<p>In looking at art history programs at the bachelors level, how important is a senior thesis option or honors program.
D’s current plans are for Art History B.A. or B.F.A, then art history grad school.</p>
<p>If your daughter wants to go to graduate school, an honors thesis is a great idea; admissions are highly competitive to graduate school in art history. Many undergraduate programs offer the option of doing a senior thesis; honors credit varies from school to school – at Columbia, for example, anyone can do a senior thesis but they accord honors only to some.</p>
<p>dtex, I would pick an art history program based on access to museum network and internship opportunities. If the college has a thesis or honors program, more the better, but I wouldn’t make that the primary criterion.</p>
<p>You may already be aware that Williams has one of the best art history programs in the country and many of the top directors and curators in the country are alums – so many, in fact, that they’re called the Williams mafia.</p>
<p>There are three world class museums on campus which offer excellent hands-on curating experience. The senior thesis is also offered, both full year and half year.</p>
<p>Williams has a summer internship program in conjunction with the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in Boston which is a remarkable opportunity. It’s funded by a philanthropic group, well paid and intensely valuable for anyone who’s considering a career in museum work.</p>
<p>Thanks, momrath and mamenyu. Williams would be great, as would several other programs in the Northeast. D, however, has a serious aversion to cold weather. That may change. Her academic record is in line with that of the typical accepted pool at Williams and similar schools. That could change too, as she is only a sophomore, but I hope it doesn’t. Noteworthy ec’s include 2nd in State at High School Art History competition as a freshman, and got first in district for same last week, with state finals in April. Options are somewhat limited in the south, but SMU in Dallas has a very large art history dept and a large museum on campus (Meadows Museum). Thanks again for your suggestions.</p>
<p>dtex, Williams definitely comes with cold weather! The other LACs that my son was interested in are also in the cold belt so they may eliminated as well but for the record: Hamilton, Skidmore, Wesleyan, Kenyon, Conn College. He didn’t look at Oberlin, Bard and Vassar, but these departments are highly regarded. And obviously, Smith and Bryn Mawr weren’t for him, but ditto, very good for art history.</p>
<p>Most large universities have good art history departments. I’m not that familiar with the colleges in Texas, but would recommend that your daughter look at Johns Hopkins, Berkeley, WUSTL.</p>
<p>My daughter is an Art/Art History double major at WUSTL. She also was impressed and got in at Williams, but thought that the cold and isolation/small town would be too much of an adjustment for her. (She’s from Houston). It’s cold in St. Louis, but not for as long and less snow. She is working very hard and has been quite pleased with the level of instruction in her courses so far. (She’s only a freshman) I have no idea about WUSTL’s reputation in getting her in to grad. school, she’s hoping it will be mostly determined by her grades and the quality of her portfolio.</p>
<p>Also, there is an Art museum on campus and another very good museum within an easy walk in Forest Park. (Free)</p>
<p>Thanks, Aardvark. When your daughter was looking at schools, did she check out Rice. From what I can tell from their website, including a page of where the grads in art history went, the art history dept at Rice seems to exist to support the achitecture program.</p>
<p>Most of the schools mentioned don’t offer a BFA.
Schools with particularly good art museums on campus or nearby: Yale, Harvard, Williams (which has its own museum and also boasts the Clarke, a wonderful small museum next to the campus), Smith, Oberlin, and any school in New York, including Columbia and NYU, which both have excellent art history programs. All of these, alas, are in the snow belt!</p>
<p>dtex: Rice is good, but we live less than 1 mile from Rice. Therefore my dtr took it off of her list early. 
WUSTL does offer a BFA. The other schools, I don’t know as much about</p>
<p>If your looking into California schools with excellent museum connections–
investigate UCLA with great connections to LACMA, The Getty, The Hammer,
Norton Simon Museum and the Huntington. I am partial as I did my undergrad
and masters at UCLA in art history.
(the Getty especially has LOADS of money and LOADS of internships)</p>