I'll put the questions first and what was formerly a preface last--I accepted an offer of admission before an offer of funding (still TBA, but looking unlikely unless someone they offered admission and funding to is sitting on their hands, waiting to say no):
1. Should I expect to hear anything from the school itself between now and August? In other words, while I have e-mailed the coordinator of Theory and Composition and informed him that I am officially coming in the fall, and I have e-mailed and spoken with the Director of Graduate Studies prior to this decision, I haven't feel compelled to find out from either what's going to happen next, because I called the Registrar and found out the registration dates don't happen until July, making me feel like anything I do now is jumping the gun. It makes me feel like any calls at this stage is for the purpose of saying "Hello."
2. What did you do to secure housing after your accepted an offer of admission, and what was your timeline? In other words, and in the explanation below, if rates will be better in the late Spring/early Summer months, and higher in August, did you move before your financial aid was sorted out? If so, was it stressful? (We have savings enough to do this, but I think it would cause me to age prematurely and my hair to either fall out or go gray or both.)
3. Were there any big surprises or things you wish you knew in April before you started planning for August?
4. Were you able to make things work smoothly between loans originating from the Department of Education and loans from private sources? (The school has a relationship with Wells Fargo, and as long as we make more money than accrues monthly in interest we can keep our balance from growing beyond the initial arm/leg).
5. In the event you were not offered a TA position/funding, how did you gain teaching experience between your Master's and Ph.D (or, potentially, your DMA)? Teaching experience is definitely an interview question for Ph.D candidates in the field of Music Theory--the most practical application of the degree is securing a job at a College or University, teaching Music Theory.
Some backstory:
First of all, I am obviously a combination of excited and nervous. None of my peers pursued Music Theory and so I haven't bothered them: I have friends with Guitar Performance, Library Science, Music Education, Clarinet Performance, Vocal Performance, Musicology, and Composition degrees at the graduate level, but those who received degrees from my alma mater (CSU San Bernardino) largely went to a very expensive private school nearby (The University of Redlands), or stayed within the CSU System (CSU Long Beach, CSU Fullerton, Sacramento State), and by sitting on my hands for seven years and observing my peers, I figured that the best way for me to pursue a career in this field is to hop around the United States and tell employers I am willing and able to travel, and because I waited forever to apply to graduate school, I haven't bent their ears or felt like the time was right to ask for their advice. I started in the community college system and became a musician later in life without ever being in High School/Middle School/Elementary School Band or Choir, or had any kind of formal training before I was eighteen, so I'd like to think I spent these seven years in the wilderness doing the work I should've done before going to a school that accepts all music majors without an audition (the CSU system is awesome for doing this, and is the biggest reason why I feel I would be best suited to teach at the University level either at a Junior College or at the State University level--to give students in a similar condition to mine a fair shake--I believe the world needs more musicians). I recall saying at an interview that if I auditioned at a college to be a musician when I became a musician I would've been counseled into destroying my dreams and taking a minor in Music.
At any rate, today is April 4th, 2016. I have officially accepted an offer of admission (on March 4th) from the University of Kentucky, and then my brain started to formulate questions that, like a many-headed hydra, multiply. Since then, I sent transcripts which have been accepted by the school (fulfilling the one (and hopefully the only) provision from the graduate school), received a Student ID# and a student e-mail address, I signed the terms and conditions for financial aid (I tried to call financial aid in Mid-March, but I was put on hold for upwards of five minutes (and who has time for that, in March, when August is what matters?)), and aside from that, I simply don't know what a prudent person would do as far as the next steps to take, and especially when to take them.
