Application Thread Fall 2024

[littlepalmtree]

Updates for me on MA and PhD:

Rejections: Harvard PhD

Acceptances: PhD CU Boulder with funding , MA Boston University 

Waiting: UBC

[coy.ote]

3 hours ago, vaneyckstan said:

Hi all, I just realized this forum was going lol. I'm applying for MA programs in art history and a couple in archaeology since my interest is in Byzantine carved gemstones and other natural materials like feathers. 

Rejections: Temple, U of Arizona, WUSTL.

Waitlisted: Tulane

Acceptances: NYU IFA, Yale (MA Archaeology), Cornell (MA Archaeology), University of Illinois-Chicago (waitlist for funding), GWU, University of Florida (fully funded), Ohio University (fully funded), Arizona State (accepted but declined).

Still waiting: Williams, UMass-Amherst, CU Boulder, Penn, University of Washington, Columbia, Tufts

Wow, congrats on all those acceptances! I know for a fact University of Florida has a great program. I'm also still waiting on Williams, CU Boulder, and Tufts

[vaneyckstan]

54 minutes ago, coy.ote said:

Wow, congrats on all those acceptances! I know for a fact University of Florida has a great program. I'm also still waiting on Williams, CU Boulder, and Tufts

Hi, thanks so much! I heard other folks got interviews for Williams but I haven't heard anything, still holding out hope!

[gomujanggab]

On 3/11/2024 at 11:53 AM, coy.ote said:

Unless you can afford an unfunded MA without taking out loans and without any financial strain, it's not worth it at all IMO. In a field like art history where you likely won't be making a lot of money, going into debt for the degree isn't worth it. All my professors who took out loans for their PhDs strongly encouraged me to only go to programs that fully funded me because of this.

Also, I'm not sure if this is really true but it's my assumption based on the reputations of "cash cow" programs, it seems like whether a program offers funding to students may be indicative of the resources you'll receive there. A lot of art history MAs that don't fund students focus most of their energy on their PhD students instead, I've heard. So I'd be cautious about generally unfunded programs.

Thank you so much for sharing your insights. I really appreciate it! 

[cutiepie]

7 hours ago, vaneyckstan said:

Hi all, I just realized this forum was going lol. I'm applying for MA programs in art history and a couple in archaeology since my interest is in Byzantine carved gemstones and other natural materials like feathers. 

Rejections: Temple, U of Arizona, WUSTL.

Waitlisted: Tulane

Acceptances: NYU IFA, Yale (MA Archaeology), Cornell (MA Archaeology), University of Illinois-Chicago (waitlist for funding), GWU, University of Florida (fully funded), Ohio University (fully funded), Arizona State (accepted but declined).

Still waiting: Williams, UMass-Amherst, CU Boulder, Penn, University of Washington, Columbia, Tufts

Hi! Congratulations on your acceptances, are you still waiting on Penn State or Pennsylvania University? 

[vaneyckstan]

46 minutes ago, cutiepie said:

Hi! Congratulations on your acceptances, are you still waiting on Penn State or Pennsylvania University? 

Thanks so much! I'm actually still waiting on both and meant University of Pennsylvania originally, but I'm also waiting for Penn State!

[aurelienne]

10 hours ago, vaneyckstan said:

Hi all, I just realized this forum was going lol. I'm applying for MA programs in art history and a couple in archaeology since my interest is in Byzantine carved gemstones and other natural materials like feathers. 

Rejections: Temple, U of Arizona, WUSTL.

Waitlisted: Tulane

Acceptances: NYU IFA, Yale (MA Archaeology), Cornell (MA Archaeology), University of Illinois-Chicago (waitlist for funding), GWU, University of Florida (fully funded), Ohio University (fully funded), Arizona State (accepted but declined).

Still waiting: Williams, UMass-Amherst, CU Boulder, Penn, University of Washington, Columbia, Tufts

Congratulations on your many acceptances! I am also waiting on Williams at the moment. Your specialization is interesting—I'm currently in a transitory phase looking at antique and late antique engraved gems, particularly in early Christian contexts but also examining fascinations with various types of marbles. 

