American Studies Fall 2020?

[histofsci]

Anyone else NOT received a rejection from NYU yet?

[parallaxview]

1 hour ago, histofsci said:

Anyone else NOT received a rejection from NYU yet?

I haven’t heard anything yet either!

[teacup12]

4 hours ago, histofsci said:

Anyone else NOT received a rejection from NYU yet?

Haven't heard anything either... very strange! 

[histofsci]

3 hours ago, teacup12 said:

Haven't heard anything either... very strange! 

 

6 hours ago, parallaxview said:

I haven’t heard anything yet either!

Ah, they must be sending them out in waves then. I assume I've been rejected. Best of luck to you both!

[clementine22]

Same here for NYU. Also, for those waiting to hear back from Rutgers, I have a friend there who is familiar with the AMST dept and he said they are still working out how many seats/financial aid packages they have to offer. 

[mediajinx]

Has anyone heard anything from Washington State (Pullman)?

[dustbunnies]

I was rejected from Brown (again), and waitlisted at Harvard. The AMST director said it could be another 6+ weeks before I find out for sure if there's a space for me or not. I swear I'm going slowly insane. 

[LondonFog27]

On 3/6/2020 at 9:25 PM, dustbunnies said:

I was rejected from Brown (again), and waitlisted at Harvard. The AMST director said it could be another 6+ weeks before I find out for sure if there's a space for me or not. I swear I'm going slowly insane. 

I've been waitlisted since January for a program. The director recently told me that no one has accepted nor rejected their offer of admissions and to check back in when I am on the brink of accepting another offer. This entire process is so wild!

[LondonFog27]

On 3/5/2020 at 2:16 PM, clementine22 said:

Same here for NYU. Also, for those waiting to hear back from Rutgers, I have a friend there who is familiar with the AMST dept and he said they are still working out how many seats/financial aid packages they have to offer. 

Geez....Helpful info! Rutgers the only school I have not heard from. I simply need this nightmare to be over. Immediately. 

[dustbunnies]

On 3/8/2020 at 11:32 PM, LondonFog27 said:

I've been waitlisted since January for a program. The director recently told me that no one has accepted nor rejected their offer of admissions and to check back in when I am on the brink of accepting another offer. This entire process is so wild!

Good luck to you! I'm still waiting to hear, but I've seen a handful of folks here and on reddit debating whether to accept their Harvard offer or not, so I'm crossing my fingers that they all prefer the other programs and also were offered better funding!  

[jlaser]

Is there a consensus on the rankings of American Studies programs? According to NRC rankings, Yale, Harvard, Brown, NYU, UBuffalo, and Washington State are among the top. However these rankings were collected 10 years ago. USC isin't even on the list, despite being (according to a mentor) among the top 3. I've never heard of UBuffalo or Washington States programs. Harvard's I've heard has declined as has Brown. UMichigan was considered top but I'm not sure now that Phil Deloria and Tiya Miles have left. I know Yale is still considered the top but its unclear how exactly reputation and ranking work within this field (challenges of inter disciplinarity) 

[LondonFog27]

On 3/30/2020 at 10:11 PM, jlaser said:

Is there a consensus on the rankings of American Studies programs? According to NRC rankings, Yale, Harvard, Brown, NYU, UBuffalo, and Washington State are among the top. However these rankings were collected 10 years ago. USC isin't even on the list, despite being (according to a mentor) among the top 3. I've never heard of UBuffalo or Washington States programs. Harvard's I've heard has declined as has Brown. UMichigan was considered top but I'm not sure now that Phil Deloria and Tiya Miles have left. I know Yale is still considered the top but its unclear how exactly reputation and ranking work within this field (challenges of inter disciplinarity) 

I did not look into rankings when I applied and I ultimately think that "rankings" vary based on what you want out of your PhD and your particular needs as an individual.

My own ranking system considered compatibility with the department, stipend amount, healthcare (What is the deductible? Is dental and vision included? Are dependents covered ?),  the mean and median rent in the city  (Will I need a guarantor to have my own apartment because the stipend is so low?) , teaching responsibilities (Is there a union?),  alumni job placement, and summer funding. 

My focus overlaps with the museum/visual studies so I also narrowed down by applying to  programs with a strong Museum Studies/ Public History department and applied to work with faculty who had some form of affiliation with Art History or Museum Studies in addition to their American studies appointments. Additionally, I looked up fellowships POI's and students had, their existing relationships with various  cultural institutions, and any ongoing consulting/advisory roles.

For this reason, some of the "top" schools did not interest me but that simply means that it was not a good fit for my researc and standard of living.

 

 

Edited April 1, 2020 by LondonFog27

[LondonFog27]

On 3/29/2020 at 4:42 PM, dustbunnies said:

Good luck to you! I'm still waiting to hear, but I've seen a handful of folks here and on reddit debating whether to accept their Harvard offer or not, so I'm crossing my fingers that they all prefer the other programs and also were offered better funding!  

Same to you! I absolutely have not been following reddit to be honest...:) 

[dustbunnies]

2 hours ago, LondonFog27 said:

Same to you! I absolutely have not been following reddit to be honest...:) 

I mostly use it for cute animal pictures right now, but I periodically stress-check the grad admission threads. I doesn't really help with the stress, lol.

[ashwel11]

It's been awhile since I've been on Grad Cafe, but I'm just popping in to say that I was just accepted into Columbia's MA American Studies Program. Good luck to anyone that's still waiting on them  

Edited April 2, 2020 by ashwel11

[julesevar]

I am curious as to what types of jobs besides college Professor do MA and PhD's in American studies get?  I am interested in applying the next go round for Fall 2021. I will most likely go for a Master's first and then decide if I will apply for Phd programs (that is assuming I get into a Master's program). 

 

[abcdefgzyx]

On 4/2/2020 at 6:22 PM, ashwel11 said:

It's been awhile since I've been on Grad Cafe, but I'm just popping in to say that I was just accepted into Columbia's MA American Studies Program. Good luck to anyone that's still waiting on them  

CONGRATS!!

[unwelded]

On 3/30/2020 at 10:11 PM, jlaser said:

Is there a consensus on the rankings of American Studies programs? According to NRC rankings, Yale, Harvard, Brown, NYU, UBuffalo, and Washington State are among the top. However these rankings were collected 10 years ago. USC isin't even on the list, despite being (according to a mentor) among the top 3. I've never heard of UBuffalo or Washington States programs. Harvard's I've heard has declined as has Brown. UMichigan was considered top but I'm not sure now that Phil Deloria and Tiya Miles have left. I know Yale is still considered the top but its unclear how exactly reputation and ranking work within this field (challenges of inter disciplinarity) 

From what I’ve heard (didn’t end up in AmStudies myself): NYU is considered to be the top ranked program right next to Yale in terms of scholarship, reputation, and placement. Brown and Harvard have the Ivy League gleam but they don’t have a strong reputation nor rank. Harvard’s hires might indicate a change, but seeing as how the scholars you mentioned were hired in disciplinary departments, it’s unclear. Furthermore they’ve come under scrutiny due to the recent tenure denial of Dr Lorgia  Garcia Pena and general lack of support for ethnic studies. Aside from that,  I haven’t heard good things about the program culturally. Brown is sort of an odd ball and not a very strong program. USC has a great reputation especially if you’re interested in Latino and Asian American studies. Michigan has a solid program but it’s not seen like it used to be. I have never heard much about the other programs (which should tell you something) 

[abcdefgzyx]

for those committed, are you going straight thru? i'm just really worried about fall term being virtual