lilacpear

Maybe this cheatsheet should be turned into a sticky post? Instead of it being blank, however, we could all help fill it with information for each school we know. That way we'd all have access to an updated sticky with the most essential information about each art history program in a single place. From these boards it's obvious that we all have a lot of information we could share... The sticky post may not be as informative for a prospective graduate student as, say, an actual meeting with a prospective school before applying but I think it would be very helpful in the process of narrowing down schools. Information such as tuition and fees, availability of financial assistance (how much per year, how many students get it, etc), internship and conference opportunities, and actual requirements for advancement to PhD candidacy is either not always available on program websites or might be difficult to find when it is. This information would be coming from either current students or students who have applied to these schools before, so it would be both accurate and current. Any thoughts on this idea? lp

Yes, which is why those interested in pursuing a career in academia are well advised to avoid UK PhD programs altogether. Lack of teaching experience kills even the best of teaching job applications. Works great for non-academic careers, though... MA programs in the UK are good alternatives, if you can afford them. They typically last only one year, credits are "transferable" for advanced standing in doctoral programs stateside, and they're quite intensive. lp

Completely understand how you feel. I think my phobia/nerves/cold feet/regret/fear/etc will disappear only after attending my first lecture in the program. Then I'll remember why I'm doing this... BTW, I'm attending Rutgers as well. Hopefully will see you there in the fall. lp

Your background would interest graduate programs (MAs and PhDs) in which an interdisciplinary approach is already in place, or at least those programs that don't automatically frown upon non-art history backgrounds. I hesitate to recommend any particular program, as I'm not familiar with most of them and any suggestion I make will certainly be biased towards my very limited experience in this regard, but surely a bit of digging around this forum and visiting program websites will help you compile a list of programs that can potentially be a good fit for your interests and abilities. I don't see your age as an issue for pursuing an MA, as I think it's quite common for students to go straight from a BA to an MA, but your likely lack of significant professional experience might place you at a disadvantage when applying to PhD programs. There's really no clear answer to the question "how old is too old/how young is too young?", but my suggestion to you is this: if you feel that your age may be an issue (perhaps because you believe you might come across as an inexperienced or otherwise inadequate candidate) then consider working for a year or two before applying to doctoral programs. This route has been very well traveled in the past - most doctoral applicants gain some professional experience before applying, and this experience is usually considered to be a plus by admissions committees. However, doctoral students come in all kinds of shapes, so don't let this sole factor get in the way of your professional goals. With these credentials, and with strong recommendation letters, you have a realistic shot at a funded MA program. If you decide to get an MA before continuing on to the PhD, then the most sensible way to do this is to apply to programs that offer funding at this level. Again, I hesitate to make recommendations but a search through this forum can provide some schools that offer this benefit. I would retake the GRE and focus on the verbal section... funding likes +700 verbal scores. Indeed. Indeed, indeed. It could be ideal if you begin gaining professional experience in the arts (or its periphery) to bolster your application. I don't know where you are located, but look into internships at local museums or galleries, paid positions at art libraries or art collections, maybe even an arts-related non-profit? If you are serious about this career transition, you should devote most of your free time between now and application season to strengthening your application. The best way to do this, from what you have mentioned here, is to raise your GRE verbal and gain some professional experience in the arts. lp

I think it's fairly normal to switch concentrations during your MA coursework, and afterwards. Many graduate students begin coursework "knowing" exactly what they want to do (I still count myself in this bunch) only to come across a completely different topic, region, period, artist, etc. that ends up becoming the main focus of specialization later on. For what it's worth, I came up with my master's thesis topic a few minutes before I was scheduled to meet with my advisor to discuss my thesis topic and only after having read TWO texts in this field the week prior; needless to say, this topic had nothing to do with the field of interest which compelled me to pursue a graduate degree initially. I started my MSc with complete certainty of what I wanted to write about only to end up doing something completely different, with very satisfying results. The bottom line is that you should approach graduate study with an open mind, as you just don't know what will hold your interest in the end. The twists and turns may end up surprising you, but only if you let them happen in the first place! Best, lp

I guess it really depends on the number of Ws and the kind of courses you are withdrawing. Withdrawing art history courses means one thing, withdrawing, say, required algebra means another. It is always preferable to have a W than a D or an F in your transcript, that's for sure, but, for the purposes of not turning your transcript into a potential red flag, it is really in your best interest to keep the number of Ws to an absolute minimum. Also, the frequency of course withdrawals is important... for example, six withdrawals within a single semester could suggest you have experienced a major issue that forced you to drop the semester (in which case, the number of Ws could be completely justifiable), while the same number of Ws sprinkled throughout your undergraduate transcript could suggest you may have trouble finishing what you started. The former is much easier to explain and defend than the latter in a statement of purpose. I realize you are only talking about two Ws here, so my example may not be the most accurate in relation to your situation. However, I exaggerate with a purpose.... I think it's valuable to consider how every aspect of your graduate school application could be interpreted by an admissions committee, and, with that in mind, it is always best to err on the side of caution. Hope this helped. lp

