<p>We're always hearing about A+ students with perfect SAT scores who don't get into top colleges because they don't have a "hook".</p>
<p>Is my hunch correct that fewer applicants to selective liberal arts colleges express an early interest in an art major than Economics, English, Government, etc.?</p>
<p>I know that colleges need to assemble a diverse freshman class--and I'm wondering if a very talented and award winning photographer, for example, might be interesting to a selective college--even though she is not at the top of her high school class?</p>
<p>Yes, I think this would be of interest to schools. Over fifty percent of kids applying to selective schools do music, but less than twenty percent do art. </p>
<p>Wow, interesting statistic. I wonder why? Could it be just the opposite - selective colleges do not like to admit artsy kids? My D is very artsy but does not plan to pursue art as her major, just wants to continue doing it on the side in the form of cartooning for college papers, poster design, etc.</p>
<p>I think you need to look at correlations: Music (to me) seems much more widely promulgated than visual arts. I'd imagine the percentage of kids heavily involved in visual arts is much smaller than in music -- therefore the admit rates to colleges would reflect that.</p>
<p>Lots of kids take piano at six years old. Not lots of 16 year olds are casting bronzes or doing cartoon layouts</p>
<p>Music is ultimately a group activity; art is not. Therefore, artists are in demand. I know this from personal observation. One example, S's friend got $100,000 scholarship from NYU and accepted at UPenn based on his portfolio. His grades etc. were good, but all were shocked by his success.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think part of the reason why there are more students doing music than art is because a lot of them had to take music lessons as a kid. I've never heard of anyone's parents making them take frequent art lessons. Art is more of a self-directed thing (but music is, too).</p>
<p>This is just from a student but, you might find that the number of aspiring photographers. With digital cameras and photo-sharing websites (Facebook, Myspace, Flickr), many of the kids at my hs want to go into art. So, while there might be a huge advantage (I don't know), it probably has decreased over, say the last 10 years.</p>
<p>Question to all: should I encourage my D to submit an art portfolio with her applications (some colleges she is applying to even have supplements for that)? Like any artist, she thinks she is not that good... Her friends think she is a pretty fine artist.</p>
<p>Re: pictures on Facebook. I'm old and I have never seen a Facebook page. :) Do you mean there are a lot of kids who know about film developing, exposure times, appertures, etc. and actually take time and photoshop their digital pictures, make murals, collages, etc.? Or kids who just plaster their point-and-shoot pics on their sites? I think OP's daughter is the former kind.</p>
<p>Bunsen-- Maybe it would be good to get an outside, objective take on whether the portfolio would boost your D's applications. If you have a good GC at your school, and an art teacher who is knowledgable about art in the college admissions process, why not ask them?</p>