m-ttl

Apply to the PhD program as per your prof's recs

I think I have less hope because of the issues I ran into (ie recommenders having to fax in, no confirmation of having recieved them. I don't remember if they required my official transcripts but if they did they only list my unofficial ones) than say, actual lack of hope. It just seems disorganized & messy to me, given that all their means of communication apparently aren't checked.

You're confusing the Orbit with the M&G shuttles. Orbit is strictly Tempe transportation and services the city of tempe for free, with routes running down mill, apache, etc -- but to the Tempe Library, Tempe Marketplace (a mall), down mill, etc. The Orbits all go to the transportation hub on veteran's way and college ave (which is a light rail stop) but they don't go into Phoenix. The Maroon and Gold buses are run by ASU, and are free. https://cfo.asu.edu/pts The Maroon Bus goes between Downtown PHX and Tempe and West campuses. The Gold goes to Tempe and Polytechnic. The FLASH circles Tempe Campus in clockwise and counterclockwise routes, as well as down McAllister. All three -- FLASH, Orbit, and M&G shuttle -- are free, but they don't do the same things. I don't necessarily think every area between Tempe and Downtown Phoenix is a bad place to live, but you can easily live in a nice enough place without shelling out too much that isn't in those places. Mill will have undergrads -- who are old enough to drink or have fake IDs. Honestly, though this is going to depend on how old you are and what your better peer group is. I know people who are Grad Students and bar tend, and their friends go where they are. This is really relative. If you want a party scene (i.e. bars, clubs, sports bars, etc), you're just going to run into UG college students no matter where you go. Let's not pretend like Downtown Phoenix doesn't also have a massive undergraduate population -- and loads of people commute in from Scottsdale. You're going to hit a lot of young twenty-somethings regardless of where you are in those types of places unless you go somewhere really upscale. Now that I think of it though, buy some non-leather cloth steering wheel covers. You'll thank me in the summer, when you don't burn your hands trying to drive.

Huh. Rutgers was one of the schools that gave me a ton of trouble submitting things. I have no decision rendered yet, but also I won't be surprised if I'm rejected because of it. (Recommenders had to fax recommendations, no contact from the school when asked for help, etc etc)

This depends on where in Downtown Phoenix you plan to live. Obviously some of the sky rises in the heart of downtown are going to be far out of your budget. Like I said, I don't live in Phoenix, I live in Tempe, and commute in when I need to. I'll stress: The inter-campus shuttle is free and will take you directly to and from Tempe and Phoenix campuses. (So there's no reason why you couldn't live in Tempe and take the free shuttle) The light rail isn't free, but will take you directly into Downtown phoenix, and you can buy a yearlong pass. There are plenty of apartments nearby lightrail stops. I think you can find something decent by the rail (within walking distance) between $400-$800 /mo. I don't think ASU Tempe has the only nightlife (or even that it's limited to grad students), it's just a more structured college town experience. Phoenix is more typical urban nightlife. One is the more urban option, the other is living in a college town. Keep in mind when you look for apartments what your parking fees will be. Then judge what your price range is, and how far you'd half to walk to the buildings in Phoenix you need to get to. Basically most people do some commuting no matter where they are, but I don't have a car so everything is about walkability for me. Since you have a car, just look into how much parking will run you at ASU/apartments/etc.

I think ultimately you have to look clean, put together, and capable. No sweats, no yoga pants. Button downs, slacks, dark washed straight cut jeans (or skinny cut), knee length skirts, blazers, dresses nice blouses (not t-shirts), polos, khakis, etc. There's plenty of room to be comfortable, a quick glance around the room is a mixed bag, but certainly I don't feel out of place in my grad seminar at the moment (wearing skinny dark wash jeans, and a jersey black dress as a tunic, scarf, ballet flats, and I have a light hoodie for outside. It's definitely casual, but not schlumpy, or athletic.) If you're a woman, buying dresses and be incredibly time saving. I don't need to do much to wear those with stockings, tights, or leggings. The jersey black dress I'm wearing now falls under LBD - I could easily belt it (it's a shift with a cowl neck), switch into pumps, and wear a blazer/finer jewelry and be ready for a much more formal event. I intentionally dressed it down for class. Buying jersey shift or wrap dresses makes life a lot easier. Other students are wearing cardigans, blouses, khakis/slacks or dark jeans, button downs. A few are wearing studio wear -- jeans covered in clay/paint, but that's because this class is full of a mix between art historians and MFA students. I wouldn't show up in uggs, in any case.

