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I also went straight from a B.A to a Ph.D program. I'll second condivi's advice and add what I think did it for me: 1. An original senior thesis with primary source/archival research and a solid use of secondary sources 2. Who I knew. My undergraduate adviser is a total hotshot in my field and she's friendly and well-liked in the community. A letter of recommendation from her was immensely valuable. It's always difficult to pinpoint exactly how a school judges applicants, but this is my gut feeling for why things went pretty positively for me. The other piece of advice is that you're going to have to be pretty strong and secure emotionally/intellectually to go straight to a Ph.D program made up of mostly older students. I am the youngest in my department by a few years. Most of the people in my cohort and above me are in their early thirties and have a couple years of work experience under their belt. It was tough not to feel inadequate around them.

From one formerly freaked out applicant to the next generation of anxious applicants, don't stress too much! January is the roughest month. You'll all make it through!

I'm a little late to this thread, but here's my $.02 anyway. You could go in one of two directions for architectural history- an art history department (I looked at UDel, UWisc Madison, and UCSB) or an architecture department (such as UC Berkeley or Cornell). It sounds like you definitely want to be in an art history department, and the only drawback to that (at least for me) is having to fulfill general requirements that may have zero to do with architecture. If you're okay with that, then full speed ahead! There isn't a whole lot of funding at the MA level, which you probably already know. I know that UDel does seem to fund some MA students, and UWisc Madison mentioned having grants to fund students through fieldwork. I'm currently in the history of architecture and urbanism program at UC Berkeley (MS/Ph.D), so feel free to PM me if you have any questions.

I agree with JosephineBeuys, it sounds like you're looking for art history mixed with curating/administration. Maybe something like Delaware's curatorial track Ph.D?

I'll be at the College of Environmental Design at Berkeley, Ph.D in Architecture with a concentration in the history of architecture and urbanism. I'm a little sad that I won't be in an art history department, but with classes like "The Sociology of Taste in Environmental Design" I think I'll do just fine! (unintentional rhyming!)

Sure, I can take a look at it for you! Several people proofread my SOP before I sent it in so it's time to pay it forward

If you don't have a car, it might be easier to live off of college ave or cook/douglass. Are you thinking about living in the family apartments on Busch? Because honestly, there's next to nothing there. The student center has a convenience store and the usual food court fare, but you cannot get to a grocery store/pharmacy/bank without taking the Rutgers bus to college ave/downtown new brunswick or taking a public bus (I think this is available- perhaps someone can chime in). I'd recommend that if you don't want to own a car, you live off campus in downtown new brunswick, or in highland park (where most grad students live). Both areas are fairly walkable. If you have to live on campus, Ford is probably your best bet. edit- You also might want to look into the new livingston apartments. I heard somewhere that a percentage of them are being reserved for graduate students and they're reportedly very nice. Livingston is also a bit of a trek from college ave but there's a lot of future construction planned to provide it with more amenities. Again, no grocery store, etc. within walking distance, but personally I'd prefer it over Busch.

That depends- will they be out of town or hanging around and just not teaching? My POI will be on sabbatical during my first semester, but he lives nearby and will be coming in for weekly office hours. I'm not sure if that's an unusual situation, however.

I'm glad I took a gap year, but if I had to do it again I'd plan things differently. I took on two part time jobs (total of 40 hrs/week plus 12 hours of commuting!) and a side consulting job plus doing applications in the fall. It left me with very little time (read: almost none) to do the kinds of things that I wanted to do with my year off: travel, garden, learn how to cook, work on my languages... nope. I did get to spend more time with my friends, which helped me realize that I'm going to need a good work/life balance once I start grad school if I want to stay sane. I'll be leaving one job early so that I can truly relax this summer so that I don't start my program already burned out. Another benefit of working is that I've built up a nice little nest egg to cover moving costs and serve as emergency money for the next few years since I doubt I'm going to be able to save much of my stipend. I also got some great experiences in my field and was able to work more independently and on more interesting projects than I expected. If I had to do it all over again, I'd work 20-30 hours a week and use the rest of my time to read, learn, and travel. But I would, without a doubt, do a gap year again. I was just not ready to go straight through.

I've done it! It was... interesting. Probably 75% of it was useless and directed towards undergrads, but it was a pleasant walk around campus and the guide pointed out some things that I hadn't noticed before and also told some stories about the school's history. I haven't been out of undergrad for too long so I'd like to think that I blended in well. I'd say that if you have a large chunk of free time and the weather is nice, it's somewhat worthwhile.

There has to be... come on, guys, the Stanford thread has seventeen posts already!

FWIW, I'm from the NYC area and have not heard of it. It sounds interesting though, sorry I can't be more helpful!

I've been dealing with similar feelings. The program I picked is a vastly better fit than the others I received offers from, but now that I've decided I'm going through a bit of a oh no, this is going to be some seriously difficult stuff phase. I think that through reading the program requirements in detail I've started to see all the possible ways I could fail- classes, comps, not finding a dissertation adviser, not finishing the dissertation, not publishing enough, not standing out in the field, becoming one of a hoard of unemployed Ph.Ds, and oh shit, I'll be nearly thirty when I graduate (which isn't old.. it's really not... but as a young twenty something the thought of being thirty is a little overwhelming.) I think it holds true that people who are the best at something (which, if you're going to graduate school, it's you!) are often the most insecure/lacking in confidence.

THIS IS EXCELLENT. I wound up going with my gut but oh boy, I went through hell for the next two weeks worrying that I hadn't taken enough time to make the right decision.

I'm not an expert on this topic by any means, but the reason why I would not accept an unfunded MA is twofold: 1. Debt 2. Risk The amount of debt you're looking at is huge, as Josephine pointed out. The odds that you will land a job that will help you pay off that debt while still having a high quality of life are small. I think I read somewhere that you shouldn't take out more than half of your future yearly salary in loans (say, if you think you'll make $50k/year, no more than $25k total debt). I feel so rational right now and I don't want to say you shouldn't pursue your dream, but the potential cost is so huge. I know that when I signed for my undergrad loans I thought I knew what I was getting into, but it didn't really hit me until I started paying them back.