Hello all! I just subscribed to this list serve recently and have enjoyed reading all of your comments! As the subject header says, I need some advice... I will try to keep this as short as possible. I am a 24 year old, B.A. degree holding, finanical aid counselor at a private university in San Francisco. I have a passion for art history (specifically early Meso American art, i.e. Mayan, Aztec, Incan, Toltec, etc.) which is what I would truly want to pursue. My degree was in art, but I took every single art history class that was offered by the small private univ. in Sothern California I attended. I had a terrific mentor and professor who encouraged me in art history. I never interned at a museum, but instead was selected as the Art Department Assistant for three semesters, which was a wonderful experience. I found that I loved to help coordinate and manage exhibits and events for the Art Dept. I graduated in December 1996 and began working right away to support myself and my fiance. Financial Aid was one of the only things I had practical experience in, so I have been in that field ever since. It is a field I tolerate, but don't care for. It pays the bills, so to speak. My dilemma is this... I desperately want to get into museum work. And I realize I have two ideal ways to go about it. Look for an entry level job at any museum that will hire me, and take a very large cut in pay (which, in San Francisco, can be a big problem- right now I pay over $1,000/month for a dinky one bedroom apartment); or I could go back to school and get a Master's degree and some intern experience. I realize that the second option would benefit me more (and I would probably enjoy it more), but I think I would need to narrow my focus a bit. The university I work at now has an Arts Administration program for an M.A. which is supposed to be good, but this is not in art history or museum work. From what I understand the program is a broad approach to administration careers in the arts. I think I might enjoy actual hands-on research and museum studies more. Before I graduated I did some research, and narrowed down some choices for graduate Art History programs (in Meso American art). The three that I thought I would apply to were: University of New Mexico-Albuquerque, University of Maryland-College Park, and Cornell University (this one was actually their archaeology/anthropology program). These could still be an option for me, in the next couple years.... So, what am I asking?? Any advice on the best way to go about finding the perfect museum career for me?(research vs. administration) And any knowledge of the programs at the universities mentioned above? Any help would be so greatly appreciated. Right now I feel like I have no specific goals, I am just floating. I need to get back into what I enjoy and makes my brain work harder!! Thank you, Barbara Hawkins Financial Aid Counselor Golden Gate University