<p>My friend recently applied to 7 grad schools for English and was rejected by all 7. As far as I know he is a good student, so I found his rejections to be rather disconcerting. The realization that the success of my own career depends so heavily on acceptence into a graduate program has motivated me to do some serious research into grad schools.</p>
<p>I need a realistic view of my chances.
I am currently a junior undergrad with a major in art and two minors in art history and history. My program of choice is historic preservation, but I can’t seem to find ANY information on the competitiveness of such programs. My list of schools (most favorable to least favorable) are as follows:</p>
<li>Boston University</li>
<li>University of Maryland</li>
<li>Columbia University</li>
<li>Pratt Institute</li>
<li>University of Vermont</li>
<li>Ball State</li>
<li>Eastern Michigan (It’s cheap)</li>
</ol>
<p>If any one has knowledge of the competitive nature of these programs or schools, it would be GREATLY appreciated.</p>
<p>I’d also like to mention the HUGE tuition gap between my #1 school and my #7. A masters at Boston would cost me around $60,000 while the same degree at Eastern is less than $10,000. I realize the discrepancy is related to the quality and reputation of the schools, but $50,000 is a HUGE difference. Any comments or advice?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Melissa</p>
<p>You'll find that the initial inroads might be easier with a stronger degree. 10 years down the road, it will come down to either fate or your own dogged determination.</p>
<p>Is any school really $50K better for 2 years?</p>
<p>I have heard lovely things about Ball State. </p>
<p>I also kinda know that there is a program similar to the one you want in Arkansas, I think? Or maybe it is Mississippi? I cannot recall, but at any rate you might desire to google that. A lot of folks do not know that historic preservation is big in the south. And, the south is really inexpensive. </p>
<p>Sorry that I could not be of more help. </p>
<p>(^_^)</p>
<p>Are you looking to focus primarily on art preservation & restoration, or architectural historic preservation?</p>
<p>Tuition-wise, I would try to find something somewhere in between: in the middle of your list preference-wise, but with a somewhat reasonable pricetag.</p>
<p>architectural historic preservation- I agree with your suggestion to find a happy medium. I think 20-30 is the maximum amount of debt I'm willing to take on, but I suppose I'm hoping that schools will offer some sort of scholarship or stipend.</p>
<p>what was your undergrad GPA? I applied to Pratt this past year for graphic design, and apparently scholarships there are primarily done on a straight numbers basis, reputedly with a 3.5 cutoff. Anyone I knew who applied there from an architecture background was screwed over by grad deflation, and we were all offered 60k/year in loans. Pratt overall as a school is not as competitive as they want you to believe, but the scholarship situation for grad students is, and they are pretty heavy handed with the amount of prerequisite courses they require with people.</p>
<p>Columbia would be sweet because of their strong architecture program and location, and I've heard good things about UM (College Park campus, I'm assuming) as well, and they've got pretty low tuition from what I recall.</p>
<p>Anyway, seems like a list with a lot of variety to it. Hopefully one of them will offer you a pretty good situation.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies!</p>
<p>My GPA is a 3.86 and I plan on taking the GRE this coming July. I'm actually graduating in 3 years so I'm at a slight disadvantage. I'm doing an internship this coming fall in Washington, DC, hopefully with an organization associated with historic preservation. It will be a great resume builder, but I'm still nervous about getting into a grad program. Few people know what historic preservation is; as much as I've talked about it, my own parents couldn't tell you what it is.</p>
<p>My graduate program at the University of Delaware has a concentration in historic preservation. It is a Master of Arts in Urban Affairs and Public Policy with a concentration in Historic Preservation. Basically, all of our masters students are fully funded with living stipends and their research assistantships are in historic preservation across the state.</p>
<p>Thanks so much latoya! My art history professor got her Phd from U of delaware and she told me to look into historic preservation there, but when I went to the website I couldn't find it. I had no idea to look under the urban affairs program. Anyway, it looks great and I'm really psyched to apply.</p>
<p>Your welcome... if you need any more info. just let me know!!</p>
<p>I'm relieved and happy to say I was accepted at the University of delaware, and like you said, fully funded with a stipend. Thanks so much for the excellent advice. I couldn't be happier!</p>