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I don't know...I actually haven't gotten up the guts to contact faculty members yet, mainly because there weren't any that I feel I had cultivated enough of an e-mail relationship with to bug --- so maybe I wasn't the best person to give this advice. But I know that people have been doing this, and have received responses that way. I would say - if you have previously corresponded with faculty who seemed reasonably friendly and understanding then go for it. They went through this whole process too and I'm sure they can sympathize. It's pretty late in the game -- it's not as if you are contacting them in early February. So go with your gut feeling. And you are right about the April 15th deadline - I would imagine many programs do push it up to that point at least where their waiting list is concerned. Lots of people accepted to programs probably wait until the very last second to tell the program that they decided not to go there, which leaves the students on the waitlist in limbo until then. I totally understand where you're coming from, Antigone...I don't want to be that nuisance either. I would say -- definitely call once and only once. What I did is I just called the department and asked if they knew when decisions would be finalized. It was a general question, I didn't give them my name or make them look up my file. So even if they were annoyed by my question they wouldn't know who it was. And out of the two departments that I called, the people I spoked to were both really nice and even apologetic about the delay.

I'm not sure...I applied to 8 schools and just heard from my fourth last night. I guess I'm in a better situation than you because I have some news ... but I am going absolutely crazy waiting for the other four, and am beginning to wonder if they are all rejections. I did talk to two programs last week and early this week, and they said that they were still deliberating until the end of this week. So don't lose hope! You might have just had the bad luck to apply to the five programs that like to drag the decisions out as long as humanly possible. Did you try calling the department (or e-mailing a faculty member if you had been in contact with them previously) to see what was going on?

congratulations, emusinfrance!! Bard is a fantastic program. Squeal away hardkore, I didn't apply to Columbia, so I have no advice, but I have a similar theory about NYU - it seems like a bunch of people heard from them by phone in the past week or so - perhaps all of their top choices have already been notified. So I've been steeling myself for a rejection in the mail. Sad, sad, sad. Does anybody have any information about that? Best of luck everyone ... in a week or so the waiting will probably be all over for most, for better or worse.

Just got my letter from UNC...I'm on the waiting list. Eh.... I called the department to see how long the list was and they said the person who deals with admissions is out of town until tomorrow. The letter was dated March 5th and I'm in Chicago. I'd imagine the rest of you will be hearing from them soon. The band-aid is slowly coming loose... :|

Smellie, I really hope things turn out OK for you. But if they don't ... it's not the end of the world. I think waiting until after I graduated to apply to schools was the best decision I could have made. Graduate applications are hugely stressful and time consuming (as you well know, I'm sure!) and they deserve one's full attention. I was trying to work on them last year amidst the stress of exams and term papers, and I realized that I could either slog through my applications then and hope for the best - or wait a year and devote my full attention to them. So this extra year may be a blessing for you - next year you will come across as a stronger, more focused, more well-rounded applicant, especially when compared with the other people in the application pool who are still immersed in schoolwork. I'm going to make a few suggestions I was given that really helped me ... I'm sorry if these are things you already know. I'm no expert, and I'm still waiting to hear from a bunch of schools myself, so I hope I don't sound preachy. This doesn't have much to do with your original question on publishing (oops). I don't feel qualified to answer that but I have a feeling, as others have said, that you are going to have a really difficult time getting published because you're not yet affiliated with an institution. 1) the personal statement is arguably the most important part of your application. It needs to be incredibly tight and focused. You shouldn't have to tell the application committee, in so many words, that you are highly motivated to succeed in art history - it should come across in your writing. When you researched your programs you probably picked ones with faculty whose interests coincide with yours ... definitely mention this in your essay. Have a paragraph in each one explaining why the program is a good fit for you even if it's not prompted - they want to know you've really thought about it. 2) I'm not the person to be harping on GRE scores or GPAs - especially GREs - but I would say if you're worried about your GPA then make sure you have stellar GRE scores. Which you're going to have lots of time to study for! 3) How are you with languages? Most programs expect you to pass reading tests in French and German by your third year. So you should (ideally) come into the program with reading fluency in one and a good start in the other. This is one of those things that sets applicants apart. 4) Do you have any internships / research assistantship experience? I would really recommend finding out if you know any professors who need an RA - this is a fantastic thing to have on a CV ... programs want to know you know how to research. Since you're going to have a year -- I would recommend spending it at a museum, gallery, etc. so you can show the committee you're still doing art-related things. Hopefully research-based. 5) The writing sample -- even if you can't publish it, it should be good enough to be publishable. 6) Apply to a good range of schools - I can't stress this enough. As you can see on my list I have a few schools that would be considered safeties and others that are definite reaches (NYU, which I am still waiting on -- argh!). And some in between. No Ivies - I didn't want to waste my $100 applying to Harvard and the other schools didn't have faculty that I was interested in working with. Don't waste your money applying to a safety school that, if accepted, you would never consider as an option. I hope at least a few of these things were helpful...I wish you the best of luck and let us know what you end up doing!

thanks, arthistorian! I'm really excited to be (potentially) working with him -- my hope of being accepted at NYU is crumbling, but Northwestern isn't too bad a fallback I wish they would just hurry up already and rip off the damn band-aid. I'm still waiting on five schools ... is this normal?

emusinfrance, I'm interested in art of the Napoleonic era...my dissertation will hopefully examine issues of gender and masculinity (specifically fatherhood) in paintings of Napoleon with his family. I would likely be working with Hollis Clayson and Stephen Eistenman, to answer your question...I got phone calls from both of them. Thanks for the good wishes -- don't give up hope! Good luck

hardkore -- I applied to CUNY by Feb 15th to make their financial aid deadline...I didn't want to miss the opportunity to get a fellowship of any kind. Oh, I see - lxs already answered this. lxs -- I'm also in Chicago, by the way! Thanks for letting me know about Michigan...I am not hopeful but we shall see. Good luck with the waiting list! As for CUNY, I have no idea when they will be deciding. If admissions are rolling, I would imagine they make decisions on a case-by-case basis, so hopefully we will be hearing from them mid-month? I don't think they have even deposited my check for the application fee yet (and they screwed up my application twice!). Honestly, their program seems to be the least well organized at least judging from their website which is pretty uninformative... Best of luck to you all!

Hey, delurking here....I just discovered this forum this week and I have to say I would REALLY have appreciated it a few months ago when I was tearing my hair out over the application frenzy. It's nice to see that others are in the same boat. I'm still waiting to hear from 5 out of 8 programs and I'm getting really anxious. My focus is eighteenth and nineteenth century European, particularly French. I applied to NYU, Michigan, CUNY, Northwestern, University of Iowa, UNC, Case Western and Berkeley. So far I've heard from Berkeley (rejected, no great shock there), Case Western (accepted, waiting to hear about funding), and Northwestern (accepted - 5 years full support - and insurance!!). Smellie -- I delurked to answer your question as I am also freaking out about NYU. I called the department yesterday and they said they were preparing to send out letters (both via postal and e-mail). So I'm guessing we should hear from them early next week, if not today. I'm glad I'm not the only one who hasn't heard from them yet. Still...I'm prepared for the worst. Likewise, still waiting on UNC...the e-mail they sent out back in January said - tentatively - that we might be hearing from them by the end of Feb...so I'm guessing soon? What about Michigan? Has anyone heard anything on that front?