Courtald Institute's MA History of Art

I'm currently an English Literature undergrad and I am considering doing a masters in History of Art. The Courtald, due to its reputation, small class sizes, and specialist option units is quite appealing. I was wondering if anyone could offer any information on the application process.

For example, how competitive is the course? I understand that they take on around 200-250 students, but does anyone know the acceptance rate for the applications they receive? Is the cohort made up mostly of people who studied BA History of Art?
And, finally, if you have studied the MA, did you enjoy it?

(edited 12 months ago)

Reply 1

salarymanman

It really depends on which special option you apply to. Some are more competitive than others, requiring an interview during the application process. If you visit the MA History of Art page and scroll down, you'll notice the more popular options are full, while the less popular ones are still accepting applicants.

Acceptance rates can be found here but that's for the cohort and not indicative of each special option.

While the cohort mainly comprises of art history students, I knew some who have come from anthropology, museum studies, archaeology, English, film studies, and other allied subjects. I believe my special option's tutor had a BA in English before moving on to Art History, and you can see that reflected in her approach.

I enjoyed my MA for many reasons but thought it wasn't cool that they only informed us that our tutor would be on sabbatical for the autumn semester a month or so before the course began. I suppose that's something to keep an eye out for.

Reply 2

dilystam

Original post by salarymanman

It really depends on which special option you apply to. Some are more competitive than others, requiring an interview during the application process. If you visit the MA History of Art page and scroll down, you'll notice the more popular options are full, while the less popular ones are still accepting applicants.
Acceptance rates can be found here but that's for the cohort and not indicative of each special option.
While the cohort mainly comprises of art history students, I knew some who have come from anthropology, museum studies, archaeology, English, film studies, and other allied subjects. I believe my special option's tutor had a BA in English before moving on to Art History, and you can see that reflected in her approach.
I enjoyed my MA for many reasons but thought it wasn't cool that they only informed us that our tutor would be on sabbatical for the autumn semester a month or so before the course began. I suppose that's something to keep an eye out for.

Hello, could you also give me some advice too? I am holding onto four offers from Oxford, The Courtauld, UCL, and NYU Institute of Fine Arts. How would you evaluate your experience at The Courtauld, and what made you choose your course in the end? From the perspective of continuing onto a doctorate, which institution do you think would be the best course to take?