Applying for Fall 2018

[JosePalacios]

Anyone apply to Brandeis or know if they interview for PhD applicants? 

[musicology18]

1 hour ago, JosePalacios said:

Anyone apply to Brandeis or know if they interview for PhD applicants? 

I applied, but have not heard anything yet. From the results search, it looks like they notify at the end of February.

[JosePalacios]

23 minutes ago, musicology18 said:

I applied, but have not heard anything yet. From the results search, it looks like they notify at the end of February.

Yeah, that's what it looks like, so maybe we should be hearing back in the next few weeks. I don't see any past interviews on the results search, but there are not too many recent results up from recent years... hopefully, we get some good news either way.

[gweine]

Has anyone applied to UC-Santa Barbara? Any updates?

[I'mReallyScaredIWontGetIn]

Man, I'm striking out at every school. Just two left. This hurts. 

[maahhhhler]

22 hours ago, gweine said:

Has anyone applied to UC-Santa Barbara? Any updates?

I applied, I haven't heard anything. I applied to UCLA too and haven't heard anything from them either. Not sure if I should be worried yet!

[gweine]

2 hours ago, maahhhhler said:

I applied, I haven't heard anything. I applied to UCLA too and haven't heard anything from them either. Not sure if I should be worried yet!

I'm not sure either. Did you apply for musicology or ethno?

[LeSighhhhh]

@stedf

Thanks for the info! Still no news here (and another school that says "in review" while someone else has posted their results on the forum). This wait (and the resultant stress) is probably going to knock years off my life.

@I'mReallyScaredIWontGetIn
I know your pain; that happened to me last year and it absolutely sucks. But remember that it's not the end of the world, nor is it an indictment about your work. My experience is that it's a crapshoot (at least, for composition), and that good work can be done during a gap year. (Not that it helps with the anxiety in the short term, though). [Edit: and I don't mean to count you out just yet either!]

Edited February 21, 2018 by LeSighhhhh

[ks391262]

On 2/19/2018 at 8:43 PM, I'mReallyScaredIWontGetIn said:

Man, I'm striking out at every school. Just two left. This hurts. 

I'm in pretty much the same boat too, it's not looking very good.  Rejected at 5 schools, 4 left to hear from, but two of those I don't have much hope for (one is Duke, as it seems they have already sent out acceptances.  

The worst part of this whole thing for me as a composition applicant seems to be that schools don't care about the things that other programs outside of music and the more academic fields within music (theory, musicology) do.  They don't seem to care about my stellar GPA or GRE scores (even though most of the schools I applied to asked for them), my work and professional experience, the performances and commissions I've received, the fact that I speak 6 languages or that I was a Fulbright scholar.  It seems some don't even care about my recommendations, as one school sent out the first round of rejections before their deadline to receive recommendations!  I doubt the application essays and writing samples are considered much either.  It seems to be all about the portfolio of compositions, which is naturally a largely subjective thing to evaluate, and so it does seem to be a crapshoot that we have little control over, which is very frustrating.  

[maahhhhler]

19 hours ago, gweine said:

I'm not sure either. Did you apply for musicology or ethno?

I applied for musicology at UCLA and music theory at UCSB (my research area is somewhere between the two!). From looking at last year's results, UCLA and UCSB seem to send out results later than private Ivies. 

[Beethoven123]

Hi,

Has anyone heard from Harvard's ethnomusicology department (interview or acceptance) I have an offer from another school but I don't want to accept yet becuase Harvard is my top choice. I'm an international student and I want to accept an offer on a March 1st so I can start working on all the documents I need as well as my visa application. Do you think I should just assume that Harvard would be a rejection and accept the other offer or wait a bit? They are really taking forever and I'm beginning to think it's a rejection. I'm tired of refreshing my email every hour. 

[EyeJay]

Hey all

I've been watching this thread for a while  but finally gave in and made an account lol

The wait has been killing me tbh, I've applied to 6 schools. Got a rejection from U Toronto yesterday, had a chat with a prof from Northwestern yesterday and he said "we're very interested in your application," and I visited MSU a couple weeks ago (they invited me, i met 4 profs and a bunch of grad students, visited with going to lunch with 3 profs and a current student). However, no official acceptances yet and the wait is killing me.

