Princeton 2021 Art History PhD interview

[ChrisBJ]

Hi everyone, I wonder if anyone who applied for the 2021 Art History Ph.D. program at Princeton receives an interview request yet? If so, would you mind sharing your interview questions and the experience with me? Does the department actually conduct interviews? Is it possible that you will receive an acceptance letter without an interview? When will Princeton send out the rejection or acceptance letters? 

Many thanks! 

[yang95]

Hi, I asked the secretary before and she applied that there would not be any interviews this year.

[howdyitsme]

Hi! I haven't heard a thing. Based on posts in other application season, interviews seem to be requested in lated December and early January with acceptances and rejections sent out in February. But who knows what will happen this year! 

Would love to hear if anyone has heard anything yet.

[Kylix]

I haven't heard anything either, but it's still a bit early. That said, I applied for the pre-doctoral fellowship and based on grad cafe reports, last year around this time some classics pre-PhD kids got interview requests. I'm also worried about the fact that a poster on that other thread reported receiving an interview from this department and also said they're only accepting 5 graduate students this year.  Princeton is a long shot for everyone, a near impossibility for me, and way way way tougher this year. 

[Kylix]

Can't stand the wait! Harvard already sent out acceptances for art history, which is irrelevant since I didn't apply there, but it should be about time for Princeton to notify us!

[ChrisBJ]

On 2/10/2021 at 6:04 PM, Kylix said:

Can't stand the wait! Harvard already sent out acceptances for art history, which is irrelevant since I didn't apply there, but it should be about time for Princeton to notify us!

My guess is that their decision should be by the end of next week, BUT who knows. I have already prepared to apply again next year with other schools. Best of luck to you though!!! 

[ChrisBJ]

On 1/30/2021 at 6:44 PM, Kylix said:

I haven't heard anything either, but it's still a bit early. That said, I applied for the pre-doctoral fellowship and based on grad cafe reports, last year around this time some classics pre-PhD kids got interview requests. I'm also worried about the fact that a poster on that other thread reported receiving an interview from this department and also said they're only accepting 5 graduate students this year.  Princeton is a long shot for everyone, a near impossibility for me, and way way way tougher this year. 

Is your research field in classics? Where is the other thread about Princeton? The information on interviews from Princeton's art history department is so mixed that someone said there won't be any interviews, but others said yes. 

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by ChrisBJ
Missing information to ask

[Kylix]

Yes, my area would be ancient art, Greek iconography.  When I first researched the department last spring, there weren't that many grad students in the ancient field. But then when I looked again, I saw that for fall '20 year they took a bunch to fill the gap.  I wouldn't be a strong candidate in a good year, forget about this year what with that fact plus COVID  issues. Still, it's hard not to hope anyway! Also, I'm going for the Pre-PhD program. It's hard to judge what would be the right degree of readiness for that, since the whole idea is to boost your preparation before you enter the doctoral track so theoretically you don't need to have perfect credentials. But with the competition you probably still need more than perfection.

Based on grad cafe, it seems the pre-PhD students for Art & Archaeology got interviewed but not necessarily the regular doctoral admits.

What's your area?

[ChrisBJ]

2 hours ago, Kylix said:

Yes, my area would be ancient art, Greek iconography.  When I first researched the department last spring, there weren't that many grad students in the ancient field. But then when I looked again, I saw that for fall '20 year they took a bunch to fill the gap.  I wouldn't be a strong candidate in a good year, forget about this year what with that fact plus COVID  issues. Still, it's hard not to hope anyway! Also, I'm going for the Pre-PhD program. It's hard to judge what would be the right degree of readiness for that, since the whole idea is to boost your preparation before you enter the doctoral track so theoretically you don't need to have perfect credentials. But with the competition you probably still need more than perfection.

Based on grad cafe, it seems the pre-PhD students for Art & Archaeology got interviewed but not necessarily the regular doctoral admits.

What's your area?

Not to discourage you for your dream school and program, but I know UF has pretty strong Classics studies in both of their Art History and Classics departments. My area is in modern art. 

This sounds dump to ask, but where did you see the Pre-PhD program when you applied Princeton? I somehow missed it completely. 

[Kylix]

Thanks. Yeah, I knew UF was good.  However, my undergrad major is archaeology.  So while I have some Latin and Greek, I don't have enough of a language background to be admitted to most classics programs without a post-bac. Since I can't afford to pay for a post-bac, I applied to Texas Tech Classics Dept --archaeology track, and the University of Tennessee Anthropology Dept --Mediterranean Archaeology because they were both a bit more flexible about language prep  and both seemed to offer some funding for the master's level. 

There was a box to check on the Princeton application asking if you were interested in the pre-doctoral program. But I also saw an article about the classics students admitted in the pilot year of the program.

Edited February 13, 2021 by Kylix
Addition

[ChrisBJ]

On 2/12/2021 at 7:02 PM, Kylix said:

Thanks. Yeah, I knew UF was good.  However, my undergrad major is archaeology.  So while I have some Latin and Greek, I don't have enough of a language background to be admitted to most classics programs without a post-bac. Since I can't afford to pay for a post-bac, I applied to Texas Tech Classics Dept --archaeology track, and the University of Tennessee Anthropology Dept --Mediterranean Archaeology because they were both a bit more flexible about language prep  and both seemed to offer some funding for the master's level. 

There was a box to check on the Princeton application asking if you were interested in the pre-doctoral program. But I also saw an article about the classics students admitted in the pilot year of the program.

I see. I have a friend who is a phd right now at UF's art history department, and she also majored in archaeology in undergraduate. From what I heard from her, the department is very supportive in terms of language studies and allows students to take language courses. Keep this information in mind just in case you need it next year (but I sincerely hope you will get into your dream program this year!).  

[Kylix]

UF wanted 3 years of 1 language, 2 in the other.  

[Affogato]

Has anybody heard any updates?