<p>My friend recently applied to 7 grad schools for English and was rejected by all 7. The realization that the success of my career depends on getting into a graduate program has motivated me to do some serious research into grad schools.</p>
<p>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>I realize that the chance of anyone here knowing anything about historic preservation is slim, but 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>i saw a post a while back on a thread like this one, and it seemed like a really good way to decide between colleges:</p>
<p>first, you rank your top 5 criteria for choosing a college--5 being the best. next, make a 6x6 grid on a sheet of paper. then, pick your top five colleges--don't rank them. after that, fill in 1 criteria in the each box in the first row of your grid, and one college in each box in the first column. </p>
<p>now, start with one college (i.e. BU) and rank it 1 through 5, 5 being the best, in each criteria. if you give BU a 4 in, say, academics, then you would multiply 4 by the ranking you gave academics earlier. i.e.: if you gave academics a 5 in priority, you would multiply 4 by 5. continue to do that with all colleges and criteria, and as you go, fill in the numbers in the grid.</p>
<p>in the end, find the row sum of each column, and you will see which college has the highest "rank" in your mind! :) hope that was clear.</p>
<p>Melopoly--Welcome to CC! I don't know specifically about the schools/programs you listed, but I do work in the museum field, and if you are interested in historic preservation, you might consider exploring a graduate/masters program in Museum Studies as another way to approach your goal (historic preservation would be a specialty within that field.) There are a lot of such programs around the country, including state schools or state-affiliated schools such as the Cooperstown Graduate program in upstate New York, as well as private schools. Public History is another related area and would also be an alternate route towards your goal. The kind of preservation that interests you can also help direct your research: are you focused on architecture, paintings, or decorative arts? Is it the technical preservation lab or field work, or the historical research and advocacy that appeals to you? </p>
<p>Hands-on experience, internships and field work are all important to this career, and as a junior, you have time to get that kind of experience as well. Many historic preservation projects are driven by smaller, grass-roots community based groups and historic organizations, and that's where you can really get your feet wet and get substantial project experience that will help make your grad school applications more competitive. At this stage of your career planning and education, you also might be more likely to find such an opportunity in a smaller town than a big urban area.</p>
<p>As to the cost of grad programs in this field, you should be aware that in terms of salaries, historic preservation is emphatically NOT I-banking or even close. It's non-profit work, very dependent on fundraising and grants, and not highly paid at all. You really need to factor that in when considering the cost of graduate programs and any related debt you might have to take on. If you haven't already, do a search for Taxguy's thread on the debt topic.</p>
<p>Schools like University of Illinois, Indiana University, University of Wisconsin, University of Michigan, Suny, UT Austin, UCLA are top in the library field and many offer dual degrees along the lines you are interested in studying. I don't know where you are located.</p>