History of Art MA/PhD 2008

[NO8DO]

Well, my main focus would be Southern Renaissance, if that's what you would lump Spain under (Spain always seems to me to fit rather oddly in classical art historical groupings unless it's El Greco or the Baroque), although with northern (Flemish/Dutch and French, Italian) ties. What is your specific interest within the Northern Ren?

[mew27]

my current work deals with protestant (specifically lutheran) art in germany and the netherlands, so i'm hoping to wind up somewhere i can continue studying both areas.

[NO8DO]

Very cool subject, where did you apply? MA/PhD?

[mew27]

yeah, it's been keeping me busy

i already know for sure that i want to do a doctorate, so i only applied to phd programs. i applied to eight schools (uchicago, upenn, harvard, berkeley, yale, princeton, nyu, northwestern), none of which are safeties... hopefully that doesn't bite me in the ass come march. my advisor basically refused to write recs for anything he thought i'd be "settling" for, so i'll blame it on him if i get rejected everywhere

[halifax]

Welcome mew27!! I'm actually a huge fan of 17th century Dutch Art, especially genre scenes, but am applying for Southern Renaissance at UPenn and Yale, so we won't be in direct competition!

How are you holding up emotionally? This is such a stressful time!!! :shock: Well, maybe the addition of a new Art History person will keep this thread alive for the foreseeable future.

[lxs]

halifax - Re: Penn, my transcripts did end up showing up as received, although it just happened last week. Did you ever get that situation resolved?

[halifax]

No, they still haven't been received according to the website......bleh......no one has contacted me regarding this issue, though, so I'm going to assume they are still in the process of sorting....The program at UT on the other hand emailed me Saturday stating I never filled out the general application, even though I submitted it on the 25th of Nov and can see my submission status online which is "Application completed (with all transcripts gre scores and fees paid) and forwarded to the graduate committee for review". I swear they are just trying to give me a heart attack!!! UT is so big, though, that things like this tend to happen--the right arm knows not what the left is doing. Hopefully tomorrow this will all get cleared up :?: and I won't have to do it all over again.................................... :cry:

[mew27]

haha, that's great! he certainly seems like a nice guy. i spoke to one of the grad students there and she said he was fantastic to work with, and it seems like the environment is pretty friendly. unfortunately for me, though, he seems to focus more on germany than the netherlands... and i'd probably prefer it the other way around.

i wanted to apply to UT austin, but i didn't like the idea of only being guaranteed entrance to the MA program. not to mention funding isn't great for out-of-staters jeff chipps smith seems awesome

[mew27]

to answer the other half of your question, yes...i'm absolutely freaking out! i have a backup plan if things don't pan out, but i'm hoping it doesn't come to that...

[halifax]

i wanted to apply to UT austin, but i didn't like the idea of only being guaranteed entrance to the MA program. not to mention funding isn't great for out-of-staters jeff chipps smith seems awesome

He does seem awesome and he was very nice when I emailed him asking about the program at UT. He responded within hours and even then apologized for taking so long to reply! Good ole southern hospitality, I suppose.

to answer the other half of your question, yes...i'm absolutely freaking out! i have a backup plan if things don't pan out, but i'm hoping it doesn't come to that...

it seems worse, though, because my significant other has already found out many (most) of the med schools he's gotten into. we're trying to land in the same area, so it'd be nice to know what our options are!

Are most of your schools pretty close? That must be so difficult--coordinating two graduate careers when the whole process seems to be a complete crapshoot. My husband and I were long distance for four years during my undergrad, but I feel that the whole experience made us so much stronger as a couple. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you two, and hopefully those acceptance letters for us art history folks will start coming in soon!

On another note: have you had any issues with UPenn not posting that they have received your transcripts?

