Communication/Media Studies Ph.D Fall 2015--Apps, Decisions, and Waiting...

[lyrehc]

No, I don't.  I think I remember seeing one way back but I can't guarantee that I did.  I know the NCA one is up.

[autumn]

I took the GRE for the second time. Such a lovely way to spend a beautiful fall afternoon :/

 

I was only able to raise my quant score by two points but, honestly, studying math was not a high priority this month. On the plus side, I was able to raise my verbal another two points. 

 

I am concerned that my AWA score will be lower this time around; for some reason, I was struggling today. 

 

Now it's time to get back to my SOP and writing sample. 

 

How's everyone else doing?

Edited October 4, 2014 by lesleyautumn

[jujubea]

I took the GRE for the second time. Such a lovely way to spend a beautiful fall afternoon :/

 

I was only able to raise my quant score by two points but, honestly, studying math was not a high priority this month. On the plus side, I was able to raise my verbal another two points. 

 

I am concerned that my AWA score will be lower this time around; for some reason, I was struggling today. 

 

Now it's time to get back to my SOP and writing sample. 

 

How's everyone else doing?

Today I raised my verbal 2 points and math 6 points (from five years ago).

Trying to be positive about it

We retook same day it looks like! Be interested to hear when you get your writing scores and how you did! Fingers crossed for you and me.

[CommPhD20]

Questionable programs are an entirely different matter.  I'm coming at this from the perspective of someone who is in a program that other programs view as "solid" but which isn't top 10.  For me, the rank matters less than knowing that the department chair is committed to funding all students for 4 years, knowing that there is a diverse faculty pool of which the vast majority want to mentor students, knowing that my program requires a research component and fits it in as a "class" for those students who are unsure about how to set up and pursue a project, of knowing that there is a wide range of interests so the chances are high that if my interests shift I still have professors available to work with me. . . 

Programs that are at schools that are often viewed as questionable are ones I would steer clear of.

 

Yep. I just wanted to make sure that between the two of us, we covered all bases.

 

For those wondering what makes a questionable program, there are some obvious things to look for. NCA recognition would be one. You can also casually assess the quality of faculty - is their work being cited? Are they publishing in the "big" journals (these would vary by subfield)? 

 

The best information to get:

-Job placement statistics: how many grads get jobs, how many get tenure-track jobs, and where do they get them?

-Funding: is anyone unfunded? Does anyone lose funding mid-degree?

-Time to degree/attrition rate: What is the median time before a new PhD student gets their PhD? What portion of students quit before receiving a degree? Each of these "stats" can be made better by excluding the other one. A high attrition rate could make the time-to-degree look good. A low attrition rate could be because the school has people spending 10+ years working on a dissertation. High attrition could also be a way to pump up employment rates - that is, cutting bait with all students who don't appear obviously employable.

 

Job placement is one I would absolutely demand. Don't accept anecdotes on this one (you might have to for the funding and time to degree issues). Don't assume you'll be in the 10% of people Iffy State U places in TT positions. There are too many variables that go beyond your talent and will for you to accept bad odds. You might also want to look into what the advisees of your POI(s) have been up to, in case there is some discrepancy within the department, though this isn't very common.

[The Pedanticist]

Yep. I just wanted to make sure that between the two of us, we covered all bases.

 

For those wondering what makes a questionable program, there are some obvious things to look for. NCA recognition would be one. You can also casually assess the quality of faculty - is their work being cited? Are they publishing in the "big" journals (these would vary by subfield)? 

 

The best information to get:

-Job placement statistics: how many grads get jobs, how many get tenure-track jobs, and where do they get them?

-Funding: is anyone unfunded? Does anyone lose funding mid-degree?

-Time to degree/attrition rate: What is the median time before a new PhD student gets their PhD? What portion of students quit before receiving a degree? Each of these "stats" can be made better by excluding the other one. A high attrition rate could make the time-to-degree look good. A low attrition rate could be because the school has people spending 10+ years working on a dissertation. High attrition could also be a way to pump up employment rates - that is, cutting bait with all students who don't appear obviously employable.

 

Job placement is one I would absolutely demand. Don't accept anecdotes on this one (you might have to for the funding and time to degree issues). Don't assume you'll be in the 10% of people Iffy State U places in TT positions. There are too many variables that go beyond your talent and will for you to accept bad odds. You might also want to look into what the advisees of your POI(s) have been up to, in case there is some discrepancy within the department, though this isn't very common.

 

How do you ask about job placement without it coming off wrong?  One of my professors said that he thinks it comes off wrong if you straight up ask for job placement data.

[autumn]

How do you ask about job placement without it coming off wrong?  One of my professors said that he thinks it comes off wrong if you straight up ask for job placement data.

 

This may not apply to all of your schools but I found this data for all of my schools on their websites. I've worked in higher ed for 8 years and higher ed accreditation for 4 of those 8. Due to the semi-recent crack down on degree ROI, admissions departments have been asked and/or encouraged to make these stats available to prospective students. Very few will mention these on the program webpages; you should have much more success looking on their admissions pages.

 

Finding these stats is doing your due diligence and, usually, trying to hide them is a bad, bad sign. 

 

JLRC covered all the red flags already but I just wanted to second those and provide some info for locating them easily.

 

If anyone wants advice on how to find them for a specific school, PM me. Happy to help.

