Applying for Fall 2016

[musicologypl]

Do those schools usually send out acceptances to applicants on the same day or different days? I am still holding my last little hopes after seeing on results page those acceptances from the schools I applied to...

Edited January 31, 2016 by musicologypl

[It's Me]

2 hours ago, musicologypl said:

Do those schools usually send out acceptances to applicants on the same day or different days? I am still holding my last little hopes after seeing on results page those acceptances from the schools I applied to...

Acceptances can come at different times, especially if the program has an unofficial "waitlist." The first round of rejections will usually be sent out at the same time (after top candidates are notified of their acceptance), so if you see rejections posted on the results board but haven't heard from the school, then it's likely that you are still in the running. 

Edited February 1, 2016 by It's Me

[musicologypl]

9 minutes ago, It's Me said:

Acceptances can come at different times, especially if the program has an unofficial "waitlist." The first round of rejections will usually be sent out at the same time (after top candidates are notified of their acceptance), so if you see rejections posted on the results board but haven't heard from the school, then its likely that you are still in the running. 

Thanks for the clarification, It's me. I am hanging in there and will see what is happening next week....

[It's Me]

@musicologypl You got this! I expect a lot of movement these next two weeks.

[mmmarimba]

YES, WE GOT THIS!

[felagund]

Rejection #3.

[HelloThisIsDog]

7 hours ago, felagund said:

Rejection #3.

Hang in there Felagund

I received 8 rejections last year and am now on my second round, and have just received my first acceptance.

All those other rejections don't matter, as long as one takes you!!

[floatinggreenskull]

8 hours ago, felagund said:

Rejection #3.

*hugs* *offers tray of endless chocolate/ice cream/coffee*

Rejections sting. It ain't over yet though!  Try to keep your head up.

The closer we get to March, the more on edge I am feeling. On the one hand, I kind of like the excitement of knowing that I will be hearing back from everyone sometime in the next few weeks. Any day could be "the one" where I might get an awesome acceptance. On that same hand, however, I am so so afraid I am going to get rejected from absolutely everywhere. And then on the third hand...which is probably the most unwieldy and impatient hand of them all...I really do loathe this waiting game to the most extreme degree.

I have a Skype interview lined up with a good program next week, which is cool, but they will need to offer me a lot of funding in order for me to attend...and it's a masters, so, unlikely I think.

[mmmarimba]

I think we are all feeling the sting at this point. 

This process is more nerve wracking than my Masters process, because with that pre-screens came out fairly early, most before Christmas. Phd programs do things much differently (I'm realizing), so I haven't heard anything from 4 of my 5 applications. I have to keep telling myself that it's only been 2 or 3 weeks since I applied to some of them, and that some might not have interviews at all (or will do them via Skype) so it's normal not to hear. 

This site has been somewhat helpful in managing expectations though, as I haven't seen anything posted from the programs to which I applied, which makes me think that they haven't communicated to anyone yet. 

 

 

Edited February 4, 2016 by mmmarimba

[felagund]

The only two places I have not heard back from are both likely reaches; I am most likely to be rejected by both. The ones that I felt were most likely to accept me have already rejected me. I am trying to stay positive, but it is difficult.

I am feeling a little under the gun for financial reasons. I think my current institution will most likely accept me with tuition coverage, but I will run out of money in less than a year due to the cost of living here and will not be able to afford to pay my rent. I am also supporting a spouse who does basically nothing but play video games which is wracking up my debt even faster.

If I don't get in somewhere with full funding and a stipend sufficient to live off of, I will need to get a job again in the tech industry, which I left to pursue music composition (and possibly a second job as well, to support my spouse). That is a very annoying prospect, because I won't be doing anything to do with music for a year, and so things would look even worse for me when I applied again next year, so I would most likely be in the same situation. Worse still is the idea that I won't necessarily even be able to get a tech job because they will know that I left tech for music composition, why am I coming back and wanting a job? They will not be likely to hire me when I would want to leave after a year to pursue my doctorate, and so I would have to lie to them and tell them I had given up my doctorate.

So the bottom line for me is that it feels like if I don't get in somewhere this year with full funding, my chances are severely impacted such that I may never be able to get my doctorate. I've never felt so stressed out and worried about something in my life.