[vaneyckstan]

24 minutes ago, aurelienne said:

Congratulations on your many acceptances! I am also waiting on Williams at the moment. Your specialization is interesting—I'm currently in a transitory phase looking at antique and late antique engraved gems, particularly in early Christian contexts but also examining fascinations with various types of marbles. 

Oh that's so neat! I love engraved gems so much and it's so cool to see someone else who also does. I also have a really soft spot for Oceanic art. I didn't expect to get into any MA programs this year because my BA was not in art history, and I wrote an entire AH essay from scratch to be taken seriously by programs lol. So because of that, I applied broadly, at places that would work well for my interest in gems and in places that might take me for Oceanic art (Tulane and University of East Anglia). Wild ride!

[Bryce Chatwin]

Hello Everyone! I'm a bit late to this thread, but I'm curious where everyone is at with acceptances to schools, especially Williams College. Since I am late I'll give you some background. I applied to 8 Masters Programs, UMass Amherst, University of St. Thomas, UC Boulder, University of South Florida, University of Kentucky (Curatorial MFA), Tufts, Williams, and Bard College (Curatorial MA). 

I have been accepted to: the University of South Florida (Fully Funded W/ Stipend) & University of Kentucky (Fully Funded W/ Stipend). 

Rejected from: UC Boulder

I'm still waiting on all the other schools. I hope they reply soon as I have decision deadlines for my accepted programs on April 15th, which seems to be the standard with many schools. I hope everyone else is having luck with getting into their programs.

Edited March 13 by Bryce Chatwin
typo

[wpefwldjsdj]

On 3/12/2024 at 12:53 AM, coy.ote said:

Unless you can afford an unfunded MA without taking out loans and without any financial strain, it's not worth it at all IMO. In a field like art history where you likely won't be making a lot of money, going into debt for the degree isn't worth it. All my professors who took out loans for their PhDs strongly encouraged me to only go to programs that fully funded me because of this.

Also, I'm not sure if this is really true but it's my assumption based on the reputations of "cash cow" programs, it seems like whether a program offers funding to students may be indicative of the resources you'll receive there. A lot of art history MAs that don't fund students focus most of their energy on their PhD students instead, I've heard. So I'd be cautious about generally unfunded programs.

Thanks for sharing! Btw, what are some ‘cash cow’ programs? Are universities that do not fund their ma students generally considered a cash cow university?

[coy.ote]

22 minutes ago, wpefwldjsdj said:

Thanks for sharing! Btw, what are some ‘cash cow’ programs? Are universities that do not fund their ma students generally considered a cash cow university?

People call some unfunded MAs "cash cow" programs because it can seem like the university is taking advantage of their MA students and using the tuition they pay to fund the PhD program instead, while giving MA students little to no support. Using their MA students as "cash cows" essentially. It's a derogatory term and not always accurate (for example I have heard of people having good experiences in Columbia's MA despite that being unfunded) which is why I put it in quotation marks, just couldn't think of another way to describe them lol

42 minutes ago, Bryce Chatwin said:

I have been accepted to: the University of South Florida (Fully Funded W/ Stipend) & University of Kentucky (Fully Funded W/ Stipend). 

Rejected from: UC Boulder

A little shocked to see a rejection from Boulder out already, I interviewed with them and haven't heard anything since! I hope no news is good news at this point? Congrats on your fully funded acceptances btw!

Edited March 13 by coy.ote
clarification

[wpefwldjsdj]

5 minutes ago, coy.ote said:

People call some unfunded MAs "cash cow" programs because it can seem like the university is taking advantage of their MA students and using the tuition they pay to fund the PhD program instead, while giving MA students little to no support. Using their MA students as "cash cows" essentially. It's a derogatory term and not always accurate (for example I have heard of people having good experiences in Columbia's MA despite that being unfunded) which is why I put it in quotation marks, just couldn't think of another way to describe them lol

A little shocked to see a rejection from Boulder out already, I interviewed with them and haven't heard anything since! I hope no news is good news at this point? Congrats on your fully funded acceptances btw!

