Applying for Fall 2013

[musichistorygeek]

And the process begins again! I'm applying to PhD programs in musicology. So far, I'm considering McGill, Wisconsin, Cornell, Yale, UCLA, and possibly CUNY. I'm particularly looking for places with strong gender/women's/sexuality studies departments and support for that type of study among the musicology faculty.

[catenaires]

brandeis has a dedicated women's and gender studies track in their musicology phd, and there's suzanne cusick at nyu

[Karajan]

Yay! Good luck Let me know if you have any questions about the application process.

[mochabear]

Good luck to you! I'll be running the rat race with you this season.

[beethomeister]

Hey guys! Long term lurker, first time poster here. I am a composer applying for doctorates at Stanford, UCSD, Harvard, Northwestern, Brandeis, and considering a few others. I'm luckily not tied down by any location preferences, but obviously as a composer there are aesthetic tendencies that weed some good schools out and make others attractive. Good luck to others here!

[Haroun]

Hi, I'm applying for musicology Ph.D ... this thread needs to be more lively! The season has already started ..

[Karajan]

Good luck, guys! I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have!

[runn]

Good luck, guys! I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have!

I just finished reading a portion of last year's thread.

Is there anything you would have done differently, knowing what you now know about this whole process?

[Karajan]

I just finished reading a portion of last year's thread.

Is there anything you would have done differently, knowing what you now know about this whole process?

Hm... I probably would not have applied to schools that we're good matches, which, for me, were Princeton and Harvard (this isn't me being bitter about not getting admitted to those two - They truly were not good fits). Apart from that, I did start making preparatory measures the summer before applying which turned out to be vital, but there is never enough time. Even though I had my writing samples totally ready and done by October or so, I was still scrambling at the end with nit-picky stuff; maybe there's no avoiding it. That is a bit of a roundabout way of saying that stress in inevitable in this situation, no matter how early you start preparing, so be sure to be kind to yourself and take breaks to try to de-stress as best you can.

That's all I can think of right now, but let me know if there are any other questions.

[Haroun]

Good luck, guys! I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have!

Hi Karajan,

I see from your signature you applied to lots of schools ... I just made a list of schools and I have 5.

and 2-3 of them are some of those big names ... and trust me I didn't chose those only based on their names!!

Anyway I'm beginning to worry. Should I not worry too much if they are good fits?

(FYI my primary interest is video game music)

[Karajan]

Hi Karajan,

I see from your signature you applied to lots of schools ... I just made a list of schools and I have 5.

and 2-3 of them are some of those big names ... and trust me I didn't chose those only based on their names!!

Anyway I'm beginning to worry. Should I not worry too much if they are good fits?

(FYI my primary interest is video game music)

It is very important to apply to schools that are good fits for you. In my view, it does not necessarily matter of there are faculty members at the schools you apply to who study exactly what you study -- i.e. video game music -- but it is important that there are people there who could, nonetheless, advise you. For instance, taking an example closer to what I work on, say you were interested in working on Shostakovich's instrumental music, you could still work with any Russian music specialist, most likely; you wouldn't need to apply only to places where there are Shostakovich specialists. Does that make sense?

[Haroun]

It is very important to apply to schools that are good fits for you. In my view, it does not necessarily matter of there are faculty members at the schools you apply to who study exactly what you study -- i.e. video game music -- but it is important that there are people there who could, nonetheless, advise you. For instance, taking an example closer to what I work on, say you were interested in working on Shostakovich's instrumental music, you could still work with any Russian music specialist, most likely; you wouldn't need to apply only to places where there are Shostakovich specialists. Does that make sense?

Yeah ... that's exactly what I did. Otherwise I would have been unable to come up with 5 schools lol (Unless I want to go into ethnomusicology, which is quite a different matter...) I hope 5 is enough! Hopefully...

Also ... did you usually contact POIs before applying?

[Karajan]

did you usually contact POIs before applying?

Yes, I did, though I know other people who didn't and still did well in terms of admissions.

[runn]

Hm... I probably would not have applied to schools that we're good matches, which, for me, were Princeton and Harvard (this isn't me being bitter about not getting admitted to those two - They truly were not good fits). Apart from that, I did start making preparatory measures the summer before applying which turned out to be vital, but there is never enough time. Even though I had my writing samples totally ready and done by October or so, I was still scrambling at the end with nit-picky stuff; maybe there's no avoiding it. That is a bit of a roundabout way of saying that stress in inevitable in this situation, no matter how early you start preparing, so be sure to be kind to yourself and take breaks to try to de-stress as best you can.

