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

[milara]

Hello all! I gave into temptation and emailed all the schools from which I've heard nothing, asking if they do interviews, what their timeline is,

In case any of you are applying to the same schools, here's what they said:

Michigan State University, Media and Information Studies:

• The admissions committee is meeting to make final decisions on Thursday, February 9th.
  
• We should hear from them sometime the week of the 13th
  
• They will let us know via email and mail.
  
• Visiting weekend for admitted students is March 8-10
  
  
  University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Information Science:
  • Before admission, their short list of applicants will receive a phone interview with their probable advisor.
    
  • After the interview, the faculty members submit their picks to the doctoral committee, and they make final decisions.
    
  • The doctoral committee meets on Wednesday mornings
    
  • Admission decisions are given via a phone call from the school's director, Stephanie Teasley, followed by an offer letter via email.
    

  University of Wisconsin-Madison, Journalism and Mass Communication:

  [*]They've begun reviewing applicants

  [*]They had about 200 applicants this year.

  [*]They hope to finish the review February 24th, and have decisions about admissions and assistantships out by March 1.

  We're almost through this time of uncertainty. Phew.

[commcomm]

Thanks @nullsymbol! 200 applicants for UW-Madison? Geez. With that many contenders, I won't feel too lame if I don't make the cut.

[brancan]

Out of curiosity, is the person who got into the PhD program at UMass on the board? I'm curious about the e-mail you received. I just checked the website and I'm still listed as "applied." But I did see three decisions on the results page (1 admitted PhD, 2 rejected MA). I don't know what to think. Indiana and Michigan also seem to have sent acceptances and I've yet to hear from either. I've convinced myself I've been rejected from those two schools, but I guess there's a slight possibility that the door hasn't closed on UMass yet. Maybe my decision has to go through an international office or something. I don't know. I really would rather hear something, even if it's negative, than be dragged along.

[brancan]

@brancan - good luck on the interview! Just be yourself, not who you think they want you to be. After all, any place that you are going to be spending as much time as you will in your graduate studies, you want to be able to be yourself. We'll all be thinking of you. Post afterwards to let us know how it goes!

Thank you, S@lly! The interview went well, I think. I was pretty confident straight after, though I have been overanalyzing everything for the last couple of hours. I was pleasantly surprised by how casual it was and how the professor seemed genuinely interested in my interests, my choices of schools, and my considerations. He wanted to know more about what is important to me in a graduate program more so than my research interests, which he had already read about. Overall, I think I did well. I still won't find out for a month or so (and longer for funding decisions).

[scrapster]

Any rumblings from UMass? I read that last year they started making decisions in mid-February. Just curious if anyone has heard the size of the applicant pool for Fall 2012.

Update: Just saw the post above. It sounds like some folks are receiving notice?! I also had one very kindly prof. in the department say he would "poke around" to see where things were in the process. If he responds, and it's appropriate, I'll let folks know.

Edited February 8, 2012 by scrapster

[MediaMom]

@Brancan - My UMass status is still "applied" as well and I haven't heard anything else. I don't know if that's helpful to you or not, but you're not the only one in limbo there.

[S@lly]

@brancan - I sent you a PM

[brancan]

@Brancan - My UMass status is still "applied" as well and I haven't heard anything else. I don't know if that's helpful to you or not, but you're not the only one in limbo there.

Thanks, MediaMom! I don't like how some schools seem to admit people on a rolling basis. If you're in by the deadline (and my materials were in months early), everyone should hear at once. This is torturous!

But I do feel better than there are others like me. Perhaps the PhD result on the survey is actually another MA and they have yet to get to PhDs. The other two results were MA ones. In any case, let's hope we hear soon - especially because a lot of my schools don't seem to let people know until early March/late February at the earliest.

[comm1980]

@brancan, might the one PhD be an MA student who was going into the PhD? If you were a current MA student going directly into the PhD, they might just directly admit you, hence the 1 admit? I was wondering if that was the case in my program because there was 1 admit like a month before the other decisions came through. Just a thought...

[MediaMom]

I did not get into UMass....it's a bummer but I kind of expected it. I don't think it was a good fit for me. In my SOPs I really tried to identify multiple faculty members whose work interested me and aligned with my interests, and if I'm being honest, when I wrote the SOP for UMass I really had to stretch to find people. I'm good with it.

Congratulations to everyone who was accepted there! I saw a couple of positive results on the survey page. And good luck to everyone still waiting to hear from them.

Edited February 9, 2012 by MediaMom

[scrapster]

Sorry to hear that. It always stinks to be turned down, even when it isn't your top choice. Congrats on RPI though! A friend went there for their MBA and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Still waiting on UMass here--hoping they're just going alphabetically I'm somewhat geographically inflexible these days, so it's my only shot. Luckily, the program is a great fit for my interests--though I worry I may have pestered the profs a bit too much. We'll soon see.

Edited February 9, 2012 by scrapster

[MediaMom]

Sorry to hear that. It always stinks to be turned down, even when it isn't your top choice. Congrats on RPI though! A friend went there for their MBA and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Still waiting on UMass here--hoping they're just going alphabetically I'm somewhat geographically inflexible these days, so it's my only shot. Luckily, the program is a great fit for my interests--though I worry I may have pestered the profs a bit too much. We'll soon see.

I'm guessing they must set up all of the responses in some kind of auto-mail program, because both my acceptance to RPI and my rejection from UMass came late at night or very early in the morning. I've seen a few comments on the results board that said things like, "Got an email at 4am." So I'm taking this a sign that I shouldn't expect any correspondence during the daylight hours. If there's no email in the morning, I'm trying to just forget about it and wait til the next day.

