Applying for Fall 2013

[Oscar.361]

Has anyone heard anything from UT Austin for musicology either for the MM or Phd program? Seems like they are running really behind this year.

Edited March 16, 2013 by Oscar.361

[runn]

Did you ask UC Davis via email?  I hadn't heard from them, so I asked the head of comp, and then he informally rejected me.  Sad that I had to remind them to reject me.  You think they'd do that when they make decisions.  But I'm pretty sure they've already accepted who they are going to accept.  USC takes forever!  I had to wait until April to hear from them last year.  You'll have way more experience for next year for sure.  Good luck!

 

I haven't asked or otherwise contacted them about my application. The department of music at Davis has a twitter account; I've thought about sending some passive-aggressive tweets.     I think I'll just let it go, however. I'll get to feel like I'm DiCaprio at the end of Inception.

 

run-kmc, if you don't get into grad school, come east and do stand-up with me at open mic nights in the Village.

 

This is precisely what I'm trying to avoid. 

[Counterpointer]

I didn't know Temple even offered any funding for Master's degrees. I actually live in Greater Philly. Temple also "expects" a bachelor's degree in music, even for historical musicology (my interest is ethno). I happen to be an attorney, and my undergraduate degree is in Political Science, but I've taken a number of music courses. Besides, for ethno, transcription notwithstanding, the social context of the music is the primary focus of the discipline. (I'm also presenting one paper next month and another one this summer, both overseas.) I have lousy grades, but As in music and a 166 on the verbal GRE. Maybe it's because I'm in my late 40s. Too bad -- I'm a great student, a lot of fun, and a damn good cook.

Where TAships are available, there is always some funding. Temple doesn't have PhD programs in theory/history, although they are making one very soon. The great thing about these schools with no PhD programs.. It's easy for a master's student to get TAships, and they may offer good fundings. Also, doesn't every school "expect" a BA or BM degree in music? They just have to say it so that they don't get a total tone-deaf applying. 

[Daisy Spiegelman]

Dear counterpointer, Thank you for your insights -- they never even occurred to me. I just presumed I wasn't competitive because I don't have the formal background, so I didn't even bother applying. It's a shame, too, because Temple is literally right down the street (albeit, a long street).

[blagosphere]

Got my rejection from Eastman while I was in line at Dairy Queen.  At least I had a built-in coping mechanism!

[Daisy Spiegelman]

Sorry about your disappointing news, blagosphere.

[Counterpointer]

I just got my financial aid package today-- but gosh. While the admission decision can wait until April 15, I have to respond to financial offer by March 28-- they are giving, eh, 9 days for me to respond, not counting the delivery time. I'm still waiting on one other school that I don't really like, so I'm pretty sure that I would be accepting this offer but ugh. I wanted to let you all know that April 15 may not be the deadline for some of you- in fact could be much earlier. If you already got acceptance letter and are waiting on funding package, or you are expecting an offer from a back up school, you should now start calculating all the costs- if it's financially doable and/or how much scholarship/stipend you would need in order to attend.. 9 days for me. I'm under a lot of pressure at the moment! Since my future school is in a notable ghetto area, I'm gonna try graduate housing for first year- that application is also starting in 3 days... Blerghhhh

[musicmage09]

I need some closure. So I think I'll email Yale so that I can go ahead and get that "NO" sooner...

[composser]

Question to composers:

How is UNT for composition doctorate? I might apply there next year, if things don't work out for me financially...

[SunnyComposer]

Question to composers:

How is UNT for composition doctorate? I might apply there next year, if things don't work out for me financially...

 

It's a HUGE composition wing -- 70 students and 7 faculty, but the doctorate is smaller of course.  They guarantee a free tuition and TA for all doctoral students, I believe.  They have great facilities devoted solely to new music -- their very own performance space with high-tech visual/audio gear, etc, and have access to an incredible student body of many great performers -- now the largest school in the country.  I'm also attracted to their collaborations they do with dance, theatre and film.  The only draw-back is the isolation of the place, though it's close enough to Dallas/Ft. Worth.  Go for it!  I'm still waiting to hear from them this year (wait-listed).  Good luck!

