Museum Studies Master's Programs

[PickleJuice_Aly]

HI there! I wanted to start this forum regarding Museum Studies graduate program applicants for fall 2020! I searched and couldn't find ANY forums about museum studies/museology programs or topics. Why not start here? 

What schools and programs did you apply for? What are some of your top schools? Has anyone heard back from the schools they were hoping for? 

I personally applied to the Museum and Field Studies at UC-Boulder, and then I applied to the Public History w/ Museum Specialization at Colorado State. 

[Cdz]

It's a very small field with very tiny departments, so I'm not surprised that there isn't a ton of activity here. 

Boulder's Museum and Field Studies program is my top choice, in the paleontology cognate and collections/field track. It's pretty much my ideal program and location, and Prof. Chin's research especially is really fascinating. Of course, it's also the most selective of the programs I applied to.

I also applied to Pratt and Oneonta. Pratt because I thought their digital management focus was a unique and interesting niche, great location and internship opportunities, and it meshed well with my professional career. Oneonta has a solid science museum program in general. 

Haven't heard anything at all from Pratt and Colorado. Not even a portal update past "Application received." I got an interview/campus visit request from Oneonta earlier this month for the end of March. 

Edited February 20, 2020 by Cdz

[fifia]

I've also applied to Boulder's Museum and Field Studies in the Public/Administration track, as well as Pratt, NYU, and Tufts. Pratt is my top choice, but I don't think I have much of a chance since I don't really have a tech background. Admitted to Tufts (yay!). Obviously I'd be thrilled to attend any of those schools, they're all such exciting programs with so much to offer.

[historyofsloths]

I applied to a relatively similar field, Public History, and I applied to Vermont, Colorado-Denver, and Maryland-Baltimore. I just received an email from the UMBC (University of Maryland Baltimore County) admin asking for two of my LoRs, but otherwise I haven't heard anything.

ETA: The programs I applied to also seem to have the option to overlap with Museum Studies, hence the reason I responded to this thread.

Edited February 20, 2020 by historyofsloths

[PickleJuice_Aly]

19 hours ago, Cdz said:

It's a very small field with very tiny departments, so I'm not surprised that there isn't a ton of activity here. 

Boulder's Museum and Field Studies program is my top choice, in the paleontology cognate and collections/field track. It's pretty much my ideal program and location, and Prof. Chin's research especially is really fascinating. Of course, it's also the most selective of the programs I applied to.

I also applied to Pratt and Oneonta. Pratt because I thought their digital management focus was a unique and interesting niche, great location and internship opportunities, and it meshed well with my professional career. Oneonta has a solid science museum program in general. 

Haven't heard anything at all from Pratt and Colorado. Not even a portal update past "Application received." I got an interview/campus visit request from Oneonta earlier this month for the end of March. 

Boulder is also my top choice! I also applied for the Collections/Field track but with an Anthropology Cognate. I really like the work that Dr. Shannon has done and hopefully I can work with her. I wasn't able to speak over the phone with her due to schedule conflicts. But I did get a chance to talk with the Director of the Museum Studies program and he got me super excited and was impressed with my research experience so hopefully that stuck with him and they'll pick me maybe?!?! he told me they take in about 13-15 students i believe

[Cdz]

Got an acceptance to Pratt yesterday! It's my #2, so I'm just waiting on Boulder (or if Oneonta gives me a scholarship package so good I can't turn it down) before making a decision. It is nice to know that I'll definitely be going somewhere in the fall. 

[fifia]

Got into Pratt yesterday! It was my top choice and im super stoked about it (still going to wait to hear back from my other schools in case someone else gives me a crazy scholarship but I'm pretty much decided)

[MarkySharky]

I applied to CSU as well! I'm not doing the Museum specialization though - I decided to do Cultural Resource Management instead. I'm going NUTS trying to wait to hear! 

[Cdz]

Has anyone heard back from Boulder regarding when the visitation weekend/interviews will be? I'm having some irrational anxiety that I already missed them and they just didnt bother to send me a rejection.

Edited February 23, 2020 by Cdz

[PickleJuice_Aly]

3 hours ago, Cdz said:

Has anyone heard back from Boulder regarding when the visitation weekend/interviews will be? I'm having some irrational anxiety that I already missed them and they just didnt bother to send me a rejection.

I haven't heard a word. I've heard that not all schools with do in person interviews but the Director said that sometimes schools will pay for students to come visit in march... Unsure if that is for EVERYONE or just a select few. 

[Cdz]

25 minutes ago, PickleJuice_Aly said:

I haven't heard a word. I've heard that not all schools with do in person interviews but the Director said that sometimes schools will pay for students to come visit in march... Unsure if that is for EVERYONE or just a select few. 

It definitely wouldn't be for everyone, but since march starts next week I'm even more nervous. Oof.

