2014 Applications... waiting room.

[camille85]

Hi guys, has anyone heard from the Canadian phd programs? (Toronto & Mcgill?)

 

I heard from McGill that I am wait-listed on March 3rd. The professor said to me that the result will come out during April or May and the application website said it will come out until the mid-April. I wonder how many have been usually accepted off the wait list...

Edited March 20, 2014 by camille85

[annabelle18]

Anyone applying to Columbia's MODA? Based on last year results, we are supposed to hear back next week? 

I've applied but haven't heard back. A bit worried as I have to answer to other offers by next week...

 

Have you heard anything? 

[flaurafauna]

wait list is excruciating. 

[skyeho]

I've applied but haven't heard back. A bit worried as I have to answer to other offers by next week...

 

Have you heard anything? 

not really. hopefully we'll hear back this week. 

Edited March 20, 2014 by skyeho

[febreze]

What is UVA doing?! Anybody heard anything new?

They are the last school I'm waiting on before I can make my decision...

[ChurchLover]

What is UVA doing?! Anybody heard anything new?

They are the last school I'm waiting on before I can make my decision...

 

Same here! I haven't heard a thing from them. 

[febreze]

Same here! I haven't heard a thing from them.

Maybe this weekend? Who knows.

I'm fairly sure where I'm going to be accepting with or without UVA but I want to know for sure.

[helpmegradcafe]

Same here! I haven't heard a thing from them. 

 

Maybe this weekend? Who knows.

I'm fairly sure where I'm going to be accepting with or without UVA but I want to know for sure.

 

Hey did either of you interview with UVa?? I'm just curious if all of the professors were interviewing their prospective students or just some of them, because now I'm thinking only a few of them decided to actually conduct interviews.  I would really like to know my admission status too!

[febreze]

Hey did either of you interview with UVa?? I'm just curious if all of the professors were interviewing their prospective students or just some of them, because now I'm thinking only a few of them decided to actually conduct interviews.  I would really like to know my admission status too!

No I didn't. I spoke on the phone with my potential advisor during the application process but it was by no means an interview.

It would be great if they would hurry up lol

[festina lente]

Time just moves slower at Mr. Jefferson's University. 

 

(Good luck to all y'all applying to UVa. Charlottesville is a fantastic place, if any admits need moving advice feel free to PM me). 

[tkln]

Does anyone know when it's generally considered acceptable to start emailing places and asking for an update on your app? I don't want to seem pushy but BU told me they'd get back to me by mid Feb and I haven't heard anything from Williams. Any thoughts?

Edited March 22, 2014 by tkln

[skyeho]

Does anyone know when it's generally considered acceptable to start emailing places and asking for an update on your app? I don't want to seem pushy but BU told me they'd get back to me by mid Feb and I haven't heard anything from Williams. Any thoughts?

maybe next week? since a lot of places ask admitted students to respond by April 1st. 

[annabelle18]

Does anyone know when it's generally considered acceptable to start emailing places and asking for an update on your app? I don't want to seem pushy but BU told me they'd get back to me by mid Feb and I haven't heard anything from Williams. Any thoughts?

I have the same issue! Need to accept an offer by mid next week but still haven't heard from a school.

[festina lente]

I emailed BU two weeks ago - no response. Guessing we are all just on a moderately sized wait list at this point.

[m-ttl]

Does anyone know when it's generally considered acceptable to start emailing places and asking for an update on your app? I don't want to seem pushy but BU told me they'd get back to me by mid Feb and I haven't heard anything from Williams. Any thoughts?

 

Williams gave me a decision today. You should hear something soon?

[tkln]

Williams gave me a decision today. You should hear something soon?

 

Ya I saw that some people heard yesterday...hopefully I'll hear this upcoming week. Getting so impatient haha

[BuddingScholar]

Williams gave me a decision today. You should hear something soon?

 

Do you mind me asking what the decision was? Please forgive me if you don't want to answer this.

[helpmegradcafe]

If anyone who has been admitted to UNC's MA program has heard anything about funding I would be veeerrrryyyyyy grateful for a PM

[m-ttl]

Do you mind me asking what the decision was? Please forgive me if you don't want to answer this.

