Program Review Guide

[fullofpink]

I wanted to share this little "cheatsheet" I made to help ease the process of finding -- and then applying -- to appropriate graduate programs. I have used this format in Word Processor and I have one cheatsheet for every school I am interested in applying to. If you find this handy, please feel free to use! If you have any comments or suggestion, please send them my way! My little asides are in brackets.

Please note: Some of the examples I provide are from actual schools; however, Example 1 in "Financial Assistance" is not from the same school as Example 1 in "Internships" and so on. I have intentionally rearranged everything. Also, the examples are written in different ways because it reflects how different the explanation each school uses to um...explain themselves. haha.

P.S. If someone would rather I send them a blank copy in Microsoft Word, I am happy to obliged. Please PM your email address.

TITLE OF SCHOOL:

Quick Facts:

School contact information: Person to contact (if there is one), 123 School Lane, University City, State, Zip.

Phone: --- --- ----. Fax: --- --- ----

[This isn't really about the POI; instead, I have this for the instance when I (hypothetically) apply to a school and something tragic happens to my application and I need to reach someone immediately.]

# of graduate students:

[i think this is important because, for me personally, I don't want to go to a school where they have 100 students and half are ABD. Also, I don't want to go anywhere where a school has 20 total students who are all already in the process of their dissertation, etc.]

Admission #s:

[This would be the number of students they accept per year]

Questions:

[Who is the person to contact if you have any questions about the program? Usually a program states to talk to your POI, the DGS, or a program coordinator. This is useful because each school is pretty different. It will help me keep track and not make a silly mistake about contacting a POI if I needed to get in touch with the administrative assistant first.]

Graduate Housing available: Yes/No.

[if yes, I add the cost if it is available. I also include the graduate housing web address for easy access. to the site]

Language Requirement: (Example:)German required + another in field of interest (Example 2:) German and French are required + another of your choosing. (Example 3:) 2 Languages; decided between student and adviser. First language is expected to be mastered by first semester of first year, second language by first semester of third year.

[if the school explains its testing format, I'll include it here.]

# of years: 5-7

Admission Requirements:

(Example:) Writing Sample: no more than 15 pages, including bibliography and images

[if the school explains what they are looking for in the writing sample, I'll copy and paste underneath]

GRE min. score 1000

3 letters of recommendation

SOP [i typically copy and paste anything specific they want in the SOP here too]

2 official transcripts

Completed Application form (Cost: $105)

Resources:

[What resources does the school have? Libraries? Printing services? A graduate study room? My own desk? University mailbox? Anything that will make my life easier on campus?]

(Example 1:) Graduate Student Association (GSA)

A graduate student lounge

A private computer terminal and free printing (must bring own paper)

BIG NAME Art Library

[if they have a library, museum, or visual resource center, I'll include a short paragraph about what they offer and what their holdings are].

Wireless throughout campus

(Example 2:) SCHOOL Art Museum (with % of collection in my area of interest)

Visual Resource Center (with # of holdings of images and other services)

A not-so-great school library, but gives you access to 20 other libraries within a short drive.

University mailbox and locker

Other:

[Other typically includes neat things that aren't exactly resources but they are unique things that makes the program stand out. For instance, the dissertation writing colloquium is something that actually exists at Berkeley and sounds fantastic.]

Dissertation Writing Colloquium – a class designed for others to read as you write your chapter and you in turn read their writings.

Examples of successful applications to foundations available

Can take classes at other universities with permission from DGS

Class on digital photography and graphic editing

Mandatory class study abroad trip winter of second year (price included in tuition, student pays cost of flight and some meals).

Tuition:

(Example 1:) Tuition is $15,000/year, including fees (average $500/semester).

(Example 2:) Tuition is paid for upon admittance, student is responsible for all fees ($500/semester).

(Example 3:) Tuition is $4,000/year, but when reaching candidacy, students are eligible for x years of fee waivers).

Students must apply for residency after 1 year.

Financial Assistance: Yes/no

(Example 1:) All students must apply for FAFSA, regardless of interest in fellowships or not. 3 full scholarships available.

(Example 2:) 5 years of support guaranteed for all admitted. Must seek outside funding for dissertation period.

(Example 3:) Some fellowships exist, as well as department and school awards, but usual routes should be taken to secure funding.

Stipends:

Yes/No. Based on merit. Based on financial need. [Etc.]

