Communication/Media Studies Ph.D Fall 2014--Apps, Decisions, and Waiting...

[natebassett]

anyone else finding the deadlines a total relief? it's like I can put it out of my head now that it's been submitted and there's nothing I can do until I hear an answer.

[theoreo]

anyone else finding the deadlines a total relief? it's like I can put it out of my head now that it's been submitted and there's nothing I can do until I hear an answer.

totally agree! finally can sleep well at least until spring next year

[trizzleYO]

Heh, i think the losing sleep part is in the coming months...

[Duna]

Heh, i think the losing sleep part is in the coming months...

I agree with you...

 

As soon as the first person posts here that they got admitted to a comm/media program or invited to an interview, you will get to know that dear little friend insomnia very very very well :/

[VioletAyame]

deadline day !

 

Haha I was tempted to go up here and post this too, but I was working that day and was too tired when I got home. Anyway good luck to everyone! I still have an MA app to finish (it's due in February) but I think I'm just gonna enjoy the holidays first.

 

Heh, i think the losing sleep part is in the coming months...

 

Yep, I already got a bit anxious whenever my cousin gives me the mail and I know most programs won't be reviewing apps until January! The process's screwing with my head too much.

[hellofandom]

Have you guys heard about when any of the programs will start making decisions?  I remember Michigan told me they'd start in the end of January.

 

This wait is going to suck massively!  Haha...at least I have my thesis to keep me occupied... 

[TheRufus]

Hmm...lots of "no way we're moving to SoCal" hate here, not sure why. I promise that it's quite nice, people here are quite friendly, and not everyone is as dumb as the stereotypes :/

 

In any case, I am sumbitting for PhD programs at USC, Stanford, UPenn and UMD. Still considering whether I should go for MA programs too as backups...

[CommPhD20]

Hate (but also very happy) to be "that person," but I've been informally told I'll be getting into a PhD program. I'm not going to reveal the one because it would probably drive people crazy and I fear it would make me too identifiable to the outside world. The only reason I found out when I did was because I was contacted about an administrative issue, at which point I was told the good news. 

 

Very cool to know there will be at least one very solid option and makes me feel encouraged about the rest of the process.

[VioletAyame]

OMG I just heard back from Ohio State. The Director of Grad Studies emailed me (I talked to her before on the phone prior to application) and said my application is strong and she wanted to talk as soon as possible, before the comittee meets next week. I could't wait so I agreed to speak today. I just got off the phone with her and she wanted to ask if I want to switch my app from MA to PhD so I would be a better candidate for their fellowship nomination. Apparently you can apply to the doctorate program there without an MA and silly me thought I couldn't. So I guess it's not official yet but since she'll nominate me for the fellowship, acceptance is on the way! I'm just over the moon right now - best Christmas gift ever!

[natebassett]

surprised people are already hearing back...

 

Hate (but also very happy) to be "that person," but I've been informally told I'll be getting into a PhD program. I'm not going to reveal the one because it would probably drive people crazy and I fear it would make me too identifiable to the outside world. The only reason I found out when I did was because I was contacted about an administrative issue, at which point I was told the good news. 

 

Very cool to know there will be at least one very solid option and makes me feel encouraged about the rest of the process.

 

hrmmmmmmm, since you're applying to 3 of my 6 schools this makes me nervous... congrats though!

[VioletAyame]

I just got an email invitation to UCSB recruitment weekend, Jan 16-18. Is anyone else going? I would love to meet up!

[trizzleYO]

Congrats !  Sounds like you've had a very good cycle thus far

[VioletAyame]

Congrats !  Sounds like you've had a very good cycle thus far

 

Thanks trizzle! I do hope things will work out at the end, since nothing is official yet. Let me know if you have any news too!

[natebassett]

I think I missed a deadline... really frustrated right now.

 

I was busy most of the week and put off my last round of applications until today. I thought that University of Wisconsin-Madison accepted unofficial, electronic copies of transcripts - turns out that was just EVERY OTHER SCHOOL I APPLIED TO.

 

So today I did my very best to get the transcripts out today so that they'd at least be postmarked. Nope. My undergrad and my MA school both said that the earliest it'd go out was Monday. The 16th. A day after the deadline on the 15th.

 

I emailed an admissions officer to try and rectify the situation, didn't get a reply but I did find this: 

 

What is the deadline to apply?

It is better to think of it as the date by which all supporting documents must be received by us. An applicant's file must be complete by December 15 in order to be included in the initial review and considered for financial aid. It is a postmark deadline, but remember that this is the busiest season of the year for the US Post Office. Why tempt fate and risk a possible black mark against your name for failure to comply with a deadline? Be on the safe side and aim for December 1st.

 

I know I really should have double checked earlier this week, but I was more concerned about getting my recommenders to submit their letters (which they JUST did yesterday) than I was the transcripts... since during my first survey of the application requirements I saw most of the programs accepting unofficial PDF copies. 