Since I'm assuming you're attending ASU, are your programs in the Phoenix or Tempe campuses? Do you have cars? Do you have bikes? (I have neither, so I walk everywhere. More than I have to, there are plenty of buses around campus that circle the campus and Tempe area for free.) Tempe: about 30-40 minutes from Downtown PHX ASU campus Not in Phoenix proper, just in the metro area. There's slews of apartments/campus housing in the area. Most construction around the Tempe campus is apartment complexes. They have multiple fairs on Hayden lawn to advertise these apartments. I pay about $500/mo for a furnished apartment with three other girls (I share my room with a friend, the other two have their own bedrooms). Wifi + utilities except electricity is included. You can find cheaper places further from campus. Tempe's nightlife is mostly centered around mill avenue, and feels like a typical college town with a campus population of something like 50,000. Buses: Tempe Orbit is free, and gets you around the city of Tempe. Phoenix Metro/Metro Lightrail are not free but you can buy semester or academic year long unlimited student passes. ASU Flash is free and circles Tempe campus. ASU Maroon & Gold shuttles are inter-campus shuttles which are free and have wifi. In this, cars are not necessary but really damned convenient. Phoenix: I really need to stress that Phoenix campus is in the heart of downtown and Phoenix the metropolitan area as a whole is massive. We are the 6th largest city in the US, neck and neck with philly but we take up way more space in terms of area. To get an idea of "Phoenix" the metropolitan area, here's a map. The space between the Phoenix and Tempe campuses is about a 35-40 min drive depending on traffic. Your best bet is to live either in Phoenix proper outside downtown or Tempe, there's really no reason you wouldn't be able to find housing there. Scottsdale and Paradise Valley are generally seen as where the wealthy are - they have a nightlife culture too. Scottsdale is upscale, shopping, dining, and loads of art galleries/art events and whatnot. (There's a lot of museums locally, Phoenix art and The Heard downtown, SMoCA downtown. there's a new music museum, museums on campus etc) If you don't have a car, getting from Phoenix or Tempe to Scottsdale or anywhere else is much more difficult. Keep in mind the further out you go, the more sleepy suburbs you run into (Mesa, Gilbert, etc) PLEASE: Yes, it is hot. Not midwestern hot. I lived in the midwest for a year and it is not the same. Do not go hiking without water. Do not go hiking in the middle of the day unless it's winter. Do not absolutely do not, go off trail. People die this way. Wear sunscreen -- it's going to soar over 100 in the summer and well through august, september, even october. You will not need your down jackets, snow gear, etc. Bring a coat, a set of gloves you don't need an extensive winter wardrobe, just layers. Yes, your electric bill in the summer will be high. Desert temps in winter drop sharply at night and this can be dangerous if you are hiking/unprepared. Carry water. It is a dry heat and you will not realize you are dehydrated, ill, getting heat exhaustion or stroke necessarily right away. Just get in the habit of drinking water all the time. A lot of people complain it's dry when they get here, but when they leave they realize just how sticky it is everywhere else. Water tends to be mineral heavy. We don't have tornados often, but we do have haboobs (large and destructive dust storms), flash floods and microbursts. It is absolutely sunny, year round, which is nice. But do treat the heat with as much planning and concern as you would extreme cold and snow. Take time to see the Grand Canyon because yes, it's a hole in the ground but it is a really massive hole and it's cool in person. Speaking as one of those people, please don't come to Arizona and demand people speak english; Mexican-Americans and Native Americans who live here (and AZ has more reservation land than any other state) were here before English was. That said, common languages on Tempe campus I would say are: English, Mandarin, Spanish, Arabic, and Persian/farsi. Probably in roughly that order too, as most people who speak spanish at ASU choose to speak english the majority of the time. I hear Mandarin more from fellow students. We have massive int'l student populations from China and Saudi Arabia. I don't know how I would do it personally if I wasn't from the area, but many apartments are used to students and can/will match you that way. If you don't want to do this, you can easily wander campus for fliers looking for roommates, the place is covered in them. I feel housing is not too expensive. Personally I don't club -- sometimes I go to The Vine (watering hole bar just off campus) or out for drinks on mill. But there's a million clubs + facilities and ASU has a massive gym complex and great class deals for yoga, kung fu, cycling, etc. I have lived in Phx most of my life and got used to the culture/people but watching folks from out of state gawk at the sheer amount of fit, athletic, and attractive people never gets old. Esp on Tempe campus itself, plenty of guys go shirtless, ladies tend to parse down layers as well. Despite not being an undergrad, it is your duty to mildly care about the great rivalry between ASU and U of A insofar as you want us to beat them. (ASU does not care nearly as much as U of A does about this rivalry but it WILL be mentioned during interviews, brought up over coffee/drinks, etc.) If you have more questions (specific ones) I can maybe answer.

