Letter of Recs

[gardetto]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting, so please do let me know if this topic has been posted before/I'm posting in the wrong forum.

I am a currently planning to apply to (terminal) M.A. programs for Art History. Would it be preferable to have all my professor rec letters from within the art history department, or can I get some from professors who have taught me other non art history related classes? Additionally, are professional recs ever a good idea for applying to art history graduate programs (ie: recs from bosses at previous internships in related fields, etc).

Thanks a lot.

edit: the reason I ask is because I have a professor in mind who would write me a great rec, but she is not in the art hist. department of my undergrad institution. Additionally, my undergrad institution's art history department is really small, and I honestly don't have many profs within the department who I know with confidence would write me a good rec... :/

[Herbie]

Your professor choices for letters of rec should be motivated by two significant factors:

- Which professor you've been in contact with the most, preferably Art History. This is affected by how many courses you took by them, presentations, symposia, etc. It's just easier that way. If you''re not confident in whether they can write you a good letter of recommendation, it's not unfair to ask: "Are you able to write a good letter of recommendation for me for graduate school?"

- Professors who know your work capabilities, skills and interests. Therefore, if you want a letter of recommendation for a graduate Art History program, I believe it'll be okay as long as the letter supplements your interests - gender studies, cultural studies, anthropology, etc. I would steer from LORs in generic courses like Speech or necessary undergrad areas, like Biology. . .

I don't know about professional letters of rec! I believe they would be fine, but I'd go for those who have known me for a longer period. Ah, that's when I'd attempt to get a LOR from a head honcho.

When I did my letters of rec, I also sent my professors the corresponding grades I received in their courses, research paper titles, and what I can somewhat call a CV. d:

Hope some of this helps.

There is a forum specifically for guidance in applying to graduate school: http://forum.thegradcafe.com/forum/4-applications/ <---

Anymore logistical questions could be answered there, but I don't feel like this is out of place so much considering what you're pursuing. Plus this area is moving kinda slow, with us waiting on grad news. I don't mind helping.

[Waffles]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting, so please do let me know if this topic has been posted before/I'm posting in the wrong forum.

I am a currently planning to apply to (terminal) M.A. programs for Art History. Would it be preferable to have all my professor rec letters from within the art history department, or can I get some from professors who have taught me other non art history related classes? Additionally, are professional recs ever a good idea for applying to art history graduate programs (ie: recs from bosses at previous internships in related fields, etc).

Thanks a lot.

edit: the reason I ask is because I have a professor in mind who would write me a great rec, but she is not in the art hist. department of my undergrad institution. Additionally, my undergrad institution's art history department is really small, and I honestly don't have many profs within the department who I know with confidence would write me a good rec... :/

Hey Gardetto!

Not sure if this is posted elsewhere, but I can let you know what I did for my letters of rec. I generally submitted 4 letters and two of them weren't art history professors. One is a current supervisor at my internship and the other was my Italian professor (I minored in Italian). Of the two art history professors, one was just my general advisor and I didn't take a single course with her, but we often discussed the courses that I had to take and she let me translate some documents for her. The other art history professor who wrote a letter for me was my professor for four courses including an independent study.

So, generally, it's a great idea to exemplify some diversity when considering who you would like to write the letters of rec for you. However, I would advise against asking a professor outside of the humanities departments.

Hope this helps!

[violetvivian]

To reiterate what has already been said: AH writers are preferable, but related Humanities are absolutely acceptable. Even better if the prof's work is visually driven but not tenured in the AH department (i.e. American Studies, Anthropology, Comp. Lit, etc.). I did this for PhD admissions--two of my letter writers are tenured in non-AH fields, but their work is relevant and known in AH circles.

I'd like to add that you should always be aware of the academic relationships that your professors have when choosing letter writers. If your letter writer knows faculty at your program of choice, they may be able to put you in touch with that professor personally. This does not mean that your reccommender must be a star in the field. It can be as simple as saying "I see you did your doctorate work at school X--is there anyone on faculty that you would recommend I contact?"

Good luck!

[gardetto]

Thanks so much everyone!

All of you were wonderful and very very helpful.

If anybody out there has put in professional letter of recs in their grad school apps and lived (was accepted) to tell the tale, please do let me know!

Thanks again peeps

[mooncake88]

I've been accepted to two programs so far, and I had one professional rec letter for one program, and two for another (art history and art and museum studies programs, respectively).

Though, my goal is to do museum work, and my letter writers both worked in art museums. If you are curious about specifics just pm me--I'm a little wary about posting so much info on public boards, but if it would help you out it's no problem!

If anybody out there has put in professional letter of recs in their grad school apps and lived (was accepted) to tell the tale, please do let me know!

Thanks again peeps