Jump to content

stylefaxee

Members
  • Posts

    34
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by stylefaxee

  1. Yes, I think one of the many reasons I am gunning for NYU is because if I stayed in Chicago I would probably have to stay in my current gallery job on a part time basis. Can't stand the thought! The German is coming along veery slowly, I'm still quite a beginner learning how to order my coffee. I should be ready to take the French language exam in the fall though, I speak and read it pretty well. lxs, I'm sending you a PM hey, don't feel bad. I have really been trying to become more knowledgable about contemporary art but I've always been immersed in the past. A time warp, if you will ... Just reading the NYT arts section religiously has really helped me, though. As you say, we can't know everything!
  2. Thank you Renaissance08! It's great to know that I already kind of sort of know a nice person who will be at IFA with me. Yes, I'm from Chicago (will be sad to move, even if it's to fabulous NYC) and graduated in last summer...I took this year off to work on my apps and my German, etc.
  3. I know ---- I MET her when I visited!!! I almost went into cardiac arrest, and she surely must have considered me the most inarticulate person she has ever met because I was so tongue tied. It was still amazing. thanks smellie! as for museum work...I think it's a good thing for an applicant insofar as it shows your dedication to the field. But it's definitely not a necessity. There are plenty of programs (ahem, Berkeley) where the object is only an afterthought and theory reigns supreme. Also...you won't know if you like something (or hate it) until you test it out. Sometimes it's just a good way to pay the bills while doing something related to your field. I was an intern at my university's museum for three years as an undergrad and I'm now working in a little American art gallery. When I started out as an art history major I really thought I wanted to be a curator in a museum but when I began working at one, I realized that I was much more interested in the research and pedagogy aspects, which led me to academia. And working at this gallery has shown me that I am definitely NOT interested in doing commercial work. So to answer your question somewhat long windedly, only consider museum/gallery work if it's something that really interests you. Don't feel bad if it doesn't.
  4. Smellie, It really hurts to turn down the Northwestern offer...I am still mulling it over. Maybe I'm a fool to consider the IFA since the funding isn't even guaranteed throughout the degree. I'm going for the M.A. but I'd like to continue through the Ph.D. I just feel like now that I've been given this chance, if I turn it down, I won't forgive myself. But maybe I'll feel that way about Northwestern next year when I'm starving in some garret in the far reaches of Brooklyn... This process has been such a learning experience for me. I never realized I was such a fatalist! Congrats on accepting your offer! If I know the program you're referring to, it's a really great one and your advisor will be wonderful. Best of luck with Columbia, however...if I were you I would wait to see if I got in. Even if it were just for bragging rights.
  5. My visit to the IFA this week really threw me for a loop. I was so impressed with the program, the students, the faculty. I really grilled my student tour guide and his friends about the competitive atmosphere. While their main complaint was with the departmental hoops that must be jumped through, everyone said that whatever competition there is between the students is mostly of the healthy, hardworking sort. Everyone was really so nice and welcoming. I felt like I could be happy there. I flew home on Tuesday night ready to throw my offers of full funding out the window....I wanted to go that badly, despite being offered zero funding by the IFA and the expense of New York. I still do. I had met with Priscilla Soucek and my potential advisor Thomas Crow and explained my situation to them (i.e. my far superior Northwestern offer) but said that NYU was absolutely my first choice. I opened my inbox on Wednesday to an e-mail stating that they had reconsidered my application and had decided to offer me a tuition fellowship!!! It seems dreams really do come true. I am still going to visit Northwestern as planned on Monday, but I have pretty much made up my mind - now I just have to convince my parents. I'm going to have to take out a loan just to be able to live in NYC... So, Renaissance08, if you're crazy then so am I! I have never been a risk-taker but I feel like this is one of those moments where you either follow your dream or you regret it forever. I am most likely rejecting my CUNY offer (though I was impressed by the program) and am praying that whatever funding they were considering for me goes to lxs....
  6. I applied for the Art History M.A. and received a letter from the graduate school yesterday stating that they could not fund me at this time, with an enclosed sheet about filling out a FAFSA. And yet I got 5 years full funding from Northwestern....huh? Iowa was my safety school.... I hope you have better luck!
  7. OK thanks guys, I will decline.
  8. I will probably be declining offers from Case Western and UNC (Chapel Hill) and (assuming I get in - haven't heard from them yet) CUNY and University of Iowa. I got into my top two choices, so it's between NYU and Northwestern now and I will be visiting both programs at the end of the month. My question is -- although I haven't made a final decision yet, should I decline offers for the schools I'm less interested in now? I know we have until April 15th but I hate to keep people on the waitlist hanging (I can definitely sympathize). I'm afraid it will seem strange if the declined programs ask me where I decided to go and I tell them I don't know yet. Thoughts?
