2017 Applications Thread

[phdthoughts]

@heyDW interesting - I will watch out for that when/if I visit programs this year.

[ejpril88]

@heyDW what do you mean by "oversell"? Sorry, not a native speaker

[heyDW]

@ejpril88 oh sorry! Basically when grad students are just trying too hard to make everything sound perfect...grad school is hard and grad students go through a pretty tough transition, so I think it's natural and even healthy to have a bit of cynicism about the experience. 

For example, when I went to the National Communication Association's grad school fair this year and there were so many grad ambassadors talking about their programs as if they were perfect and there was no conflict and the faculty were all best friends and after being with my husband who is a full time faculty member and being part time faculty myself, I just don't buy it. Conflict is natural and good and it gives the grad students something to bond over, haha.

[ejpril88]

Oh, right, I completely agree. If something seems too good to be true, in most cases it's not true at all. Cynicism and sarcasm have led me through life so far I don't know how to interact with people that are constantly in Ned Flanders mood (from the Simpsons) and that for me would be a signal that something is wrong.

[DBear]

12 hours ago, heyDW said:

Someone once told me to watch how the grad students interact with each other & talk to you about the program like, they should be a LITTLE bitter, not overly complimentary but not miserable either. In a group there should be a little mutual commiserating but with good humor-- these all indicate the students trust each other and have a mutual understanding and that they're not trying to oversell. It's helped me!

I think this, in many regards, would apply to faculty, too! Though it does seem like a lot to keep in mind while one is also trying to not come off as a socially awkward weirdo  Gah! Hopefully we'll all have a couple of offers and have reason to use this good advice. 

Also, I have an interview scheduled with Wisconsin-Madison on the 1st, so that might mean it's going to be a while til we all hear back on the final decision. The professor I spoke with last time did say they were aiming for mid Feb, but still, the results page from last year said early Feb, so I was kind of hoping for sooner.. 

[The Shade King]

7 hours ago, DBear said:

I think this, in many regards, would apply to faculty, too! Though it does seem like a lot to keep in mind while one is also trying to not come off as a socially awkward weirdo  Gah! Hopefully we'll all have a couple of offers and have reason to use this good advice. 

Also, I have an interview scheduled with Wisconsin-Madison on the 1st, so that might mean it's going to be a while til we all hear back on the final decision. The professor I spoke with last time did say they were aiming for mid Feb, but still, the results page from last year said early Feb, so I was kind of hoping for sooner.. 

Maybe different tracks have different times for admission.It seem media and rhetoric do their own thing ..haven't heard anything about film or communication science though.

[DBear]

20 minutes ago, The Shade King said:

Maybe different tracks have different times for admission.It seem media and rhetoric do their own thing ..haven't heard anything about film or communication science though.

You're right, from what I've gathered, it seems each of the 4 tracks does their own thing, conducts interviews etc. then the ad com for the entire department comes together to make the final decision. Judging from the results last year as well, it seems Madison makes notifications all at once. So if one track is taking longer than usual, then the entire department's notification will most likely be delayed. Also, seems like they had more applicants than usual as well so....  We'll probably all be kept waiting til mid Feb....

[kirbs005]

54 minutes ago, DBear said:

You're right, from what I've gathered, it seems each of the 4 tracks does their own thing, conducts interviews etc. then the ad com for the entire department comes together to make the final decision. Judging from the results last year as well, it seems Madison makes notifications all at once. So if one track is taking longer than usual, then the entire department's notification will most likely be delayed. Also, seems like they had more applicants than usual as well so....  We'll probably all be kept waiting til mid Feb....

From attending the department even as an undergrad I think that's probably true. I was on the Rhetoric/Comm Science side and hardly interacted with folks outside of it. It's one of the larger departments on campus so that doesn't surprise me. Aslo @DBear mostly out of curiosity -- who did you/are you interviewing with?

