NYU and Art History, Admission Essay Example

Art, for me, is an aesthetically and intellectually fascinating lens through which to study history. No other discipline makes the past more alive, as each culture and society imprinted itself on history through the truths and oblique views of the art each produced. Factual matter and recorded events have their own appeal, but my interest is held more by studying the ways in which people of past eras, sometimes under difficult conditions and against popular tides of opinion, used art to capture the soul of the age. That this process was often unintentional makes it no less compelling to me, or valid as a discipline.

The greatest learning experiences in my life to date have revolved around this form of study, if in non-university settings. I have been fortunate enough to visit Paris and Barcelona over the past two summers, and a good deal of my time in each great city was spent in the museums. It is not easy to see the magnificent works these places hold and not be imbued with the richness of the history behind them, as the feeling also creates in me a powerful urge to know more. This feeling remains with me on my many trips to New York City, on weekend breaks from my boarding school. That I have access to this city, a world capital with an extraordinary wealth of museums and galleries of every kind, is an opportunity I relish.

I can, in fact, think of no school better suited to help me further my pursuits than New York University. A celebrated and vibrant institution of learning in itself, it is doubly enhanced by location; what I can learn in its classrooms will reflect on the art I can view for myself, a matter of city blocks away. Moreover, NYU’s pride in being an integrated environment seems to support what draws me most to it. This school, set within a great city, is mindful of its unique placement and takes full advantage of it, encouraging students to explore what is all around them. As art history is my passion and as New York boasts both this fine school and a world-class art culture, I can hardly imagine a university life more in keeping with the path I so wish to take.