hopelesslypostmodern

I agree fully with everything fullofpink said. I would like to add a couple things, though:

- If at all possibly, use primary sources in addition to secondary, academic sources. The types of primary sources you turn to will depend greatly on your topic. In my writing sample, I used a fair amount of speeches and interviews by my artist. That's pretty typical, but I have also used film, literature, and journalistic accounts for historical purposes in other writings. There was another guy in my undergrad (a year or two ahead of me) whose writing sample was about depictions of the poor in Victorian era painting, and he discussed Dickens a lot. Basically, remember the "history" aspect of "art history," as well as the "art" aspect (formal analysis and whatnot).

- Also, your writing sample should convey that you understand art historical methodology/theory. Again, this will depend on your topic/approach. I would imagine, however, that this shouldn't necessarily be too difficult since there is a great deal of overlap between the theorists that art history and English like to turn to, especially in regards to post-structuralist approaches (Everyone uses Foucault!).

- I've found that 15-20 pages is the norm, but I applied to mostly PhD programs. I might be more like 12-15 pages for MA programs.

- I'm a bit ambivalent about whether it needs to be a strict art history paper. I would advise having a least a portion of your paper be related to art or visual culture (film, advertising, pop culture, etc.). You might want to revisit some of your old English papers and see if there are moments like that already existing in them or places in them where you could bring in elements of visual culture. I do imagine, however, that the success of this will vary depending on the approaches of the programs you apply to. More "traditional" art history programs seem to prefer more "traditional" art historical focuses, while programs that place a greater emphasis on interdisiciplinary work seem to be more open to such an approach.

My first rejection was an email this past Tuesday. I angrily deleted everything the school had ever sent me. Then I ate fried mozzarella sticks and felt better. And got really excited about the one school that had admitted me.

The second rejection (yesterday) was harder. First, I got an actual letter, which made it feel more...real. Ate a cupcake that was leftover from my birthday. I went to class and tried not to cry (mostly succeeding). Went back to my room and actually cried. Barely ate anything for dinner. Later, my friends and I went to the river, burned the letter, and I drank whiskey. The we went and ate food (more fried mozzarella sticks for me!). I felt better and went back to my room to watch some Arrested Development. Decided to skip class the next day (today) and went to bed. Today, I woke up and started feeling all depressed again. Tried to work on one of my papers, but felt too anxious to do so. This lasted most of the day until after supper, I put the soundtrack to There Will Be Blood on repeat and started writing my paper. Now I feel better!

Also, I am such a stereotypical Wisconsin girl....comforting myself with fried cheese. Hah.

I know you're trying to be funny, but this statement is super condescending. Having suffered from severe anxiety myself (which I needed medication for at one point, and still need on some occasions), I understand why msafiri feels the need to defend her/his situation. There is still a tremendous stigma attached to mental illness, and, at least in my own experience, anxiety issues seem to carry more stigma than other mental illnesses. Everyone suffers from at least some anxiety, right? This is part of the reason why it took me years to get help. I was still on my parents' insurance and needed their approval to see a doctor and/or psychologist for help. I tried to talk to my mom about my anxiety and ask for help, but she brushed aside my concerns. Clearly, since I had a nice group of friends and was successful at school (i.e. since I was both more socially and academically successful than she was at my age), I must not have a problem. Despite my misgivings, I tried to believe her. It was only when my anxiety skyrocketed out of control and could no longer function as the high performing individual I used to be that my parents were convinced of my problem. I had to explain to them (through email - a phone call would have been too difficult) how I felt physically ill 24/7, how I couldn't eat or sleep, and how I had panic attacks every time I tried to do school work.

I finally got the help I needed and have my anxiety mostly under control. I guess the point of this story is that anxiety can be a serious issue to deal with, and we should not dismiss the experiences of others. Anxiety can work in some idiosyncratic ways. You can be fine in one situation, but crippled with fear in a seemingly similar one. Maybe the OP needs medication; maybe not. Maybe talking to a therapist about ways to control his/her anxiety would help. I don't know. Every individual's situation is different.

On average, only 50% of people who start a PhD complete one-- so you are definitely not alone.

You seem overwhelmed and sorta lonely. I hope there is someone that you can talk to about this that can listen and understand. Transitions are hard and it can be even harder if you haven't had to move around a lot. Usually it takes me about a year or so to really feel comfortable in a new city/new job/etc.

And I agree that people with a lot of information can still make decisions that don't work out. I thought I wanted to be a number of different occupations before I hit on the right one. But the good news is you still have the power of choice. You can decide to stay in for the first year and reevaluate your feelings in a year -or- you can decide to leave.