 

I'm really bummed about this one if it's true because this is the school my wife was really hoping for, as it's one of the closest to her parents... also had some good contact with faculty and was interested in the Rhetoric Politics and Culture track of the Comm Arts program... really bothered with myself right now. 

[KentuckyCurls]

natebassett, I am so sorry about that situation. It's certainly a frustrating one. Maybe, just maybe, the admission gods will smile upon you and look the other way for being off by a day on a postmark deadline.

I am currently in the awkward position of stalking my applications to see if my recommenders have submitted their letters. While one knocked her share out in one fell swoop in October, the other two have chosen to do them at the last possible minute. For my apps due on December 1st, they were completing them on the 30th. (Heretofore referred to as "the longest day of my life when I just refreshed my email account until sundown.")

I've sent gentle reminder emails, complete with mailing addresses and offers to resend any links that may be missing, and they have yet to finish the ones due on the 15th. 

My nails? Bitten down to the quick.

 

[CommPhD20]

I think I missed a deadline... really frustrated right now.

 

I was busy most of the week and put off my last round of applications until today. I thought that University of Wisconsin-Madison accepted unofficial, electronic copies of transcripts - turns out that was just EVERY OTHER SCHOOL I APPLIED TO.

 

So today I did my very best to get the transcripts out today so that they'd at least be postmarked. Nope. My undergrad and my MA school both said that the earliest it'd go out was Monday. The 16th. A day after the deadline on the 15th.

 

I emailed an admissions officer to try and rectify the situation, didn't get a reply but I did find this: 

 

What is the deadline to apply?

It is better to think of it as the date by which all supporting documents must be received by us. An applicant's file must be complete by December 15 in order to be included in the initial review and considered for financial aid. It is a postmark deadline, but remember that this is the busiest season of the year for the US Post Office. Why tempt fate and risk a possible black mark against your name for failure to comply with a deadline? Be on the safe side and aim for December 1st.

 

I know I really should have double checked earlier this week, but I was more concerned about getting my recommenders to submit their letters (which they JUST did yesterday) than I was the transcripts... since during my first survey of the application requirements I saw most of the programs accepting unofficial PDF copies. 

 

I'm really bummed about this one if it's true because this is the school my wife was really hoping for, as it's one of the closest to her parents... also had some good contact with faculty and was interested in the Rhetoric Politics and Culture track of the Comm Arts program... really bothered with myself right now. 

 

Had a similar experience with their Mass Comm. program. I knew about the official transcripts, luckily saw that about three days pre-deadline. They also wanted my CV in hard copy rather than electronic, like everything else! They took an electronic copy via email, luckily, but who knows what kind of impression that made since it was late. 

[Duna]

I think I missed a deadline... really frustrated right now.

 

I was busy most of the week and put off my last round of applications until today. I thought that University of Wisconsin-Madison accepted unofficial, electronic copies of transcripts - turns out that was just EVERY OTHER SCHOOL I APPLIED TO.

 

So today I did my very best to get the transcripts out today so that they'd at least be postmarked. Nope. My undergrad and my MA school both said that the earliest it'd go out was Monday. The 16th. A day after the deadline on the 15th.

 

I emailed an admissions officer to try and rectify the situation, didn't get a reply but I did find this: 

 

What is the deadline to apply?

It is better to think of it as the date by which all supporting documents must be received by us. An applicant's file must be complete by December 15 in order to be included in the initial review and considered for financial aid. It is a postmark deadline, but remember that this is the busiest season of the year for the US Post Office. Why tempt fate and risk a possible black mark against your name for failure to comply with a deadline? Be on the safe side and aim for December 1st.

 

I know I really should have double checked earlier this week, but I was more concerned about getting my recommenders to submit their letters (which they JUST did yesterday) than I was the transcripts... since during my first survey of the application requirements I saw most of the programs accepting unofficial PDF copies. 

 

I'm really bummed about this one if it's true because this is the school my wife was really hoping for, as it's one of the closest to her parents... also had some good contact with faculty and was interested in the Rhetoric Politics and Culture track of the Comm Arts program... really bothered with myself right now. 

 

If you got everything else in and send them an unofficial copy via email, so that they can start reviewing as early as they want to, I do not think that this will be the reason why you won't be accepted. But I do get the frustration and the anxiety. They are probably already on vacation and you might not even hear back. However, I don't think all is lost.

[natebassett]

Thanks for the encouraging words everybody...

 

If you got everything else in and send them an unofficial copy via email, so that they can start reviewing as early as they want to, I do not think that this will be the reason why you won't be accepted. But I do get the frustration and the anxiety. They are probably already on vacation and you might not even hear back. However, I don't think all is lost.

 

Hi Duna, thanks for the advice, you may be right... they do say they accept a CV via email to the grad coordinator after the application is done. I've been emailing him trying to resolve this (of course it's the weekend) and so I just sent along the unofficial transcripts I'd used in other applications. Barring that they'd have to wait for Tuesday... it is what it is! But that is a good suggestion. 