For those who feel I am remiss for taking an offer without funding: I am trusting my gut in the decision that I made. I have little to no (school) debt from undergraduate work, and the pile of non-school debt that my wife and I share currently generates 0% interest. During this process I received what felt like a large amount of rejection letters (I applied to five schools, I interviewed at two, I visited three, I was rejected by three (Colorado-Boulder, University of Oregon, University of California, Santa Barbara), I haven't heard from one (University of Washington) but I'm assuming it's a no), and it made the prospect of waiting another year feel ... wrong. Since my undergraduate coursework ended in 2008, I am one of only two people I know of who graduated from my alma mater (CSU San Bernardino) who decided to look out-of-state for graduate study, and seven years after receiving a Bachelors degree before applying to graduate schools is a long time to wait for anything. An eighth year of applying to schools and then waiting for classes to begin is longer still. A ninth year (of waiting for the perfect school (the one I accepted an offer of admission from!)) to offer funding upfront, to me, is a ninth year of being outside an environment that feels like water to a fish, and is untenable). Finally, I accepted because the professor in Composition there gave me the green-light to study with him after listening to some of my work, which, as a non-composition major not entitled to lessons, might be worth indebtedness in and of itself (I have two undergraduate degrees--Music Composition and Music Education (the marriage of which I believe is as literal a definition of "Music Theory" as it gets)), and I relate to his philosophy as anti-Darmstatd, which is in accord with my own.
At any rate, my wife and I have been looking into apartments in Lexington (we have a dog, and all of the University Housing is explicitly anti-pet (unless you have a fish or two) and I get the feeling that rental rates will rise across-the-board the closer to the Fall Term we wait. However, I won't know anything about a Financial Aid package until the middle of June. I intend on calling the Financial Aid department after May 6th (the last day of the Spring Semester) to figure out what I'm dealing with (in other words, figuring out what the average financial aid package that I could expect consists of) and I want to exercise prudence in this regard, at least. If people clear out of apartments nearby because they finished their coursework in May, the market might be better to look into for renting than in say, late June or early July. We have managed to save a bit of money and could afford a few month's rent while waiting for financial aid, but that would be nerve-wracking at best without me having at least a conversation with a real person in a real financial aid office.
So the questions above have been swirling around in my head and they pop out of my mouth whenever my wife and I go on our 30-minute walk, and I'm sure she's tired of hearing the same five questions daily for a month. So I am asking you all for your opinions.
Question
hurf_durf
I'll put the questions first and what was formerly a preface last--I accepted an offer of admission before an offer of funding (still TBA, but looking unlikely unless someone they offered admission and funding to is sitting on their hands, waiting to say no):
1. Should I expect to hear anything from the school itself between now and August? In other words, while I have e-mailed the coordinator of Theory and Composition and informed him that I am officially coming in the fall, and I have e-mailed and spoken with the Director of Graduate Studies prior to this decision, I haven't feel compelled to find out from either what's going to happen next, because I called the Registrar and found out the registration dates don't happen until July, making me feel like anything I do now is jumping the gun. It makes me feel like any calls at this stage is for the purpose of saying "Hello."
2. What did you do to secure housing after your accepted an offer of admission, and what was your timeline? In other words, and in the explanation below, if rates will be better in the late Spring/early Summer months, and higher in August, did you move before your financial aid was sorted out? If so, was it stressful? (We have savings enough to do this, but I think it would cause me to age prematurely and my hair to either fall out or go gray or both.)
3. Were there any big surprises or things you wish you knew in April before you started planning for August?
4. Were you able to make things work smoothly between loans originating from the Department of Education and loans from private sources? (The school has a relationship with Wells Fargo, and as long as we make more money than accrues monthly in interest we can keep our balance from growing beyond the initial arm/leg).
5. In the event you were not offered a TA position/funding, how did you gain teaching experience between your Master's and Ph.D (or, potentially, your DMA)? Teaching experience is definitely an interview question for Ph.D candidates in the field of Music Theory--the most practical application of the degree is securing a job at a College or University, teaching Music Theory.
