annarchy666

Be wary of Tufts right now for Medieval. Their Western European medievalist just retired and they're conducting a search right now. I know because I was very excited to potentially work with her and then found out she was retiring when I was admitted in the winter. I wouldn't be surprised if the economy and pandemic affect the hiring of a replacement. They do have an Eastern European medievalist though if that's more up your alley! For what it's worth, I'm a BA only student starting a PhD in medieval art history this fall and was admitted to about an equal number of MA and PhD programs, so it is definitely possible to go to your PhD without an MA.

Bard proper is in rural NY, but the Bard graduate center is in Manhattan.

I wan to counter this with my perspective. My philosophy towards my applications was to write as honestly as possible and to be clear about my intentions. I did name specific professors in my SOP's because I did not want to attend a program if it wasn't going to provide me with exactly what I was looking for. Committing to a PhD for 5-7 years is a big deal and I did not want to go to a school where I would have to fight for legitimacy in my studies. In fact, one program I applied to admitted me but immediately let me know that the professor I stated that I wanted to work with was retiring at the end of the year, which had not been announced publicly yet. For me, the professor was a dealbreaker. I framed my SOP with phrases such as "so and so's mentorship would be a great asset for my studies." I think this might be a difference in personal philosophy when it comes to the application process. As I stated above, my strategy was to apply to a wide swath of schools where I could see myself as a graduate student and make my honest case about my objectives. If the schools didn't agree with my objectives, then I didn't want to go there so I was happy to take the large number of rejections I received. To me, the whole point of the SOP was to argue that you were qualified and a good fit for that specific program. If the school disagrees, then they disagree. But not going to your "dream school" because it would have been a terrible fit feels to me like dodging a real bullet. I also recommend casting a wide net. I applied to 9 PhD programs and will be attending one that came to me as a recommendation from my undergrad advisor and I had never actually considered, beyond my research interest match. When I got an interview, I started researching the program more in depth and found it was much more of a dream program for me than any of the other schools I fantasized about. This is to say, stay open to other programs in addition to your "dream school," because you'll never know what program actually suits you.

Not to piggyback off of your post, but has anyone else heard absolutely nothing at all from Williams?

Do you know if this admitted students weekend is just for the MA? I haven't heard about anything about PhD applications from UNC thus far.

I was in a similar position when I was in undergrad! I had a really difficult line up of classes one term during my freshman year and had to decide, for my own sanity, which to put a little less effort into so that all of my courses didn't suffer. I chose to put less effort into my French class (I wasn't majoring or minoring or even thinking about graduate school) and ended up with a B. Do I regret it? Maybe, but it doesn't seem to have affected my chances of getting into PhD programs for Art History. A minor is also much more than a single course; don't devalue all of the other courses you've taken because you're not happy with the outcome of this one. I don't think it's worth dropping your minor over one subpar grade .

Yeah UNC has been weird this year. The MA and PhD had the same deadline but the MA decisions were made in a month and the PhD decisions have taken 2.5??? Inunderstand that PhD candidates may need to be vetted more thoroughly, but that seems drastic. Also, it seems like the norm for every other school is to make PhD decisions first so that they can defer people to the MA committee but to have the MA decision so early and no PhD news is really vexing.

It probably means that the department approved your application and the graduate school's admissions department has to give your app a once over and make sure the department didn't miss any glaring issues before officially offering admission. I heard the same phrase from a department representative and ended up needing to send along official transcripts to the graduate school proper in order to receive official admission to the school itself.

Im in the same boat! I have a few more programs to hear from (which I am assuming are waitlists at best) but I'm ready to commit to the school I'm visiting. Getting the vibes are so important and I'm pretty much just trying to make sure we all have the same priorities. Really hoping there's no red flags for either of us!

I haven't yet received an itinerary for my visit, but the department is paying for flights (even though I live about a 2.5 hour drive from campus), hotel, and food for a 36-ish hour visit. I've been told by colleagues that it's very rare to have so much of a visit covered financially and that should catch my attention alone. Obviously your POI really wants to establish a strong connection as soon as possible!

For those of us fortunate enough to be invited for campus visits, what are good things to look for and (perhaps more importantly) what are red flags? What are you looking for in a campus visit? What do you wish you had paid more attention to on your campus visit? Personally, I'm looking to click with faculty, current students, and other prospective students. I'm also looking for library facilities that are conducive to research and studying and a campus that I like aesthetically and places that I will enjoy spending time.

I got a mix of advice from my advisors when I went into the application process. Applying to a mix is good because it seems like a lot of top universities look for students with an MA from a top program so it could be a way to boost yourself a bit if you're really aiming for those top programs. That being said, PhD programs are kind of hit and miss. One might have multiple spots available one year and none the next so it's a little bit more of a risk. Also, funding is important to think about. Most MA's don't give very good financial aid whereas most PhD's are full tuition plus funding. The ultimate advice I received is if a PhD is your ultimate goal, apply for more PhD's than MA's. Don't waste your time and money on an MA if you want to do a PhD. You're right, an MA can be used as an opportunity to feel out the field and my professors described them to me as being helpful to people who want to feel out different subfields before locking in for a PhD, but it doesn't seem like you're at that point! Hope this helped!

I've found that using all the energy I put into my grad school applications to work on something equally meticulous has been helpful. I took up bullet journaling, and mostly use my journal as a place for creativity in my life, but drawing exact shapes and coloring them in and planning everything out takes so much time and focus that I can't possibly think about my apps. I'm also not a student right now so I have really focused on putting the maximum amount of effort possible into my job and keeping busy in the workplace. That being said, I received two very early offers so I have much less stress than the average applicant.

I'm one of the people on the results page for Northwestern interviews and it seems like it was planned to be in bulk, but I think ended up a little staggered based on each POI. I thought I was not going to receive an interview because I saw an interview post at least 36 hours prior to receiving my first email. Each professor gave me 3-4 time options spanned over 3 days. Hope this helps too!

What's up you guys?! I just submitted my 9th and final PhD application for the 2020 cycle. My research is in multi-sensory perception of Western Medieval art and my secondary interest is in enriching digital facsimiles of artworks. Good luck everyone! Hopefully we all hear sooner rather than later!