phigirl Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 Yes, good luck!! And most definitely congrats for getting to the interview stage!
notaprettygrrrl Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 So exciting! Best of luck, ahaidaris!
PhDreams Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 Hi! I posted the NYU interview. I basically received an email around 5pm (1/29) that said: "The admissions committee has reviewed your application and would like to invite you to a 20-minute Skype interview." "Congratulations" "Thank you for your app" etc. Now that I'm looking at it closer it doesn't say who I will be interviewing with just the "admissions committee" and I received the email from Raechel Bosh who's a grad prog. asst. There are two different time slots for 2 hours each that I have to choose from, not sure if that makes up the bulk of people they would be interviewing or if they have different times for different folks outside of what they listed for me. I'll be emailing a prof. or two of mine just to get some interview tips since I've never gone through this process before, but hoping for the best since I only applied to such a small handful of schools. Hope that helps and best of luck everyone! CONGRATS!!!!!!! Best of luck with this interview.
InHacSpeVivo Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 (edited) A weird question for the group... Is there anything I can do post-submission to reiterate my interest in a program? I assume it's probably too little too late to contact POIs. I reached out to profs at Minnesota pre-submission and didn't get much useful information (and, obviously, it didn't matter anyway), so that kept me from contacting profs in other departments. Also, and this is going to make me sound like a complete moron, but, until I found grad cafe, I was under the impression that I shouldn't contact POIs because they were likely too busy. The problem is I spent literally months narrowing down programs that were a great match for my interests and had at least a few profs I would want to work with, rather than just one (so that if one prof was leaving or on sabbatical or not taking on new students there would still be a match in the department). Now, seeing everyone who has developed relationships with faculty, I'm worried that's going to prevent me from getting any acceptances (or even WLs). I realize it's very likely I'm just freaking out and there's not anything I can do at this stage, but I figured I'd ask. I really don't have a "safety" school, I would be THRILLED to get into any of these programs, so if there is a sliver of hope left I figured I should try to find it... And, PhDreams, I think I officially congratulated you on the other board, but just in case I didn't, CONGRATS! It sounds like no matter what you're set for graduate school. Edited January 30, 2013 by Pericles II.ii.48
MoreAdventurous32 Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 Pericles, I'm not sure what steps to take next (I was recently rejected from MN myself). I am also not quite sure how to feel about not receiving an interview from NYU (I was told "sometimes" students are offered them). In any event, I sent an email to one of my POIs at NYU and she sent me back a very nice email. She mentioned the admissions committee for NYU met yesterday and she wished me luck. Short of that, not quite sure where else to take it.
PhDreams Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 A weird question for the group... Is there anything I can do post-submission to reiterate my interest in a program? I assume it's probably too little too late to contact POIs. I reached out to profs at Minnesota pre-submission and didn't get much useful information (and, obviously, it didn't matter anyway), so that kept me from contacting profs in other departments. Also, and this is going to make me sound like a complete moron, but, until I found grad cafe, I was under the impression that I shouldn't contact POIs because they were likely too busy. The problem is I spent literally months narrowing down programs that were a great match for my interests and had at least a few profs I would want to work with, rather than just one (so that if one prof was leaving or on sabbatical or not taking on new students there would still be a match in the department). Now, seeing everyone who has developed relationships with faculty, I'm worried that's going to prevent me from getting any acceptances (or even WLs). I realize it's very likely I'm just freaking out and there's not anything I can do at this stage, but I figured I'd ask. I really don't have a "safety" school, I would be THRILLED to get into any of these programs, so if there is a sliver of hope left I figured I should try to find it... And, PhDreams, I think I officially congratulated you on the other board, but just in case I didn't, CONGRATS! It sounds like no matter what you're set for graduate school. Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In any event, I sent an email to one of my POIs at NYU and she sent me back a very nice email. She mentioned the admissions committee for NYU met yesterday and she wished me luck. Short of that, not quite sure where else to take it. They met yesterday?? Yep, that doesn't bode well for me
notaprettygrrrl Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 I also just got my Minnesota rejection this afternoon. Bummed.