  9. Off all of the vague responses I have been hearing from programs in the last month, CUNY definitely wins for most ambiguous. They might as well say "I have no idea" and call it a day. When I called it was even worse - they told me "sometime in the next month." But at least they are starting to make decisions... thanks, travelingartmuse! I am probably going to reject their offer but I appreciate it. Speaking of which - has anyone started doing this? I'm not really sure how to go about it. Should I respond the way I was contacted (e-mail, for instance) or just send a letter to the department?
  10. I'm not going to/coming from a UK program, but I seriously considered to applying to UCL and the Courtauld. Both programs are fabulous and definitely have excellent US reputations. Though I was advised that it would be better to get an M.A. at one of those programs and then do your Ph.D at a renowned US program like Harvard, Columbia etc. - if you are looking for a tenure-track job at a US institution. It's a good way to get a leg up when applying to Ph.Ds because those programs are so well reputed for art history. I know less about Oxford and Cambridge - obviously the name recognition is much higher outside academia than the previous two programs. I think it would depend on your potential advisor and your field. Oxford, for example, is great for Renaissance. I'm not sure about other programs, though - those four, as well as Leeds, are the best known and the ones I was advised to consider. The main reason why I didn't go for it was the likelihood of my getting funding as an overseas student was probably nil, and London is even more expensive than NYC. But I have a friend doing the M.A. at the Courtauld right now and she loves it. So if you can get funding or you can afford it, then why not?
  11. Yes please! I'm waiting to hear about funding for the MA as well. And congrats on getting into UNC! I've been so busy these last few days, I've had trouble keeping up with the fast-and-furious posting that's been going on. There are so many good things being said. All of the info on NYU has been VERY helpful in helping me to wean myself from my hopes of going there. It is sounding more and more like the worst place for me. But I am going to fly out there at the end of the month, just to give them the benefit of the doubt. If anyone still making decisions is interested, I will let you know how it goes... As always, best of luck to everyone still waiting for news. I'm still waiting on CUNY and Iowa ... and funding decisions for Case and UNC.
  12. For me this is such a clear-cut situation of heart vs. head. My heart is set on going to NYU, but my head is telling me that going there would be committing financial suicide. Hearing more horror stories like that of your professor ($15,000 / year - yikes!!!!) does help, though. I'm hoping that if I vist I will hear more complaints from graduate students, which will be even more of a deterrent. My other offer is at Northwestern, where I will probably end up. I was actually phoned by two professors when I got in, and I had such a warm and fuzzy feeling afterwards. They were so nice and really interested in my research. It seems like a very supportive department. And the full tuition/stipend/health insurance deal for five years helps too . It's just a much smaller department (which is both good and bad) with fewer classes offered. And nobody's doing eighteenth century. And while Chicago is a fabulous city and I like living here, for someone studying art history there's no comparison with New York. I don't mean to sound petulant; I'm very very happy about getting into Northwestern. But it's hard to give up my dream school. I'm in the same boat with you about the commute - well, mine would be around an hour and a half if I stayed here. Definitely unpalatable. Your other program is Rutgers, right? Have you visited the campus, talked to graduate students about their experiences there? Does anyone have any insight regarding Northwestern? A bunch of my professors went there and they wax poetic about the program but if anyone has more recent experiences with it, I would be grateful.
  13. Thanks, Renaissance08! And congratulations to you too! I also was offered no funding, sadly...and with an offer of full support from another great program I'd probably be crazy to consider NYU. I totally agree with you -- it's so much nicer to be able to say no to them than vice versa! I think I'm going to visit anyways - it's still going to be a difficult decision. NYU was my first choice and in terms of what I want to study, I think it's a better fit for me. But I'm not sure that I can justify going into $50,000 debt for the first year alone, without funding guaranteed for the second year and beyond. I'm really bummed.
  14. Hey smellie and renaissance08, I just heard from NYU today (via e-mail). I think I shouted FINALLY pretty loudly when it popped up on the screen because my supervisor was giving me major space this afternoon -- so I would imagine you should know pretty soon, smellie, because I'm 18th-19th century (and I applied for the master's, too). I think they're rolling them out veeery slowly.
