2018 Applications Thread

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

Hey @sriracha18! Welcome to the thread and thank you! Different departments value the quant section differently, but if your other scores were good you'll most likely be fine. Quant was my lowest GRE score, but when I was talking with my POI at UConn (a quant-heavy program) they weren't concerned.

 

Apologies if there are any typos or weird things in this post. One of my cats likes to make my keyboard his pillow...

 

[Cago UChi]

On 12/20/2017 at 10:42 AM, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

Guys! OMG I got into Uconn!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

After all rejects last year, starting with an acceptance makes me so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Also just getting accepted, ah!)

Congrats! How come they sent out their admission decisions at such an early time?

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

@Dan_Xu  Thanks! From what I understand, UConn moved its priority deadline up this year (to Dec 1st) which shifted their entire adcom schedule. According to the website, Dec 1st was the priority deadline with funding, but people can still apply right now. 

[Ishouldbewriting]

On 12/27/2017 at 12:38 PM, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

 I was talking with my POI at UConn 

 

Congrats on the acceptance to UConn! Who is your POI? I'm currently a grad student in the Comm department so if you have any questions about what it is like or the climate, let me know!

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

Thanks @Ishouldbewriting ! My POI is Mark Hamilton.  

I'd definitely love hearing a bit about the department culture, what you do for fun, the necessity of a car, what the heating bill is like, and anything else that might be important.

[Cago UChi]

On 12/27/2017 at 10:17 PM, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

@Dan_Xu  Thanks! From what I understand, UConn moved its priority deadline up this year (to Dec 1st) which shifted their entire adcom schedule. According to the website, Dec 1st was the priority deadline with funding, but people can still apply right now. 

1

Sound good! What are your research interests? 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

@Dan_Xu broadly digital communication and communities (especially in regards to geek culture or social media platforms). My current intended research is about the use of social media platforms in large-scale political campaigns.  

[Cago UChi]

9 minutes ago, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

@Dan_Xu broadly digital communication and communities (especially in regards to geek culture or social media platforms). My current intended research is about the use of social media platforms in large-scale political campaigns.  

Geek culture sounds really fun! I am interested in digital communication as well. Probably not the same aspect... but still. Can't wait to see your publications. 

[Ishouldbewriting]

On 12/28/2017 at 5:53 PM, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

Thanks @Ishouldbewriting ! My POI is Mark Hamilton.  

I'd definitely love hearing a bit about the department culture, what you do for fun, the necessity of a car, what the heating bill is like, and anything else that might be important.

Sorry for the late reply, the holidays ended up being hectic! Mark is eccentric, but a brilliant statistician. He teaches our department's advanced methods course. Some of the people in the department are afraid of him due to his knowledge of stats and how he scrutinizes students' methodological choices during our colloquiums, but he's extremely helpful if you seek him out for advice on a project. You usually have to be the one to seek him out for things (usually through scheduling appointments), but in general he's very open to consulting on projects or collaborating if they align with his interests. 

The department is incredibly quantitatively focused. We actually don't have a qualitative course and don't really receive training in qualitative methods unless we take courses outside of the department. However, the faculty encourage us to do so in order to broaden our perspectives. In general, the department feels very family-oriented. None of the students compete with one another; rather, it is far more collaborative. In addition, the faculty are very supportive of our interests. 

Storrs is... not the most entertaining of places. Well, the same could be said for CT in general. Honestly, one of the best things about it is that we're only 2 hours away from both New York and Boston. There is a bus line that goes to campus so if you find a place on that, you won't need a car. Although, you might want a car so that you can go places outside of Storrs. I would highly recommend finding an apartment that includes heat as an amenity because the winters are cold! 

Hope this helps!

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

@Ishouldbewriting Thank you! This helps a lot! 

[Cago UChi]

On 12/27/2017 at 1:45 AM, Phoebeeeeee said:

Hello All!!!

I am currently a master student at Communication Unviersity of China and applying for PHD program of 2018 Fall round. I am interested in studying the effects and implications of social media usage on metal health. I have applied for 6 programs: Ohis state, IUB, Stanford (definitely, I will be rejected), Cornell, Wisconsin-madison, Temple. And I am going to apply for another 3 programs. Do anybody have suggestions about the phd programs which fit with my research interests?

Thanks for any reply in advance!

