smellie

I know.. But from what I had so far, they seem very quick in responding ppl's e-mails. I hope you heard some good news! Even now I suspect that they told me about funding because I said yes. The staff and faculty is very kind, but their administration doesn't seem to be too organized. Then, I spent hours today trying to figure out their e-mail, ID, Immunization form, parking permit (so expensive!) etc. using their crappy web system. And I thought my undergrad school was bad what exactly is your field by the way?

Still talk to them! When I was talking to her on the phone, she said they give preference to students who have compatible points with multiple professors. So if you'd like to work with Dr.Sheriff, but could benefit from working with other professors in the department through classes, it could actually work for you. In fact, she was telling me how my interest in nationalism or identity could work well with other professors with interests in postcolonialism etc. I suggest talking to her, and mention that you'd like to work with her?

Thanks guys, all this is really helpfull. I have a new found respect for my TAs now.. As you all mentioned, I'm worried about balancing my own time and time for my students. I tend to get carried away with non-curricular activities, and I'd have to work very hard to keep my focus :S I'll be in contact with the department to see if I could get my hands on syllabi. I now have 4 months of summer with no plans, so it'd be nice to just read away the required readings..!

I actually accepted my offer few days ago, and my advisor sent me all the funding information via e-mail, which should also follow in hard copy. They might have it figured out but expecting you to receive the news in mail, so try contacting your advisor or Dr.Gosh(the director). They were surprisingly generous with my funding, so good luck to you, too!

I still have my dear, dear TAs in classes, and the thought of me being TA next year is terrifying. I mean, one day I'm being graded by TAs, and in the span of 3 months, I will be the one who's grading their papers. I'd have to give tutorials, or have to talk to undergrads (so weird saying this, considering I'm still one of them!) as a TA. It freaks me out How did you go about dealing with being a TA? Especially when you yourself was trying to get used to the whole grad school experience? What kind preparation, or problems did you have? p.s. I'm in humanities.

I agree.. I actually worked as an intern at galleries, arts councils etc. Of all things I learned from the experience was that I do NOT want to be a curator, nor arts administrator. I just feel guilty when I have no idea who these new, cool contemporary artists that my friends in NYC are talking about. Having a boyfriend who expects me to know everything there is about art/art history because I am an "art historian," makes it awkward when I'm just not that enthusiastic about new gallery openings or vernisages. Then again, if you think about it, it's a pretty silly idea - I can hardly say that I know everything about my own area :S

stylefaxee: I know, when you have the offer from your dream school, it's really hard to let go. so why not give it a chance, when we're still young? I always wondered.. How important is it to be involved in museum/gallery scene? As much as I love going to museums, going to galleries and working there (esp.contemporary ones) never flickered my interest much. As an art historian of 19C, should I feel bad that I have no real enthusiasm for these opportunities? It makes me feel guilty sometimes that my knowledge of trendy artists or art venue is near zero

stylefaxee: that's awesome! Though I'm very sad to hear that you won't do Northwestern. It really is a good school.. but yes, NYU is a very tempting place, and it's great that you actually got funding! Are you doing IFU for MA or Ph.d? et pour moi.. I just accepted an offer but my application for Columbia is still holding - they said the "hope" to send the decisions to the grad office on Apr.14. wow, speaking of slow decision making.. Should I let them know that I don't intend to go there in advance? Though I sort of curious to find out if I actually got in..

I'm pretty much crossing NYU off from my list. It seems all those who are accepted with funding already were notified through e-mails, so I think it's likely that the letters are rejections or acceptance w/o funding. In either case, I won't be going to NYU.. I wonder, if they're at least sending them out by express mails. It took average 3 weeks for any letters to get to me

Sounds like Adrian Randolph, whose article on deschi da parto I enjoyed reading

The post below about English proficiency at grad level reminded me of my own problems with the language: I'll be starting as an MA student in humanities this fall. My problem is that my language skill, while sufficient enough to communicate in English on daily basis (I've been in Canada as an international student for about 6-7 years), doesn't seem to be at paar with other students in the field. I need to be able to articulate in both spoken and written language some complicated ideas in philosophy, semiotics etc. So while watching TVs or "talking-to-people-as-much-as-you-can" does help improving one's English on some level, I'm at that point where I need to speak English better than the average Americans. An elegant writer is what I'm hoping to be one day. Any suggestions? ... help??

funny... my field is full of females - in fact, we had about 20:1 female-male ratio in undergrad. Only two male prof out of 12 faculty members..

