pregasauraus Posted January 15, 2009 Posted January 15, 2009 I've applied to seven: U of Pennsylvania Penn State U of Wisconsin U of Minnesota Northwestern U U of Chicago Johns Hopkins No word yet. Anyone else?
curatorcritic Posted January 16, 2009 Posted January 16, 2009 I went through this shit last year--pain in the ass. Good luck!
void Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 I am applying to 10 U Washington-Seattle U of Southern California Penn Northwestern U of Wisconsin NYU - IFA UC Santa Barbara UNC Chapel Hill U of Washington in St. Louis Delaware I am pretty scared because of my pretty low GRE scores and the vast numbers of applicants with the economy, even though I have an M.A. I am looking to specialize in gender and sexuality 19th and 20th century American and European art. What is everyone else specializing in?
pregasauraus Posted January 20, 2009 Posted January 20, 2009 I am specializing in institutional critique artists/works and contemporary art museum practices. My research relies strongly on psychoanalysis. Anyone else?
georgica1 Posted January 21, 2009 Posted January 21, 2009 I am pretty scared because of my pretty low GRE scores and the vast numbers of applicants with the economy, even though I have an M.A. I can't really see the economy having a drastic affect on the number of PhD applications, particularly in the humanities. A PhD is a massive commitment of 4+ more years of school and the careers a humanities PhD can be said to prepare people for are pretty specialized: academia, obviously, and museum work in the case of History of Art. I think we'll see a pretty dramatic rise in applications to professional schools (MBA and law programs, for instance) and perhaps even terminal masters programs in the humanities from people who don't want to be academics, but need something to do for the next year or two after graduation and aren't having any luck getting jobs. I doubt there are many people who just decide to get a PhD out of nowhere (and I think admissions committees tend to look for cues in applications as to whether the applicant really wants a PhD and knows what it entails -- hence asking about career goals, etc.) With that said, for programs that won't accept without funding, there may be fewer spots available because of reduced departmental budgets.
domanda Posted January 26, 2009 Posted January 26, 2009 i'm applying for two sorta history of art programs u of rochester cuny grad center i'm in film/media studies really but these days they are not that far apart. but i do think these two are long shots for me due to my absolute lack of educational background in art history, even though my area is in fact more covered by contemporary art history than film studies.
void Posted January 26, 2009 Posted January 26, 2009 The results page is slowly creeping over into humanities notifications.. I am starting to get so anxious...
pregasauraus Posted January 27, 2009 Posted January 27, 2009 The results page is slowly creeping over into humanities notifications.. I am starting to get so anxious... I know. I saw "Art History" under one entry on the results page and my heart seized for a second. I was glad that it wasn't from a program I had applied to. Believe me, I'm ready to hear something, but I'm scared to see others getting acceptances and not hearing anything myself. I have my fingers crossed for all of us!
sydney Posted January 28, 2009 Author Posted January 28, 2009 how does everyone deal with their anxiety re: waiting? i am going a bit mad, and we have approximately a month remaining... :shock:
sydney Posted January 28, 2009 Author Posted January 28, 2009 or more than that, really. a month is a bit optimistic...
void Posted January 28, 2009 Posted January 28, 2009 I tend to spend my time hitting the refresh button on the results page periodically between tasks at work, and I constantly have my email open on my desktop in case I hear anything, even though I know it won't start for about another month. I've been cooking more fancy elaborate meals in the evenings. Otherwise I am both dieing of anxiety, yet oddly calm about the whole thing. I am less of a mess than my first round to M.A. programs. It is probably because after such an intense program and then the madness of applying, it is a little nice to have evenings and weekends off for a little while. But I am sure that about another couple of weeks into having free time and waiting will drive me up the wall.
pregasauraus Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 how does everyone deal with their anxiety re: waiting? i am going a bit mad, and we have approximately a month remaining... :shock: I seem to be the same as many others - I distract by baking or cooking. Classes finally started back up for me this week, so I can spend a lot of time researching and writing my lectures. Plus, being 5 months pregnant keeps me from fretting too much over school - I've got plenty of other things to worry about! I do find that as we approach February, my hope is turning a bit more towards panic.
pregasauraus Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 aww congrats on the baby ! Thanks! It's our first, and we just found out she's a little girl. I'm really hoping to find out how hard it is to have an infant and go back to school at the same time. Fingers crossed!
RedPotato Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Hello. I am a junior in college and am planning to apply to graduate school next year. I will graduate with a BFA in illustration and a diploma (more than a major, less than a minor) in Art History. My gpa is about a 3.5 and I would really love to go to one of the top school for graduate studies in art history. I wanted to know if there is anything you wished you knew last year, that you could tell me, please. Thanks. (and congrats to whomever had a baby)
void Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Redpotato, my advice is that you may want to consider M.A. programs in Art History prior to applying for PhD. This will probably give you a stronger background in the field to be more competitive.
void Posted January 29, 2009 Posted January 29, 2009 Actually I am rethinking that response, since you say you are still a junior. Perhaps you shouldreally delve into your burgeoning professional interests in Art History now, since you still have some time left in school. Is it too late for you to declare a double major and also look into writing an honors thesis for Art History?
sydney Posted January 30, 2009 Author Posted January 30, 2009 personally, i think taking time off is a good idea. having a break from academia has made me grow so so much, both personally and professionally. & it has made me approach the process of applying with a very clear idea of what i want and how to get it.
RedPotato Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 My university has two departments of art history - one in the school on liberal art and the other in the school of art - but there is no major. Odd, I know. That is why I am doing the diploma, which is entirely customizable in any field, so I am using classes in both AH depts as well some classes in other depts such as the philosophy dept.'s philosophy of aesthetics class. Doing an honors thesis would work more like an independent study, but its probably a great idea. Is that what I would submit as a writing sample?
pregasauraus Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 RedPotato, that thesis would be perfect as your writing sample. If I were you, I'd also make sure that you have/make some great contacts for your letters of reference. Start looking at schools and contact professors you think you'd be interested working with, and possibly ask them what steps you could take to better your chances of getting into grad school. Oh, and I haven't had the baby yet! She's not due until May.
void Posted January 30, 2009 Posted January 30, 2009 Congratulations to whoever got in to Wisconsin's PhD program! May I ask what is your area of specialization? Was it a personal email from the professor? (I'm curious of course as I want to know if I should give up on my hopes of admission to this school.)
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