
smellie
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Everything posted by smellie
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My postoffice hasn't been delivering mails one every 4 days. WHY? WHY NOW??? I think they're in cahoots with grad schools trying to make me depressed.
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mew: that's why I sometimes think that adcom just throws down the applications down the stairs, and pick the ones that travelled the farthest. (/wo discrediting anyone accepted) Does anyone know if there's some sort of forum/site where they post accepted SOP/WSs? There were a lot for engineerings and biology for some reason, but none for art history. Sure I can't copy off of anyone, but at least it'd give me some idea at what level the schools want you to be. by the way - I didn't know there could something more addictive than facebook. I'm on this forum almost 24/7!
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Renaissance: I should've guessed from your id! Hm.. I wonder if that means the decisions would come even later for the MA applications for NYU :S Gosh just accept/reject/waitlist me already!
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Are you applying to Ph.D or MA? What field are you in? I hope 18-19C hasn't made their decisions yet ..
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mew: this is a great tip! I haven known that SOP and WS counts a lot, and they were not particauly strong in my case. But amazing resumes that people post in this forum has somewhat discouraged me. Not that yours is not, but I'm just saying that for some time it looked like only people from good ivy schools with amazing numbers and resumes would get into Ph.Ds. I'm still weighing between MA and year-off. MA gives more opportunities to know the profs, work on my research, and get me into other scholarly events. At the same time, the expectation rises with that, so does the debt. Year-off would give me a chance to go over my application, but getting LORs again after not taking classes for awhile is a hassel, and I'd really appreciate some academic advising at this point. And of course, the chances of actually getting into Ph.D afterwards still remains questionable. maybe I SHOULD have gone to management when I had the chance 4 yrs ago. Who knew studying would involve so much more than reading books??
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that's some great list of schools you got there! My problem is that I didn't choose to go down the path of academia until well into my 3rd year (I was more into arts administration/policy), so I didn't quite bother with getting awards or fellowships, nor developing a serious paper to attend conferences/publish. Even my GPA is mediocre at best, I think. So this is why I'm hesitant in taking year-off. I do think though, that the fact that I practically put together my entire application in the span of 5 months (considering/choosing schools/asking LORs/writing thesis/SOP/GRE etc.) may mean that this year's rejections are not a good indicator of whether I'd a good candidate or not in the future. I already saw a good degree of improvement in my SOP between ones I submitted in Dec.15 and onces in Feb. 5. Then again, I'm not sure what other ways to improve my application than writing better SOP and writing sample, or perhaps doing an internship. Would a better SOP and writing alone change the outcome of the admission decisions? not sure.. not sure. * oh, and would it be weird to apply again this December while I'm in the program? I'm beginning to come up thousand ways of applying Mind if I ask what sorts of experience you have or approach you took to grad schools?
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by the way, do a lot of people get into Ph.D straight from BA? Or is it more normal for people to get in after their MA? I'm just a little confused whether I should take a year off then reapply, or if it'd be better to go with MA then retry. Obviously my application wasn't strong so I'm not sure how much it can improve during that year off - my application went blank when it came to publication/conference/awards. Especially by not having any institutional association, I won't be able to attend neither undergrad/grad conference, publish etc. I see so many great applicants here who didn't get into the programs they wanted to, so I'm getting a bit paranoid
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So it looks like I would be applying to Ph.D after my MA. I was wondering: 1) could "ok" Undergrad GPA be compensated by a good MA GPA? My undergrad was at about 3.6 2) What about GRE? Would a retake be a good idea? I'm applying to humanities and my verbal was 650 (94%). 3) How many conferences, awards, fellowships, publications should I have by the time I apply for Fall 2010? 4) How do you start going about getting into these conference/publication business? 5) What's the best time to contact Faculty+departments? Maybe at the end of my first year? FYI, I'm in art history but any tips would help.
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Oh, I took one class with Wilson and it was one of the best. She's in UBC now, eh? I did apply to some Ph.D programs along with MA programs but without any luck. I think I needed more time and experience overrall. And by the look of it, majority of the acceptees do go in with an MA/year-off. So I'll just try to make some good out of McGill next year thanks for the tips and congrats on your acceptances!!
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Actually I did my undergrad at McGill as well, so yes, I know about the situation and well, suffered from it. Last year was particularly tough because half the faculty was on sabbatical while one left permanently. So it was tough, but we also got three new profs (not lecturers) settling in. And by the look of it, I think the department is going to be less stormy. Although you were absolutely right on the library holding issue. I think that I've been at McGill long enough to know too many weak&strong points of the department to make neither happy or sad about this acceptance. Either way, I just cannot afford to spend $60K and plus to do 2yr MA in the States. I'm gonna give it another try for Ph.D later on. Any advice on getting myself ready from a Canadian school? Who was your advisor anyways?
