mrssalad

Their admitted students day is in a few days...you might want to contact them.

This says all what is needed to be known about "top programs." Michigan is not considered a top program either. FYI.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss those names or schools. Their names, especially Casid's pop up in many acknowledgements.

As someone who has done this before, I hope you take my advice. It could save you hours of time applying and hundreds of dollars on application fees. I'd first urge you to see if the names you have given are accepting students at this time. Generally only tenured profs take students (not lecturers, etc). I'd also urge you to check out the current grad student profiles and see how many of them have MAs. My friends who are at Yale, Harvard, NYU, etc all had MAs in art history. I'd also ask you to think specifically why the Northeast only and think about what kind of job you want. A PhD is a long commitment and a lot of work with no job promise. Why do you want it? Note that MANY JOBS (including your first one) may not be in an "ideal location." I had a friend who was stuck in an undesirable location before getting a "better" job in a more urban city. If a job does pop up for you but its not in the Northeast, would you still take it?

Off the bat, I would say that I am less worried about not having an MA for you than I am about the places you are applying too. Specifically, who do you plan on working with at these institutions?The only person I can think of who works at one of those places on the 18th century + Caribbean would be Tim Barringer at Yale. I'm not entirely sure who could advise you at some of the other places. Blatantly missing from your list would be UW-Madison. Jill Casid is probably the best person you could work with when it comes to visual culture, 18th cent art, and issues of slavery/colonialism. I think Leo Costello at Rice has written about 18th/19th cent art and slavery. I'd urge you to drill down on where you are applying too and why.

I am currently attending another top program and was rejected from U of Chicago's art history department and put in MAPH 2 years ago (with no funding). If you want a Masters degree to then get a PhD in art history, I'd advisee looking at specific MA programs in art history that offer funding.

I think many people experience this and ultimately do get into the MAPH problem. Unless you are funded with a stipend, I would not take the offer.

I'd look at most of the ivies, Berkeley, NYU, Northwestern, Chicago, and Duke. Go browse their current students and see how many of them didn't have a MA.

I can't hep but think you are over-thinking it a bit (in a good way). Yes, it's true. I think MA programs have become a way for very qualified students to get into the top tier PhD programs in art history (and some PhD programs won't consider an applicant without a MA). HOWEVER, there are still places out there that view MA programs as an opportunity for people like you who may have had a related humanities degree to get a new degree n art history! With a degree in English and studio art experience, I am not sure why you wouldn't be a solid applicant for an MA in art history! I'd also keep a look out for MA degrees that offer their students funding. Williams tends to be the most desired program, but I'd also look at UMass-Amherst, Tufts, Wisconsin, and UT-Austin. I know of folks who have received MA funding at those institutions. Good luck!

This is tough. My close colleague/friend who is a professor in architecture of the period said that she/he will only take on students who want jobs outside of academia. He/she didn't think there were enough job positions in higher ed in the field. I would go with it ultimately depends on what you want to do with the degree?

Good luck! Its early and the holiday. Also, I wouldn't get wrapped up in the mid-range vs high range nonsense. A place may be a top 3 ivy, but if it doesn't have a scholar in your field, then its clearly not a top program for you. The one thing to watch out for would be funding. The "rankings" are often tied to how much funding they can give you as a grad student. I would only consider going to programs in the U.S that can offer a minimum of 4 years guaranteed funding with at least 15-20k a year (if in an affordable place to live) or 25-30k (if in a more expensive city).

This is old. Ouch! Out of curiosity I was looking at some of the top departments used on this list. I forgot how many retirements and deaths (sadly) there were since this list was made. I wonder how these might impact the department rankings. Brown got tiny. Mary Sheriff is no longer with us at Chapel Hill. Alpers and Clark retired from Berkeley. Fried retired at JHU. Steven Levine retired at Bryn Mawyr, just t name a few.

No, I mean if you go under results (look above where people post when they have heard back), someone posted that he/she/they are having an interview with them.

Anyone want to claim there Berkley interview update on results?

Are those it? You have to apply to UW-Madison. They have CHe/NElson and are huge for anthropocene studies.