georgica2

It wasn't me, but just a heads up: last year, IFA notified in waves, so just because some people have already been accepted (and rejected) doesn't mean they're done giving out offers.

It's hard to really tell without knowing more about the institutions (though I can totally understand why you wouldn't want to give details) Reputation DOES matter, but how big of a gap in rep is there between the programs? If you're talking about a program at mediocre university with no-name professors, then that might hurt you; however, if it's a lower-ranked-but-still-pretty-well-regarded program with well-known faculty, I'd absolutely without a doubt go to the funded program. Since you want to do a PhD eventually, perhaps it's worth asking the funded programs where their students have gone on to get PhDs after getting the MA -- that might give you an indication of where the programs stand in terms of PhD admissions at top programs. And, as others have stated, the most important thing is the quality of work you produce. If you do well in your courses and produce an outstanding MA thesis, you shouldn't have a hard time getting into a good PhD program. If you're totally in love with the Ivy program and would be devastated to turn down the offer, is there any outside funding you could apply for? Perhaps talk to the professor you want to work with and see if he/she has any ideas about ways you could make it work financially without departmental support.

For one, I'd contact the department head, the DGS, and any professors you've been in touch with and reiterate your interest in the program. I'd also make a point of telling whichever school you're more interested in that it's your first choice and that you'd absolutely attend if you're taken off the waitlist (no need to tell them that you haven't been admitted anywhere.) I think that giving a program a guarantee that you'll attend will substantially increase your likelihood of being admitted off the waitlist if there are spots - by the time they're offering waitlist spots, it's getting down to the wire and they won't want to risk getting turned down again. Also, update them with anything new you've done since submitting your application: do you have any publications forthcoming, conferences, additional grades, internships, etc. that might boost your application? I wouldn't necessarily spend money to go and visit again unless it's conveniently located and inexpensive and I don't think any school expects a waitlisted applicant who's already visited to come again - email and/or phone contact is the way to go.

I'm still waiting to hear from IFA. However, I applied for the PhD, but when the department emailed us asking if we'd like to be considered for both tracks I said yes, so it's very possible that I was passed onto that pile. With that said, I've seen a number of rejections from IFA on the results page, but no acceptances, so I wouldn't be surprised if they're still deciding. Based on last year, IFA is one of the programs that does actually stagger their notifications, sending things out in batches as they decide (probably since they're notoriously late with decisions) so don't count yourself out until you actually receive a yes/no from the department. And, to the person above saying that they don't think a dep't would send out snailmail rejections when they email decisions....they do. Commonly. Many schools are humane and send out email rejections around the same time they notify acceptances, but Chicago snail mailed rejections, and Penn STILL hasn't rejected anyone officially, even though all the offers were made in mid-February.

To the people who posted funding offers from CUNY on the results page, did you receive the funding offers after submitting requests to the department?

I would suggest first contacting the programs you're waiting on and letting them know you have an offer with a deadline (and give them the speech about how you're veeeeery interested in their program and don't want to accept anything else before you hear from them, etc, etc.) Chances are there are programs who have made decisions and simply haven't notified officially yet -- at the very least, they might be able to give you a sense of when you'll hear. However, I do absolutely think it's okay to ask for an extension. April 15th is the typical deadline for a reason -- it allows applicants to weigh all of their options, and it's unfair for a program to try and essentially bully an applicant into accepting an offer by setting a date before all the offers are likely to be in. I would bet that there's a thread about what to do in this particular situation somewhere else on the forum (probably in the section for accepted applicants/decisions, etc.)

I'm waiting on Harvard, Penn, NYU IFA, and Courtauld Institute -- however, I think it's safe to say that Penn is a no since they notified acceptances weeks ago. As for Courtauld, NO idea what's going on there. I think I'm going to call tomorrow morning since 3rd round decisions were supposed to go out last Friday, and I heard nothing...and I also never received a 2nd round decision! I think it's safe to say that's a no, but I still would like a solid answer. Harvard should be coming out any day now, but I'm not holding my breath on that one; realistically, I'm waiting on NYU. I have one acceptance thusfar (CUNY) which I'm happy with, but it would nice to at least feel like I have a choice about where I'm going.

To those who got rejections from NYU IFA, were you interviewed? Also, did you ask to be considered for both the PhD and the MA? I live in NYC and haven't gotten a rejection letter, which I suppose might be a slightly positive sign, but I did ask to be considered for both tracks and didn't get called for an interview, so thinking that I might have been passed over to the MA pile. Also, Harvard admit (congrats!) was the email an official departmental offer letter, or something from a POI? Any indication of when the bulk of letters are going out?

I feel like a broken record, but WHAT is going on with Courtauld? 3rd round offers were supposed to go out today, and not only did I NOT hear anything, I still never got a response on my 2nd round choice?! Getting really frustrated. I mean, I'm guessing that means a flat out rejection, but seriously? No response whatsoever? Is anyone else still waiting on Courtauld?

The GradCafe website is set to a different time zone (for instance, your post is timestamped March 5th 3:21 AM) and unless you manually change it, the results page posts the date/time to whenever you submit it.

Looks like we were all wrong about the next school to throw down the guillotine! Wasn't expecting to hear from Columbia since they notified late last year. Getting rejected from my #1 choice sucks, but I got my first acceptance (CUNY) this morning, so that lessened the blow. After getting back to back rejections from Chicago, Yale, and Princeton, I was starting to panic. CUNY admits, what areas are you in? Any fellow contemporary people?

