arthistoryvoe2

Agreed that with respect to the specific institution it depends on the reason for ABD status. In general, if you're applying with a BA there's no problem in having one of your letters be from a grad student who taught you in a course for which she was the instructor of record. If the grad student was a TA for a professor's lecture course and the professor is not willing to work with the TA to co-write the letter, I think this is not an advisable letter to get. The only reason to go for tenured faculty as opposed to assistant professors (with the PhD) is not rank but length of time in the field and greater likelihood that they are known quantities (so a strong recommendation from someone who is known to have high standards can be especially meaningful). But an enthusiastic and detailed recommendation from a junior faculty member can potentially mean much more than a letter from a senior person that's lukewarm or lacking in detail.

Just a reality check: The highly-ranked institution where I teach requires the GRE, but I don't look at GRE scores when I read applications. Especially now that we see the file in an online document reader, and not a hard copy where it's all in front of you, it's REALLY easy to skip those pages (which include the pages where you list your many internships, etc., fwiw) and zero in on the WS, SOP, grades, and letters, in approximately that order. I think many of my colleagues do the same. I say this as someone who got a perfect score on my own GREs. I haven't figured out what the new numbers mean and I don't really care. The test has little to do with success in grad school. If you're not good at taking that kind of test, don't despair, because if your application reviewers are like me, it might not have much of an impact on your chances. But DO study for it and take it again and DO apply to schools that require it. You really start off at a disadvantage if you apply only to places that don't.

Yeah, but maybe OP was thinking of Bryn Mawr, also a women's undergraduate college but one with distinguished PhD programs in several subjects, including, notably, Art History.

From 10 years of experience on admissions at one of the abovenamed institutions, I can say this: the problem with grades as a factor is that you can't tell whether the person who got a 4.0 at Eastern Connecticut would have gotten a 4.0 at Yale or a 3.4 at Yale. That's why the writing sample and statement of purpose are much more decisive for both of these hypothetical candidates. Yes, the 4.0 at Yale will get you noticed, but most successful applicants don't have that - and it still needs to be backed up with the other, more important documents.

I'm not even sure most faculty on admissions committees look at summer jobs and internships at all. Teaching experience of any kind is at least as valuable as sitting at a photocopier that happens to be in a museum.

It's just as likely that the "lesser" school will see the higher-ranked school(s) as a gauntlet thrown down and want to compete for the applicant, or on the other hand say "s/he'll never get in there, so we have a chance" etc. Don't try to second-guess the minds of admissions committees (beyond a certain necessary point)—you will go crazy.

It isn't usually a big factor, but allows admissions committees to see whether you've made well-informed choices, and also allows them to consider "likelihood to come" as a factor. You can leave it blank, but then it could look like you're lying to game the process. Your GRE report will give away where else you sent your scores, as will the inevitable typos in the statement in which you refer to the wrong department, professor, or museum name.

As I was saying....Wouldn't it be rather unimaginable, even if not retired, that Michael Fried would consider supporting a dissertation on abject art?

I am not sure I understand the rationale for your choices of schools, sdavid13, but I am wondering if perhaps you're being lured by big-name theorists who may not actually be that interested in advising a contemporary art topic or one that deals with abjection. (As far as big-name theorists are concerned, it sounds as if your closest affinities might be with Mieke Bal, so you might look at the University of Amsterdam!) For contemporary you might also want to look at Berkeley, Northwestern, the University of Chicago, USC, Texas—unless there is some reason why you refuse to leave the east coast.

To be blunt, one thing you need to do before applying to graduate school is work on your writing skills. See what resources are available at your university, take an extra writing class, find a tutor. You'll need to present yourself better in writing to have half a chance at admission.

In my experience it helps not at all and can sometimes hurt if a message seems ill-informed or overly demanding. Faculty evaluate applications, not personal contacts.

You might want to look at the Art Institute of Chicago's joint MA in Art History and Arts Administration. Many of their graduates do the kind of work you have in mind.

What is it you hope to gain by contacting a POI?

I really disagree with this statement, if it's a department that's actually a good match. The personal statement and writing sample can really make all the difference and an application really may not have gotten much attention at all the first time around, so it might not even be recognized as a repeat. One calculation schools make is "how likely is this person to want to come here, given the other choices they are likely to have?" and the personal statement can make all the difference in that .Or, an institution may have a new faculty member, or someone coming back from leave, whose interests are more in tune with yours, so an application that was rejected in the first round one year will in the next be sent to that person. Etc. If you can, seek advice on your application from someone who is familiar with graduate admissions processes at top PhD-granting institutions (and I would say, agreeing with some of the above, top really means top 20 or so), even if in a different field or subfield.

This is widely reported, and may be true. But it may also be something that deans tell faculty in order to persuade them to feel a deeper commitment to MA students, whom they might otherwise feel aren't the best investment of faculty time (because they are often not staying for the PhD). There are a lot of components in a budget so be skeptical of such claims. It doesn't really matter, though—there may be reasons to do an unfunded MA program, but no one should take on that kind of debt lightly.