ereissoup

This one was sad and a little poetic:
 

This one was sad and a little poetic:
 

This one was sad and a little poetic:
 

This one was sad and a little poetic:
 

This one was sad and a little poetic:
 

This one was sad and a little poetic:
 

This one was sad and a little poetic:
 

I love this thread so much.
 
You should join us in academic philosophy. You'd fit right in.
 
 
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/fiction/

A troll?? Say that to my katana blade you cowards.
 
And to address: m-ttl
 - please do not insult the noble otaku by claiming we have not been systematically oppressed.  My otaku status has prevented me from voting, but the government claims it is because I am a felon.  Nothing is transparent under Emperor Obama's rule.
 - with all due respect to YOU, Yu-Gi-Oh is absolutely the correct forum to discuss gender and homosexuality.  There is a strong case to be argued that Yu-Gi-Oh is trans.
 - Dont act as if Digimon Fanfic hasn't produced amazing critiques of the Israel-Palestine crisis
 
And since so many of you feel the need to address my username, it is simply the first thing that came to mind.  I love anime and I love the kush.

This one was sad and a little poetic:
 

This one was sad and a little poetic:
 

I don't have a horse in this race, but you guys are coming off as kind of pretentious... Is Chicago really so superior to every other program in existence that you have to pay for the privilege of attending?

Well I didn't have a chip on my shoulder until you implied I would embarrass my employers because I didn't spring fully formed from the head of the John Harvard statue.... [ETA: No seriously, why is this continuously brought up? I've admitted to being poor as a valid and legitimate reason for not doing unfunded MAs and recommending to others not to carelessly take on debt, and suddenly everything is about a chip on my shoulder? This is only the third or fourth time someone has implied I'm bitter, angry, resentful, jealous, or have a "chip". I got into my first choice PhD with full funding. I don't have a chip right now. I DO resent the constant micro-aggressions that I am either 1.) Wrong to criticize a classist field  or 2.) All of my opinions are somehow directly tied to and only because of my personal circumstances and that I have no knowledge outside of myself or of the rest of the field, or that I'm somehow uncultured/unmannered. Politely speaking, get it together folks - I have plenty of well to do relatives, and have sufficient "which fork should I use" manners. This is really starting to be insulting by implicating I don't know how to handle myself.] 
 
...I think we need to clarify a few things because there's a few different points going on here. 1.) I can't speak for anyone else, but I haven't only worked at small museums. I've certainly worked at much larger institutions (medium sized, but with large endowments, has collections on loan to the Met, etc) who don't officially take interns because of same-said entitled small LAC kids hoping to boost their resumes and never actually do any work. Obviously this isn't the norm but I have worked there, and I got in because I could be vouched for as someone who would work my ass off. And while I never attended a gala in my time there, I did help organize and attended a high tea and lecture for their donors and the most embarrassing thing I did was spill some of my water on my plate of fresh maracons. 
 
2.) No one is making up the "small museums are great places to get experience" thing out of some sort of class based ideology. This is advice you'll find in virtually every single museum studies book that exists, based on years of experience and hundreds of people in the field. For someone wanting to get their feet wet, a small museum makes a lot of sense because it introduces you to a wide variety of departments because they have less people, so the work is less divisive. I.E. at a small museum, you might only have one person be both the registrar and the curator, or the educator is also the grant writer, whatever. Should you spend 10 years employed at a tiny museum if you want to work at The Getty? No. But a few months interning to gain a wide variety of skills you can apply to your medium sized institution internship, and then your flagship institution or application to the Getty as an employed assistant? Might be worth considering. You can go from small to large in the museum world. But you also have to actively be climbing the ladder. 
 
3.) People with no experience generally do not "deserve" jobs, they are usually just well connected. Let's be clear here: A curatorial job is not one you will do well without any prior experience. Suggesting that a Williams grad has "interesting methods to approach curatorial methods" means you know that they....have learned what curatorial methods are. And they should, if they go to Williams because Williams has local museums and programs. If you know nothing about curatorial practice, museum practice, etc, and get a curatorial job, I do not think I am being petty or resentful by thinking you are probably not really prepared for that job. Those aren't cute side skills you learn, those are major foundational parts of the job.
 
I think somehow you are insisting that all Ivy grads are "better trained" but also may not have experience...? Look, if an Ivy grad is experienced then of course they are better trained. But simply learning at a well respected institution doesn't train you to work in a museum as a curator. You can't simultaneously have zero museum experience and be better trained than someone who does have experience. 
 
Regardless, the thread is for someone looking to break into the field, so all the advice stands. It's best to get experience in order to prepare for what you want to do. 

Someone make an MAPH forum and we can be done with all of this bullshit. It's ironic that you're complaining about "tired evangelization" Papelpicado, because there's been a non-stop MAPH circle-jerk on these forums for months now. It's obnoxious, and more often than not, quite tone-deaf. 

