venusofwillendork

@ncan360 No word on my end! They're also the last school I have not heard anything from.

@Valorship98 curious about your experiences & why you say this! all my conversations with BU students were exceedingly positive -- DM me?

Hi @renforall & @Fast_Talking_Dame i corresponded with the dept -- sounds like they're working to get things up online slowly but surely, so you may be able to see things there (my portal does not appear to have changed). however, they did say that they have made offers to their five candidates and further that they are not taking any Americanists -- so if that applies to you too, alas! best of luck with Penn & your other applications!

Can confirm this ^ as someone who lives in New England. Even living in Somerville (which is one of the somewhat less expensive Boston neighborhoods, and where Tufts is located) 1800-2000 is a good estimate for living alone. With roommates, it's something like 600-1200 depending on how nice/accessible to transit the space is and how many roommates you have. You could commute to Boston from a little ways away, but between the emotional energy of a long, awful commute & the miles on your car or, alternately, the cost of a monthly commuter rail pass, you're probably better off living closer. Just some thoughts!

Hi - I think this is something that echoes throughout this forum, but the general sense is that you should not go into debt for your graduate studies. If the department is not able or willing to fund you, you will be better off leaving a program debt-free than burdened. As for determining the reputation of UC Davis' program -- what do the alumni there say? Do they feel like they benefited from the program and were well-situated for their careers? And those that you do not speak with -- where did they land? Are they getting jobs soon after graduating, or do they seem to be struggling? Another question to ask yourself is: do you want to work on the east or west coast? If you're happy continuing to be on the West coast with the connections you have already built, it may be a smarter move to stay in California and continue building your name there. If you're planning to come to New England in the immediate future, it's worth considering the possibilities of Tufts' program. But that could be addressed by working to attend conferences and networking well while you're at Davis. You will ultimately need to decide for yourself if the burden of loans is worth it to you. My two cents is that you will be able to grow more and take advantage of more opportunities at a university that will financially support you.

Hey @youyouw ! You might have already seen this thread, but monconart posted a ton of really excellent questions to prep for: https://forum.thegradcafe.com/topic/121760-art-history-interview-prep/. It's obviously not specific to Courtauld, but might give you a good start on preparations! Good luck!!!

thank you @nmtopspot my local library has both! checking it out thanks!

Hi all! I don't see a thread on this, so I thought I'd get one started. Does anyone have advice about pre-program (or during, of course) preparation for language exams? I am debating enrolling in a summer course to continue preparing for the exam I will need to take in my first year. However, I feel that a standard course (usually intended for speakers rather than readers) is not necessarily what I need, and that perhaps self-study or work with a tutor would be more appropriate. What do you think? How did you prepare? Do you have any resources to recommend? Anything that, in retrospect, did not help you? Thanks in advance

@renforall @ncan360 thank you for your responses! fingers crossed for us all! <3

Has anyone heard from UPenn beyond the phone conversations in late January? Any idea of when we'll hear back (or if some already have heard)?

@Modconart YES, you're in, congratulations! my understanding is that that's political speak for "we the department made our decision and are now telling our bosses to accept you!" -- the graduate school/dean is just the administrative aspect of the official offer. Once the department/committee has selected you and offered it, you're 99.9% of the way in. You might get a second letter from the graduate school/dean confirming and offering the official acceptance.

@Arthistoryiscool that's a harder question, as most external grants are for specific projects, rather than tuition. You could try: CARAT from Harvard - a database of fellowship opportunities with options to filter based on where in the process you are Berkeley's list of fellowships - mostly for research at specific institutions Humanities and social science online - CFPs and funding awards posted UCLA's database - seems to include larger grants but many appear to be post-doc ProFellow - general database, but in general pretty legit, see for example 40 Humanities Fellowships GoGrad's list of graduate fellowships - mostly post-doc and research and specific places And some specific awards to look into (can't vouch for them myself but look legit at first glance!): https://theihs.org/funding/humane-studies-fellowship/ http://fdnweb.org/liebmann/ https://sites.nationalacademies.org/PGA/FordFellowships/index.htm

Hi @studentwiththelongneck -- BA-only applicant here. This is something I have spent a lot of time thinking about for my own benefit. I think ultimately, it's up to you and how you feel and what your goals are. It's wonderful that you have Italian experience, as that will help a lot. Your coursework, study abroad, and museum experience will help a lot, as will your senior project. Here are a few things that have been helpful for me to think about: Is it feasible for you to apply while completing your senior year of undergrad? Can you commit to visiting schools, reading professors' books to become familiar with their work, and writing the applications all while doing this major senior project and finishing school? How does graduate school fit into your future goals? For me, my goal is to work in academia. An MA is not a terminal degree, and would not help me build my career very much in academia either in the immediate or the long term. However, if your goal is museum work, there are many, many positions that accept an MA graduate and could be a good step between your MA and PhD applications... if you need time off, or if you want to work while doing your PhD. Could you propose a dissertation topic today? Or by the end of this year? Some uncertainty, especially around the specifics, makes sense, but in order to feel prepared for the PhD, you should have some idea of which frameworks/lenses for art history you are interested in pursuing, which topics or themes within your field you want to study, and what methodologies you expect to use to study them (are you an archives-driven art historian, or deep in theory, or all about strict visual analysis, no psychoanalysis here!)? While you certainly seem to have wonderful experience, the ability to begin speaking about your specific research goals and interests is important for making a strong application-- and you may not have thought about it in this way yet! Something a student suggested to me during my app process: earning an MA and a PhD at different institutions grants you the opportunity to meet and work with two entirely different faculties. This gives you a wider range for your networking and might be useful for broadening your art historical horizons. This turned into a much longer post than expected. Sorry for the info dump!! Feel free to message me if you want to discuss -- I'm a year ahead of you in the process, but in a very similar situation!

