History of Art > Undergraduate > BA/MA Program

BA/MA Degree Requirements in History of Art

Admission to the BA/MA program is restricted to current Johns Hopkins University undergraduate history of art majors who are pursuing the honors track in the department, including writing a senior honors thesis. Admission is based on outstanding performance in previous History of Art courses.

Students considering a five-year program are expected to declare their interest during the spring semester of their junior year. Prior to application, students must consult with the director of undergraduate studies, their faculty adviser, and the department administrator.  A formal graduate application must be submitted via the graduate school admissions site by the departmental deadline for graduate admissions (December 15th) in the fall semester of the senior year for admission to the program in the spring of the senior year, meeting the requirement for concurrent status. In the senior (fourth) year, students are to devise a program of study that would best prepare them to do advanced work in their final (fifth) year. All requirements for the BA must be completed by the end of the fourth year.

In the MA (fifth) year, students must:

  • Take six graduate seminars in the History of Art Department
  • Demonstrate reading proficiency in one modern language according to the department’s modern language requirements

The BA and MA degrees are conferred consecutively: at the end of the senior year for the BA and the end of the fifth year for the MA. The department does not award degrees during the summer; students are expected to complete the degree requirements in conformance with the university Graduate Board spring deadlines. Specific departmental and Graduate Board deadlines are communicated to the student in due course.

Applicants interested in the BA/MA program must submit the following documentation:

  • Application
    • Please select the SPRING as a start term in the online application. This will ensure that, pending acceptance, your matriculation date is correct
  • Statement of Purpose
    • Statements of purpose should be no more than three (3) pages long.
  • Transcript(s)
  • Sample of Work
    • The sample of work should be no more than 30 pages, including images and works cited.  Most samples are between fifteen and twenty-five (15-25) pages.

Note that the GRE is not a requirement for admission into the BA/MA program and there is no application fee.  The program is 50% of the yearly tuition cost.