 

It's no problem! I was rejected. I would have liked to have been accepted but it's probably for the best, because I would have turned them down. I kind of assumed when I didn't hear right off the bat for acceptances. Alas, I am not the one clearing up a spot for you off of the waitlist, sorry. Totally wish I could be! It's slightly disappointing because I thought I would try, but I got warned by an assistant prof my uni wasn't very elite and that could have played into it (plus I can come across not as formalist/traditionalist as the program does so that was difficult to align with). I suspect I didn't meet their profile/fit as well as other people did, hence the rejection. It was a nice email though, but I didn't bother responding. 

Edited March 23, 2014 by m-ttl

[Dia Alam]

Does anyone here have an idea just how selective/competitive the IFA program is? 

[m-ttl]

Does anyone here have an idea just how selective/competitive the IFA program is? 

 

I thought the PhD IFA was highly competitive but I don't know about the MA...I would assume it is also somewhat selective? 

[BuddingScholar]

It's no problem! I was rejected. I would have liked to have been accepted but it's probably for the best, because I would have turned them down. I kind of assumed when I didn't hear right off the bat for acceptances. Alas, I am not the one clearing up a spot for you off of the waitlist, sorry. Totally wish I could be! It's slightly disappointing because I thought I would try, but I got warned by an assistant prof my uni wasn't very elite and that could have played into it (plus I can come across not as formalist/traditionalist as the program does so that was difficult to align with). I suspect I didn't meet their profile/fit as well as other people did, hence the rejection. It was a nice email though, but I didn't bother responding. 

 

Alas, I was really hoping you would be the one making a spot available for me!   Oh well... let's hope someone else will.

 

Are you already planning the whole relocating deal? I am a mix of anxiety, excitement, fear, etc, and I don't even know where I'm going yet. [nail biting]

[pastette]

It's no problem! I was rejected. I would have liked to have been accepted but it's probably for the best, because I would have turned them down. I kind of assumed when I didn't hear right off the bat for acceptances. Alas, I am not the one clearing up a spot for you off of the waitlist, sorry. Totally wish I could be! It's slightly disappointing because I thought I would try, but I got warned by an assistant prof my uni wasn't very elite and that could have played into it (plus I can come across not as formalist/traditionalist as the program does so that was difficult to align with). I suspect I didn't meet their profile/fit as well as other people did, hence the rejection. It was a nice email though, but I didn't bother responding. 

Hi, M-ttle,

 

Sorry to hear about Williams, but it sounds like you have found another good program. Congratulations. I am thinking about schools I want to apply to next year and Williams was on my list. I was wondering what made you say that it's traditionalist? I guess it might have that reputation, but I didn't really pick up on anything from the program's description of professor profiles (I guess aside from the strict language requirements and that they want your classes distributed, but that didn't seem unusual to me.) I'd just love to know what I might be getting myself in to with an application. Could you maybe point me to anything? Also, what do you mean that Williams is "formalist." I know what it means, but I wasn't sure what that means in terms of the program? And also where did you find this out?

 

Sorry for so many questions! All of your (and all of you Grad-Cafe-ers') posts so far have been very helpful to me! I hope I can join some of you in your awesome schools soon!

[m-ttl]

Alas, I was really hoping you would be the one making a spot available for me!   Oh well... let's hope someone else will.

 

Are you already planning the whole relocating deal? I am a mix of anxiety, excitement, fear, etc, and I don't even know where I'm going yet. [nail biting]

 

Yeah, haha. I'm already on a waiting list for an apartment, asked a friend to move with me, the whole nine yards. I'm obsessed with pinterest now so I know what I want to purchase for my new place, what my design inspiration is, etc. I think I'm going to ship my books, and then sell or donate a lot of stuff I don't want or need. I think I was a lot less anxious about the whole ordeal once I figured out I could afford what I would absolutely need. 

