artmuse

I'm waiting to hear from Penn as well. I'm assuming the rejection came from someone who was in contact with their POI and got a personal email about not taking students this year or just not having enough space. It doesn't seem like they would send a single formal rejection this early. I don't really that much hope for myself, especially since I'm a modern applicant as well, but I wouldn't count anyone out yet. Good luck everyone!

Yet the year before people were accepted in early March. It's like they know exactly how to drive us crazy! In better news, starting this week last year there were results everyday for Art History so at least we'll have something to keep us busy. Good luck!

I would treat it just like an interview even if they didn't call it that explicitly. What's so great about a phone interview is that you get to have all the information you want to talk about in front of you. I would just prepare to talk about your application and why you want to go to the school as well as a few questions for the professor. I would even mention that it's your top choice if there is a way to work it into the conversation. Good luck!!!

Don't stress about it! I don't think this is usual for most schools. I know many of them don't interview and I definitely didn't expect to hear from anyone this soon which is making me freak out even more. It's a PhD program by the way. Thank you greenpen for your advice! Unfortunately, I don't have a livejournal so I couldn't access the page since it's set to private. Good luck to everyone during the long wait!

So I'm kind of thrilled to be flying out next weekend for a graduate weekend/interview opportunity at one of my schools but I'm also getting really nervous. I haven't done any sort of graduate interview before and I have no idea what to expect. I just got the itinerary and they said that each of us will have a half hour interview with "the faculty" (all of them????) along with meals with the grad students and campus tours. Any advice you have from your own experiences or stories you've heard would be great. What I'm really wondering about is what sort of questions to expect and what kind of questions I should prepare. At first I thought I was just going to be interviewing with my POI so I was thinking of questions about his work but now if it's more people I don't know what to ask. Should I bring a notebook to take notes about our conversation? Also, outfit advice would be great or if you have any ideas about what to wear. Obviously not casual, but is a suit necessary? Thanks so much!

I recently took the GRE and at first I felt pretty good about my 660v/730q since my scores started out so much lower on practice tests. However, I just got my essay scores and even though I felt good about it after the test, I only got a 4. Is a low writing score going to reflect really badly on my overall score? Do you think it's worth taking the test again if I'm applying to top tier schools?

Hi all, I posted here a couple of times last year when I was thinking about applying but this year I'm taking the plunge. I'm one of the many modern/contemporary people, with a focus in postwar and especially prints and works on paper. My list is pretty much set at eight schools with a mix of MA and PhD programs. My applications are slowly coming together and I'm hoping to get them all out as soon as possible. I just took the GRE and it went really well so that's one less thing to worry about. I graduated in May and hoped to get a year of experience in museums before going back to school but with the economy so bad, competition for even internships has been really challenging. I know a lot of people get into great schools just from undergrad but some of the application questions are giving me anxiety. I worry about all of the little things adding up like the fact that I haven't published or that I just started my second foreign language and am not that confident in the first. I'd really love any advice about my statement of purpose. I'm trying to figure out how detailed to be about my research interests. I don't want to be so detailed that I sound like I lack range, particularly since most of the potential advisers I'm focusing on aren't specialized in prints. However, I don't want to seem so vague that I'm indistinguishable from the hundred other people wanting to study postwar. How specific should I be? Also, I feel like I'm already behind in contacting potential advisers but I honestly have no idea what to write in these emails. Any advice would be amazing! Thanks for all your help and good luck with your apps!

I applied and haven't heard anything back either. Last year I was called for an interview in early March, so I assumed that since I haven't heard from them it's just a no. Most of the major museums just send a generic rejection email at some point but it can take months.

I've decided to take a year off, because of all of the angst I described in my original post, but am wondering what to do with myself next year. I'm continuing research on graduate schools but not dealing with applying this year will hopefully keep my grades up and allow me more time to think about my focus and career plans. Next year I'm going to work on taking my GRE and learning my languages (how much do you loathe German????), but I don't know if it's worth it to get another internship or art related job. I know that a year long internship or low level job will pay me basically nothing, which is what I'll be making in graduate school as well. Do you think it would be better to work outside the field in order to save up money for my expensive degree or to continue pursuing art related jobs to give myself an edge? Any more advice on how to apply to schools without knowing what the hell you want to do would also be appreciated. Thanks!

The only schools I know of where you don't need a GRE are schools abroad. I know the programs in London at the Courtauld, Christies Education and other schools don't require them.

I've known for many years that I want to pursue a career in the arts, probably in museum work. I have one year left as an undergrad and have put art history into every aspect of my life. I have a 3.85 gpa and have taken around a dozen art history courses in a broad range of topics but I know that I'm particularly interested in modern and contemporary. I've taken museum studies courses as well and know a lot about the field. I've had internships in an art gallery, a small museum, an important large museum, a private art collection foundation and other art related jobs. I've worked in education, registrar, curatorial and done every odd task asked of me in a museum setting. However, I still have no idea what I actually want to do beyond 'work with art'. Nothing brings me more joy than being in my art history classes and while papers aren't my favorite thing to do, I think this is more a lazy college student thing than a dislike for research. I love learning and want to pursue at least a masters and probably a PHD, however I feel like without a definite career projectory it's stupid to put that much money into it. Also, as I've learned from job interviews at museums, it doesn't look good to not know what you want to do. I feel like I've been saying "I want to be a curator" for so long that I'm not even sure if that's true. I know a PHD will give me the most options so it feels like it's the best way to not limit myself to lower level jobs. Will I be thought of as unprepared when applying if I don't have a definite life plan? I don't have a definite focus for my research either and feel like even with all of my experience, I may come off looking like a mess. I don't know if I am going to apply this year, I may take a year off to work on my languages and make some money, but I'm wondering what you guys think. Do a lot of people feel this way? Writing all that down was like good therapy, thanks!