Ah, no contest here. Take the funded offer. UTSA is a good place to pursue a Latin American specialization. So is UT Austin, but maybe not this year... Will you be committing to Latin American art for your PhD as well? If you're not (or you're not sure yet), then that's an even better reason to NOT get into debt by choosing an unfunded program. If you are still somewhat undecided about your specialization, then choosing a funded offer will allow you the (rare!) luxury of experimenting with a topic at a graduate level without placing a major financial burden on yourself. Funding at the MA level will give you a certain amount of financial freedom and independence when choosing a doctoral program in the future, even if you choose a different specialization for the PhD. It might only be a detriment if ALL their classes are in Latin American art (which I find hard to believe). Have you looked at their course offerings for the past few years? As long as you balance out your courses and produce graduate-level work in a variety of fields, there is no reason why attending a super specialized program will hurt your chances, especially one that considered you to be a promising applicant and decided to fund you based on your potential as a scholar. Good luck with your choice! lp

Oh, and you're on a Mac. Macs and Adobe CS software tend to play well with each other. lp

Have you used Adobe InDesign? It is mammoth software specifically designed to handle mammoth files with multiple links to mammoth images. It's very efficient and produces very professional-looking results. It does require some time to learn, but if you already know Illustrator well, jumping to InDesign should be relatively painless. There is simply no word processing software out there that handles image+text smoothly. If you have loads of images, you will be better off with InDesign. Images are merely linked to the file, not copied unto it, which makes the ID file much smaller and easier to handle (read: less crashes) and makes the updating process easier (should you decide to edit one of the images after having inserted it, ID will automatically "update" that image for you in the file - no need to re-insert it). I used Pages for my master's thesis and it handled footnotes and word/paragraph styles nicely. I did not use Endnote then, though. Well, if you're several hundred pages into your dissertation in Word, transferring to any alternative method will not be painless. However, InDesign will import your MS Word file AND most of your existing word and paragraph styles (they will be converted to InDesign styles). I haven't tested importing footnotes yet, but ID handles footnotes better than Word or Pages. lp

The biggest challenge to overcome upon your return is the likely lack of teaching experience you will have. The accelerated pace of most British PhD programs (normally completed within three-four years) will not allow you any extra time to devote to teaching. TA positions are very rare - I did my MSc in London and never *ever* met a TA, or even heard of such a position being available - and academic jobs for doctoral students in the early stages of the program in the UK are not exactly pouring from the heavens. You will most likely spend those three-four years working on your research and lecturing at one or two student conferences per term. The upside is that the faster pace will keep you focused and you will most likely finish your dissertation earlier than any of your peers who started at the same time as you. UK unis do not look kindly on "faffing about" with a dissertation for seven or eight years. You will be done faster and will be able to return to the US faster, should you choose not to stay in the UK for good. If time to degree completion is important to you, then a UK program is your best choice. Those degrees carry the stigma of being very expensive because they are! The issue of funding for UK schools is sticky. There is very little available funding for overseas students, and you will be charged over three times as much tuition as a UK or European Union student. Things may not be as bad now as they were when I went there... the exchange rate is not as devastating. But if finances are a concern to you, then know that the UK will be a very costly option (large tuition, high cost of living, limited job options for overseas students, etc). Of course, you can always rationalize this decision by arguing that you'd only be paying this exorbitant tuition for three years, versus five-seven years of US tuition. Best way to decide which option is less costly is to do the math for yourself. I guess that depends on the school and the degree, but my personal experience has been that UK degrees trump US degrees in terms of perceived panache (probably because of that stigma you mentioned before). Panache, of course, has very little to do with reality as you will always have to prove your academic 'weight' regardless of which school you attended. As for which degree will translate more easily into an academic job in the US... I have no clue. The academic job market is a complete mystery to me at this point. I'm just glad to be a lowly adjunct for now... Hope this helps lp

Rutgers has a very good program with great faculty and a good reputation (in my personal experience, its reputation dramatically increases the further away one gets from the NY metropolitan area...). Great resources available in terms of the facilities themselves: their library holdings in all three locations, and in multiple disciplines beyond art history, have proven to be much better than the holdings of the two nearest Ivies I've visited for research purposes (Columbia and Princeton), which is helpful for someone like me who expects to be buried in a library for the next few years. The program is small, but active, and the students I've met are of the highest caliber. Expect to be challenged as much by them as by the faculty. The scope is decidedly traditional, but making such generalizations about the scope of a school makes me uneasy, as I know that a student's particular opinion of a school's "scope" will be heavily influenced by the people he or she ends up working with directly. I, for one, am basing my opinion on the sheer number of graduate courses available each year on what I consider to be "traditional" fields (Renaissance, Baroque, early Modern, Western, etc). The program is also affordable; as a state school, tuition is actually manageable, especially if you're an in-state student. Most schools grant in-state status after one year of residency anyways and the difference between in-state and out-of-state is not as great as it is in other places... Finally, the school's location cannot be beat. You would be living sort of in between New York and Philadelphia, which opens up more options for summer internships at cultural institutions. In the wise words of one of my advisers, the best school is the one in which you believe you will thrive, intellectually and professionally... but there's no fool-proof, objective way to decide this. After gathering all necessary facts, it all comes down to a sophisticated form of gut feeling. Hope this helped... lp

I received an acceptance letter for the phd program one week ago and the status on the website changed to "Congratulations! You have been accepted..." a few days before that. No word, however, on the funding package. Has anyone else received information about that? lp