 

 

Hi, M-ttle,

 

Sorry to hear about Williams, but it sounds like you have found another good program. Congratulations. I am thinking about schools I want to apply to next year and Williams was on my list. I was wondering what made you say that it's traditionalist? I guess it might have that reputation, but I didn't really pick up on anything from the program's description of professor profiles (I guess aside from the strict language requirements and that they want your classes distributed, but that didn't seem unusual to me.) I'd just love to know what I might be getting myself in to with an application. Could you maybe point me to anything? Also, what do you mean that Williams is "formalist." I know what it means, but I wasn't sure what that means in terms of the program? And also where did you find this out?

 

Sorry for so many questions! All of your (and all of you Grad-Cafe-ers') posts so far have been very helpful to me! I hope I can join some of you in your awesome schools soon!

 

Hm, well take this with a grain of salt. It was a conversation I had with a non-tenured (younger Columbia grad) Professor in my department who offered to help me with my SOPs, and bought me coffee: 

 

He felt that the biggest issues I'd have wrt Williams would be: I was not coming from a good school, and he felt that Williams was still firmly entrenched in some elitism, more or less. Obviously I do not attend Williams or know about it personally, but I can see how it would be considered traditionalist. It is one of the best MAs for Art History, and is known for sending its students to excellent PhD programs. Some of the other programs I applied to were FAR less traditional (Bard Grad Center, for example) and he felt that might appear at odds in my SOP. He wanted me to emphasize traditional art history approaches. I think there are plenty of Williams students who go on to work in museums, but it's a bit more of an academic bent in some ways. 

 

In the end he didn't continue helping me (just...stopped! It was odd but then, he's not my professor and I did fine on my own), but I knew he would probably be right that I favor things beyond the traditional. I still applied, because I thought it was a great program. 

 

Picking out the weaknesses in my profile (for illustrating why I may have been rejected):

 

• scores, stats, or school of origin. 
• too narrow in focus for an MA - I had a specific idea of what I wanted to accomplish, and I don't know if the POIs had interest in supporting it, or if it would have fit the program's goals. 
• simply that other applicants were better or more suited to Williams 
• goals and interests which they may have thought weren't going to be easily or well supported in the program - it was clear I had interest in working in a museum, I have no idea if this helped or hurt. 
• my writing sample was probably weird without the images since they asked us to remove them and...visual comparisons were part of the point for my paper, and they simply weren't pieces you could find with a quick google. Looking back, that really bothered me about the application, and I knew that submitting what I did would be risky. 
• Didn't contact any POI

I got accepted where I did because it was not at all a stretch to "fit" and have my interests supported. 

 

ETA: I also may be being hypercritical of myself. I told them not to accept me if they weren't going to offer funding. So that's a possibility too. 

Edited March 24, 2014 by m-ttl

[curiositykilledthecat]

Hi, M-ttle,

 

Sorry to hear about Williams, but it sounds like you have found another good program. Congratulations. I am thinking about schools I want to apply to next year and Williams was on my list. I was wondering what made you say that it's traditionalist? I guess it might have that reputation, but I didn't really pick up on anything from the program's description of professor profiles (I guess aside from the strict language requirements and that they want your classes distributed, but that didn't seem unusual to me.) I'd just love to know what I might be getting myself in to with an application. Could you maybe point me to anything? Also, what do you mean that Williams is "formalist." I know what it means, but I wasn't sure what that means in terms of the program? And also where did you find this out?

 

Sorry for so many questions! All of your (and all of you Grad-Cafe-ers') posts so far have been very helpful to me! I hope I can join some of you in your awesome schools soon!

 

I was admitted to the Williams program, and people keep talking to me about its "traditional" approach. I think it has something to do with the program's embeddedness within the discipline of "art history," but I'm not really sure how this differs from other not-so-interdisciplinary programs, like Tufts.

 

That said, I don't think having a "traditional" program means that the students and faculty are all super traditional or formalist scholars. I absolutely would not consider my interests to fall within "traditional" art history, and the program seems very open to letting me bounce my approach against the discipline's boundaries to see what will happen. From what m-ttl says, I suspect she was not admitted because the program really looks for broad, generalist scholars. It allows people to come to the program with areas of interest, but discourages specialization, at least in the beginning.