Age: work and school

[Slide568]

I took five years to graduate (transferred schools and was a double major in art history and dance, dance is very time consuming, very political and very negative so I snipped the evil from my life and took a minor, focusing on academics), spent two years working in an art museum and applied to only one program for a terminal MA in Art History....Columbia. 5th biggest life regret. We all know the circus hoops and wait time it takes for word back from Columbia in any program but I was basically told I was a shoe in when I applied...still waiting. The whole application process is for another post on another day. I have given up hope and have finally moved on considering I pretty much know the outcome and have decided on applying to UPenn, Buffalo and UoDelaware. This adds another year of wait time due to deadlines passing. By the time I get into school again I will be 26. I know the other girls (cause they're always girls in art history, save for the pudgy mammas boy) will be fresh from undergrad at 22, 23 years old. I am thinking of going straight for the Phd in my other applications now just because of age but that will tak on at least another year or more in school vs a two year MA program. I want to get in a postgrad fellowship and be back in the job market before 30. Any thoughts? Anyone else actually go through puberty before entering into a terminal MA? What are the averge ages of people in your programs both MA or PhD?

[LTee]

this reminded me of me, I also struggled with the 'should I dance' or 'should I study a realistic discipline.' I also ended up minoring in dance and majoring in psych. Sometimes during the midst of this grad app process I wonder if I should just run away and dance for a year........but I cant. As far as grad school goes, I applied last year and didnt get in, this year the only school Ive gotten into so far is one that Im not sure I want to go to. Now I feel like Im trying to talk myself into applying next year to a different subject (simlilar though.) But then I was have your worries too because every year that I "wait till next year" Im getting older. I feel like Im just ranting, anyways 26 is not old at all.

[Slide568]

Dance has definately been the reason for all of my delays when it comes to age. If your over 12 its just a countdown till instructors loose favor with you and till your swan song (in ballet anyway). That's why it needed to end while I was still remotely young and able to get my life back. Id rather spend the extra year in an art museum than in the back of a rehearsal, or worse an audition. The age worries me because the older I get the harder it is to make things happen.

[TokuGirl]

Dance has definately been the reason for all of my delays when it comes to age. If your over 12 its just a countdown till instructors loose favor with you and till your swan song (in ballet anyway). That's why it needed to end while I was still remotely young and able to get my life back. Id rather spend the extra year in an art museum than in the back of a rehearsal, or worse an audition. The age worries me because the older I get the harder it is to make things happen.

I'll be 25 going into my MA program this year. I also took 5 years in undergrad [Japanse Studies/Art History double major] and have been working abroad for the past two years. I feel more confident in my choice to go to grad school now than I did when I was graduating, and I think for that reason admission boards may sometimes prefer people who go into the programs at a [slightly] older age. I think it's great that you're able to work in the field post-grad and that will definitely work in your favor. As for me, I've only had minimal internship experience and was really counting on my writing sample and recommendations to get me in.

Best of luck!

[Ritualist]

Hey there. I don't think you have to worry about being too old. Just some perspective for you: I did a MA at Harvard (religion; 23-24 yrs. old) and a MA at Tufts (classical archaeology 25-26 years old), and I'm starting my PhD at Columbia in Art History and Archaeology this coming fall. That will make me 27 years old in my first year of doctoral studies. If you want to be an art historian, don't let age discourage you! Go for the PhD if you'd like. But if you'd like to do the MA first, that's fine too. Lord knows my age (and MAs) is a testament to that being okay.

[Emma2003]

It is never too late to do what you want to do. Some people continue to graduate school right away, but many do not. Personally, I didn't start my undergrad until I was 27, and married, and working fulltime. (Iwas an artist, I didn't need to go to school, come on!) 3 years later, I was pregnant, and that slowed things down significantly. Another kid happened and I found myself with a BFA at 36, and absolutely NO job prospects. After a failed MFA application round during my final year in undergrad, I decided that maybe I wanted to re-evaluate where I was going, and now here I am, ready to start my MA in Art History in the fall. Feeling too old is just a feeling. Don't let it get in your way. If I'm not too old at 37, and I'm not, you are definitely not too old at 27.

[Slide568]

Hey there. I don't think you have to worry about being too old. Just some perspective for you: I did a MA at Harvard (religion; 23-24 yrs. old) and a MA at Tufts (classical archaeology 25-26 years old), and I'm starting my PhD at Columbia in Art History and Archaeology this coming fall. That will make me 27 years old in my first year of doctoral studies. If you want to be an art historian, don't let age discourage you! Go for the PhD if you'd like. But if you'd like to do the MA first, that's fine too. Lord knows my age (and MAs) is a testament to that being okay.

Congrats on CU in the fall, best of luck!

[Slide568]

It is never too late to do what you want to do. Some people continue to graduate school right away, but many do not. Personally, I didn't start my undergrad until I was 27, and married, and working fulltime. (Iwas an artist, I didn't need to go to school, come on!) 3 years later, I was pregnant, and that slowed things down significantly. Another kid happened and I found myself with a BFA at 36, and absolutely NO job prospects. After a failed MFA application round during my final year in undergrad, I decided that maybe I wanted to re-evaluate where I was going, and now here I am, ready to start my MA in Art History in the fall. Feeling too old is just a feeling. Don't let it get in your way. If I'm not too old at 37, and I'm not, you are definitely not too old at 27.

Ahh. very wise indeed! Interesting to see how folks with multidimensional lives and not just superhumanacademicoverachievers are the ones that live a little first!