annbkim

Thanks! I just got my writing score and received a 5 on the essay section, which I am quite pleased with. So I think I will focus on the other parts of the application and perhaps if I am done with that early enough and decide I want to give it another try, then I'll worry about it then. That sounds like a reasonable plan, no?

Hello, I just got done taking the GRE (literally an hour ago), and am unsure if my scores are high enough for me to feel okay regarding that part of the application process: I received 163V/168Q and am quite certain I got at least a 5 on both of the essays. I was hoping to get at least 166V since that's around 700 according to the old score system, but oh well. Could anyone tell me whether I should retake the exam if I am applying to schools such as Harvard, Berkeley, Duke, UChicago, and Yale? I do not seem to be able to find stats from previous years with the exception of Duke. Thanks!

No, it is not like it is in undergrad at all; you'll be assigned to a specific professor as your advisor when you get into the PhD program. You need to look into specific schools and their art history programs, and then research the professor (or professors if the school has more than one person that specializes in Contemporary Art); read their bios, read what they have published. You shouldn't have any problem finding their research interests and books and journal articles they have published. All this information should be provided on the department website. Also, all the required materials and deadlines and selection criteria should be posted on the same website. Good luck!

University of Chicago. It actually boasts the school's strength in that field on its department website.

I'll be applying for Fall 2013 cycle, too! Totally in the same boat as far as trying not to get so overwhelmed already while trying to navigate through this process. I've been teaching full time at a university in Indiana (Art and Art History Survey) and am so ready to go back to school. Very nice to meet all of you.

asdf123 and jakebarnes, I thought about that, and I think I will do that; Moira Roth at Mills College (I worked for her in graduate school) has agreed to write one of the letters for me, and I think if I ask nicely, she would be happy to read over the paper. Well, let me get to work on writing this then. Thanks for everything!

I completely concur; I had a bit more time to think the past couple of days, and I decided to write a wholly new essay for the writing sample. I guess I was a little nervous about that at first since unlike when I was in college, the sample would not have been graded or critiqued by an Art HIstory professor before I submit it to the Admissions Committee. But the more I think about it, the more I am even getting excited about the idea of writing a brand new research paper that reflects my current interests. Thank you for your wonderful advice and feedback.

Hello jakebarnes, Thank you so much for the detailed response. I actually am starting to work on my SOP with quite a bit of emphasis on gender and I originally thought perhaps the Gericault paper might work (I actually wrote it for Darcy Grisby's seminar class, and she loved the paper, which was another reason I was hoping it would work) well because it deals with Freudian psychoanalysis (or argument against using the Freudian model) and gender ambiguity, and since it's 19th century, I thought perhaps it would work. But as you suggested, I should turn something in dealing with Contemporary Art. I am quite comfortable with Poststructuralism, Postmodernism, Frankfurt School (Adorno, Benjamin, Horkheimer, Foucault-well, he's 3rd generation Frankfrut, but still, and all the dialectics and the culture industry that comes from it), so I think I am good there. Which brings me to another question: I have another paper (well, it's a bit on the shorter side, but quite dense, about 7 pages) that is a close analysis on Benjamin's "Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" that focuses on one paragraph and expounds on it. It was actually for a Rhetoric class, but would something like this work, which is a paper on Art Theory? And I can work on it more and expand upon it to fit my whole application package and SOP? Thanks!

Mitleachim, I really really appreciate your response. I was actually thinking the same thing. I will contact them late summer via e-mail. Thank you so much.

Hi, Thanks for your input. I am actually a tenure-track professor myself (in Art), and decided I need to go back to school for a PhD in Contemporary Art History, and I understand the time sensitive and high pressure need to conduct research and publish (well, in my case, exhibitions). I think what I am looking for is something that may make them think, "oh yeah, I think that person contacted me" while the committee is going through the applications. I never thought it will really affect whether I get accepted or not, but if it comes down to that last minute detail, I'd just rather not take any chances. A letter is a good idea. Perhaps I will do both. Just in case. Thanks!

Well, I'm trying to gain a few things: 1. Introduce myself in a way that hopefully, just hopefully, have the Prof remember me in a positive way. 2. Be able to ask a few specific questions about the program. 3. From what I have heard, it is the polite and probably a strategic thing to do?

Hello! Thank you so much for your response! It definitely is encouraging and I feel a bit more relieved. 1. As far as the paper goes, it is a 15 page paper that is a "research" paper, but about a very specific topic and relies heavily on formal analysis; it deals with 4 drawings by Gericault; I have 6 sources I cite in the paper, but only 4 are specifically about Gericault, and the other 2 deal with the subject matter (mythological in nature). But then, I also don't believe one could really write about art history without careful formal/visual analysis, so I guess I shouldn't worry about it too much. I presume one could say it is more of an "object-based" approach. 2. That was what I was guessing (160V) for the GRE, so thank you for confirming that. 3. Phew! Thanks! Well, it is from 6 years ago, which is when I graduated from college....but it does seem like forever and forever ago. Again, much thanks! Ann

This helps a lot! Thank you!

Is it too early to start contacting POI's? I don't want to send mine when they will be getting a huge influx of similar e-mails, but I also don't want it to be too early that they forget about me. ????

Hello all, I recently (well, a few months ago) decided that I am going to go back to school for a PhD in Art History to study Modern/Contemporary Art, and I would like to know whether or not I have a good chance of getting into one of the top programs; I am a little nervous because of the 12 Art History classes I took in UG, 5 of them are either B's and B+'s , and the rest (7) are A's and A-'s. Is that considered a solid grade to get into a great program? I double majored in Art and Art History at UC Berkeley. Then I went straight to Mills College for an M.F.A. degree in Studio Art with concentration in Painting (and was a Graduate Assistant for an Art History professor for two semesters), and then have been teaching full time at a 4 year university in Indiana. I was "Visiting" the first two years, and then was given a tenure-track position Fall '12. The school is so small that I also teach Art History survey courses and Special Topics class of my own design during Summer and am teaching "Art and Activism" Art History class right now. Not only have I always wanted to be an Art Practitioner/Art Historian, I also realized I am even more passionate about research than my own studio practice. I would eventually like to teach for a hybrid-curriculum at a college level. My UG GPA is 3.659 (but most of the best grades were from Studio Art), and I took up to Advanced German in college and am fluent in another Asian language. I also did the Senior Honors program for both of my majors. I wrote my Art History Honors thesis about Archaic Greek Art although I will be applying for a specialization in Modern/Contemporary. People have been assuring me that I probably have a good chance, but I don't know! I am now of course regretting not working a little harder and getting those few extra A's when I was younger! A few questions: 1. For the writing sample, should I send one that is more standard and "research" based that is not necessarily connected to the study I would like to do according to the Statement of Purpose I will be submitting? I have another paper I think is quite strong (15 pages long) that is more heavily dealing with "Close Analysis" rather than heavy research. I am not sure which one would be better. 2. What percentile should I shoot for on the GRE? 3. Not to go back to the grade issue again, but are these top tier programs expecting straight A's in almost all AH courses taken? The program at my UG school was quite rigorous. I would appreciate any tips or recommendations!!! I don't know how I am going to last until March of next year if I am so nervous about it already! Thanks!