safety schools and reaches

[mintless]

Hey! I'm new here, I wish I had discovered this resource earlier! I applied to M.A. communication programs this year and I was wondering if anyone here more knowledgable than me could help me out!

My GRE is a 1260 total, with 590 verbal, a 670 quantitative and a 4.5 on the writing.

My GPA is a 3.56, 3.93 in Communication and 3.95 on the last 60 hours.

I applied at the following:

UT Austin

UW Milwaukee

UC Boulder

UW Seattle

UI Chicago

UU Salt Lake City

University of Mephis

University of Cincinnati

Portland State

I have no real perception of the reputation of quality of many of these schools because rankings have been so hard to come by, but if anyone can shed any light on the quality of these programs and what my statistics might mean etc. I would really appreciate it!

[tealover]

What school are you coming from?

[mintless]

Abilene Christian University.

[tealover]

Very cool! Your stats are pretty solid so I think all you need to be concerned with is whether these programs see you as a good fit. Faculty members that your research interests align with and such. I am familiar with UT's comm. department and UW-Seattle. What are your research interest and do you have research experience in what you want to study? I think it would help people who want to give you a little insight.

[mintless]

Thank you so much! I unfortunately have virtually no resarch experience. My interests are very LGBT oriented. I want to study the communitcation about LGBT people within religious communities and the impact it has on the LGBT movement/community as a whole. I also have an interest in organizational communication, I'd like to work in an activist capacity for LGBT causes or in the non profit sector before going on to get a doctoral degree. I'm also very concerned about getting a teaching assistantship as it will probably be necessary for me to be able to attend. Unfortunately as I said I have no teaching or resarch experience, and I have no clue how important that is or if most applicants for acceptance and assistantships tend to have much experience in those areas. Any insight you can give me would be so appreciated!

[MediaMom]

My own two cents:

I don't think you'll have too much difficulty finding a program with faculty who are studying LGBT-related topics. It's a big area of research and I would say that in all of the schools I looked into when applying, at least one faculty member was currently doing research (or had done research recently) in the area. Additionally, a number of the academic conferences I research, either from the perspective of attending or submitting, have specific divisions dedicated to LGBT studies.

As for the TA or RA position, you don't have to have any former experience. Some universities might want you to have had some research experience before appointing you as an RA, but the whole point of the assistantship is that you're learning. They'll train you, and you'll learn from the professor you work under. When I was in my master's program, I spent part of the time as a teaching assistant and the other part as a research assistant, and I had no prior experience in either.

Best wishes

[-hermes-]

Thank you so much! I unfortunately have virtually no resarch experience. My interests are very LGBT oriented. I want to study the communitcation about LGBT people within religious communities and the impact it has on the LGBT movement/community as a whole. I also have an interest in organizational communication, I'd like to work in an activist capacity for LGBT causes or in the non profit sector before going on to get a doctoral degree.

Me too! I wrote quite a bit about LGBT spaces and women's empowerment in my SoP and have been worrying that adcomms will think I belong in a program that focuses on gender and sexuality instead. Have to fret over something, right?