Fellowships:

Yes/No. (Example 1:)Fellowships are awarded at acceptance; low-chance of receiving one after first-year if you didn't receive it upon admittance. (Example 2:) Fellowships available from endowment, the school, or department. Outside funding should be sought during dissertation stage. (Etc.)

OPPORTUNITIES:

[This refers to what the school can provide YOU in terms of boosting your career. School-hosted symposia, guaranteed internships, TAships, Research assistantships, etc. fall into this category. I've arranged this list in terms of my interests: interning is top of my list since I want to be a curator - I'd rather be a research assistant than teach a graduate class, but some schools require that you teach a class, and others require that you must have at least one internship. Other schools don't care at all. If these opps. are paid, I will include money in this section rather than in Financial assistance (but sometimes I do both. Whatever floats your boat.)]

Intern Opportunities:

(Ex1:)Students may apply for 3 positions open every semester at our school art museum. Must commit 17 hours per week, 2nd-years and up only.

(Ex2:) Previous students have held internships at this, this, this, and this museum. Students are encouraged to apply to at least 2 internships before dissertation stage.

Graduate teaching:

Yes/No.

(Ex1:) GTA must have satisfied both language requirements and attend this specific university course. Compensation is paid monthly.

(Ex2:) Students are required to do two full years of teaching. Most do this second and third-year, before finishing comps.

(Ex3:) GTAships are granted on a competitive basis and GTAs are given some tuition assistance.

Research Assistantships:

Yes/No. (True example: "Possibly." lol).

(Example 1:) 5 assistantships are awarded per year; financial relief: $15,000/year. 2nd-years and up only.

(Example 2:) One professor each academic year is eligible to have one research assistant to pick among their advisees. Please inquire with your adviser. Some summer RAs are available.

(Example 3:) Student must apply for a RA in the Spring semester for the following academic year; interdisciplinary proposals are encouraged. Payment in the form of Tuition is possible.

Presentations:

(Example 1:) Students are heavily encourage to submit a proposal to any symposium or conference within their field. Must seek approval from GDS, chair and adviser. Travel funding is available.

(Example 2:) Students who are working on their Qualifying Paper must submit an abstract for, and participate in, the annual department symposium held each Spring.

(Example 3:) All students must seek approval from the DGS to participate in any public or academic presentation.

PhD CANDIDACY:

[since I want to a get a PhD, I figured it would be helpful to have a listing of how one achieves candidacy. I'm not planning to take 10 years to get a degree, so having the typical format in front of me helps me realize what I need to do to satisfy their requirements, and what I can do for myself to speed up the process. It also helps to know when you need to take your comps and what years you are expected to TA, intern, present, etc. Again, I would like to stress - EACH SCHOOL IS REALLY DIFFERENT. Some don't list the steps on their website, some only list the steps in their bulletin. Some just say what steps you need to reach a certain level of candidacy (MA-candidate, PhD-candidate) while others specifically explain their expectations of you for each semester you are there. I'll provide two true examples: ]

(Example 1:)Stage 1:

1. 12 courses completed

2. 2 language exams or completed language courses

3. Qualifying Paper (QP) defended.

Stage 2:

1. Dissertation Colloquium

2. Qualifying Exam

3. Dissertation stage

4. Annual Review of Ph.D. candidates

(Example 2:)

1. QP in April of 2nd year

2. Course evaluationss and QP evaluations during Spring of 2nd year

3. Coursework satisfactorily completed

4. QP exams passed – first semester in 3rd year

5. Colloquium in 2nd semester of 3rd year

6. 2 foreign languages

7. Then dissertation

QUALIFYING PAPER:

[This usually entails how many pages, is required, if any courses are involved, how the topic is picked, and if there are stages to writing this. Surprisingly, a LOT of schools don't elaborate on this. Many say it's optional.]

WEIRD THINGS:

[Lol. This is my favorite section, mostly because this is where I form the questions that I need to ask someone before I apply to a school. Most of these questions concern things on the website/bulletin that were unclear, or refer to a fact that I'm not necessarily in love with that the school requires you to do. Here are some examples of questions and comments I've come up with during my reviews. Also, since I create a cheatsheet for each separate school there's no way I'd asked these questions to the wrong program!]

All students MUST apply for FAFSA every single year - even in dissertation stage?

School requires a minor.

Do you approach a faculty member about a RA or do they approach you?