[mew27]

yes, i had a similar experience with prof. smith! my advisor is a good friend of his, and told me to write to him asking for some advice for my thesis. he responded right away, gave me a huge list of books with little notes for each one (even checked to see if a few were in the libraries at my school!), and told me to contact him any time i had further questions. i can't imagine too many professors taking that much time with a student they've never met, right?

is your husband also applying for grad programs, or will he be able to move wherever you go? i can't begin to imagine how difficult it'd be to be apart for so long!

[halifax]

Gosh, my opinion of him and the school in general continues to skyrocket. What he did for you was beyond the call of duty I would think, which just goes to show how committed he is to teaching and also gives an indication of how important relationships between professors at different schools can be. Too bad funding can be an issue at huge state schools......

What was your MA thesis on, if you don't mind me asking? Also, are you prepared to learn Dutch or German for this focus in the Northern Renaissance? I need to get on the ball with French or Italian, but am unsure which one I'll need most!!!

Too bad there aren't any med schools around Austin for your SO. Austin is an amazing city--the vibe is awesome and I love the fact that so many great independent filmmakers have come from there. Also, who wouldn't love a city in which the coolest resident transvestite, who can always be seen lounging in a wading pool on Sixth Street, ran for mayor and almost won?!?!?! My husband's work allows him to move wherever, and we both chose cities that we could stand to live in for 5+ years so we're lucky in that way

THANK GOD my stuff with UT finally got cleared up today (my application was found under my maiden name due to a glitch in their system)....I was told the adcoms will begin reading applications this week!! I'm so nervous. :roll:

Back to work.....

[mew27]

i just realized i never answered your question about the penn transcripts. no, i haven't had any problems, as far as i know. i submitted the application right before the deadline (i'm a slacker like that , and it said everything was complete on the 21st...

i actually haven't done the MA yet; i'll be coming straight out of undergrad (needless to say, puts me at a bit of a disadvantage). i thought very seriously about taking a year off, mostly because a lot of grad students here have told me that i should. all the professors i spoke to, however, told me they thought i was perfectly equipped to handle the work - and i guess it's really emotional maturity that the schools are worried about. i probably would've considered taking time off more seriously if i weren't trying to land somewhere with my boyfriend...but it would be infinitely more difficult if i were trying to apply to schools AFTER he's already decided where he's going. too many variables! anyway, if i don't get in, i'm going to try not to take it too personally, and just reapply next year. there are a few good programs in the netherlands where i can get a MA within a year, which sounds great. plus i need to start learning dutch!

speaking of languages, i've about had it with them! haha. i've taken several years of german and latin, four years of spanish in HS, and am completing my first year of french now. i'm planning to take an intensive reading course this summer to prepare me a little more. although i definitely need to improve my french (and i've gotten a bit rusty on the german by now), i can see the light at the end of the tunnel...that is, if dutch is in fact the last one i need to learn! what sort of language preparation have you gone through so far?

another small anecdote about UT. there's a fourth-year grad student in our program here who came from UT undergrad (she may have also done her MA there too, although i'm not sure). she said that prof. smith single-handedly is the reason she's studying art history today, and that she's never seen a professor - or department - care so much about the students. this girl has some health problems which our department *totally* doesn't take into account, so i've heard her talk about how motherly everyone in the department was towards her. sounds cheesy, i know, but she said they really made her feel special. and they certainly prepared her well...she's one of our top candidates in her field. anyway, sorry to keep rambling...but if you're interested in going there, these are things you might like to know!

[halifax]

Mew27: Sorry for the confusion regarding my assumption that you were working on an MA thesis. I guess I was just thinking from my own experience---I actually never did a Senior thesis, although I wish I had. Had I known that one could apply for PhD programs out of undergrad I would probably have tried. I was a bit one-track minded though, because I was ready to get back to my husband, then fiance, as we had been long-distance for so long. I don't think it makes you any less competitive than someone who has an MA! If anything, it shows that you are driven to succeed and are a very serious scholar, committed to the intense coursework of a PhD program.