Dunno! I got my rejection today, was expecting it. What is disappointing is the rest of my schools will probably notify in march. Another wait period ahead. :/

Ahhh. Hm. Well I would be coming out of undergrad as well, so there's a few options: You're only paranoid, which means you're in the running!, or they interviewed people they were on the fence about (in which case you are a contender!). I'm split between: They've rejected me (because I would be coming directly out of undergrad, and there was no interview :< ), or...they rejected me. Haha. I suppose I could have been accepted but even I'm not that confident about my application, even if I am confident about my ability to do doctoral work.

Interviewed at NU or BGC? Sorry that was a bit confusing! What makes you say that (if it was NU?) I have a feeling bc I wasn't interviewed, I didn't end up being a top choice candidate.

Same. I think it's a great fit, but as confident as I am with BGC, I'm not confident with NU. I didn't get an interview at NU, unfortunately.

Nope. I think they notify pretty late, actually. __ Also, just completed my BGC interview, which I think went fantastically.

Don't drive yourself insane, just wait until you get emails.

From what I understand it's way more common in the STEM fields to get that kind of contact. Not unusual for Art Historians, but way less common. Most of us will find out the standard way, I think. I'm especially nervous as one of my POIs also happens to be the DGS. They're the best fit for me in the department by far, but it still makes me anxious!

What's amazing about this thread is this person ADMITS UC-Berkeley is a bad fit and is still sour that they got rejected, were given a form letter, and that they had to follow American standard procedures to apply to American graduate schools. How is Berkeley the arrogant one here, if you know you're a bad fit? It's as simple as doing the research to find it you are, or aren't.

Pulling the top ten from Art History Newsletter (in 2011, mind you): 1 University of California-Berkeley 2 University of Chicago 3 Columbia University in the City of New York 4 Yale University 5 Princeton University 6 New York University 7 Harvard University 8 University of California-Los Angeles 9 Northwestern University 10 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Then google them in combination with "curatorial" and "phd" see if you come up with anything. Then look for museum internship opportunities, or museum studies certificates or "tracks". Columbia has MODA, which is an MA, but specifically for modern/contemporary art and curatorial studies. Obviously NYU's IFA program is a top choice for curatorial track studies, as their curatorial-aimed PhD culminates in a year long internship with The Met. A school does not necessarily need a curatorial program, although it is beneficial. However, if you have people willing to support you and/or prior experience + the desire to go out and find your own internships, you can learn a fair bit just as well. Some schools accept internships as registered credits, sometimes these credits go towards a secondary focus. It can also be helpful to find out: How many museums are on campus? Are they utilized for classes? Near campus? Are there any close departmental/institutional relationships? Will my potential advisor know people within the museums field? Personally, I think if you want to be a curator in a Museum you'll need the PhD at some point. If you want to work in a gallery, however, I would imagine a specialized curatorial MA for modern art would be sufficient, though my only gallery experience was not run by anyone with such a degree. (It was curated by an artist). I would also suggest that most people in museums aren't straight out of NYU's IFA program anyways. Simply put -- there's far more options for curatorial studies than just the "Top Ten". True, many museum employees are internal hires based on prior internships, but Harvard isn't the only school near Boston, if you catch my drift. Consider location and emphasis on program. We don't necessarily have the same goals as those who are being shuttled towards Academia.

I don't know how old you are, but it's possible to get cheap flights if you're really dogged about it. (My roommate bought roundtrip tickets from the west coast to Beijing for like $780. She's magic, I'm convinced.) You can try http://www.studentuniverse.com/ (that's why I mention age, I think they have an age limit, but I'm not sure), and definitely clear your cookies/cache before you start searching for tickets! Airlines index what flights you're searching for, and adjust their prices accordingly. Weirdly, buying tickets in the middle of the night also seems to be helpful. But you should be able to get it under $800, hopefully! I'd also be inclined to assume they'll reimburse you, but I don't know.

