museum_geek

I don't think it would hurt to ask. Admissions office employees probably get tons of questions about LORs and I don't think it would take too much for them to check your file and see if all three letters are included. The only thing I would look out for would be if the school explicitly states that they only want two letters - one of my apps said something along the lines of "we require two LORs - sending more will not assist you." If you see something like that I would leave it alone; otherwise, a brief email to an admissions rep isn't unreasonable.

I'm applying to 11 schools, have 7 apps in so far and it hasn't been overly stressful. I asked all of letter writers beforehand how many letters were too many (I was looking at ~15 schools at that point), and none of them had a problem submitting LORs to a dozen or more schools. It's not like they're writing new letters for each school they submit to; if anything they will tweak the letter a tiny bit for certain programs, but that's it.

You mean you don't enjoy slogging through 2 tons of lake effect snow effect every winter?

I had that same problem a month or so ago with one of my apps; I ended up scanning a copy of my official transcript and uploading that to the application. My UG school sends official transcripts for "free," only because they charge you an "administrative fee" every semester of undergrad which supposedly goes towards covering transcript fees. Talk about a racket, they get you coming and going!

As long as the funding packages aren't too different, program and faculty fit will be my deciding factor. Location may also play a role as well.

I don't think it's enough of a difference to resend your scores to any of the five schools that received your results from the first test. I doubt CS programs are all that worried about your AW score. It might be a good idea to send your second round scores to the rest of your schools though, as your overall score is higher. I'm not applying to STEM programs though, so maybe someone with more experience in CS or a similar field could give you a more informed opinion.

I'm working my way through the Wool Trilogy by Hugh Howey. It's some good old fashioned page turning sci-fi that lets me rest my brain at the end of the day.

Seems like it might come off as pushy. Then again, I'm only applying for MA programs so my conversations with potential advisors haven't been super in-depth or formal. Maybe it's different for PhD programs?

Your gpa certainly won't help you, but if you play up your hands-on experience, journey from confused to community college student to focused, serious minded art history practicioner, knock your SOP out of the park, and get really strong LORs, then you should be able to get past your gpa. It would probably also help to make strong connections with potential MA advisors at the schools you want to apply to. Having a POI in your corner to back you during adcom meetings will go a long way towards getting admitted.

How I imagined your POI saying that Seriously though, that's awesome, congrats! I can't imagine how exciting that must be, especially considering how stoked I get when a POI does something as mundane as encouraging me to apply for the program.

Working full time takes up a lot of my time and energy. Alcohol generally takes care of the rest.

Whiskey, christmas shopping, focusing on my current job, catching up with old friends via skype. Mainly whiskey though.

Every school I've applied to so far has had an "application status" page that shows whether or not all your materials have been received. Not every school has sent me an email explaining that this page exists though, so it might be a good idea to check the school's admission portal once your application is submitted.

For some reason one of my recommenders isn't getting any emails from Columbia, and they won't send the email to her personal address. So I have to send them the recommendation via USPS and pray it doesn't get lost in the mail during the cross country trip. Fingers crossed.

That was my thought process when submitting stuff last week for applications that are due in January and February. I figure it's better to be super early than super late. At least now the (supposedly) hard part is out of the way...I feel like waiting around for a decision might end up being the real hard part.

Same here! I was just waiting on my final LoR writer and she submitted a bunch at once so I went a little nuts and submitted 5 applications this afternoon. Halfway home on my apps! I don't know how I'm going to make it to March without losing my marbles though...too much waiting!

I'm applying for similar programs, albeit with a focus on anthropology rather than art history. I believe Arizona State has a Museum Studies program that focuses on art history, through the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts. I'm applying to the Museum Studies program at ASU that runs through the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. I'm not sure if the two programs are linked. http://art.asu.edu/museumstudies/

Before applying for programs, I would strongly recommend you spend at least 6 months either volunteering, interning, or working at a museum. Work the front desk, spend time as a docent or tour guide, work in the gift shop - whatever you can do to get some experience. Not only will this beef up your resume, but it will also give you an indication of whether or not museum work is for you. I have been working in the development department at a small museum for the past 18 months and while my primary duties consist of managing fundraising databases and putting together special events, I have also spent time as a tour guide, elementary school educator, exhibit design grunt (i.e. carrying heavy things for our curator), and part time janitor. Most museum employees, outside of the lucky few who find work in a world class institution, will be faced with a lot of menial tasks and will wear many hats before finding that dream curatorial or management position. With that said, go for it! Personally, I'm interested in exhibit design and collections management so I am applying mainly to museum studies programs, but you might want to look into something more research based. Museum studies programs generally grant terminal master's degrees and work for people like myself, who are looking to manage and care for museum collections. For research, I would suggest looking into PhD programs in your area of interest, and finding a school that also offers a Museum Studies certificate. This way, you can focus on your research while taking some classes that will ground you in the basics of museum best practices. The poster above me has some good schools listed, though again I would suggest focusing on your area of study and finding a certificate program or internships. Good luck!

Little late to the party here, it's comforting knowing that the stress of this application season is a shared experience! Anyone else here looking at anthro programs with a museum studies concentration or vice versa?

That's what I did for a couple apps. I actually had one school specifically ask for a scanned copy of an official transcript, so I guess it's not that uncommon.