Thanks for the anecdotes about UT...that school is sounding better and better! I'm so glad I applied...I've heard alot about grad departments that are very cut-throat and this does not seem to be the case there from what you've told me

...

In your case, because you have German, Dutch will be relatively easy to learn, I bet! Especially because it seems as though you probably pick up languages pretty easily (what with the French and German under your belt!).

Until tomorrow!

[mew27]

what a fascinating background! having german under your belt will definitely help you - it seems like everyone, no matter what they study, needs to have it. i doubt you'll have any trouble picking up french and italian, especially since you've got some latin experience. thankfully we only need to be able to read these languages... my french pronunciation is horrible!

so, i take it you're interested in working with professor cole at penn? did you ever consider uchicago/zorach?

[halifax]

To answer your question, yes, I did briefly consider U Chicago, and Zorach seems like she'd be a great professor, but I got the feeling that it would be alot harder to get fully funded there.

Well, I guess I'm going to obssess some more!!!

[mew27]

actually... chicago gives full funding to all their students in art history now! :\ i spoke with a professor there last fall and he assured me that all students get full fellowships for 5 years

[halifax]

Well--I screwed that one up then didn't I? I'll remember that for next year if I don't get in anywhere in the next few months! I could totally have lived in Chicago, too..... :cry: Is that one of the schools you are really leaning towards?

I was already lamenting the fact that I'd only applied to 5 schools--you know, at the time, I felt that I was being excessive. Talking to other people in the humanities has made me realize that the average is around 8 schools, give or take.

[mew27]

i'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news! it really isn't stated clearly anywhere on the website (as far as i know anyway), although you'd think they'd want to advertise it so they can compete more with some of the other schools. i was told that this is a recent development...pretty sure they only decided to do it sometime last year. but yeah, chicago is definitely one of my top choices... i absolutely *love* the city, except for the winters and hyde park!

i know what you mean about applying to so many schools. there were really only 4 or 5 that i liked a lot, and i couldn't decide whether to apply to those schools only or have a few more to spread out my chances. in many ways, i feel that if i don't like the school or the city, then i'm definitely not going to want to waste 7-8 years there...and there's no sense in wasting the time and money involved in applying. but i went ahead and applied to a few more, just in case - although i'm not sure i'd actually go there if those were the only schools i got into. i might prefer to take a year off and reapply then. i do know a few people, though, who only applied to 3 or 4 schools. i'm already freaking out, so i can't even imagine being in their shoes!

[lxs]

i was told that this is a recent development...pretty sure they only decided to do it sometime last year. but yeah, chicago is definitely one of my top choices... i absolutely *love* the city, except for the winters and hyde park!

I was told the same thing - the person I talked to there said that this is actually the first year for this funding scenario. On a related note, did you hear anything about a prospective students day at U of C? I saw that someone posted about it on the art history post on the livejournal who_got_in community. Hadn't heard anything about that.

I'm in Chicago now (and have been for the past three years) and really like it. You're right about the winters though - it was -5 when I went to work this morning. Yuck.

[Chicken Dan]

There wouldn't happen to be any Chinese art history applicants lurking around here, would there?

[mew27]

lxs: no, i haven't heard anything about a prospective students visit. i read somewhere that nobody will find out anything until the decisions are mailed the first week of march, but i don't know if that's true. my brother got accepted to the phd program at chicago (albeit in a different field) and didn't hear anything until the middle of march. i think most of the other schools had emailed, called, or sent some sort of indication he was getting in...but not chicago!

and to chicken dan: i know someone who's applying for Chinese art history programs. where are you considering?

[mew27]

i just looked on the events calendar and saw that too.....very suspicious. i think you might be right!

[lxs]

i know! i work with someone who is currently in the department and she hadn't heard anything about it, and she said that she usually does when accepted students come to visit. so hopefully the posting is for something else entirely.

[mew27]

so, i'm a total nerd and called the department later this afternoon, and girl i spoke to told me that it is indeed a lecture for invited students. no word on when they're sending out invites, though...