I’m currently a high school freshman, and I know that I want to major in Art History (yes, I know that there are like no jobs in it– my backup career is a librarian, and I would only major in it if I got into a good school). I’ve done a lot of research, and so far it seems like there are only a few colleges that have seriously good AH programs, like Williams, Columbia, UChicago, Harvard, etc. I’d be super grateful for some more recommendations, and if anyone knows more about the AH programs mentioned above, I’d love to hear it. Thanks!
Wow! You’re a high school freshman. Very impressive.
Williams would seem like the “go to” place for your interest as you’ve found. Two museums right there and the largest museum of contemporary art in the world in the next town.
But I can’t imagine studying art history any place other than New York City because it has so many more museums than ant other city in the country. So, yes, Columbia, but also Barnard, NYU, Fordham, Eugene Lang College at the New School, and Sarah Lawrence. I’d include Vassar up in Poughkeepsie because it’s got pretty easy access to the city by train. And same thing for Bard which is also up in that neck of the woods.
The other factor that I’d look at is a college’s study abroad program. I might want to take 2 semesters abroad so I could study in 2 different places. Or maybe a summer and one semester during the academic year. If you can’t bring great art to you, then bring yourself to the great art.
Have fun exploring. You have a few years.
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I’ll preface this by saying that my daughter is an art history major.
Kudos to you for knowing what you want to study and planning for it accordingly. Before I address your specific question, a few caveats: First of all, I think that it is way too soon for you to either be looking at the types of schools you are looking at and for you be locked into a specific major. Secondly, I would advise you to keep an open mind with respect to schools and programs in the coming years as your interests will almost certainly evolve over time. Third, as a freshman in HS, you have no idea if you will even be competitive for the kinds of schools you are looking at, let alone if you will still be interested in the same subjects that you are interested in now. As you start to look at colleges and explore potential majors, you may find that your interests change and evolve over time. This will be true even when –– and especially after –– you start college.
Having said all of that, I will now attempt to answer your query. The first thing you need to consider is what kind of experience you are looking to have at school (whether you think you’d be happier at a larger research university vs. a smaller LAC, what part of the country you want to live in, what your financial constraints are, and what schools you may or may not be competitive for.). Ultimately, my D decided that she preferred a slightly larger research uni to an LAC because she wanted to have access to more professors with more and varied areas of interest. If you’re at a small LAC and there are only a couple of of professors whose interests don’t necessarily align with yours and/or you don’t like or get along with them, it’s not going to go well for you.
Most of the top research universities will have strong Art History programs. The schools you mentioned certainly do, as do other institutions of that caliber (pretty much all of the Ivy League schools will have strong programs). Some LACs will have better AH programs than others. Williams is probably the top LAC for anyone interested in art history. Bryn Mawr is another LAC with a strong art history program (if you are interested in –– or are the right gender for –– a women’s college). Another thing to consider is that attending a school that is part of a consortium would allow you to take classes at other institutions and give you access to more programs and professors (Bryn Mawr, for example, would give you access to Haverford, UPenn, and Swarthmore). Oberlin is another very good school with a good art history program.
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