So anyway, my point is that if you're still waiting to hear from UMass, your email may come in the middle of the night.

[scrapster]

So I'm taking this a sign that I shouldn't expect any correspondence during the daylight hours. If there's no email in the morning, I'm trying to just forget about it and wait til the next day.

So anyway, my point is that if you're still waiting to hear from UMass, your email may come in the middle of the night.

Good info and advice. Thanks! I have a newborn at home, so I SHOULD be able to find something to distract me throughout the day

[MediaMom]

Good info and advice. Thanks! I have a newborn at home, so I SHOULD be able to find something to distract me throughout the day

Seriously - I have a one-year-old and a three-year-old. You'd THINK I could find ways to keep myself busy instead of obsessing. But the mind wanders when one is changing diapers and chopping up grilled cheese into tiny pieces. Congrats on your new baby.

[tealover]

I received an acceptance from UMASS yesterday. My first one. Good luck to everyone!! Hopefully good news is right around the corner!!

[scrapster]

I received an acceptance from UMASS yesterday. My first one. Good luck to everyone!! Hopefully good news is right around the corner!!

Nice! If you decide to attend and need any info about the area, let me know. I'm local and would be happy to provide some tips.

[milara]

I just got an acceptance from Michigan State University's Media and Information Studies program. I'm very happy to have been accepted, but they don't mention any funding. Anyone have advice on how to broach the subject?

[MediaMom]

I just got an acceptance from Michigan State University's Media and Information Studies program. I'm very happy to have been accepted, but they don't mention any funding. Anyone have advice on how to broach the subject?

This wasn't for Michigan, but I did the following:

I knew I was accepted to a program but was only told "information about funding will follow from your admitting department" in my acceptance letter. After a couple of weeks I hadn't heard anything so I emailed the department secretary and said, "I've just been notified of my acceptance and am excited about the opportunity. I'd like to plan a visit to campus, but think it would be best to wait until financial aid decisions have been made. This way, if I am offered any funding, I can ask all of my questions at one time. Do you have a general idea of when those decisions will be made?"

The secretary forwarded my email on to the professor who serves as the chair of the financial aid committee, and she was really nice about answering all my questions. (I found out funding will be decided at the end of Feb, so I made an appointment to visit campus in early March.)

If you're not planning a campus visit, you can couch it another way; perhaps that you'd like to schedule a time for a phone conversation with the department chair or something, etc....

Congrats on your acceptance!

[-hermes-]

@gurlsaved, @fanonfanatic, yeah, I think I knew my question was too general for anyone to really be able to answer it. It was more of a musing based on really disparate experiences I've had so far in terms of integration/segregation in schools, though none of those experiences were in the States. Thanks for giving it a try though! I agree that large cities and a liberal slant definitely play significant roles -- and interesting point about Washington DC, fanonfanatic!

[MediaMom]

Just checked my application status on the website and saw I was accepted to UConn. No email was sent telling me to check on the status, so if anyone is waiting to hear from them, go to the site and check! My acceptance was dated Feb 10. No word on funding at this point.

I'm about 99% sure I'll be turning down the offer, but it's still exciting! I do really like their program....if only moving to Storrs right now was a real option for me.

[edost]

Just checked my application status on the website and saw I was accepted to UConn. No email was sent telling me to check on the status, so if anyone is waiting to hear from them, go to the site and check! My acceptance was dated Feb 10. No word on funding at this point. I'm about 99% sure I'll be turning down the offer, but it's still exciting! I do really like their program....if only moving to Storrs right now was a real option for me.

Congratulations!

I checked my UConn app status, and there's nothing new there.

[MediaMom]

Congratulations!

I checked my UConn app status, and there's nothing new there.

Thanks - I'm sure you'll hear soon. I see from one of your previous posts that you and I also have UAlbany in common. It's the only school I haven't heard from, and because I want to stay here in the Albany area, I am becoming very impatient! I know their deadline isn't even until Feb. 20, so it might be March before we know anything. But patience is not my strongest quality.

[fanon_fanatic]

Thanks - I'm sure you'll hear soon. I see from one of your previous posts that you and I also have UAlbany in common. It's the only school I haven't heard from, and because I want to stay here in the Albany area, I am becoming very impatient! I know their deadline isn't even until Feb. 20, so it might be March before we know anything. But patience is not my strongest quality.

I feel you on this. I am officially tired of waiting... I just want answers so I can get out of admission purgatory.

[milara]

I knew I was accepted to a program but was only told "information about funding will follow from your admitting department" in my acceptance letter. After a couple of weeks I hadn't heard anything so I emailed the department secretary and said, "I've just been notified of my acceptance and am excited about the opportunity. I'd like to plan a visit to campus, but think it would be best to wait until financial aid decisions have been made. This way, if I am offered any funding, I can ask all of my questions at one time. Do you have a general idea of when those decisions will be made?"

Thanks for the advice, @MediaMom!

I'm in the position where they have a visit weekend next Thursday-Saturday, and they only sent me the admission letter late Friday, so they want my RSVP for the weekend ASAP. I don't want to waste their money and my time if they can't offer me funding, but if funding is still undecided, then it seems worthwhile to go.

Congrats on your acceptance!

Thanks! And you on your acceptance to UConn.

[scrapster]

I feel you on this. I am officially tired of waiting... I just want answers so I can get out of admission purgatory.

Agreed! This feels more hellish than purgatory--but at least there's hope, which I guess is the important difference. Like most of us, I'm also feeling pressure to make other life decisions that depend on hearing from grad school(s). I'm just hoping that the schedules for all these things line-up, or I may have to pass on one opportunity just to keep another alive.