Met Internships

[fullofpink]

Sorry to resurrect this rather dead topic, but I'm really struggling with my decision to accept the Met internship I was offered.

I applied to the Modern and Photography departments, and outlined that I would be interested in other departments if these weren't available. I have lots of experience--three collaborative exhibitions, an exhibition I organized on my own, a yearlong internship with a respected curator of modern and contemporary art, and a short stint at a well respected museum of contemporary art. My interview went great, and I was really excited for everything, but now that my paperwork has arrived I see that I've been accepted as an intern in the communications department.

I am really grateful to have been considered at all, and I don't want to be whiny, but I have no experience in communications--I'm not even sure what it is. I just don't know if it'll be helpful to me at all. I'm graduating from undergrad this year with the intention of applying to grad school this fall. I'm just concerned that something like a communications internship may hurt me when it's so far removed from what I'm interested in.

Sorry if this is ranty and bratty--I just want some general guidance.

Do you want to work in a museum in the future or are you leaning more on academia? If you want to work in a museum, be it curator or in the exhibition department (or something else), a communications internship will only strengthen your application for a post in a museum after your graduate degree. You have had plenty of working in an institution, but most curators (and museum staff (especially at galleries and small museums)) must have a wide range of skills to be competitive. However, if the expense is too great and you really have no interest in this, then save yourself the trouble.

If you want to go into academia, this internship might be useless.

For applying to graduate school, this internship will not make you look directionless. It just means you have many interests and a wide range of skills.

[fullofpink]

If you are really curious, can you email your POI or intern supervisor and ask what assignments you will be doing? This might help you.

[clamato]

If you are really curious, can you email your POI or intern supervisor and ask what assignments you will be doing? This might help you.

Thanks for the advice. I contacted the internship coordinator and she's already answered a lot of the questions I had -- I was worried that as an administrative intern I wouldn't be able to give gallery tours, etc, but I was wrong.

I ultimately want to go into curatorial work, so I'm definitely going to accept the internship.

Thanks!

[fragonard32]

Hi everyone,

As an art history graduate, I, too, never fully grasped the politics of paid/unpaid museum internships. I agree that often times undergrads are bogged down with administrative duties that their superiors don't want to perform themselves--and while that is a component of virtually any internship, I hate it when it is the basis. The Met internship is highly coveted by most art history students, no doubt, but I know a few former (undergrad) interns whose experience entailed routine admin. tasks; of course this easily can change as a grad student as someone noted earlier here.

For those that are still pursuing their BA, I encourage you all to look into an incredible and substantial internship opportunity at the Smithsonian Institution: Katzenberger Foundation Art History Internship; it pays $5000 for 10 weeks and involves substantial projects in curatorial/research departments of different Smithsonian units. I feel extremely fortunate to have been selected for this internship last summer; my project involved considerable responsibility and I learned a lot!

Cheers!

[Tabes]

Apologies for thread necromancy, but has anyone who applied this year heard back yet? I'm starting to lose hope for my application.

[naughtical]

Apologies for thread necromancy, but has anyone who applied this year heard back yet? I'm starting to lose hope for my application.

I've got my fingers crossed no one's heard back yet, but my hope is waning as well. Perhaps they'll wait until the 29th to send anything out :]

[Tabes]

Really? No one's heard back at all yet?

I'm hoping there were fewer applicants this year. Last year, I only had to write one essay. This year, there were three plus letters of recommendation at time of application. Maybe that thinned the herd a bit?

[artmuse]

I applied this year too, but it seems like when they say "finalists will be notified by March 1st" they actually mean on March 1st. I haven't heard anything yet. Good luck everyone!

[Tabes]

I'm extra nervous because I don't know if I can really compete with people from more prestigious schools. I go to a small state school due to circumstance and I am excelling here, but I'm afraid my application won't be considered next to students from NYU and Brown.

[whiskers1992]

Does anyone know the exact dates of notification for the MET , Guggenheim, and MoMA apps?

[Tabes]

The Met said they'd contact semifinalists by March 1

[whiskers1992]

so nervous.

[Tabes]

Me, too...

[artmuse]

I've applied for the undergraduate internship a few times and never gotten it. I'm hoping I might have a better shot as a Graduate student this year. There are fewer spots but I think because it's only MA students there are probably far fewer applicants. I hope we hear soon!

[Tabes]

What exactly are they looking for with regard to undergrad interns?

[d1991]

It seems like the undergrad summer internship (the junior mentoring one at least) is geared toward those who are underrepresented in museum careers. I'm not sure if this means they're selecting exclusively from a pool of minorities/low socialeconomic background individuals though. It does seem like an important factor since there was an essay on it.

[Tabes]

The difference from last year is that the only undergrad internship they are offering this year is the mentoring program. When I emailed them over the summer to ask how I could strengthen my application, they said they didn't take any undergrads last year except in the mentoring program, so I think they changed the overall structure to reflect that.

[artmuse]

Has anyone heard anything yet?

[Tabes]

Not yet...

[conserved]

I applied for the paid graduate internship. Still waiting to hear...

[Tabes]

Maybe they will send us all a big mass email tomorrow. Here's hoping!

[ThaddeusCrane]

I had a Getty internship in LA for a summer as an undergraduate. Would having another big name internship under your belt help your chances with the Met?

[fullofpink]

Probably depends on what you want to do and what the museum needs. My guess is that certain departments are alloted a specific number of interns, it might rotate depending on the year, or they might vie for different projects and only the departments with particularly good projects get paid interns. As an anecdote, when I select interns for my department in my museum, I review dozens of wonderfully qualified candidates with fantastic experience, but if they do not illustrate a sincere interest in my department, or if they have too much experience and I feel this experience will be redundant, I may select another candidate. For me, a sincere expression to learn my department is better than someone who already knows everything - unless, of course, I have a specific project that requires a solid person to handle it. Again, it's all circumstantial. For instance, in other departments, they may only want people with so many years experience, or who come from very prestigious backgrounds or - and yes this is a factor - who recommended them or what their previous affliation with the institution is.

The undergraduates I know who have recieved paid summer internships at the Met come from very prestigious schools and did not have any real/relevant internship experiences. My assumption, based on how the website addresses it, is that the Cloisters internship is a bit easier to get since they may not have nearly as many applicants.

[Tabes]

Whatever you do, don't make my mistake and call. Apparently I missed where they had stated no phone calls. Hopefully that doesn't screw me over.

But I learned that they will be sending emails out today. Yay?

[Mary Stanfield]

So I'm not the only one sticking by my computer obsessively refreshing until 5? That's good to know.