almonds120

GhostsBeforeBreakfast, you might also consider simply re-applying to a wider range of PhD programs. There are plenty of things you could do to make your application stronger: re-take the GRE's, take some art history courses at Hunter College (if you're in New York, as it says you are), go to conferences and network, rework your statement and writing sample, apply to a Fulbright or another research/teaching one-year-fellowship, learn a new language... It's a lot of work but it would be way cheaper than a master's program and would probably take less/the same amount of time. And graduate admissions are mostly a crap shoot anyways re: who gets a student each year, the amount of people in your field applying any given year, how your research fits with a particular professor's current interests, etc...

you wouldn't consider Chicago the best of the best?