Thanks for clearing up! I was curious what are some other universities that are considered as cash cow MA programs besides Columbia.. if you can share that would be great.. I am accepted to some MA programs but they did not specify funding so…

[Bryce Chatwin]

9 minutes ago, coy.ote said:

A little shocked to see a rejection from Boulder out already, I interviewed with them and haven't heard anything since! I hope no news is good news at this point? Congrats on your fully funded acceptances btw!

Yeah, I just got the notification about Boulder today. Boulder was a backup program for me as I live in Salt Lake City and was hoping to expand my network by moving a bit further away. It's a great program though, but I didn't feel as though it was the perfect fit for me. I also really want a lot of practice based learning as well for curating and maybe they felt they couldn't support that as well. But that's great news about getting an interview, I hope things work out for you!

[coy.ote]

9 hours ago, wpefwldjsdj said:

Thanks for clearing up! I was curious what are some other universities that are considered as cash cow MA programs besides Columbia.. if you can share that would be great.. I am accepted to some MA programs but they did not specify funding so…

UChicago MAPH and NYU IFA are two other programs that seem to have this reputation, I'm not sure of any others.

[vaneyckstan]

Anyone heard from University of Pennsylvania's MA Art History program yet?

[gomujanggab]

Here are my MA updates since I think we are nearing the end of the application cycle!

Rejections: UC Berkeley (MA Asian Studies) 

Acceptances: Tulane (funded), NYU IFA, Courtauld, Stanford (MA East Asian Studies), SOAS 

Waiting: Williams, Columbia, UCLA (MA East Asian Studies) 

Hope these other schools get back to us soon especially with the April 15th decision deadline for the US schools.

[coy.ote]

Y'all I still haven't heard from half my programs and I'm going insane. Just put me out of misery already lol

Not sure if anyone else here was accepted to UMass Amherst without funding, but if there is, or for any lurkers: I was worried that they had budget cuts, since they claim to fund everyone, but apparently this year they sent out all their acceptances at once instead of in rounds like they usually do. I was told I was accepted without funding because they think there's a good chance funding will trickle down as those with funded offers go elsewhere. So essentially we're on a waitlist for funding.

I'm not sure if this means people who haven't heard from UMass should expect rejections or waitlists. But hopefully this info helps!

[Angelz]

Hi all, it's been a while and hope everyone's doing well!:) 

I have recently received offers from the UK MA programs I applied to (Courtauld, UCL, St Andrews, and Edinburgh), but haven't heard back from Williams. On their website it says offers are made on a rolling basis from March to April. Was wondering if anyone's heard back from them yet? 

Also would love to get some advice for the UK ones if anyone's got any opinion or have accepted their offers! I haven't accepted any and feel a bit torn between them.

[gomujanggab]

5 hours ago, coy.ote said:

Y'all I still haven't heard from half my programs and I'm going insane. Just put me out of misery already lol

Not sure if anyone else here was accepted to UMass Amherst without funding, but if there is, or for any lurkers: I was worried that they had budget cuts, since they claim to fund everyone, but apparently this year they sent out all their acceptances at once instead of in rounds like they usually do. I was told I was accepted without funding because they think there's a good chance funding will trickle down as those with funded offers go elsewhere. So essentially we're on a waitlist for funding.

I'm not sure if this means people who haven't heard from UMass should expect rejections or waitlists. But hopefully this info helps!

I didn't apply to UMass Amherst but when I was making my list of schools, my professors had highly recommended the program for its funding. I am really surprised to hear that they offered you admission with no funding, even if it is supposed to trickle down. Since there is no guarantee of that, it just gives off a bad impression on their admissions process because they make such a big emphasis on funding. I hope you receive some good news from them soon. 

[Bryce Chatwin]

6 hours ago, coy.ote said:

I'm not sure if this means people who haven't heard from UMass should expect rejections or waitlists. But hopefully this info helps!

