Art and Pre-Med?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm currently an honors freshman Neuroscience major at Ohio State University, but I'm not exactly enjoying it. I originally came here due to generous scholarships (my parents are paying for my college, didn't want to strain them) and the impression that medical schools preferred science majors, but I'm looking to transfer into a solid art program and continue fulfilling pre-med requirements while working towards a BFA. I have a passion for art as it applies to storytelling and interactivity (in media, books, games, simulations, animation) rather than the sort of highly conceptual and less technical work often seen in galleries, and I find that OSU's art department is really geared towards the latter.</p>

<p>The places I've considered the most thus far are CMU, RISD, and CalArts, all of which I got accepted to when I applied in high school. I'm worried about the caliber and focus of CMU's art program, but I'm drawn to the school's rigorous academics. the student body's hardworking reputation, and the breadth of its course offerings. On the flip-side, I'm concerned that going to an art school like RISD, while offering a top notch art education, would limit my ability to take courses in the sciences and humanities, particularly those needed for admission to medical school. I currently have AP credit from Physics B, both Physics C exams, BC Calculus, Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, and nine other less relevant subjects. I was considering doing the rest at Brown should I decide to go to RISD but...</p>

<p>Does anybody have a little more insight as to what these schools are like and the feasibility of doing this? Are there any other schools that I should be looking at?</p>

2

<p>I really like the combination of neuroscience and art, particularly with the work that’s being done with storytelling in neuroscience right now. I suggest you stick with a science-based school that, like CMU, also has a lot invested in the arts. So a visit to CMU’s art department might be a good idea. Maybe their students are busy defining themselves as “at CMU but not really CMU in mind,” and that wouldn’t be a good thing. I doubt it. Before you visit, find out what you can about their art major by calling up the head of the art school, John Carson, and find out from him what you can about CMU’s fit with your plans. Lots of CMU students are involved in interdisciplinary studies, so you wouldn’t be so out of place as you might be at a more rigid flagship school. As you can see, I’m not a big fan of the arts schools since you want this rigorous interdisciplinary. I speak of CMU because I know it more than other schools you might consider. </p>