Bearcat1

Since it's rare for art historians to have published much before the PhD candidacy stage, I think you should absolutely include it on your CV/apps. Of course, be explicit about what it is and there won't be any confusion.

I opted to not get a flu shot because I am making myself sick already and I wouldn't know if I had the flu anyway. And why wait in line at CVS when I can be home, obsessively checking for emails that won't come for weeks?

If you can't afford a suit now, Target has really decent-looking slacks and sports coats. In my experience, they don't always wash well, but for $80-ish you could have a nice outfit for an interview that will work.

That second paragraph is exactly how I was "coached" by my LOR writers. Really great advice!

YES! I forgot to add that I am all over Craigslist looking for cute rentals and I send him several daily. We also live in a place without basements, so talking up how he can have a basement man cave is very helpful.

I realize you have several other more pressing issues, but I wanted to pass along that in looking at what to do about my pets if I decide to go to Canada, I found the National Fish and Wildlife website and local office extremely helpful. The USDA has some info, too, but their websites are garbage and I couldn't get a human on the phone. But the NFW people were amazing, returning emails and messages, and helping me find info on taking my pets into Canada and how to bring them back after earning my degree.

I have had several people search for me on Google and end up on my page on Academia.edu that way since I started making contact with POIs. Now that Google automatically shows you the top however-many images for every search, you want to be sure all those images are appropriate.

This is going to make me sound like a gigantic a-hole, but I basically laid it out for my husband by telling him I would end up resenting him if he held me back. (This was after an extensive discussion about my graduate career and the need for me to travel for research, for us to eventually move for my PhD, and all of the things I needed to do for the career I'm working towards before we got married, so I didn't marry him and then spring it on him.) We both agree that we don't love were we live now, so although most of the places I'm applying are not his idea of a great place to live, we've decided to look at the next five to seven years as an adventure. I assure him that wherever we go for my PhD is likely not our final destination, and I think that helps. He is VERY nervous about leaving a job he likes (not loves) with a company he's been with for a long time, but he's coming around to the adventure part of things slowly but surely. We've talked about this move for about a year, and I think he's as excited as I am at this point about moving and doing something new. I really think the "this isn't forever" approach is a great one, especially since you will have many options in terms of places to live and use your degree. Another thing I've been doing is renting movies that make particular cities look fun/interesting, and finding shows on the Travel Channel and Food Network on the places I've applied to. Anthony Bourdain has actually very much helped in this process.

I have forbidden all of my friends to speak about it unless I bring it up. It seemed really mean when I did it, but it's been very helpful in my crusade to not completely loose my mind.

If any of the programs you look into have a "Graduate Bulletin" that's where you should look for info about transferring credits. (Sounds like a newsletter, but it's the outline of how the department and program function; I believe they are created for the graduate divisions at the universities, but many of them post them online.)

I very much agree with Sio68 that the Kaplan flashcards are immensely helpful. I took the GREs once with just the Princeton Review workbook, then again after using a weird brand of workbook that was only for the math portion. It reexplained all the math I'd learned in high school, and it had funny cartoon-y pictures that helped me remember (I assume most of us art historians are visual learners!). Of the nine applications I completed, only one asked for my GPA on a 4.0 scale, so on most you will be able to enter your UK scale. Also, applicants from the UK are pretty common, and I would think most departments will know what a "good" UK GPA looks like. If you were from somewhere more obscure (in terms of applicants to US grad programs) I might worry, but I'm sure they've seen tons of UK transcripts. I would make sure you check all the websites first, because a lot of them do specify how this works. Although, unfortunately, it is pretty vague as TakeruK says. But I don't think you'll get anything more from emailing them if the info is posted on the website. TakeruK is also right about many of the programs not allowing you to transfer much, if at all. I have an MA and I still don't know how that will influence my decision (if I have one) this cycle, but it is definitely something to consider. If you do end up emailing, I would wait a couple months, until professors are finished making admissions decisions and dealing with prospective applicants for this cycle. I think you'll have much better luck in your contacts if you catch them when they aren't as busy.

That's about how old mine were. A bunch of Ws, a couple Ds, etc. I didn't address them because they were so old and I did well after I earned those marks. I think unless there's a spot on your app that specifically asks you to address them, I wouldn't mention them.

I really wish I was applying to science programs so I would know something by now. I'm so envious that you all have some kind of news, ion_exchanger and Faraday!

It is, and just because they read my thesis doesn't mean any of them liked it. And the thought of POIs and/or adcoms reading it makes me ill to think about.

Don't be worried!!! I turned in my applications almost a month before the deadlines, and these are also people I've had contact with since before I started my thesis, when it was still in the planning stages. So it may be unusual, and if the rest of your application is strong you have nothing to worry about.

I'm worried this will be the slowest month of my life.

I hear ya. We haven't even discussed what we'll do if my husband doesn't find a job right away, but it will likely be something similar. Not ideal, but doable for the short term.

As I believe today is the deadline for the last "Top Ten" art history PhD program, I thought I'd start a thread where we can all post any news we've heard (although I realize most of us are weeks away from anything) or anything else. The art history forums have been awfully quiet this year, but I know we're out there! I wish I could report that I'm feeling relieved now that the application process is over, but I think the stress is getting worse by the day. How's everyone else holding up?

A verifiable email address comes from an institution. You can't use a personal address, it has to be a .edu or .org account from a "verifiable" institution.

A friend from my MA program commuted 3.5 hours to school and rented a little studio there for during the week. It worked out great for her!

Snail mail is worse. You can't get that on your phone and you can't get it if you're not at home. At least with email you aren't a prisoner in your own house, and no mail people are harmed/frightened in the process.

The good news is that all the stuff you get as wedding gifts will already be in boxes so you won't have to pack any of it to move! Silver lining! (Clearly I don't know how to work this thing...I couldn't make this one post.)

The advice one of my LOR writers gave me was to say something like, "At this point, my goal is to become professor at the collegiate level." Then they know you have a goal, but you don't seem narrow-minded or married to that single idea. I can't say whether it worked yet, but that's the approach I took.

I have heard that if your GPA/GRE scores are too low to make funding cutoffs, then nothing will be read beyond that. But if adcoms are going to look at anything, they will at least read a portion of your writing sample. I spoke to three POIs after submitting apps (but before deadlines) who had already read my MA thesis in its entirety.