  15. No, you didn't screw up...as Leesha says, "delighted" is a perfectly good way to express happiness at acceptance. Humbled is perhaps a better word, but do these admissions secretaries really expect you to wax eloquent in a response just after receiving an exciting acceptance? Trust me, they're not going to withdraw their approval of your admission now. I think you're suffering from a small case of applications mania, among whose sufferers I count myself: viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13444 When a life-changing decision like this is taken completely out of our hands, it is perfectly normal to get a little (okay, extremely) anxious. We've all pressed the SEND button too soon. I panicked for weeks after I submitted an application because I couldn't remember if I had attached my personal statement or not. Just take a deep breath and try to enjoy being accepted by one of your top choice schools!
  16. yes -- I am also afraid of sounding condescending (which you don't, DuchessRavenwave! not at all!) but I wanted to put in my two cents on the topic of rejections. it is sad to say that much of this process is horribly political and partisan. One committee might be fawning over your chosen dissertation topic and other might immedately cast it into the bin because it doesn't fit with their modus operandi. Or if one of your recommenders happens to be unpopular with an influential professor, that might immediately disqualify you. Please don't take it personally. There is so much competition in this whole process and with so many strong applicants committees really have to nitpick the most seemingly inconsequential things in order to weed people out. I'm so sorry it turned out like this for you.
  17. Antigone, I just saw your post on the "Make Everyone Jealous" thread and wanted to say CONGRATS for getting into U of C (!!!) - I guess all of the hyperventilating was worth it! Phew.
  18. I understand, and wanted to mention that I wasn't posting this for sympathy, more as a commentary on how ridiculous this whole process is and how silly I am to get worked up over it. I hope maybe you got a laugh out of it Thanks to everyone who responded -- I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with loony moments these past few weeks! You guys crack me up. I still haven't heard from any of the four but am trying not to think about it - instead I am trying to appreciate this sudden burst of (comparatively) gorgeous weather here in Chicago... there IS more to life then grad school after all!
  19. LOL. Even as I was writing it I knew it was nonsense, but it helps that it was validated as such! I don't really trust my capacity for reasoning at the moment. If someone had told me a few months ago that I was going to be behaving like this I probably would have laughed in their face. Nicely, of course. Good luck with your own apps!
  20. I'm waiting too. Any insight people might have on this would be much appreciated. I know that a bunch of people posted acceptances from the IFA earlier in the month...I'm guessing that they have already contacted all of their first-tier candidates, but if you haven't been contacted yet, it's because you're on some kind of unofficial waiting list? If any of the first round of acceptees drop out, we might still be in the game. But that's just a guess. Either that, or they're just waiting until the last possible moment to send out rejections, just to be as cruel as possible.
  21. This is becoming ridiculous. I swear, all of the anxiety is going to my head. I am still waiting to hear back from four schools (five, if you count a waiting list) and every time I open my empty e-mail inbox (and mailbox) my gag reflex kicks in. I don't know what's the matter with me - I got into Northwestern with full funding, which I keep telling myself, but I still haven't heard from my first choice and I think I will not be at rest until all of the applications have been resolved. I should be relieved that I got in somewhere (I am, indeed, very grateful), but I can't stop thinking about the others I haven't heard from yet. Which had better be soon, because all of this worrying is addling my brain. To wit: A few minutes ago a young-sounding person called at the art gallery where I work, and asked simply, "who is the director of your gallery?" I thought it was a strange question since they didn't offer any explanation. I simply answered with the name of my boss, who is the owner, assuming they wanted to know who ran the place. They said goodbye and hung up. I kept thinking about it and suddenly my mind veered off to a very uncomfortable direction: "well, 'gallery director' is my official title - it's the title I put on my CV, I just never use it ... could a graduate progam have enlisted undergrads to fact-check applicants' CVs? Did I just pound the nails into my own coffin by engendering a ridiculous misunderstanding?" If I wasn't so queasy I'd be laughing hysterically. Am I the only one feeling like this? Or am I just blowing this whole the-grad-school-you-get-into-determines-the-trajectory-of-the-rest-of-your-life thing way out of proportion?
  22. I did my undergrad at DePaul, a private Catholic university in Chicago. I don't mind at all
  23. Yay!!! Congrats on McGill, Smellie. I've heard good things about that program and considered applying there myself. I think they have a significant collection of Napoleonic works on paper, particularly cartoons -- am i right?
  24. I just called the department secretary (annoying little me!) - she said we should hear back "in the next few weeks." I didn't want to press beyond that. But I'm guessing it means, at least, by the end of March. And not July (I hope not!!!).
  25. Two of my undergrad professors had their degrees from Rutgers...neither were Ren scholars but both seemed pretty happy with the program. I have a lot of respect for both of them ... particularly one who is a feminist art historian. One of my favorite teachers. They're both tenured, I believe. Sorry, I don't know if that helped at all!
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience on our website. See our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use