clearvoyant

Hi all,
Title says most of it, I've been accepted to both Tufts and UC Davis Art History M.A. 
Tufts has offered a half tuition scholarship, and a decent amount to move there - but I'd still have to take out a loan and move from CA to the east coast. There's the possibility of a TAship in the second year, but it's not guaranteed. 
Davis offered me a 25% TAship starting the first quarter, full tuition remission, and a 3k grant for the first year. I also currently live about 20 minutes away, so moving there would be a breeze. I have a visit this Thursday which will probably answer a lot of my left over questions.
However, I know Tufts has a great reputation in the AH world, and they have an actual museum studies department and good POI options. From what I can tell Davis has little to no reputation, and the town itself is really small, definitely not the culture of Boston. I'm trying to scrape together enough $ to visit before April 15th. Does anyone have any insight about if Tufts' program/reputation would be worth taking out loans? 
Thanks! 

How much did they end up offering?

Hi all,
Title says most of it, I've been accepted to both Tufts and UC Davis Art History M.A. 
Tufts has offered a half tuition scholarship, and a decent amount to move there - but I'd still have to take out a loan and move from CA to the east coast. There's the possibility of a TAship in the second year, but it's not guaranteed. 
Davis offered me a 25% TAship starting the first quarter, full tuition remission, and a 3k grant for the first year. I also currently live about 20 minutes away, so moving there would be a breeze. I have a visit this Thursday which will probably answer a lot of my left over questions.
However, I know Tufts has a great reputation in the AH world, and they have an actual museum studies department and good POI options. From what I can tell Davis has little to no reputation, and the town itself is really small, definitely not the culture of Boston. I'm trying to scrape together enough $ to visit before April 15th. Does anyone have any insight about if Tufts' program/reputation would be worth taking out loans? 
Thanks! 

I'm currently deciding between Tufts and UC Davis.
Tufts offered a partial scholarship, but Davis is funded with TAship in the first quarter. Recruitment event is next Thursday so hopefully that will help me decide.

Hi All,
Both of my accepted schools' open houses were cancelled due to coronavirus concerns. One of them is holding an online event for general grad school questions, not specific to my department, and the other one has just flat out cancelled and has said "in lieu" of the event use this opportunity to contact POIs via email. 
What questions should I make sure to email to the school/POIs? What questions do you wish you had asked? I know there's no substitute to meeting professors/potential cohort in person, but I want to make sure I try to cover everything I can. 
Thanks!

Well, Davis' grad day just got cancelled because of the coronavirus. Even though I understand the need for public safety, I can't say I'm not disappointed. I was definitely hanging a lot on this visit. I'm planning on going there myself soon because I live really close, so pm me if you have any questions about the school/facilities/general vibe or info you might not get from emailing a POI. 

I’d first address the glaring issue with these programs, as the poster above mentions. I’ll give my two cents bluntly: please do not attend the Columbia/NYU programs unless you can seriously offset or justify the cost in a meaningful way. These programs are the notorious cash cows in the field (I would put Chicago’s MAPH in the same bracket, too) and rarely give any advantage in applying to the same departments’ PhD programs. Other users might be able to attest to this better than I, but it’s known that these academic environments are grossly unkind to their MA students and access to faculty remains a particularly troubling subject. This isn’t to say that there is any wrongdoing at the hands of faculty directly, but advising for MA students is generally a low priority and competition with other students—especially from what I hear about Columbia—is not worth the intellectual, financial, or personal investment whatsoever.
If your ultimate goal is a PhD, it’s imperative that you enter and exit this long process with as few financial setbacks as possible. You’ve likely heard this before, but you must realize that self-funding an MA is a misguided step that many unfortunately take and should be avoided at all costs. If money isn’t an issue for you, then do some serious research about your potential advisor(s) commitment to their relationships with MA students and the departmental culture around advising at each institution. Talk to current students, if possible—they will likely be frank about their situations and offer more insight than anyone here can. It may prove more beneficial to investigate other programs for the subsequent application cycle that offer more funding opportunities and maintain a serious dedication to training MA students.
Sure, you’d leave with a nice degree in-hand from a reputable program, but it’s questionable if these programs provide the individualized training necessary in order to secure a proper footing in this field. Only you can make the decision re: preparedness for the PhD, but ensure your reasons for pursuing are true to heart if you go that route eventually. If it turns out to be a yes, I’d say your time is better spent reading literature in your sub-field, building language skills, and refining your SOP/writing sample for a program that will make a deeper, genuine commitment to you as an emerging scholar. Consider your personal circumstances—whether you’re coming straight out of a BA or if you’ve already been living the post-grad life for a few years. If it’s the former, do not rush into this decision given these options.
I wouldn’t say to take this as a hard and fast rule, but I will reiterate this as the most sound advice I’ve received: do not attend a program that doesn’t value you enough to fund you fully. Deciding to take the MA route comes down to a number of factors, but only do it if you believe that the experience is a necessary step and if your finances permit. Do not go into debt for an MA program. At this stage, concern yourself less with reputation and focus more on what will make for a meaningful academic training. I know plenty of students with mid-tier MAs who have gone on to fantastic PhD programs. Because you’re considering the PhD, think very carefully about this next step and do not make compromises when it comes to your wellbeing, intellectual or otherwise.
As far as SAIC reputation goes, I know little about the program. But your post suggests that you’ve already recognized what the obvious limitations might be. Approach this with open eyes. Congratulations on your achievements and always keep in mind what will be best for you moving forward—it’s not always clear at first! ?

I'm currently deciding between Tufts and UC Davis.
Tufts offered a partial scholarship, but Davis is funded with TAship in the first quarter. Recruitment event is next Thursday so hopefully that will help me decide.