You'd need to be more specific about your research interests. Are you focusing on the intersections of social media and health communication? I'd suggest you concisely and precisely state your research interests and propose a brief research plan in your statements. And make sure your CV is tailored your research interests to one or two particular professors that you'd like to work with. To be fair, good GRE or TOEFL scores would hardly make your application stand out.  The most important components the admissions committee look at, however, are your previous research experience (Have you ever presented your papers at any of the major communication conferences or conventions, such as  NCA, ICA?), publications (in Egnlish only. If you have any, do mention in your CV),  letters of recommendation, SOP.  In terms of the recommendation letters, unless your references have been working or worked in the U.S. for a long time, the LoRs do not carry that much weight.  

So far as I know, Stanford actually has a preference for Asian students. However, most of the admitted ones got their Master's from a reputable US school or program already. That's probably one of the reasons that overseas applicants have slight chances of getting into Stanford. Keep in mind that there have been plenty of international applicants who graduated from a US college, which indeed makes your chances of being admitted in the low single digits. By the way, I really don't think health communication is Stanford's strength. You may want to use NCA's doctoral guide to find your programs of interest  https://www.natcom.org/nca-doctoral-program-guide/university?field_docprog_state_value=All&field_docprog_research_specs_target_id=37&title= . 

 

 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

Congrats to whoever got the interview invite at Madison!

[Cago UChi]

4 hours ago, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

Congrats to whoever got the interview invite at Madison!

Wisconsin-Madison? What program to be exact? I remember they've got two communication Ph.D. programs. 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

@Dan_Xu Yeah, Wisconsin-Madison. The person put Comm Arts (Communication Science) as their program. They also listed it as an unofficial interview, but this is about the time they typically start sending out interview invites.

[Cago UChi]

@GreenEyedTrombonist I applied to it as well, didn't get any interview invites. Feels like I have to say goodbye to Madison. 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

@Dan_Xu If you look through the previous info for Madison, they tend to trickle interview invites out across the entire month and then send out admission notifications in the first half of February. One of my friends who goes to the program got her interview invite on January 25th. I wouldn't say you're out because of one interview invite so far. 

Which Comm Arts track are you going for?

[Cago UChi]

@GreenEyedTrombonist Communication Science. I also applied to the Mass Communications and Political Science PHD programs at UW-Madison.  Actually, I'd be fine with that if I didn't get in because I heard that winters in Madison are super harsh. 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

@Dan_Xu Yeah, it's definitely a cold place in the winter, haha. I like the people I've spoken to in the program, so I hope I get an interview.

[Cago UChi]

@GreenEyedTrombonist Hope you can get an interview! Considering I haven't contacted my professor of interest, I probably wouldn't get one.  

[mintless]

@Dan_Xu @GreenEyedTrombonist I've submitted there as well and been agonizing over it because I know this is the time their interview invitations come out! Can't believe that time is here already. I reached out to talk to people at 7 of the schools I applied to, but Madison was not one of them. I wonder how much that ends up having to do with who gets an interview. Good luck to both of you!

 

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

@Dan_Xu @mintless I did reach out and ended up talking to the DGS for about an hour and then had an email exchange with another prof, but you never really know. Best of luck to both of you!

[mintless]

Welp. Looks like interviews for the area I applied to at Wisconsin have gone out, and I've heard nothing. Probably time to cross that one off the list. Not a fun way to start the cycle, but you gotta stay positive, right?

[GreenEyedTrombonist]

*hugs* @mintless There's only one result there. I get the feeling Wisconsin has the PoIs send the request for interview so who knows?

[Cago UChi]

@mintless @GreenEyedTrombonist Thank you, fellows. Good luck to you too. Keep me informed. 

[surprise_quiche]

On 1/8/2018 at 2:03 PM, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

Congrats to whoever got the interview invite at Madison!

 

On 1/8/2018 at 6:21 PM, Dan_Xu said:

Wisconsin-Madison? What program to be exact? I remember they've got two communication Ph.D. programs. 

 

On 1/8/2018 at 6:49 PM, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

@Dan_Xu Yeah, Wisconsin-Madison. The person put Comm Arts (Communication Science) as their program. They also listed it as an unofficial interview, but this is about the time they typically start sending out interview invites.

Hi! I posted about the UW-Madison program for Communication Sciences PhD. My POI is Mike Xenos. I'd be psyched to work with him since he has a background in collaborating with PS and Soc, and I'm just finishing my Sociology degree.

 

On 1/8/2018 at 8:12 PM, GreenEyedTrombonist said:

@Dan_Xu Yeah, it's definitely a cold place in the winter, haha. I like the people I've spoken to in the program, so I hope I get an interview.

I currently live in Madison and hell yeah it's cold, although right now it's a balmy 25

Edited January 10, 2018 by surprise_quiche