im in your situation right now, i wanted to get a real job and pay off my credit card bills before i go to grad school. given the job market, i cant get a real job, my b.a. is in art history. if you can handle it financially, i would go with the 'related to your field' and/or take classes. you wanna work on building you application and making you stand out over other candidates. but that's just my opinion.
If you can afford it, option B would probably look best. But Option A isn't necessarily a total wash. A "real job" can give you skills that are useful in grad school even if the subject matter isn't related to your field. It's all about leveraging and selling your experience.
Heh. This is good advice, except you basically told me to do all three-- have a "real job", another job, and learn a language. And I gotta apply to most programs by December. I'm still not sure whether I can do -any- of these things, and I'm trying to get a feel for which one I should throw myself into (right AFTER I finish my thesis).
Do you have a sense of which of these things should be prioritized, maybe?
although to answer your questions, i did have a pretty culturally-focused course of study. still, my thesis is about Banksy and graffiti culture, and the head of the archaeology program is on my thesis committee. i -am- hoping i can sell myself to the art-and-archaeology programs this way. but they do want me to know French and/or (or just "and") German, it seems, which is funny because generally I want to study the art of the ancient world -- either the Classical world, and how do those languages help me do that? -- of pre-columbian, for which Spanish, which I at least sort of know, would certainly be useful.
i -am- hoping i can sell myself to the art-and-archaeology programs this way. but they do want me to know French and/or (or just "and") German, it seems, which is funny because generally I want to study the art of the ancient world -- either the Classical world, and how do those languages help me do that?
Actually, a LOT of scholarship on the classical world is in German. Most Classics grad programmes, for instance, require that you know German and French or Italian, so that you have enough access to secondary sources.
Also, just my two cents, but I think your priority is to nail down what you want to do. Between the post and the comments, you've named a lot of different things... art history, cultural anthropology, Classical art, pre-Columbian art, ... all of which are divergent fields and require extremely different preparation.
What is your long range goals? Do you want to work full-time in a museum or be a professor? Avoid the "real" world for a little bit more?
As someone in the museum field and who is applying for museum studies graduate schools, you NEED practical experience in a museum to be even considered for a spot. This field is highly competitive. If you could swing it, I would highly recommend that you do option "B".
I definitely think you need to do some job. If you can get one that pays enough to live on in your field, that's great. If you can't make a living wage in your field try for a job in something that's at least mildly related. If that doesn't work just get a job. You need to have a living wage, plus having a job may tell you which program to pursue.
I wouldn't worry much about taking additional courses. Everyone takes courses. Grad school means more courses. Not everyone has solid job skills.
Comments 15
Reply
Reply
Reply
This is good advice, except you basically told me to do all three-- have a "real job", another job, and learn a language. And I gotta apply to most programs by December. I'm still not sure whether I can do -any- of these things, and I'm trying to get a feel for which one I should throw myself into (right AFTER I finish my thesis).
Do you have a sense of which of these things should be prioritized, maybe?
although to answer your questions, i did have a pretty culturally-focused course of study. still, my thesis is about Banksy and graffiti culture, and the head of the archaeology program is on my thesis committee. i -am- hoping i can sell myself to the art-and-archaeology programs this way. but they do want me to know French and/or (or just "and") German, it seems, which is funny because generally I want to study the art of the ancient world -- either the Classical world, and how do those languages help me do that? -- of pre-columbian, for which Spanish, which I at least sort of know, would certainly be useful.
Reply
Reply
Actually, a LOT of scholarship on the classical world is in German. Most Classics grad programmes, for instance, require that you know German and French or Italian, so that you have enough access to secondary sources.
Also, just my two cents, but I think your priority is to nail down what you want to do. Between the post and the comments, you've named a lot of different things... art history, cultural anthropology, Classical art, pre-Columbian art, ... all of which are divergent fields and require extremely different preparation.
Reply
As someone in the museum field and who is applying for museum studies graduate schools, you NEED practical experience in a museum to be even considered for a spot. This field is highly competitive. If you could swing it, I would highly recommend that you do option "B".
Reply
Reply
I wouldn't worry much about taking additional courses. Everyone takes courses. Grad school means more courses. Not everyone has solid job skills.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment