.A. in Cinema Studies). Because of the insane expense (and at faculty's urging), I declined the offer.

I thought I was a pretty strong candidate for the other schools I applied to, though I realize it was a crazy tough market this year. I have a 3.95 GPA from a top-20 university, and I got a 1460 on the GRE (710 V/750 M/5.0 W). The first time I took the GRE, however, (one year prior) I got a 1300 (610 V/690 M/4.0 W), and I do now wonder if that could be holding me back. I suppose I could wait another three years until it drops off the score report, but that seems silly, and I do think I managed to make a significant improvement the second time around. I tend to think my second score is high enough, and I don't realistically think I can improve upon it.

So what else can I do? I can certainly improve upon my personal statements. Upon rereading them, I believe they were a bit too focused on restating my C.V. than on conveying my research interests and compatibility with certain schools. Additionally, I applied directly to two Ph.D. programs, and to two M.A. programs -- does one or the other enhance one's chances of being admitted? Should I reapply to the same schools, or apply to totally different programs?

I'm considering this all very tentatively at the moment... Once I was rejected from so many schools, I really started to talk myself into other career paths. But now that some time has passed, there's a little inkling in my mind that tells me I should try again.

So yes... any thoughts on the matter would be greatly appreciated!

[curiousgeorge]

Apply more widely. This field is competitive, but it's not like we're working with the odds of winning a nobel prize. With those numbers I feel like you HAVE to eventually get in somewhere attractive with money. Seriously-- UCSD and Indiana (my meaningful acceptances) aren't exactly Duke and Harvard, but they're competitive programs; I have a low three gpa from a top 30 (and that's on a good day) SLAC, mediocre GRE scores only slightly higher than your first try, no publications (couple of conference papers though) and I've never done anything but go to school and fuck around with school in my spare time. Your new GRE alone would land you an assload of $$ when you're accepted for Ph.D. So-- if I can get in at Second Best University, you can DEFINITELY get in at Tell Your Parents University!

In terms of real advice, why don't you have more people look at your SoP. Or did you already do that? It honestly might have just been the fac matches and some lack of clarity in your research goals that kept you back. A conference paper this year prob wouldn't hurt-- and talk it up in the new SoP. I think they like to have titles and topics to remember you by. Plus, network! Who are your rec writers, and who do they know? Milk that shit! Oh, and just to clarify-- from all that I've ever heard, "research goals" just means clearly stating the problems/questions you're interested in; you prob shouldn't feel the need to have a sentence in your SoP that says "I know that I definitely want to write my dissertation on representations of mailboxes in films made by colorblind fans of the show "Twilight" and that is what i'm going to do, thanks bye." Ugh, there's a reason why I'm not a guidance counselor.

Seriously don't stress. I have a funny feeling that you're going to be FINE if you apply again. And if you choose not to, well, then you'd be following everyone's advice about humanities grad school anyway.

[peffy1962]

Thanks, curiousgeorge, for all of this advice. I'm definitely going to work on my personal statement and will seek the counsel of some professors this time around. In terms of conferences and publications, though, am I able to submit proposals and whatnot even though I'm not enrolled at a university at this time? I'm pretty naive when it comes to that sort of thing!

But in terms of heeding everyone's advice about grad school in the humanities, I did want to pose a couple of questions to anyone who wants to answer them. One of my largest concerns about pursuing an academic career is whether or not I am willing to move anywhere for a job. At this point, I don't think I am. There are only a few regions of this country that I could see myself living in (and liking) for a long period of time. My hesitation in this regard makes me wonder if I'm right for an academic job (and for graduate school, in turn), as I'm well aware of the reality of the market we all face. At this point, I figure I'll hedge my bets, reapply (and hopefully get in!), complete my degree, and pray for a position in an area I'd like. But to be honest, at this point I can totally see myself completing my degree and leaving academia if I can't find such a job. (Yes, this is all way down the line and hypothetical, but I like to think ahead. )

So that brings to my next (downer!) question: if you couldn't get a job in academia, what would you do with a Ph.D. in media studies? I suppose there's always freelance journalism or lower-level teaching, but are there any other alternative career paths that you would consider (or find rewarding?). I don't mean to be a downer, I'm just genuinely curious.

