thoughts on applying to 2 programs at same university

[amg1322]

I am very interested in 2 programs offered by one of my top choices. One is offered through the school of journalism and the other offered through the school of art and design. The two concentrations are very much related. Does it look bad to do something like this, would they frown upon something like this? I have read that it could potentially make you look unfocused or unsure of which direction you want to go in and therefore causing the university to deny you. But I have also heard that some schools don't particularly care. Does anyone have any experience with this or any advice to share?

 

[brown_eyed_girl]

I'd contact the school directly and ask whether they have a policy on this; some universities may not even let you apply to multiple programs. In other cases if the programs are in different schools they may be totally unconnected and not even know that you're applying to both.  

[Dedi]

I did this and got into one of the programs (which I accepted). This was my top choice school and knew the POI from researching with him the summer before applying. He even said it was a good idea to apply to multiple programs (but I would still be working for him because he was cross-appointed in other departments).

I don't know how the arts work very well, so this may not apply (I'm in the STEM field).

[Jay's Brain]

Hey!

 

Similar predicament, except the two programs that I applied to were pretty much in the same areas (they created a new program to serve a specific applied learning experience). If your interests are multi-faceted, such as ones that can overlap on more than one program or field, there is no harm in applying to two programs within the same university. Not to mention, this may open doors for internal collaboration between departments (if they are close), and give you the chance to feed off of the content from different areas.

 

Of course, make sure you know the bureaucracy that may underlie your situation. In mine, for example, there was a lot of delicate decisions that I had to keep in mind. Ultimately, I only received an offer from one of the two programs and chose a different university entirely.

Be careful, but also take advantage of this situation to meet your interests!

 

[amg1322]

Hey!

 

Similar predicament, except the two programs that I applied to were pretty much in the same areas (they created a new program to serve a specific applied learning experience). If your interests are multi-faceted, such as ones that can overlap on more than one program or field, there is no harm in applying to two programs within the same university. Not to mention, this may open doors for internal collaboration between departments (if they are close), and give you the chance to feed off of the content from different areas.

 

Of course, make sure you know the bureaucracy that may underlie your situation. In mine, for example, there was a lot of delicate decisions that I had to keep in mind. Ultimately, I only received an offer from one of the two programs and chose a different university entirely.

Be careful, but also take advantage of this situation to meet your interests!

 

 

thanks for the input! they definitely do overlap a bit. I'm very interested in both so I would be more than happy to be accepted to either. I will actually be visiting the university and the programs in a couple weeks and meeting with the programs so hopefully I can gain some more insight on if i'm going to be brave enough to apply to both. I am also thinking it may be wise to quickly throw it in there and ask the people I am meeting with about doing so. 

[Jay's Brain]

thanks for the input! they definitely do overlap a bit. I'm very interested in both so I would be more than happy to be accepted to either. I will actually be visiting the university and the programs in a couple weeks and meeting with the programs so hopefully I can gain some more insight on if i'm going to be brave enough to apply to both. I am also thinking it may be wise to quickly throw it in there and ask the people I am meeting with about doing so. 

 

 

That sounds like a plan! During your conversations you should be able to gauge the transparency between the two programs. Furthermore, if they do overlap they should even be opened to your idea. Hope it goes well!