Honestly, it is not about what anyone else says or really even thinks. You are the one that has to do the day-to-day of your life. As long as you are satisfied then I would call that a success.

of course not. I'm not really sure what you expect, especially since you're talking about a top 50 school. If it were a 'degree mill' versus a top ranked school, it would make sense. But do you really think just because a school is ranked by some external actor using some highly flawed methodology as lower than another, they dumb down the work? Any good university's goal is to produce the best scholars and researchers possible.

EDIT: I suppose that depending on faculty expertise some particular schools would have advanced courses that others wouldn't, but I don't think that has much to do with ranking. The material is out there, it's not exclusive. It's not like Harvard or wherever has a monopoly on superadvanced califragilistics.

There is an entire tumblr dedicated to people who believe that the Onion's stories are real. I'm not sure whether its funny or just plain sad...

There is an entire tumblr dedicated to people who believe that the Onion's stories are real. I'm not sure whether its funny or just plain sad...

The Onion is a joke newspaper. The particular incident isn't real, but it is funny in part because it closely resembles stuff people actually go through.

I know you're trying to be funny, but this statement is super condescending. Having suffered from severe anxiety myself (which I needed medication for at one point, and still need on some occasions), I understand why msafiri feels the need to defend her/his situation. There is still a tremendous stigma attached to mental illness, and, at least in my own experience, anxiety issues seem to carry more stigma than other mental illnesses. Everyone suffers from at least some anxiety, right? This is part of the reason why it took me years to get help. I was still on my parents' insurance and needed their approval to see a doctor and/or psychologist for help. I tried to talk to my mom about my anxiety and ask for help, but she brushed aside my concerns. Clearly, since I had a nice group of friends and was successful at school (i.e. since I was both more socially and academically successful than she was at my age), I must not have a problem. Despite my misgivings, I tried to believe her. It was only when my anxiety skyrocketed out of control and could no longer function as the high performing individual I used to be that my parents were convinced of my problem. I had to explain to them (through email - a phone call would have been too difficult) how I felt physically ill 24/7, how I couldn't eat or sleep, and how I had panic attacks every time I tried to do school work.

I finally got the help I needed and have my anxiety mostly under control. I guess the point of this story is that anxiety can be a serious issue to deal with, and we should not dismiss the experiences of others. Anxiety can work in some idiosyncratic ways. You can be fine in one situation, but crippled with fear in a seemingly similar one. Maybe the OP needs medication; maybe not. Maybe talking to a therapist about ways to control his/her anxiety would help. I don't know. Every individual's situation is different.

Though the Grad Cafe is quite US-centric, not everybody here comes from the same culture and therefore not everyone knows the same slang. But I suppose you were ignorant of that - bless your heart.

Snarky Grad Cafers..... how long to put up with them?



Ironically, you condemn snarkiness, and then you employ it in your own responses here.

Q: How long to put up with snarky professors?

A: Until you get tenure.

I know you're trying to be funny, but this statement is super condescending. Having suffered from severe anxiety myself (which I needed medication for at one point, and still need on some occasions), I understand why msafiri feels the need to defend her/his situation. There is still a tremendous stigma attached to mental illness, and, at least in my own experience, anxiety issues seem to carry more stigma than other mental illnesses. Everyone suffers from at least some anxiety, right? This is part of the reason why it took me years to get help. I was still on my parents' insurance and needed their approval to see a doctor and/or psychologist for help. I tried to talk to my mom about my anxiety and ask for help, but she brushed aside my concerns. Clearly, since I had a nice group of friends and was successful at school (i.e. since I was both more socially and academically successful than she was at my age), I must not have a problem. Despite my misgivings, I tried to believe her. It was only when my anxiety skyrocketed out of control and could no longer function as the high performing individual I used to be that my parents were convinced of my problem. I had to explain to them (through email - a phone call would have been too difficult) how I felt physically ill 24/7, how I couldn't eat or sleep, and how I had panic attacks every time I tried to do school work.

I finally got the help I needed and have my anxiety mostly under control. I guess the point of this story is that anxiety can be a serious issue to deal with, and we should not dismiss the experiences of others. Anxiety can work in some idiosyncratic ways. You can be fine in one situation, but crippled with fear in a seemingly similar one. Maybe the OP needs medication; maybe not. Maybe talking to a therapist about ways to control his/her anxiety would help. I don't know. Every individual's situation is different.

