loubun85

To the Stanford admit: Congratulations!!
 
If you don't mind me asking, were you interviewed? What is your field of interest?
 
Thanks!
 

Criticalrace: Congrats! What is your field?

So, exceptional applicant here. I'm an advanced graduate student who participated in both a terminal MA and a MA/PhD sequential program. I dropped by to see if my school had notified acceptances yet (usually means showing them around and getting free lunch) and saw this thread. I have to admit, there's a lot of ego and what I perceive as naiive hubris going on in this thread. Seems to me that quite a few of you are overthinking things or can't see the forest for the trees. Even applicants with publications and MAs in hand are babies. No one believes or cares that you will revolutionize the canon or even produce innovative research at this stage, or even in your first year or so. What many programs care about is that you're a good fit with a foundation capable of development and that you won't waste their time or money. As an advanced undergraduate, or even a MA candidate, you're a big fish in a small pond and sometimes ego can get in the way of looking at the application process simply.
 
If you're asking, "who the hell does nodens think she is," here's some self-vetting. I was accepted to both MA and PhD programs on my first round of applications. In each case I received funding, including from my MA institution which is not generally in the habit of funding MA students. I was accepted to state schools, a private and an Ivy. When I applied to PhD programs I was accepted to my first choice immediately with no tuition, six years of funding and health insurance. I have also applied to several fellowships and received them. At this point I consider myself an exceptional applicant when it comes to graduate work.
 
The most successful approach I found to applications was to treat them seriously as applications to entry level jobs and think about them like apprenticeships. When you consider them this way, the process becomes intuitive and less complicated. This is essentially the post I wish I had found when I applied to graduate school for the first time. I haven't listed my points in order of importance.
 
1. Don't perform abysmally on the GRE. That being said, doing so-so won't kill you. You're an art historian so you had better score highest in verbal and writing. I was in the 16th percentile of the quant section. No one cared. As for GPAs try and do the best you can. People with higher GREs than me didn't get in and some did. These particular issues are worth having your letter writers address if possible.
 
2. Pick your very best writing sample. If possible have a professor at your current institution (or past) look over it with full knowledge that it's part of a graduate school application. When I applied to my MA my writing sample did not cover a topic that fell within the purview of my subfield but it was my absolute best writing. In my experience the writing sample holds more weight if you are applying to PhDs. 
 
3. Get at least one letter of recommendation from someone important. Not just any old professor but someone with a respected name and, if possible, acquaintances at your school of interest. I realize that this isn't always possible and involves a good deal of networking. This has been a crucial element of my success. You want big deal people to think you are a big deal and tell others about you. Networking seems to be the most underrated part of graduate education among my peers and I still don't understand it. Like pretty much every other career, art history is as much who you know as what you know. 
 
4. Write a statement of purpose that explains why you are a good fit for your POI, the department and last but not least, the entire SCHOOL as a whole. This means doing serious research. Don't just talk to POIs. Read their work and fully understand their methodologies and arguments. Find links to your own interests or writing. You don't just want to say, "we are both interested in X." You want to demonstrate that this person's research is essential to your own. Your next step is to research other members of the department regardless of whether they're in your subfield or not. What are their interests and methodologies? How can they be useful to you in your graduate career? For example, if you're a classicist with an interest in say, phenomenology, then it's worth seeing if faculty in other concentrations like modern/contemporary are working in that mode even if your main POI is not. If your POI is too, then all the better. Finally, you should be able to speak to how the school in general has resources for you. Do departments encourage interdisciplinary work? Is there a collaborative program that you could make use of? When I applied to my MA institution  I made a big deal out of an interdisciplinary seminar track that encouraged global perspectives. I didn't end up working on globalism or exchange but my knowledge of the school's projects in a broad context helped in getting me accepted.
 
5. For god's sake come in with confident reading ability in another language. Reading ability in two is even better. Even those of you who work on mostly english-language material. In my first round I had reading ability in 3 languages all in heavy rotation in scholarship in my subfield. When I applied for my PhD I had reading ability in 4. I can't tell you how many of my peers I saw stumble over language exams in their first and second years. Coming in prepared makes you desirable.
 
6. Really make sure your POI isn't retiring or going on sabbatical. Seems like a no-brainer but you'd be surprised.
 
And that's my basic advice. How to behave once you're in graduate school is another kettle of fish. I can tell you that "rebelling" or "resisting" advisors and department chairs is exceptionally foolish. Of course think for yourself and make your own decisions, it's your life. But in art history jobs are scarce. You want everyone in your department going to bat for you. You want their approval in matters of funding, research support and career placement. Don't come in with a big ass ego and make enemies. I've seen way too much of that too.

I sincerely hope not :-(
I keep telling myself that not everyone who was invited to the GSS will accept Duke's offer, so there's still a sliver of hope.
 
Anyone who has more concrete details or experience with this, please share!