[VioletAyame]

Thanks for the encouraging words everybody...

 

 

Hi Duna, thanks for the advice, you may be right... they do say they accept a CV via email to the grad coordinator after the application is done. I've been emailing him trying to resolve this (of course it's the weekend) and so I just sent along the unofficial transcripts I'd used in other applications. Barring that they'd have to wait for Tuesday... it is what it is! But that is a good suggestion. 

 

Have they replied you yet? Hopefully they won't care sine they do have enough information to review your app in the meantime. I know several other schools that require mailed official transcripts like this, which is totally annoying and unnecessary.

Edited December 17, 2013 by VioletAyame

[natebassett]

Have they replied you yet? Hopefully they won't care sine they do have enough information to review your app in the meantime. I know several other schools that require mailed official transcripts like this, which is totally annoying and unnecessary.

I should have replied earlier... yes, I got an email very promptly Monday morning from the grad coordinator at UWM, who told me not to worry, that they'd still accept transcripts and to send whatever records I had in the meantime as a temporary measure (which I already had). So, a lot of freaking out over nothing

 

If you think official transcripts transcripts are annoying, how about this - UIC wants unofficial scanned copies of your transcripts uploaded to their service. Web transcripts are no good. Which means, they want you to make a transcript request from your school, wait for it to get to you, scan it so you have a digital PDF copy, and then upload that.

 

My undergrad faxed me my transcript, which means I submitted a scan of a fax of a copy. did it look like shit? you bet. but that's how they wanted it! 

[CommPhD20]

I think an "official" unofficial PDF copy would be fine. My school sends those through the clearinghouse (Rush Delivery -> PDF ($1.00))

[VioletAyame]

I should have replied earlier... yes, I got an email very promptly Monday morning from the grad coordinator at UWM, who told me not to worry, that they'd still accept transcripts and to send whatever records I had in the meantime as a temporary measure (which I already had). So, a lot of freaking out over nothing

 

If you think official transcripts transcripts are annoying, how about this - UIC wants unofficial scanned copies of your transcripts uploaded to their service. Web transcripts are no good. Which means, they want you to make a transcript request from your school, wait for it to get to you, scan it so you have a digital PDF copy, and then upload that.

 

My undergrad faxed me my transcript, which means I submitted a scan of a fax of a copy. did it look like shit? you bet. but that's how they wanted it! 

 

That's great to hear. I wouldn't say it's freaking out over nothing though, cause I tend to freak out a lot, so I learned to tell myself that at the moment I was freaking out, I did not know that it was over nothing, that I had a legitimate reason for freaking out, and I'm not at all unreasonable

 

On the note of sending transcripts, I see your UIC story and raise my OSU one. They require uploaded unofficial transcripts (either PDF or scanned paper version) AND mailed official transcripts. Which wouldn't have bothered me so much if their app system had not been unable to read my junior college's PDF transcript (my other college doesn't do PDF so I had to order the transcript sent to my house anyway), so I had to print the PDF, scan it, upload the new file, then order a paper version to be sent there.

[D84]

JL24, just some advice I wish I had last year before applying to McGill. They don't have an undergrad program so they don't have ta's, meaning they can't fund many graduate students. Wish I had known that because then I might have applied to more than two phd programs, luckily I got into my first choice (sfu) and it didn't matter. If you like McLuhan you might consider York (in Toronto) as well.

[natebassett]

That's great to hear. I wouldn't say it's freaking out over nothing though, cause I tend to freak out a lot, so I learned to tell myself that at the moment I was freaking out, I did not know that it was over nothing, that I had a legitimate reason for freaking out, and I'm not at all unreasonable

 

On the note of sending transcripts, I see your UIC story and raise my OSU one. They require uploaded unofficial transcripts (either PDF or scanned paper version) AND mailed official transcripts. Which wouldn't have bothered me so much if their app system had not been unable to read my junior college's PDF transcript (my other college doesn't do PDF so I had to order the transcript sent to my house anyway), so I had to print the PDF, scan it, upload the new file, then order a paper version to be sent there.

 

Oh jeez... that's ridiculous. Definitely have me beat there.

 

JL24, just some advice I wish I had last year before applying to McGill. They don't have an undergrad program so they don't have ta's, meaning they can't fund many graduate students. Wish I had known that because then I might have applied to more than two phd programs, luckily I got into my first choice (sfu) and it didn't matter. If you like McLuhan you might consider York (in Toronto) as well.

 

That's interesting - I was thinking of applying to McGill because I wanted to work with Gabriella Coleman, wound up not doing it because of their language requirement and questions over whether or not my wife could work as a nurse in Canada 

[DrF8]

Hi Nate, it's nice to see fellow a New Schooler on here. I've been following this thread since the beginning and finally decided it was time to chime in. I won't be applying until next season, but I just wanted to stop in and wish you luck!