(applying to musicology programs, two PhD programs and the rest are masters. I applied to Northwestern's PhD and MM program, the phone call i had was about the MM)

[gweine]

1 hour ago, Beethoven123 said:

Hi,

Has anyone heard from Harvard's ethnomusicology department (interview or acceptance) I have an offer from another school but I don't want to accept yet becuase Harvard is my top choice. I'm an international student and I want to accept an offer on a March 1st so I can start working on all the documents I need as well as my visa application. Do you think I should just assume that Harvard would be a rejection and accept the other offer or wait a bit? They are really taking forever and I'm beginning to think it's a rejection. I'm tired of refreshing my email every hour. 

Hi. I am an international student as well. I think you should wait a bit longer. Even if you start your I-20 documents end of March you will be fine to apply for the f1 visa

[JosePalacios]

Saw in the results search that a musicology applicant got waitlisted at NYU. If that person is active in this forum, would you mind sharing if you were interviewed beforehand? (Also, congrats!)

[I'mReallyScaredIWontGetIn]

22 hours ago, LeSighhhhh said:

I know your pain; that happened to me last year and it absolutely sucks. But remember that it's not the end of the world, nor is it an indictment about your work. My experience is that it's a crapshoot (at least, for composition), and that good work can be done during a gap year. (Not that it helps with the anxiety in the short term, though). [Edit: and I don't mean to count you out just yet either!]

 

9 hours ago, ks391262 said:

I'm in pretty much the same boat too, it's not looking very good.  Rejected at 5 schools, 4 left to hear from, but two of those I don't have much hope for (one is Duke, as it seems they have already sent out acceptances.  

The worst part of this whole thing for me as a composition applicant seems to be that schools don't care about the things that other programs outside of music and the more academic fields within music (theory, musicology) do.  They don't seem to care about my stellar GPA or GRE scores (even though most of the schools I applied to asked for them), my work and professional experience, the performances and commissions I've received, the fact that I speak 6 languages or that I was a Fulbright scholar.  It seems some don't even care about my recommendations, as one school sent out the first round of rejections before their deadline to receive recommendations!  I doubt the application essays and writing samples are considered much either.  It seems to be all about the portfolio of compositions, which is naturally a largely subjective thing to evaluate, and so it does seem to be a crapshoot that we have little control over, which is very frustrating.  

Thanks for the kind words. I'm really feeling crapshoot, because several of the professors of the school to which I applied said I had a very strong and competitive application, and that things just didn't fall in my favor. Which is both reassuring, and also extra crushing. 

I guess I need to start preparing for next years cycle? 

[Beethoven123]

Finally heard from Harvard. I didn't get in but it's cool that the waiting period is over. I can finally accept my other offer and start preparing for my PhD program. 

Best of luck to everyone waiting to hear from the schools they applied to. 

[gweine]

2 hours ago, Beethoven123 said:

Finally heard from Harvard. I didn't get in but it's cool that the waiting period is over. I can finally accept my other offer and start preparing for my PhD program. 

Best of luck to everyone waiting to hear from the schools they applied to. 

Congrats on your acceptance. Where are you starting this Fall?

[EyeJay]

Anyone hear back from Boston University's musicology department yet?

[Beethoven123]

2 hours ago, gweine said:

Congrats on your acceptance. Where are you starting this Fall?

Thank you. Princeton! You?

[gweine]

34 minutes ago, Beethoven123 said:

Thank you. Princeton! You?

Stanford and Duke so far. 

[Beethoven123]

34 minutes ago, gweine said:

Stanford and Duke so far. 

Oh great. Congrats!??

[Lullista]

I have been accepted at Harvard! For those who are in the same case, congrats! However, I do not know anything about Cornell yet...

[ninethreeseven]

what are your guys’ thoughts on waiting out the wait list? i’ve been put on columbia’s list for the theory program. anyone heard of the average time of response? if i got bumped up, do you think they would fly me out for a visit still? any thoughts would be appreciated. 

[gweine]

Anyone has any updates on UC Santa Barbara? This is the only school waiting to hear back.

[Mwinkle]

On 2/21/2018 at 12:48 PM, EyeJay said:

Hey all

I've been watching this thread for a while  but finally gave in and made an account lol

The wait has been killing me tbh, I've applied to 6 schools. Got a rejection from U Toronto yesterday, had a chat with a prof from Northwestern yesterday and he said "we're very interested in your application," and I visited MSU a couple weeks ago (they invited me, i met 4 profs and a bunch of grad students, visited with going to lunch with 3 profs and a current student). However, no official acceptances yet and the wait is killing me.

(applying to musicology programs, two PhD programs and the rest are masters. I applied to Northwestern's PhD and MM program, the phone call i had was about the MM)

I also got a "we're strongly considering your application" email from Northwestern (for Musicology). Do you know how many applicants they accept? Did you have an interview, or just a phone call?