Applying for Fall 2013

[musicmage09]

Hi all! I'm new on here. I found this website yesterday and have read through the post. Good luck to all of those who have applied and congrats to those who have heard good news. I applied to 8 schools for musicology:

Chicago

Harvard

Yale

Duke

Michigan

UNC Chapel Hill

Cornell

Penn

Is it a bad thing if I have heard nothing from these schools? In other words, is it possible that acceptance letters are recieved at different times? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Welcome! Its great to have you join us for this torturous wait.

 

Here is what i know about your schools:

Chicago- looks like there were some acceptances Feb. 1 on the board;

Harvard- 3 students were offered admission in musicology. There is a waiting list;

Duke- one acceptance posted Jan. 24 ;

Michigan- there were a couple of acceptances last week;

UNC Chapel Hill- board only shows an acceptance to the masters program;

 

Yale/ Cornell/ Penn: I've heard zip from these camps. We might hear from Cornell and/or Penn as early as the end of this week. Anyone else heard from these programs? Any intelligence?

 

I would keep your hopes up! Even if some of the schools have started releasing decisions I wouldn't despair yet. They might not have contacted everyone yet or they maybe re-evaluating their finances.  Or you could have been wait listed. 

 

Best of luck!

[CP3]

Oops, sorry CP3 -- I didn't mean to flag you as a bad reputation... I just joined yesterday and thought I was hitting the "reply" button... hope I can fix that...

 

Anyway, I meant to say that I went with the same approach last year, only applying for big-name schools.  It's a risky business, and one that requires a thick-skin, because you have to be willing to keep at it for a few years if they don't take you the first year.  There are so many variables, that it just doesn't come down to your submitted materials, I've heard... that it has a lot to do with timing and where you'd fit in with the crop that year.  Kudos to you for doing that.  I hope it works out better for you than it did me.   (That's why I went for some back-up schools this year!)

All is well!   I have applied to "Big Name" schools mainly because of performance opportunities and the composers who teach at these institutions. I did find a few "safety" schools with great composers, so I applied there as well. I appreciate the compliment, it was hard to choose schools, but when it came down to it, I knew whom I wanted to study with, and which places would give me the best chance for growth as an artist. Of course, most of these were "Big Names," but I figured it was worth a shot. 

I came to the realization not long ago that if you don't have thick skin there is no sense staying in the music world. If I don't get accepted this year, I will take another swing at it next year. No sense in wasting the next several years of my life studying at a place that doesnt' do anything for my future. Time will tell .....

[pdpotter]

Thanks so much for the replies! This is a difficult process indeed.

[musichistorygeek]

Congrats to the recent ethnomusicology acceptances for Harvard, Bowling Green, and Tufts!!! 

[CP3]

Got my 3rd rejection today. 

 

Needless to say, my enthusiasm is waning

[Karajan]

Got my 3rd rejection today. 

 

Needless to say, my enthusiasm is waning

 

Try not to worry. The outcome of one application has no influence on the outcome of any others! 

[hiroshiman]

Good point Karajan! 

I share your frustrations over the multiple rejections, but I'm feeling strangely optimistic right now

[composser]

From Cornell:

 

Dear Applicants,

Our graduate application review process for the DMA program in Composition is ongoing and is expected to be completed in early March. Thank you for your patience.

Department of Music
Cornell University

 

 

... weird...

Edited February 14, 2013 by composser

[musichistorygeek]

From Cornell:

 

 

 

 

 

... weird...

 

Agreed.

[musicmage09]

Wonder if the same holds true for musicology applicants to Cornell.....typically they release results around this time....any musicologist/theorist/ethno get this email too?

[musichistorygeek]

Wonder if the same holds true for musicology applicants to Cornell.....typically they release results around this time....any musicologist/theorist/ethno get this email too?

 

I haven't heard anything either way...

[CP3]

I don't know anything about Cornell, I did not apply there, HOWEVER.... that's indeed a strange email.

 

Although all of the generic rejection emails I have received always mention "an unusually large amount of strong applicants this year," I am almost beginning to believe that perhaps this year IS a strong year for applications. All of the database and forum entries seem to be far more numerous this year as opposed to last year of the year before.

 

Do any of you think that perhaps this year is an unusually prolific, competitive application year???

[hiroshiman]

I think it is a friendly, courteous email from Cornell to let you guys know not to worry, that they are still in the process of sorting through applicants. Some may have thought they had been forgotten or unofficially wait-listed, but now you know they are still looking.

 

CP3 - I don't believe this year is an anomaly, there is always a prodigious supply of competitive applicants.