[musicmage09]

Yale response: Thank you for your email, and your patience! Decisions were submitted to the Graduate School on Friday, so they should be contacting you within the week. I wish you the best of luck next, no matter where you decide to go next year.

[sweetcheese]

I literally just got mine... And I guess it's decision time. No to Yale.

[Broom Guys]

Alright, application season is finally (sort of) done.  Here's the lineup:

 

Accepted: UBC, FSU, Indiana

 

Rejected: Michigan, Chicago, Yale

 

Waitlisted:  Eastman

 

Most likely headed to Indiana, unless I get in to Eastman off the waitlist (not holding my breath).  Coulda gone better, coulda gone worse.  Many thanks to all of you for giving me an outlet for the neurotic behavior that comes with waiting (i.e. checking this site every 30 minutes for two months) and best wishes to everyone headed into the denouement of the application season!

[musichistorygeek]

Yale said nope here, as well.

[musicmage09]

Closure!!! Glad to finally have all results in!

[Kand]

Been lurking for a while and I'm glad to see almost everyone managed to make it through this application season relatively unscathed. I'll soon be going through one more round myself this fall for the PhD. Any other spring '14 people out here?

[zrjz]

Has anyone heard officially from Columbia? I can assume it's a no by now but want to be able to move on with my life. Anything at all?

[Daisy Spiegelman]

Has anyone heard officially from Columbia? I can assume it's a no by now but want to be able to move on with my life. Anything at all?

I called the department last week and was told the decisions were made and at the admissions office. I called the admissions office but no one answered the phone. I sent an e-mail to the department and have received no reply.

[Daisy Spiegelman]

I shall use this experience in my stand-up routine.

[zrjz]

I might use it in my lie-face-down-on-the-floor-and-cry routine...

[SunnyComposer]

I called the department last week and was told the decisions were made and at the admissions office. I called the admissions office but no one answered the phone. I sent an e-mail to the department and have received no reply.

 

I emailed my POI directly and he gave me the bad (yet expected) news.  It's strange that you have to remind some schools to reject you.  Ah well.  

[Daisy Spiegelman]

My fellow travelers: A number of years ago I met with the dean of the music department of a local university at his suggestion.Long story short, he was demeaning and condescending, insisting that because my primary instrument is voice I cannot read music having learned everything by rote. (I didn't bother advising him that having also studied piano, I can read three clefs and, if I've had enough coffee, four.) After that meeting I abandoned the idea of graduate work in ethnomusicology. I revisited this path last summer and applied to five schools to begin work in the fall of 2013. I followed the rules, filled out the forms, assembled the documents, paid the fees and did my due diligence. I admit, I had lousy grades as a Political Science major in college, but my grades in 42 credits of music courses are mostly As. I scored a 166 on the verbal section of the GRE. I am a licensed attorney so I have a great deal of experience in interviewing, research, and writing. I will be presenting on one topic at an international conference on the arts and humanities next week and another topic at Oxford this summer. Why wasn't I accepted? Who knows? Who cares? It's an entirely subjective process. Lousy grades? I'm too old at 48? I have a child? I have goats? (Yes, I really do have goats.) Since I've probably been around the block several times more than most, if not all, of you -- trust me -- academia is not for those who live in the real world (from which I need a break -- which is I why I wanted to hang out in la-la land for a few years!) Think BIGGER than this chapter! No matter what, LIVE your lives and LIVE your music -- no one needs a piece of paper from an insulated institution and their whopping $20K a year stipend to call oneself a student of music (and that goes double for you composers). For those of you who will be attending a program -- this is just the BEGINNING of your professional lives. Please don't allow yourselves to be seduced by self-importance and complacency. Remember -- someday you will be on a Ph.D. admissions committee.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Daisy Spiegelman

[composed]

Princeton, CUNY, NYU, UPenn, and Columbia are all top-notch ethno/musicology programs in a highly desirable location, which means that they get about 100-150 applicants for approximately 2-3 spots every year. Therefore, admittance isn't just about meeting the requirements and being a good music scholar; it means also being a perfect match/fit for the department's research strengths, and then some extra luck on top of that as well.