phigirl Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 I also just got my Minnesota rejection this afternoon. Bummed. my sympathies. I suppose at least all of us are in the same boat-not that it'll make it any better but misery does love company. here's hoping it won't matter to any of us come March because we'll all have our choice of all of the other programs we applied to! InHacSpeVivo 1
notaprettygrrrl Posted January 30, 2013 Posted January 30, 2013 my sympathies. I suppose at least all of us are in the same boat-not that it'll make it any better but misery does love company. here's hoping it won't matter to any of us come March because we'll all have our choice of all of the other programs we applied to! Way to keep it posi. Hope you're right! InHacSpeVivo 1
kglad Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Pericles, you and I are in the same boat. Also, I knew I was going to apply for PhD in American Studies, I just thought I'd wait a year first... until my husband and I talked about waiting vs not waiting. Made sense to try for Fall 2013, but there was no time to contact POIs without sounding like I don't plan (waited til last minute), am a flake (occasionally, yes. academically, no), or they were my last ditch, least favorite, back up program. Eesh. No thanks, I'll just apply and see how it goes. What are your plans if you don't get in this year? My plan is to start contacting POIs later this spring if I don't get in, and start planning for Fall 2014 apps. This forum has been so great so far. I'm glad we are keeping it positive and thinking "good thoughts" about admission decisions between now and March! I saw more rejections for U of MN in the Results page and I really don't feel so bad about it anymore. Seeing applicants who have (much) better GPA/GRE scores getting rejection letters, too, makes me realize just how small of a chance I had of getting in. Best of luck to all and congrats, PhDreams, on your interview. Rock 'em, sock 'em!
s0classic Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Something a POI of mine mentioned to me that often goes overlooked by applicants: admissions committee are constantly changing. you may have strong gpa or gre score, but it all boils down to how you fit with what the department is looking for. When a denial comes my way I'll just remind myself that I wasn't "rejected", but just didn't fit in with the programs interest. STAY POSITIVE, MY PEOPLES!
PhDreams Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Best of luck to all and congrats, PhDreams, on your interview. Rock 'em, sock 'em! Awwww! I had my first interview (Anthro) on Sat and it was amazing! Thanks! I just know everyone is going to find an academic home at the end of this. I just know it... I also did not contact POIs at every school, but I did identify POIs for every school. I don't know what people think about the contact/no contact thing. UCLA, where I did have contact (one of the only schools I reached out to) rejected me!!!!! And UPenn where I didnt reach out to anyone gave me a wonderful interview. Its a crapshoot. Im convinced. lol
phigirl Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 I made an attempt to contact POIs at a few of the programs that I applied to, but for a few others I felt that the pre-app conatct wouldn't be as appreciated as it is in the hard sciences, etc. so I stayed away with the intent of hopefully not annoying anyone. I also did identify POIs at all programs regardless of whether I contacted them or not. I'm working on a a keeping the hope alive playlist that I'm going to post to my Grooveshark account and I'll post the link here for anyone who needs some positive energy. =)
Byrd McFly Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Hello community. This is my first post, but I've been lurking, checking, and refreshing this forum for quite some time. I have a question about the interview process. Do most American studies programs require an interview? What is the nature of these interviews? How does one prepare for these? Thanks and good luck to all.
InHacSpeVivo Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Pericles, you and I are in the same boat. Also, I knew I was going to apply for PhD in American Studies, I just thought I'd wait a year first... until my husband and I talked about waiting vs not waiting. Made sense to try for Fall 2013, but there was no time to contact POIs without sounding like I don't plan (waited til last minute), am a flake (occasionally, yes. academically, no), or they were my last ditch, least favorite, back up program. Eesh. No thanks, I'll just apply and see how it goes. What are your plans if you don't get in this year? My plan is to start contacting POIs later this spring if I don't get in, and start planning for Fall 2014 apps. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one! I spent MONTHS (literally, I defended my MA thesis in April, filed in a few weeks later, then was researching PhD programs within a few weeks of that) narrowing down where I would apply. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that contact was a good thing until around November, and by then I was so busy getting everything together I only had time to contact one. I'm not sure what I'm going to do if I don't get in. I have a full-time job, so this application process ate up pretty much every bit of my spare time (and a few vacation days) over the last few months. I felt horrible for my boyfriend because he basically ended up being a shut-in with me in addition to picking up all the clack around the house and I didn't get to see any family over the holidays because I had to devote any day off to app preparation. The thought of going through all that again makes me a little queasy. However, getting a PhD is my dream, so that just may be what I have to do. If I am flat out rejected, I might try to take classes somewhere around here and get in contact with POIs sometime in the spring or summer. Fingers crossed it won't come to that... Awwww! I had my first interview (Anthro) on Sat and it was amazing! Thanks! I just know everyone is going to find an academic home at the end of this. I just know it... I also did not contact POIs at every school, but I did identify POIs for every school. I don't know what people think about the contact/no contact thing. UCLA, where I did have contact (one of the only schools I reached out to) rejected me!!!!! And UPenn where I didnt reach out to anyone gave me a wonderful interview. Its a crapshoot. Im convinced. lol Good luck, PhDreams! And thanks for the optimism. I sure hope you're right! The fact that the school you contacted rejected you an another school where you didn't contact anyone gave you an interview gives me a lot of hope. Thanks for sharing! After the MN ordeal, I was beginning to think I'd be an auto-reject for not contacting anyone. Obviously an interview would be WAY better than a rejection, but I may seriously have a panic attack if I get called for an interview. I would have no idea what to do/say!