As a side-note, it floors me that the following sentence was written by a graduate student; I would have been embarrassed to have written it in high school. 
 
 
I'd also like to say that "Now I scoff at me" is grammatically incorrect. What you are trying to say is "Now I scoff at myself." Perhaps your atrocious writing played a part in your rejections from PhD programs...

I don't have a horse in this race, but you guys are coming off as kind of pretentious... Is Chicago really so superior to every other program in existence that you have to pay for the privilege of attending?

I don't have a horse in this race, but you guys are coming off as kind of pretentious... Is Chicago really so superior to every other program in existence that you have to pay for the privilege of attending?

I don't have a horse in this race, but you guys are coming off as kind of pretentious... Is Chicago really so superior to every other program in existence that you have to pay for the privilege of attending?

I don't have a horse in this race, but you guys are coming off as kind of pretentious... Is Chicago really so superior to every other program in existence that you have to pay for the privilege of attending?

I think my apprehensiveness of the program is not based on quality of what they do, but that the program itself seems to have unclear goals. It's not a straight up MA in Art History (Williams, as far as I know, does try to fund students), and it's only a year long. From what you said, it essentially sounds like a general advanced humanities prep degree (which can focus on art history!) but if it wasn't to prep you personally for a PhD, what does it prep you for? Alternative options all have their own MAs - Museum studies, cultural preservation, public history, arts administration, etc.
It sounds, essentially, like a very expensive career exploration class combined with a strong foundation in art historiography, theory, and criticism from a really well known university. That's mostly my problem -- that they've made a cash cow out of uncertainty about what to do next. Can you complete your language requirements for a PhD in that time like you could at Williams? How many internships can you complete (are you required to complete them)? I would recommend any serious potential graduate student begin reading books on Art history theory and criticism long before they start applying to PhD programs. To talk with their advisors about theory and method. If you went to such a great undergraduate school, surely some of these things should have been available to you? I don't want to be rude or confrontational but these are all things that my not so ranked university had available.

It seems like the program is designed to prepare students who weren't ready for graduate studies -- but if you're not going on to obtain your PhD, was the program even necessary? I would be especially discerning that if I was going to undertake such a program, it would be because the end goals I had in mind would be reached, or that at the very least I would be fully prepared for them. I feel like I'm largely skeptical because the entire premise of the program's worth is that UChi is 1.) very famous and 2.) very rigorous at teaching things that are also rigorously taught elsewhere. (Also that you cannot take any seminar courses seems detrimental to me)

The very fact that the program must be constantly defended (whereas other MAs rarely need such defense) sets alarm bells off in my mind.

As an English major, this speaks to my heart. Time to polish off my barista skills. 
 
University Of Tennessee Knoxville Poetry, MFA (F13) Rejected via E-mail on 16 Feb 2014 ♦ A 21 Feb 2014 Got a nice letter that said "due to the depressed job market for English graduates." Nice of them to remind you that not only have you been rejected, you also have no chance at jobs.

This one was sad and a little poetic:
 

NOT a funny rejection, but one that is absolutely heartbreaking.  This is a student with excellent GRE scores and a killer GPA who wrote:
 
 
Whoever you are, just know that I wanted to reach through my screen and give you the biggest hug ever.  This process is a killer, but please remember that this school's rejection does not determine your worth!  
 
That statement may have sounded cliche or cheesy to the point where it needed nachos to go with it, but EVERYONE should remember it!  Just because you didn't fit a program's standards does not mean you're worthless.
 
Now, this person's statement could have been completely sarcastic.  If so, then I'm sorry for getting all sappy!

Just saw this gem today. Love it.
 
I want to go to Beauxbatons, although my preferred major would be transfiguration, not potions.

I haven't had candy in a year... yesterday I went out and bought: a box of rasberry licorice, 1 container of assorted jelly beans, and.... gummy bears.
 
 
One year.... 
 
 
I share your pain.

I wanted to post the following to the results page but discovered that lengthy notes are moderated. Nuts!
 
Highest weighted and unweighted GPA in the history of mankind. Perfect GRE scores, including for subject GREs both inside and outside of my field (just for fun). Exceptional LORs from the most acclaimed professors in the entire universe (3 from Earth and 1 not of this planet). A bajillion published first-author papers, short stories, full-length novels, and a zillion forthcoming. Volunteer experience out the wazoo. Hardly surprised. I knew 100% I wasn’t going to be accepted but applied anyway just to have options. Had I been accepted, I wouldn’t have chosen to go here fo’ sho’ as it would have been a TERRIBLE fit. In any case, I got way better offers (six-figure guaranteed scholarships + health insurance + deluxe flex meal plan + reserved parking spot) from every top-ranked school in the galaxy, including ones I didn’t even apply to, along with very personalized congratulatory hand-written letters from all the faculty and their immediate and extended family members, plus gold-leaf-framed oil paintings of their pets to boot.