This is helpful since I haven't heard anything from UMass. Hopefully they'll send out something to everyone else soon. I won't get my hopes up since it sounds like they have contacted the people they are admitting but you never know. I do think it's odd they accepted you without any real funding offer besides the hope you get full funding when students decide not to enroll. That's a big risk to take though as most funded students will wait to respond as they evaluate their options until the April 15th deadline.

[FGE]

15 hours ago, coy.ote said:

Y'all I still haven't heard from half my programs and I'm going insane. Just put me out of misery already lol

Not sure if anyone else here was accepted to UMass Amherst without funding, but if there is, or for any lurkers: I was worried that they had budget cuts, since they claim to fund everyone, but apparently this year they sent out all their acceptances at once instead of in rounds like they usually do. I was told I was accepted without funding because they think there's a good chance funding will trickle down as those with funded offers go elsewhere. So essentially we're on a waitlist for funding.

I'm not sure if this means people who haven't heard from UMass should expect rejections or waitlists. But hopefully this info helps!

Same here. I'm still waiting to hear from Tufts and BU. It's driving me insane, especially as this is my second round of applying (rejected last year). Really felt I had a strong application this year round but honestly loosing hope that its not meant to be. The later it goes on the more I reckon they're rejections. 

[coy.ote]

9 hours ago, gomujanggab said:

Since there is no guarantee of that, it just gives off a bad impression on their admissions process because they make such a big emphasis on funding. I hope you receive some good news from them soon.

9 hours ago, Bryce Chatwin said:

That's a big risk to take though as most funded students will wait to respond as they evaluate their options until the April 15th deadline.

It's definitely A Choice UMass is my #1 pick at this point, so I really hope that funding does make it down to me. (This is the part where I beg anyone who got in with funding to let UMass know if they aren't going ASAP lol) I was also told this was just an experiment, and they'll likely go back to sending out decisions in rounds next year... thank goodness for that, because receiving an unfunded offer when they're known for their funding just felt horrible.

10 hours ago, Angelz said:

I have recently received offers from the UK MA programs I applied to (Courtauld, UCL, St Andrews, and Edinburgh), but haven't heard back from Williams. On their website it says offers are made on a rolling basis from March to April. Was wondering if anyone's heard back from them yet?

Someone here had an interview with Williams, and there was an acceptance from them posted on the results board a while ago. I haven't heard from them either though.

26 minutes ago, FGE said:

Same here. I'm still waiting to hear from Tufts and BU. It's driving me insane, especially as this is my second round of applying (rejected last year). Really felt I had a strong application this year round but honestly loosing hope that its not meant to be. The later it goes on the more I reckon they're rejections. 

Ahh best of luck!!!! I definitely relate to losing hope as time goes on... but some of these programs may send out decisions in rounds, or we could be on the waitlist, so anything could happen! Fingers crossed for you!

[vaneyckstan]

16 hours ago, Angelz said:

Hi all, it's been a while and hope everyone's doing well!:) 

I have recently received offers from the UK MA programs I applied to (Courtauld, UCL, St Andrews, and Edinburgh), but haven't heard back from Williams. On their website it says offers are made on a rolling basis from March to April. Was wondering if anyone's heard back from them yet? 

Also would love to get some advice for the UK ones if anyone's got any opinion or have accepted their offers! I haven't accepted any and feel a bit torn between them.

Haven't heard anything from Williams either. I'm assuming I'm rejected at this point because I've seen other people get interviews

[gomujanggab]

25 minutes ago, vaneyckstan said:

Haven't heard anything from Williams either. I'm assuming I'm rejected at this point because I've seen other people get interviews

I haven't heard anything either from Williams, but at the same time I haven't heard too many people say that they were accepted into the program following the interview. I think keep your fingers crossed! I was hoping that a few more results would come back today since it's Friday and nearing the third week of March, but I guess not. 

[coy.ote]

Yea I agree with gomujanggab! Their admissions are on a rolling basis so they might continue to do interviews throughout this month. Looking through the results board, I've seen people get acceptances from Williams as late as April so don't assume you're rejected just yet.