That's all I can think of right now, but let me know if there are any other questions.

Thanks.. That's very helpful. I live just a few miles from a very, very good school (one of the schools in your signature, actually) but I'm not applying there because I think it wouldn't be a very good fit. I've been trying to convince myself that compatibility trumps proximity, and this helps.

Thanks.

[mus69]

Hi,

For those of you attending AMS/SMT/SEM in New Orleans this year, I recommend attending the Grad Education Committee reception. It's a great opportunity to meet professors from the schools you're applying to. Here's the official info:

The Graduate Education Committee will be hosting an open reception for prospective graduate students on Friday, November 2, 5:00-6:30pm, in the Sheraton Grand Ballroom B. The goal of this reception is to establish a single venue where prospective graduate students can meet representatives of graduate programs across the country and get a clearer idea of their wide options. Representatives of graduate programs will briefly introduce their programs and there will be an opportunity to meet individually with them. Refreshments will be served.

[mochabear]

My PhD Musicology applications were submitted as complete (GRE scores, recommendation letters, writing samples, etc.) as of an hour ago. Now comes the hard part: waiting.

[Haroun]

My PhD Musicology applications were submitted as complete (GRE scores, recommendation letters, writing samples, etc.) as of an hour ago. Now comes the hard part: waiting.

Wow, that was fast! when's the earliest deadline for you? For me it ranges from Dec.1 to Feb.1 so I have about a month still.

[runn]

Wow, that was fast! when's the earliest deadline for you? For me it ranges from Dec.1 to Feb.1 so I have about a month still.

Same here. My deadlines are Dec. 1st across the board except for one rouge Dec. 15th. Good thing December is such a slow, laid back month...

[mochabear]

Wow, that was fast! when's the earliest deadline for you? For me it ranges from Dec.1 to Feb.1 so I have about a month still.

I think the earliest was Dec 1; I wanted to get them all done so I can focus on my school work, private lessons, ensembles, etc. Within a couple days I received some "Your file is in review" emails, but I doubt I would know about my results earlier than the normal processing time -- unless someone knows something I don't about applying early?

[runn]

I think the earliest was Dec 1; I wanted to get them all done so I can focus on my school work, private lessons, ensembles, etc. Within a couple days I received some "Your file is in review" emails, but I doubt I would know about my results earlier than the normal processing time -- unless someone knows something I don't about applying early?

A handful of the schools I was looking at that had Dec. 1st as a deadline also listed Nov. 1st as a "priority scheduling" date, as in if you are invited to interview you get the first crack at scheduling if your application was in by then.

I think.

[runn]

Four applications in, five to go. I hope my statement of purpose is more coherent then my previous post.

[nylnyl]

Hello everyone, I'm an international student from Istanbul,Turkey and I'm currently in the stage of finishing my master's thesis in Musicology. I'm applying for a PHD in Musicology to UCLA, Ohio State, Cornell, Brandeis, University of Chicago and McGill for fall 2013. I'm also on the fence about applying to NYU, U of Florida and Rutgers. I still haven't finished and submitted any of my applications unfortunately.

My main interests are 20th Century Music (Electronic Music, Minimalism and Jazz mostly) , Film Music (which I'm currently writing my master's thesis about) and Music Psychology/perception. I'm open to any suggestions about my school choices. Funding is very important for me so I'm trying to look into schools with more funding available for international students.

My biggest concern is my undergrad gpa, we don't exactly have the equivalent of the u.s. grading system but it's somewhere between 2.90-3.00 as I understand (Cornell is out of my reach I know but I still want to try it since it's one of my dream schools). My master's gpa is 4.00 (A) on the other hand. So at least I have that going for me. My ibt toefl score is very good but I'll be taking GRE general at 29th November and I'm a bit afraid of Quant. section because I studied at a conservatory for the last 14 years and we didn't have math classes so math is kind of scary for me.

I just want to register and say good luck to each and everyone. I hope everyone gets in to the school and program they want. Have a nice day everyone, it's nice to be in the same boat with you all:)

[runn]

Applications done. Yikes.

Is it too soon to start sending weekly flowers + chocolates to admissions committee members yet?

[mochabear]

Applications done. Yikes.

Is it too soon to start sending weekly flowers + chocolates to admissions committee members yet?

It's never too early to start sending gifts, or hold members of committee members's family hostage. Whatever gets the job done, right?

[runn]

It's never too early to start sending gifts, or hold members of committee members's family hostage. Whatever gets the job done, right?

I think your second option there is called the "hard sell"