stilnovista

Hi All, I'm a current Masters student at UMass Amherst and am looking to move into a new place closer to campus in the Fall (I live in Northampton now). That said, I'm looking for roommates or for open rooms. I'd love to hear from anyone who is also looking for something for September!

HannaPie, I graduated from a small liberal arts womens' college in 2010 with a degree in Art History and Italian. I took two years off to work and save, and then began a funded Masters program this past fall. I worked as a curatorial intern at my undergrad institution for about three years. I also did internships each summer, some of which were at historical houses and museums, but played to my interest in material culture. The last of these was at a historic house on Nantucket. Currently, I'm interning at a contemporary art museum on campus. I also spent my junior year abroad in Italy; the NGA internship description specified that they were looking for someone with language skills. If you want to know anything else, just ask! PM if you'd like

Lamantin, I'm specifically looking for ideas/advice on finding housing, especially since I'll be there for such a limited period.

Hi all! I'm a former frequent-poster who is now rounding out my first year in a terminal MA program, hoping to work in museums afterward. I just got word this morning that I was selected for a position at the National Gallery of Art in DC this summer. I am so excited! Is there anyone else here who applied, has done an NGA internship, or who has been accepted this year? I'd love to hear from other interns beforehand!

Hi! I applied to/visited/very strongly considered the BGC this application cycle, and though I was admitted, I accepted an offer from another school. I was drawn to the BGC because of their focus on interdisciplinarity and thinking about material culture as well, although I'm Italian Renaissance. I don't want to get too in-depth here, so feel free to PM me if you'd like to talk about the process!

I'll have been out of undergrad for two years when I start my art history MA program in the fall. I am so, so glad I spent some time away from school. I feel like it helped me to regroup in every possible way, and let me concentrate on the aspects of my life that had sometimes fallen to the wayside when I was an over-eager, over-stressed undergrad. I feel infinitely more balanced.

Hey, cokohlik, I just wanted to say congratulations, too! I'm so happy for you Here's hoping we'll run into each other sometime, since our areas of interest overlap a bit!

I don't know if this is particular to my undergrad institution, but I used an online alumna network to find someone to stay with for a conference in DC. There's actually a formal system, where the alumna checks off a box that indicates she's willing to have other alumna stay with her. Again, not sure how common this is, but you might want to check it out.

I was one of the Tufts admits, but I turned down my offer and have accepted elswhere. Have you spoken with your POI or anyone else? Feel free to PM me if you'd like!

I turned down my funded offer last week, so there's another one out there, too!

I've officially made my decision! I'll be heading to UMass Amherst in the fall and hopefully working with Monika Schmitter. I don't suppose there's anyone else around here who is heading to the program or thinking about it?

If the other VCU PhD admit is lurking about here somewhere, I just declined my offer. That means my tutition remission and TAship is floating around!

For anyone who applied to Tufts: I e-mailed the department administrator to ask when I could expect a decision, as I have several offers and I need to decide as soon as possible (Tufts is pretty much the last hold-out.) The admissions committee is meeting Monday, and they'll start contacting accepted students between March 5th and March 7th.

I was at work, so I imagine we have very similar muddled and confusing voicemails. Please feel free to PM me, I'd love to discuss and introduce!

Ok ok, so I am one of the BU admits! Who's the other?! I'm dyingggg to know!

The due date for the two Boston schools was January 15th. Their websites don't list a specific date for responses, but historically, looking at the results archive here, one of them has notified RIGHT around the time I need to let the program who admitted me my decision, and one often hasn't notified before the very end of March/beginning of April. I, too, was thinking I might email the other schools and let them know of my situation, but am not sure how effective that would be in getting me results so early.

I'm hoping to garner some perspectives on what plan of action I might take in my particular situation. I've heard back from a single program out of the six to which I apolide so far, and the good news is that they've essentially offered me full funding (tuition, insurance, and a TAship). The program is great, a good fit, and my POI is also an excellent match. As an added plus, it's in the area where I did my undergrad, and I'm dying to go back because I love it so much. Still, this program is a bit "in the middle of nowhere", albeit in a bubble of culture. I applied to two very similar (and probably slightly more prestigious) programs in Boston, and I would prefer spending my time there because there are so many more recognizable institutions and opportunities for internships there. To add to it all, my SO will be staying in the Providence area, and Boston would just be an easier distance, though not by very much. The whole issue is this: I spoke to the chair of the department at the school that admitted me last night, and he pushed that he wanted a decision from me "as soon as possible" but at the latest by mid-March, so that he could offer the aid package to someone else if I declined. Um...I won't even have heard from the aforementioned two Boston schools by then! What do I do? I think I have a chance with them, and a chance for funding, so I definitely don't want to jump on my first offer before I even know anything else. Please help!

I can't believe I didn't see this until just now! John Varriano taught at my undergrad, and I was fabulously lucky to have been able to have taken several courses with him. He's retired now (my loss--he retired JUST before I was ready to write my honors thesis in his area of expertise ), but he was a SPECTACULAR teacher and such a dynamic scholar. His wife is the curator of the art museum at the same school. I did a curatorial internship with her and she is a lovely person and very smart and creative scholar as well. Varriano is literally my favorite instructor ever. I just needed to sing his praises a bit further!

I know! I'm a BU applicant, and I looked back in the results archives to see when they typically notify...and it's been late March to early April! What is going on? On that note, if it's not too fresh, are any of the BU applicants who have posted results willing to talk? I'm curious about the details of the e-mail and stats. PMs are fine!

Actually, my specialty is Italian Renaissance, but I've been known to dabble. Are you a firm "Caravaggista", or what else have your worked on?

Thanks, cokohlik! It's "just" UMass Amherst, but I already know my POI there fairly well, and she does some amazing work that's very in line with my interests. I also went to undergrad in the area and am maybe secretly dying to move back there. I even spent the weekend there for my birthday recently, if that tells you anything

I just got my first acceptance (and first news!) and it comes with a teaching assistantship! I wasn't expecting anything, nevermind wonderfully good news, this soon!

cokohlik, I was indeed thinking of Mormando. I haven't read the book, but I have a dear friend who is in the graduate program in Italian at BC, and I've heard many stories of him, and, unfortunately, let us say, of his obsession with his scholarly output as opposed to his teaching. I once had an advisor recommend I look at that program because of Mormando's focus on Baroque art and my background in Italian. I'm pretty happy with my decision not to go for it now.

Cokohlik, out of curiousity, which Bernini biography is it that you're reading? I fear I might know who the author is...

I've been guilty of pretty much just lurking so far in the process, but I have some concrete information about one of my prospespective programs as of this morning and thought I would share. My only "news" so far has been an interview request from the Bard Graduate Center-- I interviewed via Skype last Wednesday. This morning, I spoke with Dean Elena Pinto Simon, and she sketched out the admissions timeline for me. According to her, the admissions committee will meet to make the official decisions at the end of this month. She said that the committee "doesn't have any set number of admissions in mind," but last year the number was 25. Dean Simon also said that they aimed to mail out decisions by March 1 or at worst a few days after. Financial aid decisions are made along with admission decisions based on merit (ranking amongst the candidate pool) and FAFSA information. These go out about a week later because they need to be processed by the general Bard administration upstate. If anyone has any other questions specifically pertaining to the BGC, I'll try my best to answer them!