Communication/Media Studies Ph.D Programs Fall 2012--Apps, Decisions, and Waiting...

[fanon_fanatic]

Hey all!

Anyone else out there applying for Communication Studies or Media Studies Ph.D programs for Fall of 2012? What are you doing while you wait it out, and where have you applied? I applied to UNC-CH, UT-Austin (RTF), and Georgia State University (Moving Image Studies) for my communication schools, and then a variety of other programs in other disciplines. Just wondering if there's anyone else out there waiting for decisions. Also, what kind of research do you want to do?

[commsch12]

Me! I applied to comm PhD programs at Michigan, Stanford, Berkeley, Penn and UWashington. Hoping to specialize in international communication, particularly the effects of media coverage on developing countries. I have plenty of other things to keep me busy next year if I don't get in, so I won't be desparate if that happens, but this waiting period is still sort of nervewracking. I've been reading a lot of books.

[fanon_fanatic]

I've been reading a lot of books too, and wasting time on my new Kindle. I never thought I'd be a "tablet" person, but something about needing to never have free time seems well suited to the Kindle. You've got a really great list of schools. Did you do a Master's program or are you applying straight from BA?

[morningdew]

I'm joining this thread too! I applied to U of I, U of Wisconsin-Madison, and Temple U. I'm interested in social implications of the younger generation's usage in new media technologies. The waiting is hard! I think we get our result around April, right? I'm taking my last course for my Master's degree and working on a thesis project. Looking at you guys' school list makes me think about how I should've applied to one really really hard school just for the heck of it. I was too freaking out about my GRE score. Propz for you fanon_fanatic for applying 15 schools! That must've been a pain!

[fanon_fanatic]

It was rough but I was afraid that I had to apply to that many to get into a few. Actually, what was worse was the free time after I applied. I rested for three days and then suddenly felt purposeless and meaningless. I looked at Temple too! But I decided they weren't quite the right fit for my interests. I like Philly a lot though.

[morningdew]

Yea, this feeling of unknowing and leaving it to the faith is pretty rough. Applying process was horrible too because I was constantly revising my SOP until I just couldn't read or rewrite it anymore. You should get a short term job (maybe?)! I need to save some money before PhD school. Have you lived in Philly before? Do you like it? I currently live in Chicago so I assume it's pretty similar. Temple U is a good school right? People don't recognize the school when I tell them where I applied haha... Congratz on UNC-CH!

[commsch12]

I've been reading a lot of books too, and wasting time on my new Kindle. I never thought I'd be a "tablet" person, but something about needing to never have free time seems well suited to the Kindle. You've got a really great list of schools. Did you do a Master's program or are you applying straight from BA?

I got a Kindle in my Master's program and was pretty happy with it. I mostly use it to read articles, but it saves so much paper and ink and takes so much less space on my bookshelf ... I graduated last summer with a political science master's and am currently working as a journalist. You? What books have you been reading?

I know what you mean about feeling purposeless - I almost started looking for more programs to apply for to give myself something to do. I've lost count but I read a mashup of fiction and nonfiction including "The Night Circus" by Morgenstern, "After the Quake" by Marukami, a book about the politics of famine and "Boomerang" by Michael Lewis. All fairly good.

Also, I haven't read much Fanon but I loved "The Wretched of the Earth," which I read in undergrad. What sort of comm research do you want to do?

[edost]

I'm applying to seven Comm programs (UPenn, NYU, Ohio State, Indiana, UConn, Rutgers and Albany) plus four PoliSci programs. I'm interested in the link between entertainment and politics. I'm coming to this after two MA's (one in PoliSci and one in literature/creative writing).

I've decided to spend the next month or so (i.e., the dreadful waiting period) reading classics I've never read before. I'm starting with Macbeth.

[commsch12]

I'm starting with Macbeth.

I love Macbeth. Hope you hear good news from your programs. Where did you apply for poli sci?

[edost]

I love Macbeth. Hope you hear good news from your programs. Where did you apply for poli sci?

Thanks, I hope you do too! I see we both share UPenn as one of our programs.

I applied to George Washington, Princeton, Duke and Harvard for PoliSci.