PhDreams Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Good luck, PhDreams! And thanks for the optimism. I sure hope you're right! The fact that the school you contacted rejected you an another school where you didn't contact anyone gave you an interview gives me a lot of hope. Thanks for sharing! After the MN ordeal, I was beginning to think I'd be an auto-reject for not contacting anyone. Obviously an interview would be WAY better than a rejection, but I may seriously have a panic attack if I get called for an interview. I would have no idea what to do/say! UCLA where I have really positive interactions with TWO faculty members flat out rejected me - not even a waitlist. UC, Irvine accepted me and I had about a two line response to my email from a faculty member. Positive but very short and that POI did not respond to my second email. So I was I didn't reach out to anyone else at the other 6 schools. Time escaped me..finals, work, holidays... It's funny because a friend of mine who used to sit on admissions committee strongly advised me NOT to reach out to faculty members. LOL So don't feel bad AT ALL!!!!! I'm sure you're amazing and I'm sure that things will all fall into place.
MoreAdventurous32 Posted January 31, 2013 Posted January 31, 2013 Congrats, PhDreams! When/how did you hear of this wonderful news?
PhDreams Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 Congrats, PhDreams! When/how did you hear of this wonderful news? Phone call from graduate dept... Not am studies though. criminology
PhDreams Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 Hi! I posted the NYU interview. I basically received an email around 5pm (1/29) that said: "The admissions committee has reviewed your application and would like to invite you to a 20-minute Skype interview." "Congratulations" "Thank you for your app" etc. Now that I'm looking at it closer it doesn't say who I will be interviewing with just the "admissions committee" and I received the email from Raechel Bosh who's a grad prog. asst. There are two different time slots for 2 hours each that I have to choose from, not sure if that makes up the bulk of people they would be interviewing or if they have different times for different folks outside of what they listed for me. I'll be emailing a prof. or two of mine just to get some interview tips since I've never gone through this process before, but hoping for the best since I only applied to such a small handful of schools. Hope that helps and best of luck everyone! CAn you keep us posted?? Did you have the interview yet? Did you get any info about decisions?
ahaidaris Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 Yea, I'll keep the forum updated. I was given the option of an interview either Feb.1st or Feb. 12th and chose Feb. 12 for scheduling reasons and haven't heard anything more outside of that--although I imagine it means I'm on the cusp of either being accepted or put on a wait list, since I don't think Amer. Studies programs usually do interviews and haven't seen anything else about NYU Amer. Stud. results. I also emailed folks from U of Minn. who contacted me about my wait-list status and haven't heard from them either (although that was just a few days ago and I'm getting into the obsessive phase of all this )-- Also someone mentioned that they were advised NOT to reach out to faculty...anyone else have thoughts on that b/c I've generally read it's a good thing...yea?
InHacSpeVivo Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 (edited) Also someone mentioned that they were advised NOT to reach out to faculty...anyone else have thoughts on that b/c I've generally read it's a good thing...yea? I've heard both. I was very happy to hear from others on this board who were advised against and/or thought it was a bad idea. I spoke with a grad school advisor about it late in the game, and she said it was fine to do, as long as you had something useful to say. At the same time I was the one who suggested (not her), so I figured it wasn't a crucial part of the application process. It seems like a fair number of people do it, but it's not necessarily a deciding factor (no need to look any farther than this thread for examples). I get the feeling it's something that's done much more in STEM. Edited February 1, 2013 by Pericles II.ii.48
PhDreams Posted February 1, 2013 Posted February 1, 2013 Yea, I'll keep the forum updated. I was given the option of an interview either Feb.1st or Feb. 12th and chose Feb. 12 for scheduling reasons and haven't heard anything more outside of that--although I imagine it means I'm on the cusp of either being accepted or put on a wait list, since I don't think Amer. Studies programs usually do interviews and haven't seen anything else about NYU Amer. Stud. results. I also emailed folks from U of Minn. who contacted me about my wait-list status and haven't heard from them either (although that was just a few days ago and I'm getting into the obsessive phase of all this )-- Also someone mentioned that they were advised NOT to reach out to faculty...anyone else have thoughts on that b/c I've generally read it's a good thing...yea? It looks like last year they admitted someone without an interview. I'm still crossing my fingers although I'm preparing myself for a rejection.
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