Sotheby’s Institute of Art offers *Financial Assistance and Scholarship opportunities at the London and New York campuses for postgraduate/graduate programmes. More information is available on our website under Financing Your Studies.

*Sotheby’s Institute of Art is currently not eligible for US Federal Aid.

The average financial assistance award ranges from $3,000-5,000 USD, or 1,500- 3,000 GBP. Scholarships range from $3,000 – 6,000 USD or 3,000-5,000 GBP per student. Both types of award are grants and do not need to be repaid.

There is no deadline for Financial Assistance, which is awarded on a rolling basis so long as funds are available. Each year new essay questions are posted on March 1st and scholarship applicants have four weeks to submit their essay to the Scholarship Board for consideration. Please visit our website frequently for updated information on this process.

Students may apply for independent scholarships, as needed. If a letter verifying acceptance is required from the Institute please contact Enrollment Services at the appropriate campus.

If you are an American citizen pursuing a degree in New York or London, you are eligible to obtain a private loan through Sallie Mae at: http://go.salliemae.com/smartoption/.

International (non-US) students can apply for loans through their country of citizenship. Please see our website for more detailed information.

Non-US students may consider applying for private bank loans Students who are not US residents may consider private bank loans.

Residents of the United Kingdom are eligible for Professional and Career Development Loans. For further information on these loans please visit www.direct.gov.uk/adultlearning or contact Next Steps on 0800 100 900. Our learning provider registration number is 2569.

The Institute offers students who accept our office of admission agency recommendations and tips on securing housing through our online new student website site. Students also use this site to meet each other and arrange flat and roommate shares with other students via a discussion board.

There are approximately two applicants for every student who attend the Institute.

You may contact Alissa Roeder, Assistant Director of Alumni Services, at a.roeder@sothebysinstitute.com who will put you in touch with an alumnus. Alissa manages the alumni program and is responsible for all alumni related events. For more information on the alumni network please visit our website at: http://alumni.sothebysinstitute.com

Please visit our website to see the schedule of future recruiting visits.

The Institute has Open Day events throughout the year and they are listed on our website. You may also contact the admissions staff at any of our campuses to arrange an individual visit. We encourage interested students to meet one-on-one with an admissions staff member to talk about their goals and interests prior to applying.

The Institute does require an English Language Proficiency Exam for non-native English speakers. We require the following exam scores: for Masters programmes: IELTS level 7; TOEFL 100 IBT for the internet based exam; for the Posgraduate Dipoma: IELTS Level 6.5; for Semester courses and London Summer Study: IELTS 6.0. If you have received an undergraduate degree from an Institution where you were taught in English it may be possible to waive the English Language Proficiency Exam, upon review of your application.

We do not require the GRE or GMAT for entry.

For postgraduate/graduate programmes the Institute requires two letters of recommendation and applicants are responsible for contacting their referees. Referees should assess a student’s ability to be successful in graduate/postgraduate study based on their direct experience with the applicant. If you have been out of University for three or more years you may submit one professional and one academic recommendation.

The Institute prefers that the letters are either mailed to the Institute directly in a sealed envelope, or they may be sent to the student and then forwarded in the original sealed envelope to the admissions office.

We do not have a form that we provide for your referees to fill out.

If you have a copy of an unofficial document, you may send this in and it will expedite the application review process but for postgraduate/graduate programmes we do require you to submit official documents indicating your degree has been conferred for our files. Transcripts for courses that are not related to degree studies are not required.

Students can only apply for one campus when submitting an application and for one area of study. You will have the option of choosing a 2nd programme preference when you complete our online application.

Although the majority of our postgraduate/graduate students have undergraduate degrees with a major or minor in art history this may not be required in all cases. Applicants for our Masters and Postgraduate Diplomas are required to have some Art History knowledge in order to be successful. In some cases we require applicants to complete a course prior to attending the postgraduate/graduate programmes at the Institute. Art History knowledge will be assessed based on your writing sample and will be evaluated during your interview.

On postgraduate/graduate programmes the travel fees are separate from tuition fees and are listed on our website in the Tuition Fees section. On London Semester courses travel fees are included within the tuition fees.

The average age of our students varies by campus and programme. We have students who are recent college graduates as well as career changers of all ages. For information on a specific programme please contact Alissa Roeder, A.Roeder@sothebysinstitute.com, in New York or Cara Gillespie, C.Gillespie@sothebysinstitute.com in London.

Work experience is not a requirement for admission to our programmes. We have students who are recent graduates as well as a number of career-changers of all ages.

There is no foreign language requirement.

Beginning in September 2011 postgraduate/graduate students may take two semesters of study at one campus and a third semester of study at an alternate campus in a different discipline. The third semester of coursework will include a master’s project in lieu of a master’s thesis. This option may not be available for all programmes so please contact the admissions staff at one of our campuses for more information.

Graduate/postgraduate programmes:
*completed online application
*2 academic letters of reference (see questions #14 and 15)
*official transcripts from all colleges/universities attended
*a copy of your CV/Resume
*a writing sample (for Art History majors/minors: a marked and graded paper; for non-Art History majors/minors: a 1000 word essay on an exhibition of your choice).
*TOEFL (100 IBT) or IELTS (level 7) required for non-English speakers

Semester courses:
*Completed online application
*A copy of your CV/Resume
*IELTS (level 6) required for non-English speakers

Summer Study in London courses:
*Completed online application
*A copy of your CV/Resume
*IELTS (level 6) or motivation statement in English for non-English speakers

We do not recommend that students work during their first two semesters study as all of our programmes are full-time intensive courses. Many students pursue internships during their third semester of study while they complete their thesis/dissertation. Likewise Semester and London summer study students will find it difficult to sustain work commitments during these intensive full-time courses. In some cases, visa restrictions may apply.

In London, students are eligible to apply for a limited number of highly competitive, non-credit internships at Sotheby’s auction house during the third semester of study.

In New York, there are several dedicated internship opportunities open to students in their third semester of study, as well as the opportunity to apply for the highly competitive ‘Floater’ programme at Sotheby’s auction house.

We do offer a split-site PhD programme exclusively at our London campus, through the University of Manchester, and students who are interested in this programme should contact Venetia Hill-Perkins, v.hill-perkins@sothebysinstitute.com.

We have a career services office at both London and New York campuses, where staff can assist students to prepare for the job market and provide career advice.

Summer study, semester, and short courses, are open to all students. The coursework completed in these areas does not apply to MA degrees at the Institute.

It is the student’s responsibility to speak with the academic advisor at their home institution before considering a course through Sotheby’s Institute of Art in order to ensure that the course credit will be transferrable to that institution.