<p>Hi. I am currently a rising senior seeking a college that can balance fine arts with liberal arts. Ideally, I would like to get dual degrees, but, if not possible, I would like to double major. I've done a lot of research but just want to hear what else is out there. </p>
<p>So far, I've found the Brown-RISD program (dream!), the Tufts-SMFA program (also good but commute sounds tough), Cornell, Wash U, and Michigan-Ann Arbor. My guidance counselor also suggested Pomona and Wesleyan???</p>
<p>I found the Eugene Lang/Parsons thing but am not really interested because of the skewed gender proportions, urban setting, etc.</p>
<p>Just wondering if you guys have heard of anything else out there that I should check out and maybe my general chances of getting in?</p>
<p>SAT: 800 CR 720 M 800 W (2320 total)
GPA: 4.00
Class Rank: top 2% at large, competitive school</p>
<p>I've held some leadership positions in extracurricular activities and have placed in numerous art contests (mostly local but also some regional stuff at Scholastic Art Awards). I also got a 5 on the AP Drawing Portfolio.</p>
<p>Hi EG90, My daughter had a similar academic/art background position to you when she applied to college three years ago. At the time the Brown-RISD partnership did not exist but that probably would have been a top choice for her. She was not interested in a five-year-BFA (i.e. SMA/Tufts) as she knew that ultimately she would be going to graduate school for an MFA and she had heard that many MFA programs prefer art students that have taken time off to develop their own work and who come from well rounded BA programs where they have developed their critical thinking and writing skills. The BA programs she applied to included Wesleyan, Vassar, Wash U (great because you are immersed in an art school), Haverford, Skidmore, Oberlin, Sarah Lawrence and a few others. She ultimately chose Wesleyan and it has been a mixed bag for her. She is now a rising senior. The liberal arts are great and courses such as anthropology and art history have fed her art but the art department itself is very small (one teacher per art discipline) and very limited in scope/ideas. The plus is that she has very close relationships with her teachers. To accommodate the lack of diverse thinking in the department she has spent every summer working at other schools (RISD, UCSC) or interning artists. So it can be done, but she has often wished that she had looked deeper and had chosen a school with a larger commitment to visual arts. I would encourage you to do this as you look. How many teacher teach each art form? How many students graduate each year in art? Talk to students. Put together a great slide portfolio and definitely apply to Brown/RISD as your stats are wonderful. Also look at Vassar, Syracuse, Wash U, Skidmore and Sarah Lawrence. Feel free to write me off line as my husband is a professional artist and we have some feel for all of this.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your advice! That's definitely interesting news about Wesleyan...A couple of the other small schools I've looked at seem to have the same problem--just not enough faculty to really have a diverse department.</p>
<p>It's really strange because I've actually looked online at a couple of those schools--Oberlin, Haverford--but would never have known they had decent art departments from their websites. I'll definitely check those schools out a bit more.</p>
<p>Unlike your daughter, I actually have no idea what I want to do after undergrad! I just know that I love art and academics and can't bear to give either one up at the moment (plus, they really complement each other in my opinion). I'm really hoping for the Brown-RISD thing to work out, but it's SO hard to get into! But...I really like Brown's philosophy on education and the whole campus feel, the students, etc. I know that they have a visual arts department and that even if not accepted into the Dual Degree program, I could cross-register at RISD. Just wondering, have you heard anything about Brown's art department (as a stand alone)? Dual degree program aside, the opportunity to cross-register at RISD is still a fantastic resource...</p>
<p>Thanks again for taking the time to help a stressed out senior!</p>
<p>Not to disappoint you, but Brown's art department was really pretty depressing when we visited during my daughter's application process. Having RISD at their back door probably has something to do with lack of resources/attention. My daughter sat in on a freshman art class and felt truly like it was being back in 9th grade at her rather sad public high school. She then attended a senior art thesis and it was so uninspiring -- art seemed like a slacker major to her. As Brown has such strong programs in other departments, she, like you, investigated cross registering at RISD to make up for Brown's poor art department but the calendars were not in in sync and according to students, cross registering actually seemed difficult. RISD also has a very structured sequence of programs (freshman intensive, etc) so joining in for an isolated class was not that easy. Perhaps they have worked out the calendar and the sequential problem now that they have a joint program? It is worth investigating as our information is now 3 years old.</p>
<p>How about Bennington in Vermont? It's an LAC in a beautiful location, with historic emphasis on the arts. Be sure they afford enough intellectual challenge for you, given those stats.</p>
<p>Just to add on to what StudioMom mentioned -- </p>
<p>No, they haven't solved the calendar "problem" between Brown and RISD. Both schools maintain their own calendar and the school year start/stop dates are one week apart. (Brown starts and stops one week earlier than RISD.) That is not likely to ever change as it is deliberately set up that way so that the traffic from move-in/move-out and graduation ceremonies doesn't totally overwhelm the narrow streets and limited parking on College Hill. Also, Brown has two 16-week semesters, while RISD is on a 4-1-4 schedule that has two 13-week semesters with a 6-week Wintersession sandwiched in between. The dual degree program deals with the calendar issue by having the student alternate spending the entire year at RISD or the full year at Brown, so there is no schedule conflict in any given year.</p>
<p>It is much easier for a RISD student to take a class at Brown than for a Brown student to take a class at RISD -- simply because RISD has much smaller enrollment caps in its studio classes. However, students at both schools do successfully cross-register each year so it certainly can be done.</p>
<p>EG90, My son graduated last year from Williams with a joint degree in art studio and art history. He was very pleased with the resources and professionalism of the department. The academics are also excellent.</p>