Hi @aloy I'm in the same boat with you! I'm sorry you're feeling so stressed and unmotivated. That's real. This is a really hard place to be in -- we have no power over what happens next, and nothing to do but wait. This quote from a poster in another topic has been useful to read -- I don't know what works best for you, but I decided to take an art class -- once a week, doing something I have never done before and never would have otherwise. The actual class takes up time, but I spend more time out of class thinking about and planning for what I will do in class later. That has helped ground me and more importantly -- distract me! If there is a class you can take, I can't recommend it enough. Or, you could use the deep resource of youtube and teach yourself a new skill -- knitting, sewing, basic woodworking, baking... anything to keep the hands and mind busy. ❤️ Good luck!!!

weekly update because this has been helpful for me for thinking about my timeline expectations! obv these are not mine, but i'm looking at he results page and this forum and hoping it helps now or future forum-trawlers! Bard - interview (email) Case Western Reserve University - acceptances sent (POI AR) / rejections sent Emory - Interviews sent Harvard - Some interviews sent (Interviews not mandatory -- by individual POI's discretion) Indiana-University Bloomington - interviews sent Johns Hopkins - Interviews sent (via email) Michigan - Interview sent (invite to recruitment weekend in March) Northwestern - acceptances sent (email from DGS, POI CS) / waitlist (at least one) sent Ohio State University - acceptance sent Princeton - one interview listed on Results Rice University - acceptance sent Stanford - Interviews sent (in bulk, from DGS) / unofficial(?) rejection sent (but certainly not all -- I applied) Stonybrook University - acceptance sent UC Berkeley - interview via PI (sent likely in bulk, as there were several!) / unofficial acceptance sent UC Irvine - interview via PI (email) University of Minnesota - acceptance sent UNC (MA) - acceptance sent (POI TS) / rejections sent UPenn - interview sent (contacted by POI) USC - acceptances sent (call from DGS -- not all at once, if the dates are to be believed) / rejections not sent (I assume, because I applied!) Wisconsin-Madison - acceptance sent (POI NM) University of York - acceptance sent WashU - acceptances sent (email, POIs KK and EC) Yale - Interviews sent (20 min interview with fac outside your discipline -- possibly not all periods) any info to add? anything i'm missing? good luck everyone!

Me too @ncan360! You're not alone. I'm crossing all my fingers for both of us. Good luck!

@theoryschmeary I haven't been through Yale's process before, but looking at the last couple of years in the results -- looks like interviews are requested in Jan 29-31, and we hear back between Feb 8-16! best of luck!

Hooray, @renforall!!! Your success gives me hope! That is fantastic. I hope the interviews/casual convos/etc. give you all the answers you're hoping for. Fingers crossed!

hey @renforall not all hope is lost on USC! looks like they just sent out a new interview request-- so perhaps it's happening by area of interest!

Ahh!! I see that. And it's one of my top choices >.< Anyone want to claim it? What's your area? Did you speak with your POI in advance of the application? Thanks!!

that would make sense @Modconart! although at least two of them said they received the request from their POI (rather than a DGS) so they might be all sending at once, but from POIs? who knows! all we can do is wait ❤️

updating my previous post, and again these are not my results, but just what i've seen across the forum and results page! there are a few bolded: Stanford, Yale, Johns Hopkins, Princeton, and Harvard -- if that was your result listed, would you mind sharing about your area of interest/POI or if it was an official vs. unofficial contact? (based on what ppl have asked so far in the thread!! Northwestern - Interviews sent (in bulk, from POIs and DGS) Stanford - Interviews sent (in bulk, not from a single POI) WashU - acceptances sent (email, POIs KK and EC) UNC (MA) - acceptance sent (POI TS) / rejections sent Emory - Interviews sent (possibly in bulk, since there are 2 on the results page) Yale - MAY send info on interviews in late Jan (we've clarifed that the interview listed was not an official interview) Johns Hopkins - unofficial contact from POI Princeton - one interview listed on Results (anyone want to claim or provide info on area of interest or POI?) UC Irvine - interview via PI (email) UC Berkeley - interview via PI (email) Bard - interview (email) Rice University - interview (email) Harvard - one interview listed on Results (anyone want to claim or provide info on area of interest or POI?) USC - acceptances sent (call from DGS) / rejections not sent (I assume, because I applied!) best of luck to everyone!

Seconding (thirding?) the request for info about the Princeton interview. And to the UC Berkeley interviewee, congrats!!! What's your area of interest or who is your POI if you don't mind sharing? Thank you!!

hi, just for my own brain (and for future forum users) here's what I've seen so far in this 2020 application season: Northwestern - Interviews sent (in bulk, not from a single POI -- I'm guessing, since there were 4 on the results page) Stanford - Interviews sent (in bulk, not from a single POI -- implied by @lkjhg in another thread) WashU - an interview sent (from POI - not sure if in bulk, not sure if all will be interviewed to be accepted) UNC (MA) - acceptance sent Emory - Interviews sent (possibly in bulk, since there are 2 on the results page) Yale - MAY send info on interviews in late Jan (but possibly other contact sooner according to @Modconart; not sure if some or all candidates get interviewed!) Anything missing/wrong? Anything to add? Good luck all!!!

@Modconart this makes a ton of sense! And yes, it does make sense that post-application interviews would be more formal than pre-application. Some of the departments I visited did a mini-interview as I visited -- but those were ones that typically do not interview after applications. Thank you for these insights! This is great to think about. In interviews, I find it helpful to remember that they want me to succeed as much as I want to succeed. If I'm a good match, then their work is done -- and if I'm not, then it's probably not the right place for me anyway. Thank you for sharing & good luck!!!