Hi John,

Matt said you called.  First of all, congratulations!  Boy, what choices.
They're all about the same, so I'd go with the fellowship money.  GWU has
gotten incredibly expensive but you may want to base your choices on the
types of classes, faculty, and experiences you're seeking and many people
have replied with some good advice.  "Museum" is such a broad term and each
program could emphasize a different area (e.g., natural history, art,
administration, education, collections, exhibits, etc.).  In my career, I've
worked in all types of museums (historic house, historical society,
archives, botanic garden, historic preservation office, federal government)
and in different areas (collections, education, public affairs, exhibits,
preservation).  It just depends on what you want to do.  There are so many
opportunities.  I, personally, like to work in historic house museums
because it gives me the opportunity to work in more than one area.  I
started working in museums with just my BA in history.  I picked up a lot of
theory and hands-on experience so that when I went back to grad school, I
decided to get my master's in history.  I'm not sorry that I did because I
learned so much about research and interpretation which is my interest.

Good luck and if you want to talk some more, you're welcome to call me at
202-479-2347.

Mary A. van Balgooy
Collections Manager
Supreme Court of the United States

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of John
Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 9:47 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] Museum Studies MA reputations

Hello Everyone...

After doing some research on MAs in Museum Studies last winter, I came to
the conclusion that there are no domestic programs that clearly dominate the
field.  I applied to four different programs that I thought looked
impressive.  I didn't expect to get accepted to all of them, but apparently
I sold myself short.  Could anyone give me some advice on where to spend the
next two years studying, and probably several more after that? I'm a
Californian, born and raised, but have no clear favorite on where to go (and
decision time is this month!!!).  Here they are:

NYU
GW
U of Toronto (with a generous fellowship) U of Washington - Seattle

Are there any clear favorites?  Thanks for any input you might have.  I
trully appreciate it.

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