<p>Studiomom's comments on Wesleyan are interesting. This was my son's number two choice but in the end he chose Williams. He was also interested in Yale and Brown (this was before the joint program). Considered Tufts but felt the logistics with the MFA Program were too complex.</p>
<p>Other small LACs that appealed were Hamilton, Kenyon, Skidmore, Conn College. Smith if you are female.</p>
<p>If Williams and Kenyon appeal, I'd say also: Keep Oberlin on the LAC list, because of its high quality academics, Allen Memorial Art Museum with the Ellen Johnson wing for contemporary art. Notable art history faculty. The art studio department is small in size but has focus and intelligence. The blend of liberal arts college with the music conservatory is an inpsiring atmosphere, too.</p>
<p>Julie Taymor is an alum. I believe she double majored in Art and Religion,or Philosophy, with an emphasis on Mythology. RIght after college, she went to Bali to study puppetry as ritual theater, and from there came her ideas for The Lion King on Broadway...</p>
<p>That's really disappointing about the Brown art department... I had heard it was really good. I'm planning on visiting sometime in October so I guess I'll just have to check it out. All these liberal arts colleges sound perfect--if only they were bigger! My parents are trying to push me in the direction of bigger schools so I can meet lots of people. I might check out UCLA. It's big but not as big as U Michigan, plus there's the good weather and west coast vibe. I think Yale is just too hard to get into... A kid from my school got into Yale, but he had won some award from President Bush...so, yeah. No chance for me! Plus, I heard Yalies don't know how to have fun? Might just be a rumor. Just curious, but has anyone heard about the arts department at Pomona? My guidance counselor suggested it, and I could also take classes at Scripps, which is known for the department. Similar thing with Amherst and Smith. I'm just not interested in going to an all girls school. I just feel like I need some safety schools! Michigan would be ideal only it's just sooo big, and I don't know how easy it would be to get dual degrees.</p>
<p>ER90, Pomona is a wonderful college, but I wouldn't say studio art is one of its strong points. Scripps? I'll have to defer there, but I've never heard it mentioned for art.</p>
<p>My son was interested in Brown but in the end chose Williams because he felt that Brown was far too theoretical. He prefered Williams' process driven approach. He also really benefited from Williams profoundly good art history program.</p>
<p>I'm actually a graduate of Michigan so I know what you mean about sooo big. I'm an advocate of the small liberal arts eduation, mostly because my son's experience was so positive, but also because it makes sense on a lot of fronts. At Williams (again, just for example I'm sure the same is true at manyother LACs) getting a dual degree in one of the arts -- studio, music, theater -- plus one so-called "serious" discipline -- science, history -- is very common.</p>
<p>I don't know that I agree with your parents that you'd meet more people at a large university -- depending on your personality the opposite could be true. However, you have to work out your differences with your parents.</p>
<p>Artistic talent with demonstrated accomplishment and creativity IS a valued extracurricular at most selective colleges. Of course you have to have the statistics (which you do) to go along with it, but you shouldn't underestimate the edge that it could give you, even at hyper-selective colleges like Yale. Colleges need artists just as they need flute players and half-backs. At small colleges artists who do double duty in other disciplines are even more coveted as they especially like multi-faceted kids.</p>
<p>You should plan on submitting an slide portfolio ideally with a package of art related information. This could include a resume of accomplishments, awards, classes; a supplemental recommendation from an instructor or mentor; a personal statement; one or two (max!) media articles about you.</p>
<p>I would recommend you consider Brandeis University although the art dept is a painting and sculpture program-no ceramics, photography or graphics. The program is well regarded, well connected, dedicated faculty, visiting artists, Rose Art Museum and all the Boston museums and galleries at hand. Liberal arts education outstanding and one can easily double major, or major/minor.</p>
<p>To echo momrath's comments, I think the intimacy of a LAC may actually help you have deeper relationships with people. And, Williams has one of the best art history programs in the US and this cannot help but affect the quality of the studio art program. Kurt Varnedoe, former painting sculpture curator at MOMA in NY, Earl A. Powell of the Smithsonian, Thomas Krens of the Guggenheim, Glenn Lowry head of MOMA NY are among the distinguished graduates. I would encourage you to check it out.</p>
<p>I don't know... My parents are just really against the small colleges thing. They both went to Michigan and want me to get the "college experience," but there's no harm in looking so I'll definitely check out Williams and some of the others. As for Brandeis, I actually was up in the Boston area and visited Brandeis, but it just didn't "click" for me. </p>
<p>Hopefully my portfolio will give me an edge in admissions, but I don't know. Some colleges want diverse media, others don't. Some want strict observation, others want to see creativity. Unfortunately, I've exhausted the art options at my high school. They won't let me take any more AP art so I elected to take a study hall (which I will spend in the art room) rather than taking Art III, which is the same syllabus as AP anyway. It will be more like an independant study which will really be great, but I wish I had the opportunity to do some real studio work. We don't get the opportunity to do much figure work except from photographs, and same goes for still life. I'm hoping I can take a class at a local college, but senior year is going to be so hectic I might not even have time! Any advice for a competitive portfolio?</p>
<p>As I have no idea what type of work you do, I can't be specific about what to include. But, your goal in assembling a portfolio is to show the strongest body of work that you have done. Rather than isolated examples in varying media, I would show a series of very developed work. For example -- based on your 5 AP Drawing entry -- the slides sheet could include a series of drawings, followed by a focused series of paintings, etc. As for your question about life drawing and studio work, is there a summer class you can take at a local college before your hectic senior year sets in? Or, local art leagues often have informal life drawing classes where members share the fee for a model which are less formal than enrolling in a class. Good luck to you!</p>