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Application Procedures

The Department of Art History will be accepting applications for admission in the 2012-2013 academic year starting September 3, 2012. Please note that the following guidelines have been updated as of October 25, 2012.

Applications, found here, are accepted online only. The application website will go live on September 3, 2012. Please check back soon for further instructions on how to access and use the application website.

When reviewing applications to the Art History Program, the Department considers the applicant's:

1. Strength of the statement of purpose, which should demonstrate the applicant's ability to compellingly frame his or her intended intervention within the discipline.
2. Fit with the geographical, temporal, and methodological orientation of our tenured and tenure-track faculty.
3. Abilities in art historical research and independence of thought, as demonstrated in the writing sample.
4. Breadth and sophistication of undergraduate (and master's level) art historical training.
5. Extent of foreign language preparation in French, German, and other languages appropriate to area of concentration.

N.B.: You may contact members of the Department in advance of submitting your application, but please note that both faculty and graduate students are very busy; they might not have time to respond in depth or at all to your inquiries. Before contacting anyone, you should thoroughly familiarize yourself with the all of the materials contained on this website. You will also want to be sure to engage the work and writing of those faculty—both in Art History and beyond—with whom you are most interested in studying. In reaching out to prospective advisors, you want to be as informed as possible in order to make the best first impression and to use your time and the faculty member's effectively. For all administrative and application questions, please contact program assistant Luke Fidler (l-fidler@northwestern.edu).

Residency Credit

All students are required to complete three years of course work in the department. In exceptional cases, up to one year of residency credit may be granted to students who have earned an M.A. in Art History elsewhere prior to admission.

Application Checklist

1. Completed application. This must be received by December 31 for admission the following September, and includes a mandatory application fee that must be paid online.
2. Be sure to fill out the Statement of Purpose portion of the online application.
3. Graduate Record Examination scores and TOEFL or IELTS scores (for foreign applicants). GREs must have been taken within 5 years of the quarter in which the applicant hopes to begin graduate study at Northwestern. In addition to GRE and TOEFL or IELTS scores, foreign applicants must also take the TSE (Test of Spoken English), which is required for Teaching Assistantships. To be valid, the TOEFL, TSE and IELTS must have been taken within two years of the quarter in which the applicant hopes to begin graduate study at Northwestern. Send scores to Institution Code 1565.
4. Writing sample such as a research paper demonstrating the applicant's abilities and interests. Sample must be under 30 pages long and must be submitted online. Writing samples sent directly to the department will not be accepted.
5. Two letters of recommendation. Recommendations for applicants from non-English speaking countries must be submitted in their original language, with an English translation appended. Letters of recommendation must be submitted online.
6. Electronic copies of transcripts from all colleges and graduate programs attended by the applicant will be submitted during the online application process. These may be official or unofficial transcripts. Please note that, while unofficial transcripts will suffice for the application, all admitted and enrolled students will turn in official, hardcopies of their transcripts before beginning courses at Northwestern University.
7. All applications must be completed and submitted by December 31 to be considered. Incomplete applications will not be considered.