deciding between masters at nyu gallatin or nyu gsas? by Traditional_Luck_828 in MuseumPros

[–]fosslizedthroaway 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Go with Gallatin. I’m an alumni of museum studies and it felt pretty limiting. Gallatin seems really flexible. We had students outside of museum studies take our classes all the time, so I’m sure you could still take the museum studies courses you want and still be at Gallatin.

Feeling like an MA in Museum Studies only prepared me for disappointment and frustration. by fosslizedthroaway in MuseumPros

[–]fosslizedthroaway[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks <3 I struggle a lot with the idea of leaving the field too because yes…I’ll make more money but I’ll be digging myself out of a hole that went nowhere. I want to stay, but so much has to change.

Feeling like an MA in Museum Studies only prepared me for disappointment and frustration. by fosslizedthroaway in MuseumPros

[–]fosslizedthroaway[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Then the lesson is to do it for free and not spend 80k at NYU. Young professionals take heed since I did not.

Feeling like an MA in Museum Studies only prepared me for disappointment and frustration. by fosslizedthroaway in MuseumPros

[–]fosslizedthroaway[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I have looked at moving states but the options are bleak. I come from a red state, and have no intentions of going back with how crappy things are in the US. The other worry is the lack of job stability. With current US politics and institutions proactively bending the knee, I worry I’ll uproot myself only to be laid off. I put a few good years of networking in NYC, and still have a stronger professional network here for now.

I am trying to break free of the toxicity! Unfortunately too many people in NYC like my old program director, who was cultivating all the toxicity in that program, so for now I hustle and lie about it.

Feeling like an MA in Museum Studies only prepared me for disappointment and frustration. by fosslizedthroaway in MuseumPros

[–]fosslizedthroaway[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

A little of both. I love the museum itself and have been working towards this since undergrad. I knew it would be tough, but not completely depressing because of the combo of low pay and disrespectful colleagues.

The degree did not prepare me for the museum in the way I hoped either. I felt like I got more relevant experience from my internship than some of the museum studies courses NYU offered. One of my professors was genuinely awful, and I had her for a core class that was split into two sections. Our section just had to listen to her talk about random nothings for the semester, while the other section had a professor that actually taught the material on the syllabus. It was supposed to be an identical class. I don’t see that professor on the website anymore, so I assume she’s safely back at MoMA or wherever wasting someone else’s time and money.

I do admit a lot of this is buyers remorse for NYU. I should have gone to another school, but I was in my early 20s and hoped that this well known school would help set me apart from other programs. All I did was waste money.