Communication/Media Studies Ph.D Fall 2016--Apps, Decisions, and Waiting...

[maktoob101]

Rejected from nyu. Expected but  still hurts since I hoped to end up in nyc because lots of my family members and friends live there. Anyone got accepted?

Edited February 22, 2016 by maktoob101

[lyrehc]

11 hours ago, TWD2016 said:

Is it a bad idea to accept an offer to a school you've never visited? Picking UMICH over USF seems like a no brainer, but if I decline USF that means that I'm basically accepting UMICH because I only received those two offers.

On the other hand, I'm struggling with the idea of spending my own money to go visit USF when Michigan was my first choice and I know deep down it would be kind of ridiculous to turn them down.

 

Any advice?? so confused right now..

P.S. this wasn't an issue to people start asking me what if I hate Ann Arbor, which I had never thought about before but I guess its possible....

In my cycle I only applied to one program because I KNEW it was the right one for me. My husband and I decided that if I didn't get in my first try we'd move here and try to "back door" my way in - but fortunately that wasn't necessary.

Anyway, I hadn't been here before I was admitted and moved. Not only that, but I'm a cold weather person - my favorite place in the world is Anchorage, AK. I've liked the area a lot more than I expected to, but seriously, grad school is only a handful of years in the grand scheme of things. If the program is right, it's right. 

[cotes_du_groan]

Womp womp, don't have to live in Philadelphia for 5-7 years now!

[kaoticfen]

1 minute ago, cotes_du_groan said:

Womp womp, don't have to live in Philadelphia for 5-7 years now!

im assuming this response means you aren't going to UPenn? :-)

[cotes_du_groan]

2 minutes ago, kaoticfen said:

im assuming this response means you aren't going to UPenn? :-)

Yup! They made the choice to not live in Philly pretty easy with the rejection letter My research interests weren't super aligned to any POI there, so I am not too surprised. EDIT: I hope someone/everyone else faired a bit better!

Edited February 22, 2016 by cotes_du_groan

[maktoob101]

Still not receiving any email from UPENN. I just want this nerve wrecking situation to end...

[cotes_du_groan]

40 minutes ago, maktoob101 said:

Still not receiving any email from UPENN. I just want this nerve wrecking situation to end...

Ohh!! that is probably good, then!

[TWD2016]

5 hours ago, lyrehc said:

In my cycle I only applied to one program because I KNEW it was the right one for me. My husband and I decided that if I didn't get in my first try we'd move here and try to "back door" my way in - but fortunately that wasn't necessary.

Anyway, I hadn't been here before I was admitted and moved. Not only that, but I'm a cold weather person - my favorite place in the world is Anchorage, AK. I've liked the area a lot more than I expected to, but seriously, grad school is only a handful of years in the grand scheme of things. If the program is right, it's right. 

This was really helpful! Now that you say that, I do feel like I know which program is right!

[TWD2016]

16 hours ago, the_queer_ecologist said:

I moved across country to Syracuse without visiting. In a way, I'm grateful about that decision, because I absolutely hate Syracuse, New York. Had I visited, I would have been tempted to turn it down, and that wouldn't have been a good idea for my professional development. If UMICH is the best for you, put a smile on your face and learn to love (or hate tweet) Ann Arbor! 

Also, don't feel pressured into turning one down just yet. It's only February. They made you wait. You can make them wait. You paid for it with your fee!

Lol Thanks for saying that! I don't why I suddenly feel the need to rush lol, but this is great advice! Did you get into UPENN?

[the_queer_ecologist]

13 hours ago, maktoob101 said:

Rejected from nyu. Expected but  still hurts since I really wanted to end up in nyc because lots of my family members and friends live there. Anyone got accepted?

lol no. They rejected my ass! 

And with that, this grad school season is #complete.

Accepted - UNC Chapel Hill, Boulder, Utah, and USC Annenberg

Rejected - Northwestern, NYU, UPenn Annenberg. 

Really, the only program that shocked me was Northwestern. 

I'm grateful that it worked out for me and my partner, though. Our acceptances overlapped at Utah, Boulder, and UNC. A few months ago, I was praying for one school...and I received three to choose from. #blessed #blessedAtheist. 

 

[Guest Grad19204]

I haven't heard back from NYU-MCC. That could only be a good thing, right?