When in doubt, you can always politely ask: "What would you like to know?" which, if nothing else, buys you a little bit of time to cut short the meandering answers. Fair warning, I've done this when nervous and it usually throws people for a second because they usually don't actually know what they want you to tell them. Go figure.

I can't walk out! I work the front desk, and leaving it unmanned is a big No No.

Then I am beginning to believe you have repeatedly ignored my statements that the choice would be crazy or insane for myself personally and not for *absolutely everyone, ever*. At no point was I being absolutist for everyone else. In every single post I said my opinion on the matter was a personal choice due to my own financial struggles. I don't know how many more ways I could bend myself over backwards to state that other people can manage an unfunded MA, but I cannot. I never once stated an unfunded MA would be a bad idea for everyone, and even repeatedly stated the contrary, that it can be very beneficial admissions wise, impressive, the programs are often academically strong, etc. That doesn't change how I personally approach the idea, however. That said, this is a tiring conversation to have. I'm not changing my mind and looking into unfunded MAs. It's beginning to feel like you're being defensive of your debt, which is rather unnecessary, because, again, I don't care if other people feel comfortable with those loans. Subject changed! Yikes, yeah. That was a slew of rejections. 11 in one day??? Oh man, I feel bad just looking at them, and I didn't apply to UB Berkley. I had a professor suggest it to me, bless her confidence in me, because they're strong in my sub-field buuuuut I think I'd only apply if I'm doing an MA this round and have time to bolster my application. How nerve wracking! Even the one top 10 I applied to this go round was a last-minute thing that I did in a fit of optimism and it's so intimidating. Does anyone know if phone calls for PhD acceptances are standard, or is that variable? I'm a little nervous about that. I tend to run a full day-long schedule, so I can't always answer my phone, and that seems like the kind of thing you'd want to answer on the first call! Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I'd love to have a few calls

Thank you. I don't care if other people make that choice, have that choice to make, or want to go to those programs. I don't care if those programs are the best programs in the world. If I have to pay for it solely out of pocket, I won't go. It's both painful and frustrating to have to explain why you can't play the game the way other people do over and over again. I simply cannot take that kind of opportunity, make that kind of gamble, or take that much debt. Perhaps this means I do not "understand" graduate school. Fine. But I don't see why my financial choices should be derided when I'm rejecting crippling, lifelong debt in the name of a Master's degree that may get me into a PhD.

I'm not sure why when I clearly state multiple times that it is how I feel about myself and my own finances, not about other people, I must be corrected. I'm sorry, but I would have well over $132,000 in debt with my proposed situation. That's debt I would never escape. Far be it from me to be a raincloud, but if I strike out this year with no funding anywhere, then so be it. But I'm not going to apply to unfunded programs next year. I don't want to be a Professor, so the name brand matters a little less to me. I'm also not sure what you mean by not having any idea what grad school is. But regardless, that's great for other people. But I refuse to do that to myself, where I must continue to fund myself solely on debt. It sucks. It is an awful feeling. I've already been doing it for four years, and I really don't want to continue.

Usually the "academic decision has been made" is a clickable link. Does that not work? __ Funnily enough, I decided to not keep my family informed about Grad stuff. They got index cards that list where I'm applying to, and I tell them generalities ("I have an interview") but because they live in different cities, I told them I'd tell them all where I'm going when it's all said and done. My recommenders, however, have been very pleased to get my updates, and I see two of them once a week for class anyways. I figure they're not family (who can wait to hear me out over dinner), and also they wrote my letters, so they like hearing about it. I'm planning on seeing if I can afford to buy my family stickers, mugs, or keychains from the school I choose. (Pending acceptances!)

congrats!!!

Yes!! Thank you. I think any change from my UG will be significant re: gender balances (I'm 90% sure ALL of the tenured faculty in Art History are women). That said, I've never fooled myself into the "bastions of progressive thought" sell. Hardly. :/ unfortunately. If you don't mind, can you PM me and tell me where you didn't end up going? Nope! I'm sick and tired of Medusa and Persephone myths on tumblr. I honestly hate the reiterations of the same two stories.