[Cdz]

Someone put up an acceptance to Boulder's Museum Studies program on the Results page. If that person's here, can you share some details?

[fifia]

53 minutes ago, Cdz said:

Someone put up an acceptance to Boulder's Museum Studies program on the Results page. If that person's here, can you share some details?

Hey yeah that was me. I got an email a few hours ago saying to check the application portal, there was a new document uploaded that said I had been accepted and detailing the financial support they would be able to offer me. I applied Public/Admin track so that probably requires less decision than the more research based tracks that it seems like the rest of the people in this forum applied to. I'll be declining since I got into my top choice, but it was a nice acceptance letter. Lmk if you have any other questions.

[Cdz]

8 minutes ago, sbrits said:

Hey yeah that was me. I got an email a few hours ago saying to check the application portal, there was a new document uploaded that said I had been accepted and detailing the financial support they would be able to offer me. I applied Public/Admin track so that probably requires less decision than the more research based tracks that it seems like the rest of the people in this forum applied to. I'll be declining since I got into my top choice, but it was a nice acceptance letter. Lmk if you have any other questions.

Did it say when the accepted student/interview weekend would be? 

Edited February 25, 2020 by Cdz

[fifia]

1 minute ago, Cdz said:

Did it say when the accepted student/interview weekend would be? 

No, there was no mention of it. Honestly, I didn't know that they even did that - I always hear about those for doctorate programs but I didn't think it was common practice for masters programs (but that might just be bc I'm in humanities and we don't really have to talk about lab experience)

[Cdz]

3 minutes ago, sbrits said:

No, there was no mention of it. Honestly, I didn't know that they even did that - I always hear about those for doctorate programs but I didn't think it was common practice for masters programs (but that might just be bc I'm in humanities and we don't really have to talk about lab experience)

Huh. I talked to Dr. Simpson at a conference last year and he talked about it then. I might have been mistaken. 

[Cdz]

Update: Talked to Janet. She said that visits and interviews are handled on an individual reviewer basis and are usually preceded by a Skype interview. 

[MarkySharky]

Guys!! I got an update on my CSU app!!! It says, "your department has recommended a decision to the Graduate School. You will receive a final decision within two weeks." Can anyone explain what this means to me? Does it mean they've accepted me?

[Cdz]

On 2/26/2020 at 11:40 AM, MarkySharky said:

Guys!! I got an update on my CSU app!!! It says, "your department has recommended a decision to the Graduate School. You will receive a final decision within two weeks." Can anyone explain what this means to me? Does it mean they've accepted me?

Technically, the graduate school has to make a final decision, but this is usually just formality, so it should mean you're in. 

[Cdz]

Has anyone else heard anything from Boulder? Portal updates, interview requests, anything? My partner and I need to start planning for a relocation but we can't really until I hear from them. I'm debating emailing the director but don't want to annoy him right before a decision or update goes out.  

[PickleJuice_Aly]

1 hour ago, Cdz said:

Has anyone else heard anything from Boulder? Portal updates, interview requests, anything? My partner and I need to start planning for a relocation but we can't really until I hear from them. I'm debating emailing the director but don't want to annoy him right before a decision or update goes out.  

I haven't heard anything recently at all. On Feb. 12th, I emailed the Grad Program Coordinator about when students would be notified, she said that the facily reviewers would be meeting the next week to discuss choices, and that "applications will be reviewed Jan. through Mar. and notification should take place by Mid-April"... so it could be a min till we hear back. She said that waitlists are also a possibility.

I'm constantly checking my portal and email just in case though

[PickleJuice_Aly]

Also! I applied to Texas Tech program last minute for a backup just in case. I submitted the app on Friday and they've already gotten back to be about being accepted. Exciting! BUT, I did not have an overall GPA of 3.0, mine was 2.7 but my major gpa was 3.2 (too bad that doesn't count for anything).. so they can't offer me funding the first semester. I'm going to wait to hear back from other schools before going forward with anything

[Cdz]

I took a look at Boulder's academic schedule, and last week was grading week (today was the deadline to enter them) and their Spring Break is the 23rd-27th. So, this means that if we don't hear anything by the end of next week, it'll probably be at least the 30th before anything goes out. 

[PickleJuice_Aly]

16 hours ago, Cdz said:

I took a look at Boulder's academic schedule, and last week was grading week (today was the deadline to enter them) and their Spring Break is the 23rd-27th. So, this means that if we don't hear anything by the end of next week, it'll probably be at least the 30th before anything goes out. 

Hopefully we hear back before their spring break! That seems the most ideal

[aheather]

I applied to Oxford's MSc in Visual, Material and Museum Anthropology

I haven't heard anything (applied in January), and I'm going absolutely nuts. It's a small program and there's not a lot of (consistent) information about when notifications go out, so I've been checking my email every two minutes