History of Art - MA/PhD 2009

[x78s]

FWIW, at our program, we just hosted a member of the Stony Brook AH faculty for a lecture. He lives in Brooklyn and mentioned that the commute isn't so bad, and definitely better than the alternative.

[ArtHist85]

I actually just got into SUNY too and will be accepting! I seem to remember Joseph Monteyne telling me that they were taking somewhere around 4 or 5 when I visited the campus. The NY state budget really sucks right now, so they can't fund very many.

I am really excited and love their program. Lots of theory and opportunities to do interdisciplinary work. Location is not great, but that might be a blessing because there won't be a lot of distractions.

I am going to move to Long Island for the first year, bc the course load plus TAing will be a ton of work and I don't want to stress myself out commuting. All the current grad students I spoke with suggested that you live near campus the first year, then move to the city afterwards.

What are your areas of concentration?

[Gustl]

Has anyone received their rejection letter from Columbia? I can't believe they still haven't sent them out. I haven't received anything yet, though at this point I'm certain it's a no, but come on! Can't they just let us know!? I called today and the "person responsible for AH admissions" was out...

I phoned the office today and was told that the letters went out on Friday. However, I'm in Manhattan and nothing arrived in today's mail...

[fontenay]

Has anyone heard from Tulane?

edit-- it appears that they LOST my app!

[revivalarch]

Has anyone received rejection notice from Rutgers University? My status still says "No Decision," and I am getting kind of impatient. This is late, isn't it?

[anasara]

What are your areas of concentration?

Though I've not fully dedicated myself to any particular period, I suppose I'd like to focus on the interstice between art and music, and, naturally, art history and musicology.

I have a strong interest in early 20th century Europe as well as post-war America, though, oddly enough, the culmination of my undergraduate work was focused on the prints of late Edo period Japan.

Really, it's probably too early for me to narrow myself to one concentration.

How about yourself?

[ArtHist85]

Broadly I am interested in institutional critique, performance, and contemporary latin american art. I too don't really have one concentration (yet!), I was just curious about other people.

To the Rutgers person-mine also says that. My adviser is a Rutgers alum and told me that they may make unfunded offers later in the process or wait for people to accept/deny their initial offers.

[revivalarch]

Broadly I am interested in institutional critique, performance, and contemporary latin american art. I too don't really have one concentration (yet!), I was just curious about other people.

To the Rutgers person-mine also says that. My adviser is a Rutgers alum and told me that they may make unfunded offers later in the process or wait for people to accept/deny their initial offers.

Thanks for the info. I wonder when they'll start letting people know.

[rxr29]

Hi there to all,

Firstly, I definitely appreciate all the comments & feedback posted by everyone ... invaluable advice for anyone ... I am a MA applicant and was wondering how decisions are made at this lower level ... I realize many of you are at the more advanced PhD ranking ... any insight as to how the process works, when one may expect a decision (I noticed that most PhD decisions have been made at most of the educational institutions -- are the decisions for MA candidates now being made?), and the overall difficulty to get accepted into say an Ivy league level program? ... thanks in advance for any and all advice

[purplepepper]

Has anyone received rejections (or official acceptances) in the mail from Berkeley yet? It's actually slightly irritating that they haven't communicated with me since submitting my app. last dec. Got some great offers so I really don't care, but it is their job to notify....

[cubbies]

Has anyone heard from Columbia's MA program? I applied there but have not heard anything... I tried to call the office but no one answered the phones... Any advice?

[sydney]

has anyone been in contact with pregs? if you are out there lady, come back! we miss you & want to know how you are doing with everything. my fingers have been crossed for you!

[Emilyflew]

I'm jumping in late to this thread, but have learned a lot reading over the discussion!

I'm going for my MA, hoping to mostly focus on Latin American art and then go on to a PhD. Got into NYU IFA and CUNY Hunter (yay!) with no funding (boo!), waiting to hear back from Columbia. Is anyone else having trouble deciding? I keep changing my mind every day about which program I'd prefer.

[Lapin]

Anyone else still waiting to hear from NYU/IFA? I'm in modern, going for the PhD, and apparently the ad. committee in that field has been delayed. It seems everyone else has heard, but I've also been told I'm not out of the running. Any more info?

