<p>i've decided to apply under art history. some schools i'm really considering is brown and u penn. what sort of grades and gre will they expect. is 3.55 too low? </p>
<p>I've read in several postings that gre's serve only to filter the mass of applicants. is this true? does it mean if my gre is too low, my app. will never be reviewed?</p>
<p>I can speak somewhat to Penn's program. To answer directly, 3.55 GPA is borderline. However, it is my understanding that all applications are at least given a "once over", so a relatively low GPA/GRE score (say below 1350-1400) is not an automatic disqualifier. </p>
<p>Preparation is extremely important for admission to PhD programs. How much actual Art History course work do you have? Although the website says:</p>
<p>"Students with demonstrated high academic achievement in the liberal arts but without special preparation in the history of art may also be admitted..."</p>
<p>Notice the "may" - the chances of admission with less than a full Art History or (possibly Archaeology) major are essentially zero for a funded PhD and barely higher for an unfunded MA.</p>
<p>I suggest you email Professor Cole and ask about the profile of recent successful applicants.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>I've always heard that a GPA around 3.5 is all they really are looking for. Of course you should have good grades in your upper division stuff, A, A-'s as well.</p>
<p>For art history, I don't imagine quantitative GREs mean much. I suggest taking a look at Brown and Penn's websites and seeing what they say about their average numbers. A lot of programs don't actually list their averages, suggesting that GRE/GPA is not as important for graduate admissions. 3.55 seems a bit low-ish, but if your lower grades can be explained by a bad freshman year, or requirements outside your major, it probably won't hurt you. Most important is preparation for art history (including languages, if relevant), performance in art history, recommendations, writing sample, etc.</p>
<p>How is 3.55 considered lowish exactly? I would venture to say that 3.55 is fairly solid- even for programs at Brown or UPenn.</p>
<p>sheelo81 - unfortunately, graduate admissions in the humanities have become unbelievably competitive the last few years.</p>
<p>As a data point, for Classical Archaeology (often housed in Art History departments) with a 3.63 in Classics from Penn, an extra year of post-bac Latin and Greek, research experience (winning competitive funding and writing awards), and a 710/700/5.5 GRE - I have been explicitly told to apply to MA programs. Period. No chance at PhD admissions. </p>
<p>To be competitive for first rank programs I'd need something like a 3.8 GPA (though that's flexible depending on LORs and research match), at least one summer of academic field school, another year of the languages (3 years each is a minumum), plus German or French. </p>
<p>Its crazy out there. Good luck to everyone!</p>
<p>how easier is it to get into MA than phD? i think i have a pretty good gpa, essay sample, lor...but my main concern is gre which is so low. i took it this fall when i'm taking like 6 classes.</p>
<p>It depends - there are quite a few "feeder" MAs out there for our field(s) (e.g. Arizona, FSU) and even a few PhD programs that have an expectation of "lesser" preparation (Iowa, Indiana). There are some schools (often "state flagship" schools like Ohio State and Minnesota) that have both MA and PhD programs. The MA programs seem to be somewhat easier to get into, but of course there is no guarantee you'll be allowed to advance to the PhD.</p>
<p>The only suggestion I can really give you is to apply widely, and should you be accepted, then evaluate your position. Paying for an MA is generally not a good idea, but if that is your only option, you'll have a pretty serious decision to make with the knowledge that you'll still have to re-apply for PhD programs in a couple years.</p>
<p>For what it's worth, I am NOT applying this year. Instead I'll be taking intensive German over the summer and a second post-bac year for 2009-2010. I'll evaluate my chances again in the fall of 2009. Since I'm a late-life career switcher, I'm not really losing anything by delaying my applications and I am materially improving my CV.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>