reterik Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 @saviya: Thanks! I know I'm worrying too much--I know people who've applied and haven't gotten in anywhere, so at least I should be grateful for that. I just want to know! I'm studying abroad right now, and it's massively frustrating to not enjoy things here to the fullest because I'm worrying about grad school admissions.
scrapster Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) Okay, I really need some advice now. After due diligence in making contacts with faculty and the DGS at a school, I had pretty much decided to hang back and let the decision process take its course. On a visit with the grad director/my POI in early December, he mentioned that I would likely hear back on a decision in March or April. Frankly, part of my own decision to hang back was a feeling that I may have contacted the department too much early-on. I'm new to the discipline and used email with faculty and two campus visits for fact-finding. (Aside: I should have viewed the visits more as candidate interviews, but I was regrettably naive and genuinely just looking for information.) Overall, people were extremely helpful, and I learned invaluable things about the department and the field that I could have never have found out otherwise. Fast forward--the first round of decisions went out last week, and I have not heard anything. All signs point to the wait-list. But now, my hand is being forced. Despite all attempts at delay, I have to decide on an important job offer NEXT WEEK, before I even hear the final outcome of all my efforts to apply to grad school. Since the job is high-profile, taking it would be at least a one or two year commitment. Could I do both the job and grad school? Possibly, but I think both sides may frown on that. So, what do I do? The process is the process, right? I don't think that applying pressure or appearing desperate will really help my cause at all. And from what I can tell about the wait-list, it often does take until mid-April to resolve itself. AArrgh! Edited February 17, 2012 by scrapster
fanon_fanatic Posted February 17, 2012 Author Posted February 17, 2012 @scrapster, in your situation, I would actually go ahead and contact the school DGS or Graduate Admissions Coordinator, and explain that you are under significant pressure to decide about another life opportunity and need to know something by early next week. Be extremely courteous and diplomatic, don't demand an answer but let the program know that you really want to attend if possible, but that a job opportunity has come up and you'd like to make your decision with all of the information. If you want, you can explain the situation you are in (briefly! ) but let them know that you need to know something because your choice is essentially between school and no school. As for a job and grad school, that's tough. It depends partly on your program (some programs require you to go full-time, which, with a new non-profit directorship, I think you'd probably implode), and mostly on what you think your job will require from you. I would really take some time to evaluate the job opportunity, seriously. Going to school is rough, especially full-time. The money sucks, the stress is high, you lose your earning potential, etc. There are a lot of ways to pursue graduate study without going full time. When I was on my visit at Georgia State U, I met a number of Ph.D students who were attending part time and literally taking 1 course a semester, which the program is fine with. Some of those students had some pretty serious jobs (like, Executive VP of Scheduling for a major cable TV station!!), and they kind of eased their school work in with their regular work in a slow but steady pace. If Amherst has that option, I would think about it. Another thing to do is, consider taking a graduate course or two with professors you want to work with on a non-degree status for a year, again part-time, if Amherst gives that option. I know multiple students who have done this, and it's essentially how they got into the program. It would be a way for you to have your cake and eat it too. You could make progress toward an eventual degree, keep your mind excited, and still keep the job. That's just my two cents!
scrapster Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Thanks so much fanon-fanatic. It's very good advice. I really wish I had found this forum earlier. It would have improved just about every aspect of application experience! As you know, applying to grad school is such an all-consuming and personal process, it's really easy to fantasize about its outcome as being the best and only option. Plus, I must admit, having a newborn makes the future prospect of a secure, tenure-track position wonderfully alluring. So, it's good to step back. And BTW, LOVE your handle! I remember reading the Wretched of the Earth back in undergrad. A poli sci prof from Uganda had assigned it for a class. All the other profs were shocked--they thought it was pretty hard core stuff
edost Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Congrats, tealover, Iamhere, Duva, mediaphile! I hope I haven't omitted anyone (if I did - congrats and apologies!)
Iamhere Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 @Saviya Thanks! I got wait listed for UCSB but now that Penn has offered me admission I don't think I'm turning back! @edost Thank you! I hope you get more good news too!
MediaMom Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 @Scrapster - To build on Fanon's advice about taking the job and taking coursework part-time, if Amherst is not able to offer you non-matriculated or part-time status, consider taking a class or two from an accredited online program. Perhaps even talk to the people at UMass about what courses might be good to take, that could potentially be accepted into their program as transfer credits at a later date. If nothing else, taking a course online like a methods course could result in something publishable or presentable, so while you're waiting to reapply to school (should you choose to) you'll also be building your CV with research credits.
reterik Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Also, has anyone seen that certain programs admit masters students on different timelines than doctoral students? I'm not even out of undergrad yet, so a lot of programs required me to apply for the masters even though I intend to get the Ph.D; any difference?
gurlsaved Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Hi @reterik - From what I understand, most programs that have both the Masters and PhD require that you apply for the Masters and then reapply for the PhD once you have the Masters. I had a friend who did this in a sociology programs and found it easy to get into the PhD track because she knew the faculty she wanted to work with and knew the style of the program so well. I say, if you get the Masters from that program, then you will most likely get into the PhD track. In other news, I've been trying to stay away from forums only because its driving me nuts and I can see I'm not alone in this feeling. I've been waiting for funding news and still havent heard a peep from a couple schools. One school emailed me telling me the professors were having a meeting about the applications and that was two weeks ago...still nothing. So I'm trying to just forget about it because there is nothing I can really do at this point....but it is terribly difficult. Hang in there everyone and congrats to everyone who has been accepted!!! To those who have received rejections, well just have a drink or drinks... =)
Duva Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 @reterik General rule of thumb seems to be that masters students tend to find out a bit later than PhD. I applied to a mix of MA, MA/PhD, and PhD programs (I have my undergrad degree but nothing beyond that), so I'm in pretty much the same boat you are. I think it's more common for masters stuff to go out in early to mid March and PhD stuff to go out in February (but I've never done this before and am just basing it off of what I've gotten from results pages of years past). You can do what seemed to work for me-- complain obnoxiously to a friend who's already in grad school about how you haven't heard anything back and then get a message from a school in your inbox an hour later. I firmly believe this is the only reason I got a response.
