The Admissions Process
It’s hard to wait and some people have a harder time waiting than others. Many people who are applying to graduate school feel in limbo, worried about where in the nation or world they will be living next, or whether or not a graduate program is really the right step. We understand. In turn, we hope you understand that we have a process and we have to stick to that process. Since we are part of a public university system, we do things in an open and democratic manner and that takes time. Also, as part of a public university, we have limited resources, including staff time. Thanks for keeping this in mind.
Here’s the process:
1st week in December. Your complete application is received by December 1. No applications postmarked after that date will be accepted. All of the applications are filed individually and then copied. The admissions committee has already met once or twice in November to prepare.
2nd and 3rd week in December. Copies of the files are distributed to each member of the admissions committee to consider over the holiday break.
1st week in January. Campus is back from break.
2nd or 3rd week in January. Admissions committee meets and makes the first cut (from approximately 100-150 to 20-30). Committee takes short list files to reconsider.
4th week in January. Admissions committee holds second meeting and makes admissions decisions, admitting 8-10 candidates and making any internal fellowship recommendations. Chair informs candidates informally by e-mail and phone. The program recommends to Graduate Studies that the selected applicants be enrolled in Cultural Studies (official letters of acceptance are sent by the Dean of Graduate Studies in mid-February).
Early February. Fellowship recommendations go in and “blue memos” (the official forms) are submitted to Graduate Studies.
Mid-February. Official letters of acceptance are sent from Graduate Studies.
This is the ideal schema. There may be circumstances that change the calendar slightly. If you haven’t heard a word by the end of the first week in February, we may just be delayed. Please give us time to do this very big task. It’s a lot of work and we do it as carefully and as expeditiously as we can.
If You are Accepted
Congratulations! You will receive a call or an e-mail from the chair informing you of the committee’s decision. The program will start communicating with you about a recruitment visit and other matters related to admission.
What if I Don’t Get Accepted?
Many people who apply to graduate school, especially for the first time, do not get accepted. Realistic goals and back-up plans are always a good idea. We have tried to give you information about how to put forward the best possible application for our program (and much of the information is transferable to many other kinds of graduate programs). We hope that your efforts will bring about the result that you desire. But if that’s not the case, here are some suggestions.
First, please don’t press us by phone or e-mail during the last week in January. Give us a chance to do our job. Graduate Studies will contact you after they receive the “blue memos” from us.
We often hear from people just after they have learned that they were not accepted and they are, to put it diplomatically, not at their best. Please do not call us in a state of anger and please do not be rude to our staff or faculty. If we receive 100 applications and admit 10, then there are 90 people who may feel moved to call, e-mail, or drop by in a fairly disappointed state. It is a difficult time for everyone. We’ll do our best to address your concerns.
Another thing to keep in mind: we’re part of a giant bureaucracy. Each UC campus is a large bureaucracy in and of itself and we’re all part of an even bigger bureaucracy—the UC system. Some things, therefore, are out of our control. For example, we are required by Graduate Studies to complete a “blue memo” for each applicant. Graduate Studies uses these forms to communicate with you about your admissions status. But the categories and format of the “blue memo” may not be informative qualitatively for you. Do not be offended or put off by the information conveyed to you by Graduate Studies. If they tell you that your application was “not competitive compared to others” or that your “statement of interest was not of sufficient quality,” for example, keep in mind that these are broad, impersonal categories. It does not mean that you are not intelligent, not qualified for any graduate program, or not well-meaning. It means that within the checklist and notations possible on the memo, we indicated the broadest reason for your acceptance or rejection. If you are not satisfied with the information conveyed to you by Graduate Studies and you are genuinely moved to receive more information (and not just eager to vent or let off steam), we will be glad to try to give you constructive feedback. Try waiting a week after receiving the initial information and see how you feel then. Also understand that confidentiality rules prohibit us from discussing your application with others, so it is not productive for you to enlist the support of professors, friends or family members to challenge our admissions decision.
Finally, we want to stress that no one knows how to apply for graduate studies intuitively or magically. It is something that is learned. Mentoring is key and that is why we have suggested that you work closely with people you trust, gather lots of information ahead of time, and take care with your application. Based on advice from our current and former students, faculty, and staff, we want to give you as much information as we can to demystify this challenging process. We want to congratulate everyone who has taken the plunge and applied to graduate school to pursue advanced research. It’s a big commitment over quite a long duration and we applaud you for taking this major step.