What type of stipends are available?

Must select two courses outside department but within general field.

Does this school use MLA citation instead of Chicago Manual of Style?

What does "Required collaboration" mean?

Do Graduate Teaching Assistants only teach intro-level courses or are there opportunities to teach more advance classes?

PROFESSORS:

[This is the MOST important aspect of deciding to apply to a school or not; however, this is last for me because I can name each person I want to study under at each school off the top of my head, so this doesn't need to be at the top of the list for me.]

Professor #1:

Area of concentration (i.e. European art 1700-Present; Renaissance in the Netherlands; Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia)

Specific areas of concern (I bold the specific areas that are really relevant to my own interests). Post-colonialism/Gender and Sexuality/Collection Practices/Art of Trade/Patronage/Historiography/Frida Kahlo/Foucauldian Theory/ Prints and Works on Paper

In this area I'll write a mini-bibliography of books/articles/reviews/etc. that they have written. If I've already read it, I'll highlight the citation.

Art of War, Yale UP, 2000.

The Bourgeois Life: Madonna, Her Music Videos, and Feminist Theory. Art Newspaper, 4.1, 1985.

Le Fou of Foucault, Apr 1.-Jun. 4, 1999. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999.

Professor #2:

American Art and Architecture

Colonial Revivalism/ Richard Norman Shaw/ Influence of 18th century Dutch pattern books/ Preservation/ Palladianism and Thomas Jefferson.

Bankrupted: The Moral Decay of Thomas Jefferson and the Depletion of His Wallet for the Completion of his Residence, Monticello. Phaidon, 2005.

Architecture of England and It's Influence in the New World, a study. Art Bulletin 75.1, 2008.

Courses:

[usually there is a bulletin to download that contains previous courses from the department. However, I always post every course (graduate and undergraduate, and those in other departments if I can find one) of my POI(s), as well as courses that are interesting to me. I always include when they taught it (does it seem every year? OR every three years they offer this course?), if there is a description, any books listed, language requirements, and if the class requires travel.]

[lilacpear]

Maybe this cheatsheet should be turned into a sticky post?

Instead of it being blank, however, we could all help fill it with information for each school we know. That way we'd all have access to an updated sticky with the most essential information about each art history program in a single place. From these boards it's obvious that we all have a lot of information we could share...

The sticky post may not be as informative for a prospective graduate student as, say, an actual meeting with a prospective school before applying but I think it would be very helpful in the process of narrowing down schools. Information such as tuition and fees, availability of financial assistance (how much per year, how many students get it, etc), internship and conference opportunities, and actual requirements for advancement to PhD candidacy is either not always available on program websites or might be difficult to find when it is. This information would be coming from either current students or students who have applied to these schools before, so it would be both accurate and current.

Any thoughts on this idea?

lp

[fullofpink]

Maybe this cheatsheet should be turned into a sticky post?

Instead of it being blank, however, we could all help fill it with information for each school we know. That way we'd all have access to an updated sticky with the most essential information about each art history program in a single place. From these boards it's obvious that we all have a lot of information we could share...

The sticky post may not be as informative for a prospective graduate student as, say, an actual meeting with a prospective school before applying but I think it would be very helpful in the process of narrowing down schools. Information such as tuition and fees, availability of financial assistance (how much per year, how many students get it, etc), internship and conference opportunities, and actual requirements for advancement to PhD candidacy is either not always available on program websites or might be difficult to find when it is. This information would be coming from either current students or students who have applied to these schools before, so it would be both accurate and current.

Any thoughts on this idea?

lp

It makes sense to me, but I can also foresee a LOT of problems - especially as tuition (and funding) changes year-to-year. I suggest that if someone would like to go ahead with this, that we eliminate the last two categories ("Weird things" and "Professors" and "Courses") so that it doesn't become a hodge-podge of information that is pointed to a certain specificity. Or, in regards to Professors, we could just list all the professors there and only give their subject area instead of being very intricate about it. "Dr. A - East Asian, Dr. B - Egyptology, Dr. C - Oceanic." Etc. I get really frustrated with some of the websites that force you to click on each professor's site to even see what their area of expertise is.

I imagine the easiest way to do this would be to regurgitate these lists every year and update it with more relevant information, like if a Professor leaves (or if on sabbatical) or if the department changes addresses, etc. It may make it less confusing, but it would still be a bit of work.