For Those with 2nd Round Success - What Did You Change?

[napoleon87]

Congratulations to all those who have been successful on your second round of applications.  I've been following the "Waiting Room" string and applauding silently!

 

Now that you've been through the application season twice, once unsuccesful, once successful, what advice to you have to give?  What did you change and how did you better prepare your applications for the second time around? 

 

Did you apply to the same programs?  Change or keep your intended focus?  Gain more work experience?  How did your materials change (i.e., did you retake the GRE's and rewrite your SOP's/Writing Samples)?

 

Even though I am starting my first round of applications for 2015, I'm really curious to hear suggestions from those seasoned with the process.

 

Cheers again!

[florentina]

First post on here but like you, napoleon 87, I have been following the posts on this forum for months.  Your question really hits on something that I have been thinking about in the recent weeks- why this time?  What did I do this time that made a difference?

 

I could type out my life story for the last five years but that doesn't really answer your question, so I will aim for brevity:

 

1. Research!  Stay current on research.  If you don't already belong to the professional organizations and get their publications, do so now. Along with this, get access to the journals and databases you need to cover your topic.  You can often gain access through local universities as a community member if your student privileges have lapsed.  

 

2. With all that handy knowledge under your belt, narrow your topic.  The biggest difference, on paper, of this round was shifting my interest to a theme rather than just a time period or a subject.

 

3. Target your schools and scholars...ok, maybe another wording would be good here. I chose to apply to only three schools after sending inquiring emails to five scholars. Those three schools had scholars focused on exactly my area of interest. I did not apply to programs only because of their name or ranking. 

 

4.  Perhaps the biggest thing I did had nothing to do with the application- I visited.  Yes, with my own money and before applications were decided on.  I know this is not a choice some would understand but I wanted to see each school for myself and make sure the adviser was someone I could work with.  I really think this sincere interest in the program and their research was the key difference between round one and two.  I was accepted to both programs I visited.

 

5. My recommenders were thrilled that I had managed to acquire a job in a unique job tangentially related to art history as well as an adjunct position teaching art history.  They all mentioned that this was something very promising to committees- a clear dedication to hacking it in the discipline. (I should mention, I already have a MA in art history and was applying this round for PhD.)

 

I hope this helps!

 

Oh, and good advice at any point: Languages!  Don't forget to keep up your languages!  German review is killing me...