As for the results so far, some of these people have no place in a graduate program anywhere, let alone NYU. It makes me sick to my stomach how petty and unprofessional some of these hopeful "educators" are. I just recently visited a program at another university and I can safely say that the reason I won't be attending is to not have to deal with the pretentious namedropper they also admitted to the program for the next half-decade. 

[maktoob101]

13 minutes ago, cikkatikkaskwarr said:

I haven't heard back from NYU-MCC. That could only be a good thing, right?

I think this is definitely good news since I emailed them 5 days ago and the committee said they already shared the recommendations with the Office of Graduate Admissions and that official notifications would be sent out soon. They probably had finished their decisions by then. 

Edited February 22, 2016 by maktoob101

[cotes_du_groan]

I'm sure this is probably frowned upon, but I want to ask anyway... has anyone ever emailed and asked for feedback about their application following a rejection? Either emailing the program or a POI?

[cannedheat]

44 minutes ago, cotes_du_groan said:

I'm sure this is probably frowned upon, but I want to ask anyway... has anyone ever emailed and asked for feedback about their application following a rejection? Either emailing the program or a POI?

It's probably not the most popular thing but you can do that. I believe they have to give you feedback if you ask. 

 

[A Librarian]

1 hour ago, cikkatikkaskwarr said:

I haven't heard back from NYU-MCC. 

Sorry to be a downer, but I'm pretty sure that MCC's decisions have been sent out. They did the interviews on 2/11. I got a waitlist e-mail from them on Sunday afternoon - and I think that they've also sent out the rest of the offers. A professor in the department told me that usually some of the people on the waitlist are eventually offered a spot in the program (but I'm not holding my breath). 

[the_queer_ecologist]

32 minutes ago, A Librarian said:

Sorry to be a downer, but I'm pretty sure that MCC's decisions have been sent out. They did the interviews on 2/11. I got a waitlist e-mail from them on Sunday afternoon - and I think that they've also sent out the rest of the offers. A professor in the department told me that usually some of the people on the waitlist are eventually offered a spot in the program (but I'm not holding my breath). 

Didn't you go do their MA program? What is their turnover rate from MA to PHD (like, how many of their own studies do they re-accept)?

[the_queer_ecologist]

1 hour ago, cotes_du_groan said:

I'm sure this is probably frowned upon, but I want to ask anyway... has anyone ever emailed and asked for feedback about their application following a rejection? Either emailing the program or a POI?

I agree w/ cannedheat insofar as its probably not the most exciting thing to receive an email. However, you paid them and they rejected you. It's not like you have anything to lose if they say "nope, we ain't doing it!" 

[A Librarian]

24 minutes ago, the_queer_ecologist said:

Didn't you go do their MA program? What is their turnover rate from MA to PHD (like, how many of their own studies do they re-accept)?

Correct, I am currently finishing up the MA program at MCC. As for the turnover rate from MA to PhD - based on past cohorts - I'd say that usually there is one former MCC MA student in a group of PhD students. I can think of several current cohorts where there are zero former MA students, but I don't know if I can think of any where there's more than one. That being said, I think that MCC is a program where there's often a bit of movement from the wait list into the admitted cohort - in past years usually 2 or 3 people from the wait list eventually wind up getting accepted. 

Edited February 22, 2016 by A Librarian

[the_queer_ecologist]

2 minutes ago, A Librarian said:

Correct, I am currently finishing up the MA program at MCC. As for the turnover rate from MA to PhD - based on past cohorts - I'd say that usually there is one former MCC MA student in a group of PhD students. I can think of several current cohorts where there are zero former MA students, but I don't know if I can think of any where there's more than one. That being said, I think that MCC is a program where there's often a bit of movement from the wait list into the admitted cohort - in past years usually 2 or 3 people from the wait list eventually wind up getting accepted. 

Do you know what their logic is as to why they don't accept more of their own students? 

[A Librarian]

2 hours ago, cotes_du_groan said:

I'm sure this is probably frowned upon, but I want to ask anyway... has anyone ever emailed and asked for feedback about their application following a rejection? Either emailing the program or a POI?

If there's a POI you were in contact with, I think it's acceptable to reach out to them, especially if your communication was more than just a cursory "hi, my name is" type message. If you think there's a chance you might wind up reapplying to the program, I think it doesn't hurt to contact them.

[A Librarian]

5 minutes ago, the_queer_ecologist said:

Do you know what their logic is as to why they don't accept more of their own students? 

No idea. Trust me, I wish I knew.

