Yet Another "What are my chances?"

[Anastasya]

Up until this point, I was a little worried about getting accepted, but not too concerned by it. I have one adviser who keeps pushing me to apply, and even though he doesn't say anything about my chances, he also hasn't said anything negative. I talked to another professor today, and she told me that I should retake the GRE and reevaluate my school choices--basically, I am aiming too high, and shouldn't even try.

So I thought I would ask everyone here. What do you think my chances are?

Graduating Spring 2010

Double major: Studio Art - Mixed Media and Art History

Double minor: Film Studies and Japanese

Small, public university  so that won't help my chances at all.

Cum. GPA: 3.63 Art GPA: 3.75 AHi GPA: 3.65 (4.00 in upper-division) Film Studies: 3.9

GRE: 610v 710q 4.0aw

No published work.

Art and films have been in a number of small exhibitions and film festivals.

Coordinated a University sponsored film event.

Film production and archiving experience.

I am applying to (in order of priority):

UC Berkeley - PhD Film Studies

Northwestern - PhD Screen Cultures

U of Chicago - PhD Cinema and Media Studies

Brown - PhD Modern Culture and Media

University of Rochester - PhD Visual and Cultural Studies

NYU Steinhardt - MA Media, Culture and Communication

NYU Tisch - MA Cinema Studies

(maybe Amsterdam - MA Film Studies)

What do you think my chances of getting into these schools are? One of my LoR's has connections to Chicago and Berkeley, will that help at all? Do I need to take the GRE again? Should I add some "safety" schools, or should I wait until next year, when I have a lot more research, better GPA, potential TA experience, possible publications, and have time to retake the GRE?

Thanks everybody.

[peffy1962]

Having epically failed in my applications to media studies programs last year, I can speak from experience and offer some advice on what not to do! Last year, I applied to four schools (Northwestern, Wisconsin-Madison, IU, and NYU's Tisch School) with a 3.95 GPA and a 1460 GRE. I only got into Tisch, and it was completely unfunded. Needless to say, I'm trying again, but last year really opened up my eyes to just how selective these programs are.

Most of the schools you've identified here are *extremely* competitive. From what I understand, U of Chicago only admitted two Ph.D. students last year, and Brown was somewhere in the neighborhood of 3. UC Berkeley (and all of the UCs for that matter) seemed especially selective last year as well, presumably owing to funding problems stemming from California's economy. Additionally, I'd be careful with the NYU programs, as while they are larger programs (and hence a bit less competitive), if admitted to them you could easily end up with $100,000 in student loans, as neither of these programs fund their M.A. students. (The M.A. programs themselves raise the funding to support the Ph.D. candidates, from what I understand).

Your GPA and Verbal/Quantitative GRE scores are pretty strong, but your analytical writing score might be a cause for concern. I too tested at a 4.0 on my first attempt, and several of the grad schools to which I was applying told me that that score was too low for a native speaker. I took the GRE again (it's too bad you can't just retake the writing!) and managed to raise it to a 5.0 which, while not my goal, did seem to mollify the programs. I think soft factors are also of crucial importance, so you might indeed have a leg up with your LOR writers' connections. I'd also put a great deal of effort into your personal statement, being sure to convey a match between yourself in the program. A couple of my programs from last year told me it was my statement that lost me admittance, so I've definitely been putting a ton of time and consideration into it this year. Contacting professors at the programs your interested in also seems to be a great thing to do -- I've had a good deal of success with this approach this time around and, in addition to hoping it will pay off come February, the professors have provided me with a great deal of knowledge about the programs that I might not otherwise have received.

Ultimately, I would recommend adding in some back-up or safety schools. (Not doing so was a big mistake I made last year!) Depending on your medium of focus and critical approach (film, TV, digital media/history, theory, cultural studies, etc.), you might want to consider applying to Syracuse University's Newhouse School (they have fairly large programs)or DePaul University's Cinema and Media Studies program (which I understand has good funding).

Good luck!!

[Anastasya]

Thank you for the advice! It is good to hear from someone who has experience applying. Most people I talk to about it either have no idea how difficult it is, aren't entirely familiar with the programs I am applying to, or are too nice to say anything that might hurt my feelings.

Unfortunately I honestly do not have the time or money to retake the GRE. I probably should, but if I don't have the chance to study for it, I run the risk of not improving my score, while at the same time putting a dent in my studying/research time for this quarter. I think a superb writing sample would help me more than a slightly better GRE score.

As for "safety" schools, I will definitely look into some more. Syracuse doesn't really seem like a good fit, but DePaul looks pretty interesting. The more I think about it, I realize that if I really do want to pursue a PhD, getting an MA could help quite a bit.

Originally I decided to apply to these schools kind of as a joke ("Haha, wouldn't it be AWESOME if I got a PhD?!"), but now the application process has taken over my life. I just need to remember to put things in perspective.

Thank you again for the feedback, I greatly appreciate it. And good luck to you, too!