To the poster above: have you visited both programs? And, would you be interested in staying on at either CUNY Grad Center or IFA for the PhD? I think you'd want to base your decisions on (1) your impression upon visiting and (2) whether its somewhere you could see yourself long-term if you want to stay at the same institution for the PhD. Also, CUNY Grad is looking for a new faculty member in modern non-western, so you might try to find out who's in the running there.

[wordflirt]

To the person who posted above

[void]

Is anyone else having trouble deciding? I keep changing my mind every day about which program I'd prefer.

I'm deciding too. I think I've narrowed it down to two, but I really like the third choice as well.

School A has offered me a 4 yr fellowship (I'm doing PhD, already have MA), seems a closer match to my research interests, however the advisor I'd work with, while excellent, seems to be overstretching herself. Her students tend to take their paper drafts to a grad student paper writing service rather than her for help along the way because shes really busy, even though she tries really hard to fit everyone in.

School B, on the other hand, seems more prestigious, graduates seem to get better tenure track and curatorial positions more often, there are more nearby museum internship opportunities, students work the program very quickly, and there are very close, hands-on working relationships between advisors and advisees. However the primary person I'd want to work with is away until January 2011 (but apparently some people work with 2 primary advisors and there are 2 people I want to work with there), it is less of a close fit to my interests, and the funding situation this year seems frighteningly grim (no funding offer but they make funding decisions on a yearly basis and tend to spread the wealth evenly and support students well historically).

Can anyone please offer any advice?

[blancdexin]

Anyone still waiting to hear back from NYU IFA? I didn't get email admission nor rejection letter, called today and told me I'm still a prospect........

[revivalarch]

Regarding schools yet to give notice to applicants, has anyone received notice from Johns Hopkins? I saw from the running results that someone phoned the department, and they said that rejection letters were to be mailed out last week.

[kid_grape]

hi there!

looks likely that i'll be going to an ma program next year (if i get in at all, ah!), but i was curious about the phd program at brown. did anyone here apply there? i dont know why i never really considered the school before, but looking at their faculty i see a lot of interests lining up. so the question is: for those who applied to brown, what are your various areas of interest?

[paperclips]

Regarding schools yet to give notice to applicants, has anyone received notice from Johns Hopkins? I saw from the running results that someone phoned the department, and they said that rejection letters were to be mailed out last week.

Hopkins sent acceptances on March 13...I think they took a very small number of people because of retirements.

[Emilyflew]

To the person who posted above

[wordflirt]

I don't know if this is helpful, but I took a course at Hunter in the Art History dept. last semester as a non-matriculated grad student, and I really loved it. The students were awesome

[l'autre chose]

Hello all!

First post ever-

I've applied to the Tufts Masters in Art History and been accepted: it wasn't my first choice but looks like my only (so far anyway, fingers crossed)

Does anyone have any opinions on how good the school is, such as ranking, campus life etc?I'm an international student so Tufts isn't really well known over here-

Would really appreciate your input!

[tgc3]

Hi,

This is my first post as well.

I've been accepted to Tufts (MA) and UT Austin (MA) and I don't know which to choose! It seems like the character of each program is very different: Tufts is very small, UT very big. There are less course offerings at Tufts, but it seems like an intimate environment. At UT it seems like there are a lot of things going on but I can't figure out how much attention individual MA students get (since I think there are almost 50 entering per year). I also applied for phd programs this year and didn't get it in, so I was wondering for those of you who applied with MAs where did you go and how do you think it helped you? Is it worth it to go into debt for your MA or is it better to take time off, work, and reapply?

I appreciate your input!

[shadow]

From what I know about both places (from the inside here), the students at the IFA tend to be much more competitive with each other than those at CUNY. The MA students, depending on your subfield, really have to struggle to be noticed sometimes, since you're taking distribution requirements and might not get to know the people in your field as well as you would like. That being said, every year's class as a different dynamic, and that really affects the experience.

I know CUNY has a better foundations curriculum. The IFA just throws you into the classes, and for some people that's fine, but depending on your background and what you're looking for, if you want more methodology, there is more of that at CUNY. Also, it depends on how focused you are in one area. Some people love taking classes in different areas, others find it incredibly frustrating to not be able to focus in on what their passion is. The IFA isn't all bad, but I have seen a lot of people leave bitter and angry. You have to have a thick skin. But if you have an advisor though that you really want to work with, then it can be a fantastic place, and opens wonderful opportunities.