I know you're trying to be funny, but this statement is super condescending. Having suffered from severe anxiety myself (which I needed medication for at one point, and still need on some occasions), I understand why msafiri feels the need to defend her/his situation. There is still a tremendous stigma attached to mental illness, and, at least in my own experience, anxiety issues seem to carry more stigma than other mental illnesses. Everyone suffers from at least some anxiety, right? This is part of the reason why it took me years to get help. I was still on my parents' insurance and needed their approval to see a doctor and/or psychologist for help. I tried to talk to my mom about my anxiety and ask for help, but she brushed aside my concerns. Clearly, since I had a nice group of friends and was successful at school (i.e. since I was both more socially and academically successful than she was at my age), I must not have a problem. Despite my misgivings, I tried to believe her. It was only when my anxiety skyrocketed out of control and could no longer function as the high performing individual I used to be that my parents were convinced of my problem. I had to explain to them (through email - a phone call would have been too difficult) how I felt physically ill 24/7, how I couldn't eat or sleep, and how I had panic attacks every time I tried to do school work.

I finally got the help I needed and have my anxiety mostly under control. I guess the point of this story is that anxiety can be a serious issue to deal with, and we should not dismiss the experiences of others. Anxiety can work in some idiosyncratic ways. You can be fine in one situation, but crippled with fear in a seemingly similar one. Maybe the OP needs medication; maybe not. Maybe talking to a therapist about ways to control his/her anxiety would help. I don't know. Every individual's situation is different.

I know you're trying to be funny, but this statement is super condescending. Having suffered from severe anxiety myself (which I needed medication for at one point, and still need on some occasions), I understand why msafiri feels the need to defend her/his situation. There is still a tremendous stigma attached to mental illness, and, at least in my own experience, anxiety issues seem to carry more stigma than other mental illnesses. Everyone suffers from at least some anxiety, right? This is part of the reason why it took me years to get help. I was still on my parents' insurance and needed their approval to see a doctor and/or psychologist for help. I tried to talk to my mom about my anxiety and ask for help, but she brushed aside my concerns. Clearly, since I had a nice group of friends and was successful at school (i.e. since I was both more socially and academically successful than she was at my age), I must not have a problem. Despite my misgivings, I tried to believe her. It was only when my anxiety skyrocketed out of control and could no longer function as the high performing individual I used to be that my parents were convinced of my problem. I had to explain to them (through email - a phone call would have been too difficult) how I felt physically ill 24/7, how I couldn't eat or sleep, and how I had panic attacks every time I tried to do school work.

I finally got the help I needed and have my anxiety mostly under control. I guess the point of this story is that anxiety can be a serious issue to deal with, and we should not dismiss the experiences of others. Anxiety can work in some idiosyncratic ways. You can be fine in one situation, but crippled with fear in a seemingly similar one. Maybe the OP needs medication; maybe not. Maybe talking to a therapist about ways to control his/her anxiety would help. I don't know. Every individual's situation is different.

I know you're trying to be funny, but this statement is super condescending. Having suffered from severe anxiety myself (which I needed medication for at one point, and still need on some occasions), I understand why msafiri feels the need to defend her/his situation. There is still a tremendous stigma attached to mental illness, and, at least in my own experience, anxiety issues seem to carry more stigma than other mental illnesses. Everyone suffers from at least some anxiety, right? This is part of the reason why it took me years to get help. I was still on my parents' insurance and needed their approval to see a doctor and/or psychologist for help. I tried to talk to my mom about my anxiety and ask for help, but she brushed aside my concerns. Clearly, since I had a nice group of friends and was successful at school (i.e. since I was both more socially and academically successful than she was at my age), I must not have a problem. Despite my misgivings, I tried to believe her. It was only when my anxiety skyrocketed out of control and could no longer function as the high performing individual I used to be that my parents were convinced of my problem. I had to explain to them (through email - a phone call would have been too difficult) how I felt physically ill 24/7, how I couldn't eat or sleep, and how I had panic attacks every time I tried to do school work.

I finally got the help I needed and have my anxiety mostly under control. I guess the point of this story is that anxiety can be a serious issue to deal with, and we should not dismiss the experiences of others. Anxiety can work in some idiosyncratic ways. You can be fine in one situation, but crippled with fear in a seemingly similar one. Maybe the OP needs medication; maybe not. Maybe talking to a therapist about ways to control his/her anxiety would help. I don't know. Every individual's situation is different.

I think you need to relax.

You seem STRESSED.

I think I'll add my two cents here as I feel as though my grad school experience is somewhat different from others around here...

I went straight from undergrad to my two year MA program at the same school I did undergrad in. I don't regret it, as I was truly hitting my groove academically the last three years and didn't want to lose that momentum and certainly didn't feel like I was about to burn out. An MA was also a chance for me to test the waters of academia, make connections in the profession (especially in my department) and learn valuable skills/create a writing sample, all of which I feel I achieved. I'm taking a year or two off before applying to PHD programs, but that's for personal reasons and not because I feel like I couldn't go straight to another program now (though going through the application process while a student DOES seem a bit rough).

