nutella

@Finwë I'm a 1st gen citizen and although much of my family is educated, they don't know much about the US education system, especially at the university level. Since HS, I have relied on speaking with teachers about my education. When I was in my undergrad and wanted to learn more about career options and grad school, I first talked to my professors. They have always been so supportive and great sources of information. I studied then took the GREs, edited my writing sample, then started looking for programs to apply to. I would visit the websites of different programs to learn more about the program and see what they look for in an applicant, the degree requirements, if one or more faculty members have the same interests as me, and what the alumni have accomplished. I also contacted faculty at several programs to discuss the program in detail. If you googled how to get into grad school, I'm sure you would find a few helpful pointers on how to study for the GREs, select schools to apply to, and prepare your applications so you can try and set a timeline for yourself. I would also consider how much money you have to spend on this - studying and registering for the GREs, sending GRE scores, application fees, and transcript fees. It can get very expensive! Hope this helps!

@rising_star You're right. I did come to that conclusion after I stopped being disappointed and thought about it more. Thanks for your input.

I tried negotiating for my scholarship package (full tuition + small stipend) to include student health insurance and was told that my scholarship could not cover those costs. Instead, they increased my stipend by $2,000. I'm not sure if the student health plan is considered high ($1200 per semester), but it seems better than what's offered through the Marketplace. I plan to attend this MA program but am worried about health insurance. I was really hoping that the student health plan would be fully covered through my scholarship. I want to try and negotiate lowering the student health plan cost, but I'm not sure if I should even try, and, if I do, who I should speak to. Should I ask my POI who already helped me get the extra 2k if I can get the cost of the student health plan lowered? Should I give up? Any thoughts or advice?

I was accepted into SMU and am strongly considering attending. I've never been to Texas and would like to learn more about the city and more importantly, the neighborhoods surrounding SMU. I'll be moving with my SO. We have a car but I imagine he'll be using it to commute for work every day so I am hoping to move somewhere close to SMU where I can walk, bike, or take a short bus ride. Is the area by SMU bike-friendly? Our budget would be around 900-1100 for an apartment. Would I be able to find an apartment with that price range near SMU?

I also agree with Neist. For grad school, you're accepted into a specific program. It doesn't seem very likely that you can just switch from the museum studies program to the public history one. You would have to submit another application. From my experiences as a museum professional, the people I have met with public history degrees tend to go into museums (typically local history museums and history houses), archives, oral history, and historic preservation. NCPH's job listings are very similar to AAM's job listings. It seems people who pursue a public history degree and people who pursue a museum studies degree usually end up pursuing similar jobs, but their approaches to gaining skills and entering this competitive field differed. I would keep in mind that public history is less academic than traditional history and depending on your career, your interests in history may or may not align with where you end up working.

@turner Congrats as well! I'm interested in early modern Italy. Are you thinking of attending UMASS?

I had a similar experience last year. Applied to PhD programs. Rejected from all but was offered acceptance into one university's MA program. I did ask about funding for MA students and was told that internal funding is typically not offered to MA students, only PhD students. I reapplied again this year. If you think attending an MA program will help your changes getting into PhD programs, maybe you should look into MA programs that do offer funding for next application season. I also don't think that a job offer would work well as leverage for funding at an MA program.

Because I'm a very impatient and anxious curious person, I have sent out a few emails asking about my status. Usually, I'll send it to the DGS if his/her name is listed in the admission section of the website that says 'for more graduate information, contact this person.' My email usually sounds like: "I submitted an application for the ______ program at the University of _____ for Fall 2016. I'm contacting you to inquire about the Department's timeline in regards to admission decisions and how applicants are typically notified." I've never mentioned deadlines for other programs. At the very least, the people I contacted were nice enough to give me an estimated date on when I can expect to receive word about my application. Twice, my email opened up a short conversation about the program between me and the DGS.

Congrats! I was accepted in UMASS as well and would also like to hear more about the program.

@rising_star the TAship with tuition remission and stipend is only for the 2nd year. Sorry if I was unclear. Thanks for your suggestion.

I was accepted into a MA program with a 7k scholarship the first year and a TAship with tuition remission and a 18k stipend the second year. While the second year sounds great, the first year would be quite a struggle with the small scholarship to cover the year's non-resident tuition. I also cannot afford to take on student debt or pay the rest of the tuition, even if I had a PT job. I have applied to several programs and will attend whatever university gives me tuition remission. I'm still waiting to hear back from a few more programs but from the programs I have been accepted to, only one university has offered a TAship with tuition remission and a small stipend but I would much rather attend this university, so long as I can receive more funding. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice on how to negotiate for a larger scholarship, or better yet, a TAship the first year or tuition waiver?

@Kassina42, I don't think it's strange at all. So long as you have permission from those two people to serve as references, you should take advantage of the fact that you have been working there and know the people in that office. Good luck.

I haven't even figured out what program I'm going to attend in the Fall but I am absolutely dreading the move. Thinking about packing up my apartment and paying a moving company a few thousands gives me anxiety. I'll be adding a ton of miles on my leased car and driving with my SO and our two cats. When I moved from the east coast to Chicago a few years ago, driving by myself with one cat was hard enough. The sedative the vet gave my cat was supposed to work for the whole 13 hour drive. It stopped working around hour 8.. ... On a positive note, I am excited about living in a new and less-expensive city where I can have a nicer apartment!

I agree with @museumstudiesplease that you should think about your career objectives. I've been working in the museum field for a few years now and have a MA in museum studies. I've never come across anyone working in museum development or PR to have a museum studies degree. The development people who I've met tend to have a background in non-profit development. Some have never worked in a museum before. I think most museum studies programs tend to focus on education, collections management/registration, and curatorial work because the skills involved in those departments are very unique, and rarely transferable to other types of jobs outside of the art/museum sector. Development and PR is not really limited to just museums and museum-like institutions. I would definitely do more research into each of the programs to see what courses they have to offer that would go well with your professional interests.

@museumstudiesplease I graduated from the program a few years ago. If you have any other questions, let me know.