jondewitt

I just accepted the only offer I got. Thankfully it's from my second choice school and came with a very generous funding package (full tuition remission, a considerable stipend, funded for 6 years). I got waitlisted at the IFA but I know that I'm not getting off that list. It's rare that anyone does, and that probability just doesn't exist in a cycle like this. Just wanted to thank you all for the good times and for the mutual support. Good luck everyone! And good art!

NYU is a fantastic place to study art history, but their MA is known to be a "cash cow" type of program, as it is a MA program within a PhD-granting institution. MA students at places like NYU, UW-Madison, and other MA/PhD programs tend to be given less mentorship, attention, and support by faculty, who will spend much more time and energy on their PhD students. Students tend to be much better off going to a MA-only program like Tufts or Williams, at least when it comes to faculty mentorship (although Williams is another can of worms--their program is probably the best terminal MA art history program around and it's apparently a very competitive and cut-throat environment that not everyone can thrive in). That being said, getting an MA from NYU might be a good stepping stone to the PhD if you can maximize contact with your advisor and work around the general lack of support, especially since the faculty there are doing good research and tend to be high profile (I'm thinking specifically of professors like Tom Crow and Christine Poggi) Edit: Check out this thread

I actually applied to PhD programs this cycle! AU has done both and the department has a good relationship with local museums. Many work/intern at the National Museum of Women in the Arts and we've also had students intern for the NGA and Smithsonian institutions like the Hirshhorn. The department does a good job of catering to students, including through the capstone project: many do the traditional MA thesis, but those who want to pursue museum work also have the option to work on a digital exhibition that has a curatorial and research/writing component.

As a graduate of the AU MA program, I'll say that just in terms of the quality of education and training you'll get, AU is by far the better choice compared to GWU. Of course, you should make your decisions based on your own interests and how well the faculty align with them, as well as on financial and other important factors, but I personally got a lot out of AU and I know that I wouldn't have received the same amount of mentorship, nor would I have experienced the same amount of intellectual rigor had I gone to GWU. Edit: I know this is the second post I've made in this thread about how great my time at AU was, so I want to make it clear that my enthusiasm for the program is purely a result of my experiences there as a student! I'm not necessarily trying to sway people to attend the program there, but I know that, especially as a recent graduate, my thoughts and opinions and stories can be useful in helping people decide where they spend the next 2-3 years of their lives.

Got my MA but only because I got into art history late in the game (i.e., I didn't take my first art history class until my third year of college) and felt that I needed extra time to beef up my foundational knowledge + research skills. Getting my MA and doing my MA thesis really helped me get a good idea of what my interests were and what sort of research I wanted to do.

Anyone else hear back from the IFA? I was just notified that I'm on the waitlist. I was honestly expecting a rejection, since I feel like my interview didn't go so well. I'm not sure if I'll get off the waitlist and even if I do, I'm not sure I'll get a financial package as generous as I've gotten from other programs. That being said, I've gotten this far and I'll take that as a sign that I've been doing something right!

Did mine on the 4th and I haven't heard back either. 3-4 weeks seems to be the standard wait time based on the results page. Good luck!

That's actually a really interesting idea--I hadn't thought of how a small incoming class would impact the sense of community. Just "bumping" this in case anyone wants to chime in.

I had a really good experience! From my experience, she had high expectations and pushed me to do my best work, but she's also very kind and supportive. I was able to develop a very positive and productive relationship with her. Professors at AU somehow manage to juggle teaching classes, administrative work, research, and advising extremely well, so you'll get a lot of guidance from your advisor. I spoke with her basically every week at her office hours and had a lot of face-time with her, which I understand is something that you don't get in most other graduate programs.

No worries! I can't remember, but I believe I had 2/3rds tuition remission. I don't think full tuition remission is ever granted, at least not that I know of. I studied nineteenth-century French painting and sculpture with Dr. Juliet Bellow and I've been working during my year off (office job, marginally related to art). I've been applying to PhD programs and I'm presenting my research at a couple of conferences (having them on my CV certainly helped with my admissions).

Hello--AU alum here, I got my MA in May 2020. I'm not sure if this is helpful, but I received partial tuition remission and a "fellowship," which is basically a stipend contingent on assistantship. I served as a TA and RA during my 2 years, but some students also work at the Visual Resources Center and there are usually two students (a first year + second year) who work on social media (i.e. twitter, IG, and the art history blog). Hope this helps, and congratulations! AU is a phenomenal program, especially for those interested in critical approaches. I had an incredible time and I wouldn't have done my MA anywhere else ? Edit: to clarify, many (most?) graduate programs in art history have had to adapt to the challenges of the pandemic, including reducing funding, reducing incoming classes, and not taking new students altogether. Funding has been hit especially hard (it doesn't help that AU is a smaller university) so it is entirely possible that incoming students will not receive as generous financial packages as they would have otherwise.

I think it went ok? I feel like self-assessment is difficult unless you did an extremely good job, and I can't say if I did lol In addition to the expected interview questions like "why our program," many were highly specific to my interests and the interview felt like a formal Q&A with some conversational stuff sprinkled in. I heard that many programs will have interviews that are much more conversational and designed to specifically gauge for personality compatibility (i.e., you're basically in and they want to make sure you're not going to be a pain to work with or teach). But this one was definitely also geared towards seeing a goodness of academic fit. My POI was there as well and asked a couple of questions, but it's now up to the selection committee to make a decision. The interview was also capped at 30 minutes, which is no time at all if you're trying to impress a selection committee AND ask your own questions. I know the IFA is severely cutting its incoming PhD class so I fully prepped myself to be rejected and I'm just happy to have made it this far. @wookie55 did you get an interview too?

@Kylix Yikes, best of luck with that! Imperfect information really is the worst part about all of this.

Thank you, I checked out the FAQs a ton when I was applying so I have no idea how this slipped my mind. Best of luck to you!

Hi all, phd applicant here. @Ironing_maiden: I received an acceptance from WashU St. Louis! Super excited, especially since this was a particularly grueling year for art history applications. Hope you got good news from them too. I also got an interview request from the IFA, but I'm not sure if they give interviews to all applicants or if I got very lucky. Best of luck to you all. Fingers crossed!