Thanks again!

[hornedfrogmeg]

I had one question:

Is there a master list of conferences? I can't seem to find one online. I don't have any publications or conference papers and I feel this might be important for the next round of my applications.

Also here is an interesting thing I was told by a former university art history prof about research:

"Colleges evaluate research proposals based on how much money they can make off of them

[nyfilmfest]

I'm starting my MA in the Fall @ Columbia (as I have an undergrad degree in an unrelated field) , so I am hardly a pro in these matters at this point, but I have a day job in academia that makes me relatively aware of the admissions process. It's tough to give concrete advice on something so subjective, but here we go anyway.

First and foremost, I would definitely work on getting an article or two published or presented at conferences in the next year, especially if you don't have any noteworthy publications or presentations. Obviously a peer-reviewed journal publication would be ideal, but there are scads of outlets for film writing, both online and off, so you really should be able to place something somewhere to bolster your CV and further demonstrate your ability to develop your stated research interests (personally I just had some amateur/freelance film reviews, and an essay published in a DVD insert to speak of, but I can't help but think that helped a lot). Worst case scenario, the time spent preparing your writing will give you another writing sample to choose from...

As far as conferences go, I know there are frequent Call for Paper postings on the SCMS web site, though you might need to be a member to view them: http://www.cmstudies.org There are other sites that seem to list conferences around the web as well, (e.g. http://www.conferencealerts.com/film.htm ), of course. There may be better resources out there that I am unaware of.

peffy: I don't think your stats (especially your old GRE scores) are an issue at all. They are pretty excellent, in fact. Mine were in the same ballpark, for what it's worth. I'd recommend focusing more on your SoP and publications. As far as next year's apps go, reapply to the schools that are are good fit. Try to stress to them why you feel they are a good fit. Also, apply more widely, especially with PhD programs, as the limited number of acceptances at any given school makes any application, no matter how strong, a total crapshoot.

meg: Personally, I would not stress too greatly about trying to tailor my research goals to the institutions I was applying to. The whole idea of this process, especially at the PhD level is to find a place that's a good fit for you... not so much vice versa. I can't imagine devoting literally years of effort to a subfield, just because it's "hot". There's a need to get your foot in the door, of course, but you have to think about what will be waiting inside...

Anyone else who could help to answer this question would also be helping me, because I anticipate applying for PhD programs in a few years!

[curiousgeorge]

If you want to hear about conferences and special CFPs from journals, I think the two best resources are:

UPenn English CFP site: http://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/

It's only "English" because it's run out of the English Dept.

H-Net listservs-- there are about 5 million of them, and lots and lots of people submit CFPs through them.

Plus, Peffy-- lots of people present at conferences if they aren't at the moment affiliated with an academic institution. Don't worry about that at all, seriously.

[nimhicaz]

do you know any sources that give a list of PhD programs in media and film studies?

[curiousgeorge]

Honestly, searching for "media" or "film" (or some combination of the two) in the results section of this site will probably yield a pretty accurate picture of where people really apply. I'll go out on a limb and say that if nobody on here has applied to it in the past 3 years then you probably don't want to go to it (unless it's a brand new program). And yes, I'm assuming that for every worthwhile program there is at least one applicant who is dorky enough to post his/her results on an online forum...

[Swagato]

Hi everyone.

I've been following this thread for a while now, and I have had several questions answered before I had to ask them

[alphonsecpone]

Hi everyone,

I am looking to apply to NYU and Columbia's film studies programs. I am a senior at St. Francis College in Brooklyn dual majoring in both Film and English. I have a 3.9 GPA (4.0 in my majors) and played D1 water polo for four years, yet every time I look over the requirements I feel incredibly inadequate for either school. Does anyone have any tips for applying to these two programs. I kind of want to know my chances as well. Do I need some kind of professional background, published work, alumni recommendations, to have any shot? Any advice, even if its I am wasting my time would be greatly appreciated!