Edited February 4, 2016 by felagund

[mmmarimba]

I was accepted to UNT!

Still haven't heard from anywhere else yet. 

 

 

[felagund]

48 minutes ago, mmmarimba said:

I was accepted to UNT!

Still haven't heard from anywhere else yet. 

 

 

Congrats! That's great news

[mmmarimba]

Thank you! Hopefully the sign of good things to come for everyone!

[shhh]

Does anyone happen to know if UC Berkeley has sent out acceptances (for any disciplines) yet? I've seen the rejections on the board from late January (sorry for those).

Any idea when the rest of us will hear something? Or how their process works in general?

[HelloThisIsDog]

1 hour ago, shhh said:

Does anyone happen to know if UC Berkeley has sent out acceptances (for any disciplines) yet? I've seen the rejections on the board from late January (sorry for those).

Any idea when the rest of us will hear something? Or how their process works in general?

Hi Shhh, I heard news/rumors from a trusty friend that Berkeley has sent out acceptances for HnL and Ethno already.

Edited February 9, 2016 by HelloThisIsDog

[felagund]

Rejection #4, as I expected

[ShadowCat]

4 hours ago, felagund said:

Rejection #4, as I expected

 Sorry to hear that, felagund! I'm getting more and more nervous as February drags on.

[HelloThisIsDog]

Waitlisted at Princeton. Not surprised, will fight it and hope for the best!

Edit: Sorry, to clarify, not surprised meaning I wasn't expecting to get in outright, but I'm very very happy I got placed on the waitlist at least and still have a chance!

Edited February 12, 2016 by HelloThisIsDog

[lecturesonnothing]

Had an email from UPenn this afternoon inviting me for a ten-minute Skype interview. Anyone have any ideas what this might entail? As I said a few posts further up, I wasn't aware when I applied that any of my schools did interviews, so it's caught me a little off guard!

(Also, best of luck to everyone who's waiting, and congrats to those who've been accepted/waitlisted so far – it seems like decisions have been coming thick and fast this week...)

[music]

On 2/12/2016 at 2:52 PM, lecturesonnothing said:

Had an email from UPenn this afternoon inviting me for a ten-minute Skype interview. Anyone have any ideas what this might entail? As I said a few posts further up, I wasn't aware when I applied that any of my schools did interviews, so it's caught me a little off guard!

Mine (Ethno 2014) was a very friendly convo, asked some qs which seemed to be a check up that I'd read recent scholarship, had some verbal competency and was who I said I was/was not insane. Really low pressure and no trick/difficult qs. It was by far the most chill interview I did and it really did last 10 mins. 

[lecturesonnothing]

Thanks – that's really helpful to know. I'm having to do the interview in my lunch break from work, which isn't ideal, but it sounds like it won't be too intense!

[Karajan]

On 2/12/2016 at 0:52 PM, lecturesonnothing said:

Had an email from UPenn this afternoon inviting me for a ten-minute Skype interview. Anyone have any ideas what this might entail? As I said a few posts further up, I wasn't aware when I applied that any of my schools did interviews, so it's caught me a little off guard!

(Also, best of luck to everyone who's waiting, and congrats to those who've been accepted/waitlisted so far – it seems like decisions have been coming thick and fast this week...)

Hey there -- I did a Skype interview for Penn a few years back.  It was pretty chill.  Each prof asked a question (maybe 4 in total) about the work I'd submitted, my interests, why I wanted to go to Penn, what I'd been up to lately.  It was fun!  Try not to worry.

[HelloThisIsDog]

• UPenn's program secretary asked me to take the interview at around 8am, isn't that odd? Does the faculty want to be up and going that early?

[music]

33 minutes ago, HelloThisIsDog said:

• UPenn's program secretary asked me to take the interview at around 8am, isn't that odd? Does the faculty want to be up and going that early?

Well, are you in the same time zone as them? I remember I had 3 or 4 faculty in my interview - scheduling to get them all in a room at the same time for however long can't be easy, and is probably near impossible during regular office hours.

[HelloThisIsDog]

2 hours ago, music said:

Well, are you in the same time zone as them? I remember I had 3 or 4 faculty in my interview - scheduling to get them all in a room at the same time for however long can't be easy, and is probably near impossible during regular office hours.

Yes that's the thing we are practically neighbors lol