reterik Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Hi @reterik - From what I understand, most programs that have both the Masters and PhD require that you apply for the Masters and then reapply for the PhD once you have the Masters. I had a friend who did this in a sociology programs and found it easy to get into the PhD track because she knew the faculty she wanted to work with and knew the style of the program so well. I say, if you get the Masters from that program, then you will most likely get into the PhD track. Sorry, that was poorly worded--I meant to ask if the decisions went out later for masters vs. phd.
reterik Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 You can do what seemed to work for me-- complain obnoxiously to a friend who's already in grad school about how you haven't heard anything back and then get a message from a school in your inbox an hour later. I firmly believe this is the only reason I got a response. Ah! That's actually super comforting to hear. And I've been bitching at my grad school friends, who definitely roll their eyes.
scrapster Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 @Scrapster - To build on Fanon's advice about taking the job and taking coursework part-time, if Amherst is not able to offer you non-matriculated or part-time status, consider taking a class or two from an accredited online program. Perhaps even talk to the people at UMass about what courses might be good to take, that could potentially be accepted into their program as transfer credits at a later date. If nothing else, taking a course online like a methods course could result in something publishable or presentable, so while you're waiting to reapply to school (should you choose to) you'll also be building your CV with research credits. Again, great advice! It's really cool that non-academics can submit journal articles and conference presentations. The flexibility and crossover between research and practice is one of the aspects of Communications that's so alluring to me. So that route, as well as online or non-matriculated classes, is definitely on my radar. (Though non-matric classes at UMass are quite pricey per credit.) I already have a social science masters too, so methods shouldn't be a hurdle.
gurlsaved Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Ah nah, my fault, I didn't read it correctly. But I would think that programs with both Masters/PhD would send our their decisions at the same time. With terminal Master's programs, they tend to send out notifications later than PhD ones because with PhDs, there is obviously more weight and more at stake with funding, ect. Master's is only two years and boy does that go by fast!!!
commcomm Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 I got impatient and emailed Boulder to check on my status. I've been wait listed, along with 11 others. I'm "one of two alternates for one of the candidates with similar research interests". Better than a rejection-- but having my future in the hands of one applicant who may or may not accept a place is not a very comfortable feeling. Hopefully now that more decisions are rolling in, everyone will begin to accept and decline offers so those of us playing the waiting game can get some closure, one way or another.
AlexGuermantes Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 I got impatient and emailed Boulder to check on my status. I've been wait listed, along with 11 others. I'm "one of two alternates for one of the candidates with similar research interests". Better than a rejection-- but having my future in the hands of one applicant who may or may not accept a place is not a very comfortable feeling. Hopefully now that more decisions are rolling in, everyone will begin to accept and decline offers so those of us playing the waiting game can get some closure, one way or another. @mrpbn7 Did you apply to the comm program? I emailed the grad secretary after reading your post and she told me that their decisions won't be made and no acceptances will be sent out until mid-march...
commcomm Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 @AlexGuermantes I applied to the Journalism and Mass Comm department. The secretary's name is Martha LaForge.
superbygk Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 I applied to Boulder too. I have not heard back, so I may also have been one of those waitlisted. I applied to the program that mrpbn7 did, the School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC). There is a program just called Communication I think, but they are separate and I was initially confused as well when applying. Out of curiosity, mrpbn7, what are your research interests? Mine are media and religion and I'm interested in working with Stewart Hoover.
commcomm Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 @superbygk -- she said she was preparing an email for those wait listed and she would send it out as soon as it got approved by the director. I haven't gotten it yet. I'm primarily interested in the complexity levels of political media messages and how they influence attitude extremity. I guess I'm the "back up" for whoever shares that interest. Or I could be the back up for the back up, which would really suck. Since Boulder isn't a top comm school - and it's in the middle of a department makeover- I'm keeping my fingers crossed that someone will opt out. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you as well that the media and religion candidate goes elsewhere!
AlexGuermantes Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Ah, that makes sense then. I applied to Communication, not Journalism and Mass Communication. For those applying to just 'Communication' at UC-B, decisions should be out by March 15th.
fanon_fanatic Posted February 17, 2012 Author Posted February 17, 2012 And BTW, LOVE your handle! I remember reading the Wretched of the Earth back in undergrad. A poli sci prof from Uganda had assigned it for a class. All the other profs were shocked--they thought it was pretty hard core stuff @scrapster....lol. Fanon is nothing if not hardcore.
superbygk Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Thanks for the kind wishes, mrpbn7! I wish the same for you as well! I just received the e-mail. I've been waitlisted as well. I've got another offer so I have options, but Hoover's one of the top folks to work under in my research area.
commcomm Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) @superbygk-- I think I'm going to deal with this wait list situation by making alternative plans so that I'm not crushed if I don't get in - but I'll be thrilled if I do. I wonder what it's like getting into a program knowing you were a second or third choice. I think I would just be grateful to have a spot. Edited February 17, 2012 by mrpbn7
Hank Jenkins Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Hey, everyone! My wife applied to Mizzou, has anyone heard anything from them?
Ville Posted February 18, 2012 Posted February 18, 2012 I have just received an email that I've been accepted to the PhD Program at University of Washington! Such a relief to receive my first offer. A formal offer letter with funding details will follow next week. :-)
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