Edited October 4, 2014 by lesleyautumn

[lyrehc]

How do you ask about job placement without it coming off wrong?  One of my professors said that he thinks it comes off wrong if you straight up ask for job placement data.

To me that's a red flag that there's something the department doesn't want you to know.  Much as we love learning (and the vast majority of us in PhD programs do) we have to be able to make it in the real world after graduation.  I addressed my question to the graduate liaison and I asked outright where students end up working after they graduate and what percentage of students complete the degree.

[CommPhD20]

As others have mentioned, I'd start that line of questioning with someone in an administrative position (non-faculty). This person might have a title like "graduate coordinator," but almost all programs will have at least one person whose full-time job is administrating the program, which includes keeping these statistics and communicating with prospective students.

[lyrehc]

Some graduate liaisons are faculty.  But they should still be willing to answer the question.

[collage19]

Hey, I am international student planning to apply for Fall 2015 for Doctoral programs

I just took my gre and got a really low quant 

161 v 153 quant and 4 AWA

 

My schools are 

USC 

U Penn

U Wisc Madison

UCSB

and NYU

 

Otherwise I am a pretty strong candidate with lots of work experience and strong academic credentials. 

Do I need to retake the GRE?

 

[lyrehc]

I think some of those definitely want a higher quant score but it really depends. 

[Rhetgirl]

Hey everyone!

 

I've seen that some of you are applying at UT Austin. I am there in the Department of Communication Studies, so if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

[autumn]

I feel like I am starting to succumb to the pressure of these applications (and my 36 other responsibilities). 

 

I've started a few of my applications (minus uploading the SOP, CV, etc). My CV is done and being reviewed by faculty. I have a working draft of my SOP also out to faculty. I sent all my letter writers packets with the necessary information. I'm working on my writing sample. I've been emailing faculty. 

 

With all of that, it sounds like I'm making progress. Unfortunately, it does not feel like I am making progress. 

 

I don't know about the rest of you but I am not having much luck when emailing POIs.

 

Bleck. This process is something else.  

[lyrehc]

Response from POIs really depends on the person. I had some amazing responses that followed up on things discussed and I had duds.

 

If anyone is interested in OU send me a PM and I can tell you which professors you're most likely to get responses from.

[kingsxrocks]

I've had one POI response that was very enthusiastic, one that was more informative yet still rather enthusiastic, and one that was snarky and clearly a response written out of disdain or pure confusion. Yeah... uncomfortable. A number more never responded back, but I know it is expected.

 

I'm looking at a number of film / media programs for PhD, about 7-8 total.

UTA

Yale

Michigan

Pittsburgh

GSU

Northwestern

UCB

UCSB

 

 

I have yet to take the GRE (I'm still studying up, planning to take it the first week of November), and am definitely stressing out about it because I'm struggling with math review.

 

Most of the applications are filled in, except for SOP / CV / writing sample(s), which will continue to be fine tuned until submission.

 

One setback that I am anticipating is that my letter writers are submitting their letters via Interfolio... and I assume that some (maybe many) programs will not accept such a service.

 

Other than that, this process is most definitely stressful, so keeping a level head is tough at times.

[grad_wannabe]

 

 

I have yet to take the GRE (I'm still studying up, planning to take it the first week of November), and am definitely stressing out about it because I'm struggling with math review.

 

 

 

My GRE score is the part of the applications I'm most worried about.

 

My research experience, grades, and letters are all very strong.

 

My verbal/AWA scores are fine.

 

My quant score, however, is very low (151). I'm kinda freaking out a bit, as all the programs to which I'm applying are incredibly competitive. 

[lyrehc]

Are you planning on having a quant focus or a qual focus long-term? (or mixed methods?) Some programs will be very strict about lower quantitative scores but others only care if you hit the 150 minimum as long as everything else is strong. 

[grad_wannabe]

I'm qual focus long-term. I'm worried about programs like Stanford who state their "average scores" are 155 each. 

[Gvh]

I'm qual focus long-term. I'm worried about programs like Stanford who state their "average scores" are 155 each. 

 

I wish! Those are the scores "typically held by finalists" i.e. a minimum. I wouldn't be surprised if average scores were higher. 

[kingsxrocks]

F*** this test!!

[autumn]

My GRE score is the part of the applications I'm most worried about.

 

My research experience, grades, and letters are all very strong.

 

My verbal/AWA scores are fine.

 

My quant score, however, is very low (151). I'm kinda freaking out a bit, as all the programs to which I'm applying are incredibly competitive. 

 

Same boat!

[autumn]

I need your collective advice.

 

My first GRE attempt: verbal score was good, quant was pretty dismal, AWA was pretty good.

 

Second attempt: verbal was 4 points higher, quant was 2 points higher, and AWA was down 1.0. 

 

Which would you send for USC?

[lyrehc]

What is "pretty good" for AWA? If you went from a 5 to a 4, I'd send the 2nd one. If not, If AWA was at least 3.5 I'd still send the 2nd, but after that I don't know.

[autumn]

The AWA went from 5.0 on the first attempt to a 4.0 on the second (I knew it would be lower, I was really struggling that day). I am retaking it a last time for the other programs but USC is too early for that.

[lyrehc]

You could send both scores. That demonstrates improvement in the weaker areas, plus shows that you may have had an off day (we all do).