Sorry, I should have been clearer: A bunch of Penn people were notified of acceptances and waitlists mid-February. I figured that meant the rest of us are out, but no official rejections have been sent yet. There's only been one posting from Harvard, the shortlist thing, but that seemed to be an unofficial heads-up from a POI whom the applicant had been in contact with. Believe me, I had a heart attack when I saw that on the results page awhile back, so I understand the panic.

I doubt there are even 10,400 art historians in the entire world, let alone applying to Yale! Considering that many science subjects at top schools get 500-1000 applications/year, 10,400 for the entire grad school sounds about right. Oh, and I'm betting on Harvard! Or Penn? I mean, they notified acceptances weeks ago, so it's about time they start mailing the rejections, right?

I posted this in the other thread as well, but is there anyone who still hasn't heard about round 2 yet? According to the first email, round 2 decisions were supposed to go out on Feb 26th and a bunch of people posted notifications last week. After hearing absolutely nothing on the 26th, I got an email yesterday that said my application had been passed to my 2nd round choice and that I would receive a notification on February 25th (?!?!?!) Totally confused! Did anyone else get that email yesterday? And am I the only one still waiting for a 2nd round decision? Ugh!

I'm in NYC and got a Chicago rejection letter on Thursday or Friday, so I'd guess that silence is perhaps good news -- at the very least, you're probably still in the running. Also, there weren't any waitlists posted for Chicago as far as I recall, only admits and rejections, so perhaps some or all of you were waitlisted? Regardless, you appear to have made it past the first cut, so congratulations!

At least Yale put us out of our misery in a timely fashion. Still waiting on UPenn, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, NYU IFA, CUNY, and Courtauld, though I'm thinking it's a bad sign that I've seen board activity for all but Princeton and CUNY and haven't heard anything. Speaking of Courtauld...is there anyone else who HASN'T received a decision on 2nd round yet? I'm so confused -- I got an email THIS morning (March 1) informing me that my application had been passed to my 2nd round choice and I'd receive a final decision on (wait for it...) February 25th! WHAT?

Did anyone hear anything from Courtauld today? According to the email and what's posted on the website, 2nd round offers were supposed to go out today, but I didn't hear a word and don't see anything on the results page.

Alas, the dreaded slim envelope arrived today. Oh well, not my absolute first choice, but I was definitely hoping that my first notification would be an acceptance. Glad to have a definitive answer either way.

Okay, Chicago is seriously starting to mess with my head. I came home today fully expecting to find a rejection letter waiting for me after seeing a bunch of them posted today/yesterday and...didn't. Nothing. Again, really hate to ask, but are any of you who got letters from Chicago by any chance based in the general NYC area? I'm giving it until the end of the week before I allow myself to be hopeful...

I would perhaps considering email rather than a phone call? The profs are going to be insanely busy and overwhelmed and a phone call might be seen as a little bit invasive. As others have stated, the ideal time to have made contact was before the deadline, so you shouldn't necessarily count on them responding. Just because a school hasn't notified yet doesn't mean that they haven't already started making decisions, so realistically, chances are it's too late. And, just to reiterate, I would NOT ask any school that has already rejected you to reconsider -- if you are going to contact anyone, it should only be the schools that haven't notified yet. The most important things in an interview is to have a good sense of what you want to study, why you want to study it, and why you think the program is a good match -- you should make sure you are familiar with a professor's work before contacting him/her. Lastly, just out of curiosity, when did you get the Chicago rejection/how did they notify you?

Well, guess I can count out Yale, too! I had the 'holy shit, I really might not get in anywhere' moment today. Even though I always knew it was a possibility, after seeing results coming in from most of the schools I applied to, the reality is sinking in. However, still haven't received any official rejections, so I guess there's still hope. Which leads me to my next question...to the person who got the UChicago rejection, I hate to ask, but do you mind sharing where you live (general region, i.e. how close to Chicago)? I'm about 99% positive that I didn't get in since they notified a bunch of acceptances a week or so ago, but I didn't get anything in the mail today so wondering if there's still hope (doubtful) or if I should just be expecting a rejection letter tomorrow. Also, darts -- congrats! that's great. Just wondering, did the person who contacted you say if they were notifying all short-listed candidates or if this was just a potential advisor giving a heads up?

Well, didn't get a phone call from Columbia, interview request from IFA, or shortlist email from Harvard this week. Definitely starting to panic now that 5/8 of the schools I applied to have made some sort of contact with other applicants and I haven't heard a word. I wish they'd all just send out rejections and put me out of my misery - knowing that notifications could arrive at any minute is making it completely impossible to concentrate on anything other than checking my email and refreshing the results page every 5 minutes.

Congratulations on your offer! Do you mind sharing which option you were accepted for?

I'm with you -- I haven't totally ruled out wanting a teaching position, but right now I'm definitely more interested in curatorial/museum work. And, frankly, there are a lot of exciting things happening totally outside of mainstream institutions in my area (contemporary) and I'd be quite happy to work at an alternative/non-profit space or even an interesting commercial gallery with a great contemporary roster. Obviously there are more options in contemporary for non-institutional work than, say, Renaissance, but I'm definitely not that concerned about the dire state of the academic job market. With that said -- I am VERY concerned about the current dire state of graduate admissions, considering that another acceptance was posted today from my absolute first choice (Columbia) and I have heard squat.

With regard to CUNY -- after all of my ranting last night, I got an email bright and early this morning confirming that all of my materials had been received and processed. The email also said "Your application is complete for review purposes and will be reviewed by the admissions committee" -- not sure if that means that they're going to review it NOW (i.e. rolling admissions) or not, though. Still confused, but glad to know that they're at least somewhat organized!