Anne-Claire

It is rare that we work with teenagers who are singularly focused on a specific profession, but Anne-Claire was the exception. She was absolutely in love with art, and she was always clear that she wanted art to help shape her career.

Anne-Claire is French and, in Paris, was surrounded by some of the finest art museums in the world. As a young girl, she moved to Barcelona and was struck by both the beauty and oddity of Gaudi’s architecture on the grand Paseo de Gracia Avenue. She would spend hours outside contemplating the distinctive nature — inspired, organic shapes and forms that characterize his famous buildings. Her family also moved to London, where she became acquainted with the national Museum and was captivated by the Portrait Gallery. She began to keep a sketchbook and design costumes based on the many images she saw in the galleries. Finally, Anne-Claire discovered the world of modern art when her family moved to new York City while she was in high school.
Anne-Claire looked to The Short List to help her find schools that would allow her to explore her passion for connecting art with the world around her. We introduced her to a former career client who had secured a job at Sotheby’s. She saw the business side of art and was smitten. Anne-Claire wanted to explore schools in both the United States and United Kingdom. While most U.S. colleges require students to explore many academic areas through a core curriculum, students in England enter a specific college with a singular academic focus. Anne-Claire was open to both options as long as the schools had strong art history or art management programs. She made it clear that she would not apply Early Decision to any school because she wanted to keep her options open.

The Short List helped Anne-Claire research her list of schools and programs, and then plan her visits. She was keen to have interviews so she could better understand each school’s philosophy. We took her through our interview prep, helped her formulate questions, and then role-played many of the questions she was likely to encounter. She received tremendous feedback from several schools indicating that her interest and background made her a strong candidate. Anne-Claire was accepted to many premier schools. She chose to attend Cambridge University in England, where she will spend the next three years at Christ’s College reading the history of art.