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So what do the schools prefer, 1) Very well-known prof. who doesn't know the student very well 2) not-really-heard-of prof. who knows every details of the student's work. I sometimes dream of the days when I'll find my way into the admission committee as a prof., and find out about all the dirty secrets of this process!!
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I always wondered why the heck the schools wanted to know what others schools I applied to. Boo. On the note on NYU-IFA, I'm in the similar boat as a lot of people here. I applied for MA and haven't heard anything yet, so it's likely that there wouldn't be much funding even if I get in. I am currently accepted to McGill, Montreal, and waiting on UNC -Chapel Hill (which states that they won't fund international students), Columbia (which also states that they don't fund MA students), and NYU. So my choice would either being in Canada, for going to a good school in the States with $60K debt at the end of the program. So I'm not sure if I should just try next year again for Ph.D or MA with fundings, or stick to McGill and apply for Ph.D in the US afterwards (I have some personal reasons to move to the States eventually). McGill's program does not rank quite the same as many good US schools, but they just hired two professors in my period (though they're pretty young scholars themselves), has good library collection on my subject, offering me funding, and the living is cheaper. The only thing that's holding me back is whether it's going to tie me to Canada permanently, putting in disadvantage when applying for Ph.D in the States later. :S decisions, decisions.
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I was wondering how everyone spent their MA years in terms of research, achievements, GRE, etc. The only schools I'm waiting now don't offer funding for MAs so it's likely I'm gonna go with the one I was accepted (with funding!). I'm just now wondering how, as art history students, you all have prepared for the "next step" while in Mster's program. Any advice? Timeline? Things that you wish you had done? What helped you getting into those Ph.D programs you wanted?
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well, where I live, it's been SNOWING a lot the past few days.. and I mean SNOWING A HELL LOT. And maybe what's why, but I noticed that my entire building was not getting mails... and of course, it drove me nuts! After 4 days of no postal service, the first mail I got was a rejection letter from Chicago. I still got into one of the schools I liked, so meh. :S
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Thanks this is really helpful! I just got accepted to McGill with funding, waiting on a couple of US schools. But I'm still interested in publishing.. My subfield is the 19C post-revolutionary French art (prints, drawings, and caricatures). I did wrote my BA thesis on an art competition in 1848, and since there are very handful writings on the subject I though I'd give it more thoughts, and give a try for publication.
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Mind if I ask whether it was for Ph.D or MA? I live in Canada so I my mails take longer (*reads:forever) than everyone else..
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Thank you for the very helpful advice! I'm still waiting on few schools, but I'm definately starting with some internship applications that are due this week... Are there any place where I can get samples of art history SOP/writing samples of the acceptees? It's hard to find guidelines for art history grad program applications, I often feel lost trying to figure out what I'm supposed to do..
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Except for few, the reputation of Canadian schools doesn't seem to travel far - which sucks for me and you. I totally feel you about the TOEFL requirement, though. I was talking, writing e-mails with the department in English yet they still wanted me to send the damn score. I took it, dozed off during the reading section, yet still got near perfect score. What a waste of my $200.
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I also got an e-mail from the department on friday saying that they have sent their decisions to the grad office, so they should be sending letters "any day."
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yeah.. I figured it'd be pretty hard to publish things as a BA, but I thought it'd be good to start considering different options/paths. What would be some of the more organized grad journals out there? My undergrad art history journal was aimed to be "casual" so all they accepted was book reviews and "experiences."
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Wow, your field (and most of the schools applied) is exactly mine! Would it be by any chance post-revolutionary France? congratulations on Northwestern! I did apply to Michigan but haven't heard anything back. Neither from the UNC. To be honest, I looked back my applications and can tell that it has way too many weak spots to be accepted.. so I'm preparing for the plan B. :S oh, and are you going in straight from BA? year-off, or with MA?
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So I just read someone got into NYU - MA with funding via e-mail. Yet my inbox is sad, quiet and empty. Should I prepare for rejection letters? Oh, has anyone applied fo UNC for MA?
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The rejection letter from Duke was not only impersonal but done through automated computer system. I got an e-mail saying that decicions were made, go check online, and when I clicked on the "message", it' was a pdf file of a very impersonal, generic letter scanned and uploaded. They didn't even bother sending the letter, but make you go read that hurtful rejection online.
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So seeing that everyone except me already got acceptance letters from the schools I applied for Ph.D (the "all-rejections" fear is coming true) ... and the only schools left are MA programs with expensive tution and no funding, I'm getting myself prepared for the plan B. - a year off. My GPA isn't great (3.6 in my major), and I know GRE score can get you only so far. Of course I'd be working on to improve my SOP and writing samples.. So I thought it'd be great to have some publications on my application next year. But how?? I'm in art history, interested in 19C France. I won't have any association with particular schools while I'm taking a year off. I'm an international studying in North America and would be going back home - so "attending" conferences may be a challenge. If you were me, what would you do?