[ejpril88]

Random information - Purdue still didn't update the status of my application ("submitted") and they sent me an acceptance letter 11 days ago. I wonder if other schools already rejected me without changing my status

[DBear]

@kirbs005 I have a bit of internet paranoia so will PM you! lol 

@ejpril88 my application for Ohio still says in progress too lol At least we have email proof that we were extended an offer

[DBear]

There's a result posted for USC Annenberg... I applied to UPenn Annenberg and almost had a heart attack after seeing U and Annenberg lol

Edited January 29, 2017 by DBear
Forgot something, oops, my bad

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

@DBear Excuse me while i tableflip (applied to USC and haven't gotten an email yet). At least I have work to distract me for a few hours. :/

[DBear]

8 minutes ago, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

@DBear Excuse me while i tableflip (applied to USC and haven't gotten an email yet). At least I have work to distract me for a few hours. :/

I was hoping it was you... Fingers crossed!!

[av2010]

I'm headed on my visit to West Virginia a week from today. I've already been accepted, and I'm going to meet everyone, see the area, etc.

Is anyone familiar at all with this program or advice on what I should really be asking/looking for? 

[hnm1231]

I got an email today to check USC and the decision was actually posted 2 days ago! @GreenEyedTrombonist I would look at the you.sc.edu site, if you haven't yet. Maybe you'll find something there as well!

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

@hnm1231 Congratulations! I checked as soon as I saw your result go up on this site, but still nothing.  

[hnm1231]

@GreenEyedTrombonist Thank you! Don't lose hope! Based on results from past years, we're still very early in the game.

[DBear]

@av2010 Have fun, I hope it's a fruitful trip! I don't know anything about the program at West Virginia (I don't know much about anything) but there's a thread that @kirbs005 started for school visits and @heyDW listed some useful things to keep an eye out for. In terms of things to ask, I think I'd spend some time with current students asking how easy/difficult it is to balance TA/RA duties with coursework and realistically how long it takes for everyone to finish, and do people run out of funding before they are actually able to finish.. At my most recent program, it was pretty common knowledge among students that the MA takes at least 5 semesters, even though it was designed to be completed in 4. Professors, unless they are expressly in charge of student stats, didn't seem really aware of these overall trends. I finished in 4 semesters but some professors would ask me "what are you still doing here" while others would ask me "you're graduating already?!" so I think this kind of thing is better directed towards students. Also, how difficult/easy it is to find a job and what sort of support they received from the faculty in their job hunt. I think most professors will say good things about this because they only see the end result but they may not be aware of how hard the struggle was during the process. 

@hnm1231 Congratulations!! I'm not sure if that was your dream school or not, but it's such a prestigious program, I hope you're enjoying the victory!

January is almost over guys, just a little bit longer to go. I have a feeling Feb will be more anxiety-ridden as we see more results popping up... 

[ejpril88]

@hnm1231 congrats! More and more great news are being posted here every day

@DBear can you please copy the link to the thread about school visits?

February is our month guys 

[DBear]

Here you go! We have a few useful threads on this Communication forum so have a look!

[heyDW]

My husband's UMN status changed...should know by tomorrow. Gaaaaaah!!!

[DBear]

7 minutes ago, heyDW said:

My husband's UMN status changed...should know by tomorrow. Gaaaaaah!!!

Gaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!!!!! please let it take less than 12 hours... Pleaaaaase!!

[phdthoughts]

Oh wow @heyDW. Fingers crossed for you!

[heyDW]

Thanks y'all! I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high but I also drove around my dream apartment in St. Paul this weekend soooo...

 

[phdthoughts]

@ejpril88 random question, but I'm still trying to figure out if and when Purdue will send a rejection letter to me since no offer was extended but my status still says "submitted." Do you know if rejections have been sent to anyone yet? I kind of want to reach out to see if I'm on some sort of waitlist and don't know it - not sure if they even do waitlists, or as some have mentioned here, tracks review independently of one another.