I think it has to do with the department wanting to keep the MA as a distinct program, instead of allowing it to be seen as a pipeline directly into the PhD program. By making it so that the PhD program isn't filled with former MA students it kind of creates the expectation among MA students that they'll need to look elsewhere for PhD programs. 

I think that MCC is a bit of a weird department (I don't mean that in a bad way), it's almost like there are multiple little departments within the department. As a result it seems like each little sub-department gets to pick one student - one for STS type work, one for visual studies, one for media studies, and so forth. Granted, I'm not sure if this makes MCC distinct or not (I really don't know) - I had always been under the (perhaps mistaken) impression that most PhD programs try not to recruit from their own MA pool.

[Guest Grad19204]

3 hours ago, A Librarian said:

Sorry to be a downer, but I'm pretty sure that MCC's decisions have been sent out. They did the interviews on 2/11. I got a waitlist e-mail from them on Sunday afternoon - and I think that they've also sent out the rest of the offers. A professor in the department told me that usually some of the people on the waitlist are eventually offered a spot in the program (but I'm not holding my breath). 

Not a downer at all. At this point I just want to know so I can move forward. I was admitted into four other more Humanities-based Film Studies programs. NYU was never a great fit due to the arbitrary separation between their MCC and Cinema Studies department.

[kaoticfen]

3 hours ago, A Librarian said:

No idea. Trust me, I wish I knew.

I think it has to do with the department wanting to keep the MA as a distinct program, instead of allowing it to be seen as a pipeline directly into the PhD program. By making it so that the PhD program isn't filled with former MA students it kind of creates the expectation among MA students that they'll need to look elsewhere for PhD programs. 

I think that MCC is a bit of a weird department (I don't mean that in a bad way), it's almost like there are multiple little departments within the department. As a result it seems like each little sub-department gets to pick one student - one for STS type work, one for visual studies, one for media studies, and so forth. Granted, I'm not sure if this makes MCC distinct or not (I really don't know) - I had always been under the (perhaps mistaken) impression that most PhD programs try not to recruit from their own MA pool.

I agree with @A Librarian that there are mini departments within a department as i've seen evidenced by several schools and that most seem to not pull from their own MA programs. My own department at MSU would let in about 1-2 students from the MA program into the PhD but i think that has to do with how the department is structured. The Comm school at MSU contains Communication, Journalism, Advertising and Media & Information. There are several MA programs within the school but only two PhD programs: Communication and Media and Information Studies. The Media and Information Studies PhD is shared between the three departments: Journalism, Adv, and Media and Information. Each department gets around 5-7 students to admit to each department so from what i can tell most of the students are not from the MA programs. This wasn't clear to me until i was told by one of my committee members at my thesis defense that i was only one of three students in my MA program that was doing a thesis where most had chosen to do comp exams or project. Since most PhD programs require a scholarly written work as part of an application requirement it makes sense why so many were not from my department. Either they didnt desire to put in the time to do a thesis or they simply viewed the MA program for what it was: terminal. I'm sure there are other factors that i'm leaving out or unaware of but this of course is my understanding... I'm sure there is also some voodoo/magic/prayers involved there somewhere

Edited February 23, 2016 by kaoticfen
typo

[anothergradapplicant]

4 hours ago, the_queer_ecologist said:

Do you know what their logic is as to why they don't accept more of their own students? 

To my understanding, it's a fairly common practice for PhD programs to not/rarely accept their own undergrads/master's students for the reason of intellectual diversity, and for the same reason, it is rare to see programs hire their own PhDs as tenure-track faculty straight out of the program (now if they go somewhere else and establish a track record first, that's a whole another story). The idea is that every program has its own its "school of thought" and schools like to take in new ways of thinking while spreading their own elsewhere.

The more cynical side of me thinks schools like to be able to brag they attracted students/faculty from _insert notable institutions here_, while having a lot of students/faculty taken from within looks comparatively eh.

 

Edited February 23, 2016 by anothergradapplicant

[A Librarian]

13 hours ago, anothergradapplicant said:

The more cynical side of me thinks schools like to be able to brag they attracted students/faculty from _insert notable institutions here_, while having a lot of students/faculty taken from within looks comparatively eh.

 

Maybe I'm also cynical (full disclosure: I am), but I think this is totally correct. I know that when I was first looking at MA programs a number of the people I contacted went out of their way to mention the various PhD programs their graduates get into.