As long as we're weighing M.A. prospects on this thread, I thought I'd add my little dilemma and see if anyone here might be able to give me some advice apart from the "go to London" chorus of my family/friends:
I've been accepted by the IFA (M.A.), Stony Brook (M.A.), Rice (PhD), and the Courtauld Institute (M.A.), and waitlisted at Williams (M.A.). My field, halted as it is in its undergrad nascence by a year off generally getting underpaid for things (I'm told I should get used to that), is 20th-century German/Austrian, Weimar all the way to Holocaust memorialism. In terms of faculty, this makes the Courtauld and Williams the most appealing, as well as (I'm told) great experiences for someone from a little-heard-of small liberal arts college who intends to go for a PhD someday. Williams has written me a very nice, personal letter telling me that my chances of acceptance are "very good"; until I heard from them I had essentially decided on the Courtauld. Thanks in part to my policy of not psyching myself up for options I might not have (and believing I wouldn't get in anywhere), once the acceptances came in it took a lot of short-term research/hair-pulling/beer to even get myself to make THAT decision, and so if I have to make another one in the next two weeks, I want to be more prepared. Thoughts from anyone who has been through either of these programs, knows anyone who has, is struggling with a similar issue, or has any general information on how Modern M.A.-holders from either school are received in the scholarly community/PhD admissions boards are very, very, welcome.
And, other Columbia M.A. applicants: anybody heard a peep?
