PHD!

May I ask how you know you are accepted into one of the top three programs? Is there a ranking for art history phd? Are you interested in academia or museum work?

Does anyone have information or experience with the art history & history of architecture programs in the west, UCLA, UC Berkeley, UCSB, USC, Stanford? I am trying to evaluate there placement in museums. I am proposing to study monuments and have not been able to determine the comparative quality. Most of the posted information seems be from a few years back. Thank you

Thank you all. The thread on top ten was interesting but perhaps a bit out of date now. Does anyone have more current information on or experience with California programs, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, USC, UC Berkeley, Stanford, others? I am leaning west rather than mid-west or east, except perhaps the Univ of Pittsburgh where there is a monuments professor. I do believe my field is better studied in an Art History Dept. but I am looking at History of Architecture as well as monuments crosses both. Comments on these programs welcome!

Are there lists of top-ranked schools which I could start with? There does not seem to be much comparative information available. For example UC has a professor who has written on a subject I am interested in but I have no way of determining how well respected the program is or how they compare to other programs.

I am trying to determine which art history phd programs to apply to if my goal is to work in a museum doing research and curatorial work on American culture, specifically monuments. Are there programs which have better results for placement with these kind of museums or in this field? I understand there are "The Big Three" art history phd programs. What schools would these be? Which is most important, ranking of school, placement record with museum programs, location of school, advisor who is doing similar research? How do I find a good fit. Is there a resource for this type of information. Thank you