ALA85

Hi Adelaide9216, I believe you are right and I will indeed be speaking to an advisor next week. I suppose part of my intent in asking the question (though not well expressed) was to see if anyone else had any success with graduate scholarships, if they knew of any "outside" resources for finding them, or advice in general on how to obtain them. I've never applied to a scholarship before so any insight is useful. Thank you for responding.

Greetings, I've recently been accepted to the Institute of Fine Arts at NYU for art history and archaeology. I was wondering if anyone had any advice or ideas on how to find scholarships or other kind of non-loan assistance for graduate school. In addition to Stafford and Direct PLUS loans that are available, I will also be taking part in federal work-study and as much school employment I can find/handle. I understand that there aren't as many graduate scholarships as undergraduate, but I figured I might as well give it a shot. Again, any information would be appreciated, thank you!

Hi condivi, and thank you. My career goals as I see them now would be in higher education and/or museum work/museum education. The PhD is something I have considered for teaching, after I sort of gauge myself during and after the MA, but in theory it's something I would like to pursue. I can see how the MA is important only up to a certain point, especially if one wants to pursue a PhD afterwards, and what matters most is doing as well as I can academically. I am assuming however that networking during this time and getting internships etc. is important as well and I'm wondering if location will play a role in that. I don't mind if IFA and Columbia are cash cows so long as the programs themselves aren't of lesser quality, because it seems to me all these programs cost more or less the same. The only money I'd be saving really is from having to pay much less rent in Boston due to my family, (which of course adds up). However, I see what you mean in terms of the more positive experience one may gain at a place like Tufts, for example, where the only degree offered is a MA so all resources essentially go to them and there is a greater faculty to student ratio. Also if I can spend more time looking for work in the field instead of waitering under the table to pay rent, that might be good. Is it more probable that I would get into the IFA or Columbia PhD programs if I received my MA from them? Or do they like to take people from outside just as well. Thanks again for your time!

Thank you for replying modmuse. If you have any more thoughts on ways to gauge the strength and relevance of a program I'd be interested. Is it a matter of comparing course offerings, quantity and topics of relatable courses, faculty specialties, size of faculty, etc? Aside from these factors, how can one tell whether one program might lead to a higher probability of success in the field over another? Thank you again.

Greetings, I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to help me understand what might be the differences between art history MA programs of Boston University, NYU (IFA), Tufts, and Columbia. I was accepted to all of them except for Columbia, which I am still waiting on. My primary concern is with the strengths of the programs and I would like to focus on Western pre-modern art and architecture. My first inclinations are towards Columbia and IFA due to program description, location and school notoriety (which I admit is superficial). Tufts and BU are clearly considered to be very good schools but at the end of the day we're comparing specific programs and the chances of securing employment afterwards, either in these cities or abroad. It just seems like New York based schools will have an inherent advantage but that could be a misguided perception. I could very well not be accepted to Columbia and then the choice would be between IFA, BU, and Tufts. Part of me wants to stay in Boston because my rent would be covered, it's a more relaxed environment, and maybe would be less competitive.However, New York is a wonderful city to study art history with more resources and I am familiar with the city because I earned my BA from Hunter College. I like the idea of a smaller school like Tufts but I am afraid it will not be recognized for art history as well as the other schools might be, especially the NY ones. Any insight would be greatly appreciated, thank you.