[CP3]

I think it is a friendly, courteous email from Cornell to let you guys know not to worry, that they are still in the process of sorting through applicants. Some may have thought they had been forgotten or unofficially wait-listed, but now you know they are still looking.

 

CP3 - I don't believe this year is an anomaly, there is always a prodigious supply of competitive applicants.

Yes, I already assumed that this year is the same as any other. I was just trying to get a glimmer of hope that maybe this year was different! 

 

Good luck with NW hiroshiman!!  

[musichistorygeek]

Well, Cornell said nope.

[hiroshiman]

Wow, sorry to hear that.

[musicmage09]

Well, Cornell said nope.

Looks like I'm in good company. On a more agreeable topic: Happy Valentine's Day everyone!!

[Karajan]

Big congrats to the musicologist just accepted to NYU!

[composser]

Another silent week. Next one will be big!

[kccur]

As much as it pains me, I must face the reality that I may pull a Detroit Lions and go 0-10 this season. I've done some research, but I want to hear that y'all have to say about back-up schools? Does anyone have any experience with Catholic, LSU, or Kentucky's PhD Musicology program?

 

You never know. I thought I had struck out last year in applying for music theory master's programs (I made a looot of mistakes in the application process, lessons learned for next year's PhD application season) only to get an offer from Texas in early March. 

 

Good luck everyone, I don't miss the waiting-game stress one bit. Although I'll be in that boat again next year, le sigh. Speaking of that, a few music theory program questions (I figure I'll just ask on this thread because it seems to get much more traffic than other ones):

 

- What's the culture like at U of Chicago? I went to a grad conference last year with them, Northwestern, and Wiscy and didn't get the most friendly vibe from the Chicago people. I loved the Northwestern folks, but unfortunately, I don't think it would be a good fit. Cognition is cool, but I don't plan on it being my bread-and-butter.

 

- I heard recently that Indiana makes it excessively time-consuming to get a PhD. I don't know whether the person I heard it from was talking about master's + PhD or just PhD, but they were told by professors that it's rare for anyone to get out of there with a degree in less than eight years. Anyone have any knowledge of this?

 

- Where else are some of you theorists applying? What drew you to those schools? Obviously, some of em (like Yale and Chicago) just have an excessive number of badasses on their faculty, but I always find it interesting to hear why people applied where they did.

[hiroshiman]

Done with the northwestern interview. I've really enjoyed my time here and have a very positive impression of the faculty and program. The 6 interviews were more like informal conversations based around my research interests as opposed to intense grilling. There are 4 musicologists here for 2 spots. I feel like my interviews went really well but everyone here is intelligent and qualified as well, so we'll see.

[Karajan]

Congrats to the recent UCLA ethno acceptance!  Huzzah!

[musichistorygeek]

Congrats to the recent UCLA ethno acceptance!  Huzzah!

 

Looks like we've got some more acceptances and interviews on the board today. Maybe this will be the week for music people!

 

Congrats to the composition acceptance at the University of British Columbia and the musicology acceptances at Georgia and NYU! And best of luck to the musicology interviewee at WUISL!!

[clarinetcola]

I can't believe I never came across this post!

I am applying for PhD in Music Theory directly from a perfomance BM in Australia.
I graduated in December so I only applied for a small number of schools. So far I have been rejected from Eastman (first round) and accepted into Indiana (w/ interview) and Michigan (w/o interview). I haven't recieived anything from Yale or Harvard yet. New School's interview is scheduled 8/3 but I am considering cancelling it as it is only a terminal Masters.

 

I am interested in how people in the US view these schools (esp. Indiana vs Michigan) and how would theorists list the top 10 grad schools for theory. But perhaps i'm most nervous about Yale and Harvard - has anyone heard back from the theory dept from these two?

 

good luck and stay sane!

Cc

[kccur]

re: clarinetcola, props on the acceptances and interviews. I'm not super dialed in to the reputations of schools (so I'm pretty interested in what answers other people you have for your questions), but in general, I'm pretty sure Indiana is considered to be pretty superior to Michigan as far as theory schools go right now. I don't know what the deal is with Michigan since they're great at pretty much everything else, but I was told by some of my undergrad professors (as well as some students there in other departments) to not even bother applying to Michigan for theory. Not sure what the deal is, and it's very possible I've gotten bad info. 

 

I've heard it's a little hard to get individual attention at Indiana (at least, for master's students) and that they took a little bit of a hit after Robert Hatten left, but pretty sure it's still considered one of the elite schools. Probably top-5, definitely top-10. Again, I don't feel that I'm super well-informed so I'd like to hear what other people think, but that's what I've heard.

 

I didn't hear back from Yale until mid-March last year, but that was for a rejection, so who knows that that means for your case. Best of luck!

Edited February 18, 2013 by kccur