[fanon_fanatic]

gracie, I've never been to Chicago so I can't compare, but Philly is a really typical East Coast city: Dense and dirty! Philly looks especially run down from the outside but has so many interesting neighborhoods and cultures. Everyone I knew who lived there loved it, and I liked visiting it a lot. I like taking the train between DC/NY/Philly. I don't know where Temple ranks against other Comm schools, but I do know it's reputable and is a good school. I looked at it for a while but couldn't find enough faculty with my interests. You can always check out a rankings system. I like the NRC rankings.

Clarisse, I haven't decided yet whether to use my Kindle for academics. I like to write notes on the things I read a lot, so I'm a little afraid that I'll be all messed up. But all my for fun reading, and game playing, oh yes! Lately I've been reading a bunch of academic books that I always wanted to read, James Baldwin, Saidiya Hartman. And then I'm reading some poetry and plays...Ntsoke Shange, Sonia Sanchez, and some local poets from DC. I love Fanon, he has some fascinating things to say about race and ontology (he goes there. ) My favorite book thus far is Black Skin, White Masks. Most of my research is related to critical theory/media/rhetoric/performance and race.

Welcome to the thread edost and brancan! I'm glad to see folks starting to add to the thread. I was nervous for a while I'd hang out here by myself...in the wind...to suffer the waiting alone

[CoffeeStainedMemos]

I know what you mean about feeling purposeless - I almost started looking for more programs to apply for to give myself something to do.

This is very recognizable!

@fanon_fanatic Have you read Darker than Blue by Paul Gilroy? (On GoodReads is a nice excerpt)

BTW, I have applied to NYU, Penn and UIC.

Edited January 17, 2012 by CoffeeStainedMemos

[commsch12]

Penn applicants, did any of you get this email today?

March 15-17 we will host our Prospective Student's visit for those we will be accepting. While we are busy reading files I wanted to send you a note to ask you to save the dates just in case. More information will be sent next month. I hope your new year is off to a good start.

I have no idea if it means anything, except hopefully they haven't rejected me yet.

[MacNick]

Hi everyone,

I applied to UWashington as my only school.. Yep, all of my eggs in one basket. It's really the only school I want to attend so it's all or nothing. I have a backup plan... I already teach nearly full time, but I really need a PhD to get a full time teaching job. So it's UW or the status quo. I'm interested in researching the intersection of media, technology, and politics, and I'm especially interested in looking at how digital media affects democracy in developing countries. UW has profs who are basically my heroes in this area, so I really hope to get in!

Nick

[brancan]

Clarisse, I also got that e-mail. I'm pretty sure they sent it to everyone. But I had the exact same reaction you did! They don't hate me yet.

[edost]

Yikes, I didn't get that e-mail. I hope it isn't a bad sign. You do mean the University of Pennsylvania and not Penn State, right?

[fanon_fanatic]

@CoffeeStainedMemo, I haven't read that book yet, but I've been through the Black Atlantic a couple times. I'll have to check it out! What research do you want to do?

[commsch12]

@Edost, yeah, got the email from University of Pennsylvania. I wouldn't worry about it ... I feel like I could spend the next four to six weeks microanalyzing everything about the admissions process and at the end I would probably only have a nervous breakdown to show for it. At any rate it's not an acceptance which is what we all REALLY want

@Nick, have you been to UW before? What's the campus like?

[milara]

Hello, all!

Wow, I thought I was crazy with applications to nine schools, but fanon has me beat. *waves* I bow to your persistence.

I just started a general thread about coping mechanisms here:

I have a B.Sc. in physics from a top ten university, and a masters of journalism from a respectable but not nearly so venerable school. My undergrad GPA is a slightly high B, my grad GPA was an A-. One of my GRE scores was in the 98th percentile and the other two were in the 87th. But I have no published research papers to my name, and my background and interests are kind of scattered.

My interests are in developing experimental online technologies for enabling or encouraging evidence-based discourse, and/or empowering patients to understand and gain access to medical literature. I'm hoping to learn to do more computer programming than I already can as part of my elective coursework, so that I don't have to rely entirely on partnerships to do my research.

I applied to:

U Washington (iSchool) - Rejected already. It was the first application I wrote, though, and it wasn't that great. It's really been a learning process.

