Contacting prospective advisers

Sep 10, 2009 18:50

I posted about a month ago with some questions about choosing an art history grad program that would be suitable to my area of interest and to my goal to someday work as a curator. I'm back at my undergrad campus now, and just had a phone conversation with a friend who graduated in May 2008 and is now going for her Ph.D. at Princeton. She mentioned ( Read more... )

campus visits, contact potential advisers, art history

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brittdreams September 10 2009, 23:21:54 UTC
I wouldn't bother with visits. They are expensive, especially if you don't even get in. But, if you are going to do visits, you should schedule time to meet with faculty and perhaps sit in on a course. But really, focus on your applications, not on visiting every school that you might attend. FWIW, I never visited any programs prior to getting in, and got funding from the departments to help pay for my visits in the spring. I got into 4 of 6 MA programs when I applied and then every PhD program I applied to (7) during the second year of my MA. All of those were admissions with funding, though not in art history.

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brittdreams September 11 2009, 06:28:02 UTC
Funding will definitely be tighter. But, even if you're paying yourself, wouldn't it be better to visit a place you may attend rather than one that hasn't accepted you?

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fullofpink September 11 2009, 01:03:53 UTC
About the potential advisers, many will ask about your research interests which will pave the way for you to talk about them. I wouldn't worry about getting all the questions in immediately because if you happen to forget some then you can always email them. As said above, name with a face will help, BUT it may do against you if you aren't composed or have social nervousness (I'm sorry, I've had like a 16 hour day and may not make any sense). I think attending a class or two is always a good idea, and if the meeting is not just to see if they like you but also to see if you like them. You may feel different about some unis after you visit them.

What I would do is do the intro email asap, and ask if you can arrange a visit for november (hopefully early) instead of typical october because of prior engagements. I think what gets on most profs nerves is that people will email in october to arrange these things in just a few weeks instead of plenty of time ahead. Lemme know if you have any more questions, I'm an art history major. :)

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idealforcolors September 11 2009, 01:51:00 UTC
"As said above, name with a face will help, BUT it may do against you if you aren't composed or have social nervousness"

Absolutely. I get nervous in interview-type situations, and I'm pretty sure that of the 3 schools I visited and 4 I didn't last year, whether I visited made no difference to whether I got in. I feel like unless an interview really lets you show yourself in a different and better light, it's more useful to look at as information gathering for your own good (nothing wrong with that!) than to look at it as something that'll help your application.

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