<p>Something I have noticed while my D is still in HS, is that compared to her peers sho are not art-focused students, she has a much greater amount of outside the classroom work and projects. Lately this has become a frustration for her as at least 50% of the time when her friends are off to do something "fun" she is off to the darkroom or whatever to work on her art.</p>
<p>She has pretty much decided that for a variety of reasons (including a desire for the "traditional collegiate" esperience - football games, LA core, yadda yadda yadda) she wants to attend an art school within a University or LAC setting.</p>
<p>What I am wondering is this: Will the situation she is experiencing now be even more the case in college? Do any of you have personal experience with getting a BFA at a University or LAC? Did you find there is less "fun time" for an art student than other majors there because of the need for studio time and major projects? Was it extra distracting to have the majority of students with their nights and weekends free while you had to head off to the studio?</p>
<p>I have one BIG memory related to this from my own college days: The path back to my dorm from our "uptown" went right by the architecture building and the studio windows were all at ground level or slightly below so passerbys could look right into the studios. At least 75% of the time on a weekend or night, when I passed by, there were students in there working away. One of them was a good friend of mine from HS and we would always stop and talk to him through the studio window on our way home to BED, and he was NEVER close to going off to bed, always had a deadline coming up!</p>
<p>At this point, I don't think any answer will change her mind (and I am not looking to do that - if anything I prefer she not go to an art school for undergrad, if for no other reason than she will have degree options incase she changes direction after she gets there) I am just trying to help her have some realistic expectation of what it is probably going to be like if she goes to a college instead of an art school (where everyone is kind of in the same mode).</p>
<p>Insights from the wise are greatly appreciated in advance!</p>
<p>I could be wrong, but I don't know of any LAC's that offer a BFA. My daughter attended SVA last year and that was far from the traditional college experience. That experience was something I wanted for her, but one which she appeared to have little interest in obtaining. She has since transferred to Smith which has a very strong art program (no BFA) and many art majors. She is currently not taking any art courses and seems to have as much work if not more than last year when she had four academic classes and three six hour studio classes. Some of her friends at SVA seemed to have very little work and plenty of time for socialization. It appears that everyone at Smith as a tremendous workload. I think that you find that even within a university the art students stick together and will experience the same school in a different way than other students.</p>
<p>Actually, most of the Studio Art Majors at the LACs and Us she is looking at are BFAs, IF they are a TRUE studio art major with a concentration in specific mediums.</p>
<p>U of MN, Denison
AZ, Lake Forest College,
U Mich
just to name a few.</p>
<p>unsoccer-mom wrote: "I think that you find that even within a university the art students stick together..."</p>
<p>That's the thing, my arty D is not hanging out with the art students at her school now. Her friends are more inclined towards sports, student council, socializing and shopping. She is the odd one in her social circle with a burning college passion and a strong arty bend. She is what I would call "school friends" with her fellow art students, but outside of school she socializes with non-art students. Even this weekend when she went to NPD, she stuck out just on appearance because she looks more "preppy".</p>
<p>I'm just sick of the whining/wishing over her having to make tough choices :)</p>
<p>Recent whine when a bunch of friends were going off to an out-of-town football game on Friday night and she needed to spend time brushing up on her portfolio for NPD AND get a good nights sleep for the SAT the next day:
"Is life about nothing more than work?!?!?! This is not FAIR!"
[ME: "Well blow it off, I am sure you can get into any number of community colleges with what you have already accomplished; AND that will be MUCH better financially for all of us."
Husband: Looks away then changes TV channel]
Her: "Grrrrrr!!!!!!!! It is NOT fair!!!! I am too young to have to chose between fun stuff and serious stuff!!!"
This was followed by a resigned sigh and stomping off to bedroom but doing what she needed to do to get ready for Saturday.
[sigh] My mantra is becoming "It will all work out."</p>
<p>Senior year for me was really hands-off time. I figured that I wasn't going to be there when she went to college, so that for both of our sakes I would need to "let the chips fall where they may". She did fine both at school and in the applying to college thing.</p>
<p>When she started calling me about how miserable she was freshman year, I went in to full "I will help you get out of dodge mode". She shot down all my efforts, but continued to call me with her song of woe. My response became a muted "you can always take a semester off" one. Eventually, she suggested Smith and took the lead on her applications. I stayed around for back-up assistance and it has all worked out in the end. I really believe they have to own their course in life.</p>
<p>believersmom, my son is getting a BA in art studio / art history at Williams. On an hour to hour comparison he seems to devote more time to his studio coursework than to his other classes; however, everyone studies a lot so it's not really noticeably different from his peers. His friends have always been both kids involved in the arts and those who are not. Same has been true at college.</p>
<p>Sorry, I cannot help w/ Fine Art studio courses. But...I was one of those Architecture cave dwellers. A few times, I would be jealous of the business or education majors. They never seemed to study at our school! But, looking back, I think we, too had great experiences. The studio WAS our life, but it was also such a tight-knit group, that I think we experienced something extra many other students did not. We learned how to work together and play together. There was very little competition, and much more cooperation. We also had a LOT of fun in the studios, so I'll admit that much of that time was not all work. Oddly, my best college friends did not come from the studio, however, so there is also a life outside. </p>
<p>I've heard the same complaint from science majors. Labs takes more time than most traditional classes (not as much as Architecture, but more than a Sociology course). I would also guess that Lab work is not nearly as social.</p>
<p>A big question is whether or not she loves the work.</p>
<p>would include Cincinnati, Wash.U, Carnegie Mellon, Syracuse, U. Florida, and I'm sure many, many others.</p>
<p>BUT.......... If your daughter thinks that art is drudgery, that might be a serious red flag about pursuing a BFA. It's not the highest paying career, and only the most highly motivated survive (from a career standpoint). Almost any other major would provide a better "safety net" if the end result is an unrelated career.</p>
<p>just one man's opinion. take with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>kjofkw-
Thank you your comments are most helpful.</p>
<p>DGB-
Not sure where you got the impression my D thinks that art is drudgery (well obviously from me, but from what part of what I said...); if that were the case I TOO would find it a red flag. Perhaps it was my choice of the word, "fun" implying that my D doesn't find her art fun when in fact she finds it very much so. My concern is that she is becoming increasingly faced with a need to be more disciplined and do less socializing than her peers who are not studying art. For a sixteen year old to be torn between two things she wants to do is not a red flag to me, I think it is normal.</p>
<p>I am simply looking down the road and wondering if an art school will be easier on her distraction-wise because EVERYONE there is focused on art and understands the time commitment required to pursue it.</p>