 

Also, since music departments in academia tend to be small, being an easy person to work with is also an important factor, considering that these will be intimate colleagues for 6-8 years. Therefore, I assume the committee are looking for applicants with a least some humility. There is healthy confidence, but then there is flat out sanctimony. A desire of belittling all those who DID get in and who ARE successful will close the door on an applicant fast...

 

My fellow travelers: A number of years ago I met with the dean of the music department of a local university at his suggestion.Long story short, he was demeaning and condescending, insisting that because my primary instrument is voice I cannot read music having learned everything by rote. (I didn't bother advising him that having also studied piano, I can read three clefs and, if I've had enough coffee, four.) After that meeting I abandoned the idea of graduate work in ethnomusicology. I revisited this path last summer and applied to five schools to begin work in the fall of 2013. I followed the rules, filled out the forms, assembled the documents, paid the fees and did my due diligence. I admit, I had lousy grades as a Political Science major in college, but my grades in 42 credits of music courses are mostly As. I scored a 166 on the verbal section of the GRE. I am a licensed attorney so I have a great deal of experience in interviewing, research, and writing. I will be presenting on one topic at an international conference on the arts and humanities next week and another topic at Oxford this summer. Why wasn't I accepted? Who knows? Who cares? It's an entirely subjective process. Lousy grades? I'm too old at 48? I have a child? I have goats? (Yes, I really do have goats.) Since I've probably been around the block several times more than most, if not all, of you -- trust me -- academia is not for those who live in the real world (from which I need a break -- which is I why I wanted to hang out in la-la land for a few years!) Think BIGGER than this chapter! No matter what, LIVE your lives and LIVE your music -- no one needs a piece of paper from an insulated institution and their whopping $20K a year stipend to call oneself a student of music (and that goes double for you composers). For those of you who will be attending a program -- this is just the BEGINNING of your professional lives. Please don't allow yourselves to be seduced by self-importance and complacency. Remember -- someday you will be on a Ph.D. admissions committee.

[musicmage09]

I've probably been around the block several times more than most, if not all, of you -- trust me -- academia is not for those who live in the real world (from which I need a break -- which is I why I wanted to hang out in la-la land for a few years!) Think BIGGER than this chapter! No matter what, LIVE your lives and LIVE your music -- no one needs a piece of paper from an insulated institution and their whopping $20K a year stipend to call oneself a student of music (and that goes double for you composers). For those of you who will be attending a program -- this is just the BEGINNING of your professional lives. Please don't allow yourselves to be seduced by self-importance and complacency. Remember -- someday you will be on a Ph.D. admissions committee.

I am sorry that you have had bad luck and bad advice along the way. I also understand that to an extent you are trying to be uplifting to those who didn't get acceptance, however all that shines out is bitterness. I take offense to your comment about "not living in the real world." Do you think that after six years of study we get a house/job/money handed to us and we do not work another day of our lives? That we never venture outside of a campus (many which are INNER CITY-hardly isolated) to eat, live, learn, interact? Do you not think that we do not know about the lack of positions for professors in the humanities? Thats there is a tough job market? I am sorry to say it folks: getting a degree from the humanities IS important if you want to be a professor. It OPENS the next chapter. Without that piece of paper you can hardly get a job in the college humanities. So try again! If this is truely what you want (and if you do not want it that bad please consider a different career! Job market is tough!), then try again! Reapply if you cannot consider doing anything but staying in academia. So many factors come into place for admissions and most of it is fit. Does your research fit with faculty interests? Does your research fit with this years incoming cohort? Who on faculty would be your advisor? if you did not get accepted it is not because you are not good enough. As has already been mentioned many apply for 2-3 slots. Fit is so important. Good Luck everyone!

[zrjz]

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