<p>This is the article about Wesleyan and the senior party: [Wesleyan</a> students to be disciplined for party at Connecticut Science Museum](<a href=“http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20130221/wesleyan-students-to-be-disciplined-for-party-at-connecticut-science-museum]Wesleyan”>Wesleyan students to be disciplined for party at Connecticut Science Museum)
Will also post the article on Oberlin…</p>
<p>[Oberlin</a> Has a Nasty Anonymous Message Board Problem](<a href=“Oberlin Has a Nasty Anonymous Message Board Problem”>Oberlin Has a Nasty Anonymous Message Board Problem)</p>
<p>These raise questions about the stress level / quality of life…also school reputations. </p>
<p>While I am sure awful stuff goes on on every campus, some kids can tune it out less than others, esp on a small campus.</p>
<p>mominco, bad things happen at good schools, all of them. Oberlin recently had a doozy of a race-baiting hoax and don’t even get started on some of the negative reporting at Williams. I can’t think of any college that is unscathed by scandal or outrage.</p>
<p>“Fit” is intangible and often visceral which is why it’s so important to get a personal reaction. Visits and overnights are not infallible but they’re a fairly good way to gauge a college’s personality. I never argue with kids’ reactions, even if they are irrational. Like my coop board they can accept or reject for any or no reason. If it doesn’t feel right, move on.</p>
<p>Also a comment on musica’s advice that curators usually come up through art history: I agree, though some directors have followed other channels like business or architecture. Williams combination studio/history major was especially useful for students who are deeply interested in both.</p>
<p>This is an interesting interview with Michael Gowan from LACMA
[Director</a> CEO of museum | Michael Govan | ?85 | How’d You Get There?](<a href=“http://howdyougetthere.williams.edu/?p=192]Director”>http://howdyougetthere.williams.edu/?p=192)</p>
<p>Another one to file under ‘When Bad Things Happen at Good Schools’:</p>
<p>[Police</a> probe Saybrook laundry incident | Yale Daily News](<a href=“http://yaledailynews.com/blog/2013/10/02/police-probe-saybrook-laundry-incident/]Police”>Police probe Saybrook laundry incident - Yale Daily News)</p>
<p>The first comment is priceless.</p>
<p>Momcinco: Yuck. S: Ew. What can be said except for…yuck. Ew. </p>
<p>Thanks everyone. Not sure how to keep this thread going but I hope you will keep up with S’s search. And I will look forward to hearing more from hs2015mom.</p>
<p>momcinco, bumping this thread because I thought of your search for your son when my son and I were at Haverford last week for an interview. Did you happen to spot this mural when you were on campus?</p>
<p>[A</a> New Mural for James House | The Haverblog](<a href=“http://blogs.haverford.edu/haverblog/2013/05/13/a-new-mural-for-james-house/]A”>A New Mural for James House | Haverblog)</p>
<p>We drove by it on the way in and DS wanted to go back to photograph it he was so intrigued; he later sent the photo to a classmate who’s a visual artist and apparently he loved it too. </p>
<p>The neatest part of the story is that one of the landscapers nearby stopped what he was doing to give us a little attention and asked us if we knew what the piece meant. We had no idea, but he said (not verified!) that the artist told him it represented the “decline of capitalism,” and the three of us had a nice moment together.</p>
<p>Your son sounds truly special; I’m sure he’ll have a lot of choices when the time comes. Looking forward to reading more about his search. What a lucky kid he is to have a mom so willing to help him find the perfect place. Keep us posted!</p>
<p>momcinco, I’ll add my two cents. My D2 is a senior at MICA and had taken advantage of the Baltimore collegetown consortium to take classes at JHU. It might be a good place for your son since he is multi talented and interested in many things and you want to keep his options open. </p>
<p>In that vein, you might also want to consider Alfred U in NY as a safety. They are basically about 1/2 engineering and 1/2 fine arts although the school is rural and a bit isolated. Upstate NY offers also Syracuse, Cornell, and RIT which all offer the BFA and would have math and other classes he wants. </p>
<p>On the one hand, if he is serious about art he should go for a BFA where about 2/3 of the coursework would be in a studio. If he gets a BA instead about 1/3 of his coursework would be in a studio. LAC’s who have a studio art major tend to have the traditional disciplines of drawing, painting and printmaking. Possibly photography and graphic design. That sounds right for his interests now but there is much, much, more out there. Still, he could get a BA and double major in something like math and painting and go on to do whatever he likes in grad school! Good luck on your search - decision making isn’t easy, is it?</p>
<p>Thanks greenwitch and LucietheLakie! </p>
<p>A ICA rep comes regularly to S’s art school. It looks great. I hoped that there was a dual degree thing like RISD-Brown…but no such luck. We are going to visit Brown and RISD quite soon and I hope that seeing RISD will help him to know which way to lean. He is into the BA idea right now, but will he want a BFA after a glimpse of art school?</p>
<p>MICA has an Open House at the end of the month and another in spring and I am encouragin him to go with other art students who are already decided that they will apply there. MICA is cutting edge with all the tech and design and their info session is incredibly impressive. No starving artists – their grads get some great jobs. How wonderful that your D is at MICA! </p>
<p>Will look into Alfred, thanks for the suggestion!</p>
<p>As for Haverford, LucietheLakie I really wish I had listened to S, he kept saying he wanted to see the studio space but it wasn’t on the tour and I hadn’t asked Admissions ahead of time. S really liked both Haverford and Swat, even though their art depts are really small. But he is keeping them on the list, which makes me think he really does prefer a liberal arts college. My idea was to interview there (Swat and Haverford) in June but profs and students are gone by then. Maybe they would interview in May.</p>
<p>Actually I have told S that by Xmas he needs to be reading up in guidebooks on schools and scouring their websites. Ideally I would take him to visit a BIG school (Cornell?) so he can get at that other question, LAC versus university.</p>
<p>A some point I have to start backing off and he will have to define his list. </p>
<p>I really appreciate all the helpful comments and suggestions.</p>
<p>He went to an info session today on Vassar, liked it.</p>