Thanks everyone! I just talked to the prof this morning, and she was actually very nice - I tried to introduce my new interests using my old interest as a framework, and she seemed interested

So I got into a nice school with a good advisor. But since I applied to schools, my academic interest shifted a little bit. I'm still in the general area, but the gap between my current interest and the past, not to mention the prof's area has widened. what do you do in this case? I have a phone conversation arranged for tomorrow with my potential advisor, and I'm not sure how to go about telling this. Any suggestions? P.S. I'm in MA program in Humanities, not Ph.D.

I don't know what school you'll be going to, but my school has a support group for wives/kids of grad students. I think they have workshops, info sessions, language classes etc. It was run jointly by the Graduate students society and international students office, so check to see if they have similar program at your school.

I just e-mailed the department (Robert Kintz?) to find out who I should contact about funding. Would you like me to let you know once I get a response on that issue? I'm in for MA, so I don't know if it's different for Ph.Ds?

If it is the institution you're currently attending, go up to the department and ask (politely) about their timetable for admission decisions, and if your early submission would make any difference. I found that admissions offices are not that scary after all.

Ok, I live in Quebec - which means it snows for 5 months. Yeah it gets miserably cold, and there are days when I question myself why the hell I decided to move here. But there's no such weather that's too cold to handle (at least in N.America). You get used to it, I have friends from California and Florida who manage just fine. Go with the school with program/faculty you want, not the weather!

There's not much for grad student housing if you're asking about residences. I think Greenbriar is the only one that accepts non-Freshmen. Most people live in what we call "McGill ghetto", blocks of houses populated by McGill students. (by "ghetto" I don't mean slums, it's just a nickname) The rent goes between $500-900 depending on the size, building, share etc. It gets cheaper if you're willing to move slightly beyond the ghetto area.

The department I applied at McGill e-mailed me last week. But yes, McGill doesn't like to answer phones - they get cranky

That's similar to what I felt last year before I started rethinking the possibilites that academia had for me. If you're into the interpresonal aspects of museum work, have you consider going into arts administrations as well? I worked a couple of times for Arts Councils (equivalent to National Endowment for Cultures in the states) in two different countries, and it involved talking to cultural professionals across the genres. My boss was the grants officer for visual arts, but also a freelance curator/consultant. He let me observe some of this meetings and I have to say, it is pretty impressive. So, if you're not particularly attach to museum setting but also general cultural scenes, it's a nice place for an internship. Plus, it's where EVERYONE, including museums, comes for grants and connections - so it's a good way to network

theboojum, Do you know by any chance what the two new professors are specialized in? Or is there someone leaving the faculty? I should really just call them, but I'm just too excited/nervous to do anything right now. My postoffice decided to stop delivering mails to my building for 4 days, (the worst time to go on strike for god's sake!) so I've been dying to get this mail!

To mothers - I'd be just starting my MA soon and plan on going into Ph.D later. Although my mother, who gave birth to me while she was doing her MA herself -, is strongly against having children until I settle down on my first job as a professor, I'd like to start a family before I turn 30 - my boyfriend/fiance has a great job that pays well, so the money wouldn't be a huge issue. But what were your experiences with having children while still in school? Is it something that you'd advise for/against? would be a good time to have children? I

Re: Bronwen Wilson I have to ditto dontknowheretogo. She was the most amazing professor I had. I'm not at all into Renaissance, but her class on Venetian Renaissance was what made me stay in art history. By the way, I just got an acceptance letter from UNC-Chapel Hill. It took 2 weeks! I'm just wondering if anyone has info on the school. I haven't yet to visit the place, yet, but it seems like a very friendly environment.

Re: Northwestern My school just got a prof who'd been teaching at Northwestern, and she is one of the most intelligent professors I ever had. I'm not sure exactly why she decided to move, but if all the profs at NU are like her, you'd come out as a very strong scholar at the end of your education in NU