Cornell (Communication)

U Illinois UC (iSchool)

Northwestern Tech & Social Behavior (Comp Sci + Comm et. al.)

Syracuse (iSchool)

UMich-Ann Arbor (iSchool)

Michigan State (Media and Information Studies)

Purdue (Communication)

UW-Madison (Journalism & Mass Comm)

[CoffeeStainedMemos]

@fanon_fanatic

Media and development

[fanon_fanatic]

@nullsymbol, your interests are really fascinating, and it looks like you're actually a little interdisciplinary which hopefully works in your favor. Good luck with the rest of your applications! I felt crazy doing as many as I did, but I watched a lot of people in my MA program in the years ahead of me apply to 6 schools and get into none.

So out of curiosity, why did everyone on this forum choose Communication as their field of study? It's my undergrad and MA major, and some days I wonder, what exactly is this discipline? LOL I don't want to teach public speaking, but for some reason Comm keeps calling me back....and no one ever seems to know where to classify our discipline (are we a social science? humanities? interdisciplinary??????). What brought you to comm?

[fanon_fanatic]

@Coffee, are you focusing on a particular geographic area, or population?

[brancan]

Yikes, I didn't get that e-mail. I hope it isn't a bad sign. You do mean the University of Pennsylvania and not Penn State, right?

Edost, I wouldn't worry at all. I assume that you didn't get the e-mail because of your location. They pay for travel and I doubt they want to pay for you to come visit from Israel. BTW, I adore Israel! I'm thankful for Birthright, but a week and a half visit wasn't long enough to fulfill me.

Anyway, that's my guess as to why you didn't get the e-mail. I'm also an international student, but I live in Canada and it's probably a cheap flight. I've never actually looked into it.

[milara]

@fanon Thanks! I both love and hate being interdisciplinary. First, it's hard to find programs that can meet my needs -- or that will want to. Second, I get this impression that the common wisdom is to focus on one area of interest in your application. I hate that! I don't want to talk about just the health communication research, or just the evidence-based discourse (which overlaps with an area called deliberative democracy, from what I hear). And I have other areas that interest me too that I didn't even touch upon.

I notice that you are also very interdisciplinary. At least most of the programs I've applied to could be host to most of my research interests. But some of yours seem at first glance to be unrelated -- though maybe I can't see them from the same angle that you do. If my perception is in synch with yours, though, I can't imagine how difficult it will be for you to choose between the disciplines you love if you are admitted to all of the programs. Do you have a primary discipline, or a preferred program?

As for your question, Comm was the obvious choice for me -- it was the information science programs that were unexpected. Oh, sure, you'd think that journalism programs would be the place to go, but there are virtually no doctoral programs in journalism. Also, most journalism programs have very naive notions of the intersection of journalism and online technology, in my opinion. They're too invested in the industry's institutions to see the forest for the trees, and too lacking in knowledge about what can be accomplished with computing.

There are by contrast a ton of Communication programs, and while many are ill-suited to my interests (for instance, a strong emphasis on humanities methodologies, or a focus on speech pathologies), with so many programs it was inevitable that I would find some that work.

[milara]

@brancan

You know, there are lots of so-called gender or women's studies departments that actually do queer studies at the doctoral level, despite their names. It's vaguely irritating because of the whole conflation of gender identity and sexuality, *insert the usual rant here*, but program names aside, they'd probably be a good home for you. I have a good friend who was studying the intersection of Furry, queer, trans, and fan culture with respect to a variety of things, including cyborg theory and various forms of media. She was at IU Bloomington but transferred to Arizona to follow her advisor. I should also direct your attention to both Guelph and U of T's programs. Guelph hosts the annual sexuality and health conference, which addresses a wide variety of topics, including queer, trans, poly, and kink issues. That suggests that they might have programs that are less focused on health that are appropriate for you. I don't know what programs U of T has, but given that Margaret Robinson (http://www.margaretrobinson.com/) graduated from their Theology department, there must be some support for queer studies.

(checking)

Sexual Diversity Studies, U of T

http://www.uc.utoronto.ca/content/view/284/1809/

Not sure if Guelph as a program, but they did lead me to this:

Canadian Sex Research Forum

http://csrf.ca/index.html

And, uh, sorry if this is all stuff you already knew...