Some backstory:
First of all, I am obviously a combination of excited and nervous. None of my peers pursued Music Theory and so I haven't bothered them: I have friends with Guitar Performance, Library Science, Music Education, Clarinet Performance, Vocal Performance, Musicology, and Composition degrees at the graduate level, but those who received degrees from my alma mater (CSU San Bernardino) largely went to a very expensive private school nearby (The University of Redlands), or stayed within the CSU System (CSU Long Beach, CSU Fullerton, Sacramento State), and by sitting on my hands for seven years and observing my peers, I figured that the best way for me to pursue a career in this field is to hop around the United States and tell employers I am willing and able to travel, and because I waited forever to apply to graduate school, I haven't bent their ears or felt like the time was right to ask for their advice. I started in the community college system and became a musician later in life without ever being in High School/Middle School/Elementary School Band or Choir, or had any kind of formal training before I was eighteen, so I'd like to think I spent these seven years in the wilderness doing the work I should've done before going to a school that accepts all music majors without an audition (the CSU system is awesome for doing this, and is the biggest reason why I feel I would be best suited to teach at the University level either at a Junior College or at the State University level--to give students in a similar condition to mine a fair shake--I believe the world needs more musicians). I recall saying at an interview that if I auditioned at a college to be a musician when I became a musician I would've been counseled into destroying my dreams and taking a minor in Music.
At any rate, today is April 4th, 2016. I have officially accepted an offer of admission (on March 4th) from the University of Kentucky, and then my brain started to formulate questions that, like a many-headed hydra, multiply. Since then, I sent transcripts which have been accepted by the school (fulfilling the one (and hopefully the only) provision from the graduate school), received a Student ID# and a student e-mail address, I signed the terms and conditions for financial aid (I tried to call financial aid in Mid-March, but I was put on hold for upwards of five minutes (and who has time for that, in March, when August is what matters?)), and aside from that, I simply don't know what a prudent person would do as far as the next steps to take, and especially when to take them.
For those who feel I am remiss for taking an offer without funding: I am trusting my gut in the decision that I made. I have little to no (school) debt from undergraduate work, and the pile of non-school debt that my wife and I share currently generates 0% interest. During this process I received what felt like a large amount of rejection letters (I applied to five schools, I interviewed at two, I visited three, I was rejected by three (Colorado-Boulder, University of Oregon, University of California, Santa Barbara), I haven't heard from one (University of Washington) but I'm assuming it's a no), and it made the prospect of waiting another year feel ... wrong. Since my undergraduate coursework ended in 2008, I am one of only two people I know of who graduated from my alma mater (CSU San Bernardino) who decided to look out-of-state for graduate study, and seven years after receiving a Bachelors degree before applying to graduate schools is a long time to wait for anything. An eighth year of applying to schools and then waiting for classes to begin is longer still. A ninth year (of waiting for the perfect school (the one I accepted an offer of admission from!)) to offer funding upfront, to me, is a ninth year of being outside an environment that feels like water to a fish, and is untenable). Finally, I accepted because the professor in Composition there gave me the green-light to study with him after listening to some of my work, which, as a non-composition major not entitled to lessons, might be worth indebtedness in and of itself (I have two undergraduate degrees--Music Composition and Music Education (the marriage of which I believe is as literal a definition of "Music Theory" as it gets)), and I relate to his philosophy as anti-Darmstatd, which is in accord with my own.
At any rate, my wife and I have been looking into apartments in Lexington (we have a dog, and all of the University Housing is explicitly anti-pet (unless you have a fish or two) and I get the feeling that rental rates will rise across-the-board the closer to the Fall Term we wait. However, I won't know anything about a Financial Aid package until the middle of June. I intend on calling the Financial Aid department after May 6th (the last day of the Spring Semester) to figure out what I'm dealing with (in other words, figuring out what the average financial aid package that I could expect consists of) and I want to exercise prudence in this regard, at least. If people clear out of apartments nearby because they finished their coursework in May, the market might be better to look into for renting than in say, late June or early July. We have managed to save a bit of money and could afford a few month's rent while waiting for financial aid, but that would be nerve-wracking at best without me having at least a conversation with a real person in a real financial aid office.
So the questions above have been swirling around in my head and they pop out of my mouth whenever my wife and I go on our 30-minute walk, and I'm sure she's tired of hearing the same five questions daily for a month. So I am asking you all for your opinions.
Edited by hurf_durf1 answer to this question
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