Hi all,
I recently discovered this forum and was so surprised there isn't a History of Art MA/PhD topic for 2011 - so I figured I'd post one - where is everyone?!
I'm aiming to apply to both terminal MAs and PhDs in (contemporary) east asian this year and was hoping for some insight regarding admission, apps and my chances.
I graduated in 2008 - BA, major in art history and studio from an ivy league with a not-so-great cumulative GPA...3.3, major gpa around 3.6 but with an honors thesis and a pretty clear idea as to what I'd like to pursue as a specialty in grad school. I just recently took the GRE and got V700 m800 w6.0. I'm fluent in the language most relevant to my main research interest but I'd need to start from scratch for any other.
The issue is...frankly I'm afraid my app isn't strong enough to gain admission to a top phd program because of my unimpressive academic record. also i realize i'd be going up against a lot of candidates with MAs under their belt... Is GPA really "make or break"? If I were to maybe take the GRE again and raise my score by at least 50 points would that make up for it at all? And also, seeing that most schools only have one, two at most professors specializing in asian art, is it that much more competitive?
For terminal MAs, I'm looking into NYU, Columbia, Tufts, SOAS...but I'm sure GPA again would matter a lot for a top MA program...should I be begging my boss for my job back.......................
Would much appreciate your insight!