What I want to stress about my experience is, while it's true being in a program does to a degree limit your other options, in no way should you feel as though entering graduate school (at least on the MA level) ties you to your school constantly. I did more traveling in the last two years than during my entire undergraduate years, some of which was funded by my department. Graduate school let me create my own schedule and, while I didn't get rich off funding, also afforded me some income to fund what was a rather full life. It is, of course, a lot of work and more is expected of you as a graduate student than as an undergrad, but you can still do volunteer work and travel (to use ticklemepink's examples) while a graduate student, and have a very full social life should you choose.

Obviously there are other considerations (debt being the top of the list, as most MA programs that I came across don't fund well, if at all), but it's worth pointing out that entering graduate school doesn't mean the end of life as you know it.

Wow, holy gender generalizing, Batman!

My first rejection was an email this past Tuesday. I angrily deleted everything the school had ever sent me. Then I ate fried mozzarella sticks and felt better. And got really excited about the one school that had admitted me.

The second rejection (yesterday) was harder. First, I got an actual letter, which made it feel more...real. Ate a cupcake that was leftover from my birthday. I went to class and tried not to cry (mostly succeeding). Went back to my room and actually cried. Barely ate anything for dinner. Later, my friends and I went to the river, burned the letter, and I drank whiskey. The we went and ate food (more fried mozzarella sticks for me!). I felt better and went back to my room to watch some Arrested Development. Decided to skip class the next day (today) and went to bed. Today, I woke up and started feeling all depressed again. Tried to work on one of my papers, but felt too anxious to do so. This lasted most of the day until after supper, I put the soundtrack to There Will Be Blood on repeat and started writing my paper. Now I feel better!

Also, I am such a stereotypical Wisconsin girl....comforting myself with fried cheese. Hah.

I agree with you that in an office setting the priority on who gets time off or a more flexible work schedule tends to go to those coworkers that have children. (i.e. Sally can't work late because she needs to pick up Little Sprout at soccer practice, but Mary can work late because she is childless.) My understanding of being a professor (however) is that they are more autonomous on choosing what hours they are going to work and I can't imagine the scenario that you described really being relevant to the academic setting because they are not covering the operating hours of an office.

However, I could see it come to play in other ways such as scheduling classes, committee meetings, the tenure clock, course load, etc. A "family-friend" department would try to accommodate those members of the department whose schedule might not be as flexible. I don't necessarily think a "family-friendly" department has to be bad for the childless though as I would assume this environment would strive for a better work-life balance for all its members.

I think that it's very normal to feel mixed emotions when closing doors, even if other doors are opening. At the same time, it sounds like you have some external forces (location and whatever is tying you to that location) exerting some pressure on you, which can definitely raise more doubts or mixed emotions.

I clicked on this thread because of your title:
I apologize for picking on you when you're feeling down, but I find the phrase "retarded" to be inappropriate in this context. You're sad, not intellectually/developmentally delayed or disabled. As with the phrase "that's gay" to mean "that's not cool," using "retarded" to mean "I shouldn't be feeling/thinking like this" contributes to the marginalization of individuals. One of my favorite things about the English language is its richness: there are so many creative and explicit ways to express displeasure than just @#&#, and there are a lot of different phrases to express displeasure with oneself than to say "I'm being retarded."

Yes, this.







And may I warn any menfolk out there that the so-called "girls" in your program will no doubt prefer not to be infantilized, either. Girls = female children. Female graduate students = adults, not children. Please show the women of your program (and your world) some respect. And if the men out there who use this kind of language "don't mean it that way"--too bad. It still comes off as (and simply is) disrespectful and condescending,

once you get past the stilted speech, it's hilarious.

My first rejection was an email this past Tuesday. I angrily deleted everything the school had ever sent me. Then I ate fried mozzarella sticks and felt better. And got really excited about the one school that had admitted me.

The second rejection (yesterday) was harder. First, I got an actual letter, which made it feel more...real. Ate a cupcake that was leftover from my birthday. I went to class and tried not to cry (mostly succeeding). Went back to my room and actually cried. Barely ate anything for dinner. Later, my friends and I went to the river, burned the letter, and I drank whiskey. The we went and ate food (more fried mozzarella sticks for me!). I felt better and went back to my room to watch some Arrested Development. Decided to skip class the next day (today) and went to bed. Today, I woke up and started feeling all depressed again. Tried to work on one of my papers, but felt too anxious to do so. This lasted most of the day until after supper, I put the soundtrack to There Will Be Blood on repeat and started writing my paper. Now I feel better!

Also, I am such a stereotypical Wisconsin girl....comforting myself with fried cheese. Hah.