If you go to Barnard, you graduate from Columbia, which might satisfy your parents.
Maybe look at Hunter?
Tufts might be good for you with the connection to the Museum School.
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I’m glad to hear they’ll pay if they have to. Apply to the Ivies and any other elite schools they (and hopefully you too) like, but they shouldn’t be your only choice as you then run the risk of a complete shut out.
Regarding not liking Rutgers: I know that’s a common view amongst New Jerseyans but it’s really not that bad. If your parents are looking up USNWR rankings, Rutgers is ranked #55 nationally. There are over 2,800 four year colleges in America, which means (at least according to USNWR), that Rutgers is in the top 2%. Perhaps mention this to your parents.
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Yeah, I am wondering if a college like, say, Syracuse could eventually be sold. Fantastic College of Visual & Performing Arts, great all around university, and a robust merit scholarship program. No guarantees, but normally I would think that Syracuse would be worth an application for the OP, if not for the parental limits.
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I think this will be an interesting learning experience for your parents. Not allowing you to apply early decision to an Ivy is senseless, in my opinion. It may provide some advantage, depending on the school and profile of your application, and it won’t hurt in any event.
But what I think they need to understand more is that, even with your excellent qualifications and what will likely eventually be a superscored 34 or 35 ACT, it’s still a crapshoot at any Ivy League school. Period. There are 3.5M kids applying to universities this fall, and those 8 schools will send out acceptance letters to something like 20,000 of them, collectively. And about a thousand of those will be to athletes. They really need to get off the idea that the Ivies are still the only elite schools. That hasn’t been the case for a hundred years, but it’s not even close to the case anymore.
I think your task, along with cranking out applications this Fall, is going to have to be educating your parents to the point that if you get into a really good public university somewhere but don’t get into the Ivy League, they’ll determine that a Georgia Tech education at OOS cost is worth half the cost of a Princeton education.
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If you are interested in cognitive science, you might want to look at McGill in Montreal, which has a great cogsci program. It has a wonderful international reputation and is an easy application (no essays, no LORs). Also, their price structure depends on the degree, and Cognitive Science is one of a handful of interdisciplinary majors so when you check the tuition, make sure to choose “Bachelor of Arts and Science (BA&Sc)”. The tuition for next year is 44k canadian, which is about 33k US. Room and board is about another 13k US. (If you switch to a different major, then it is more expensive). Plus, Montreal is considered to be a wonderful city to be a college student!
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A few thoughts:
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Talk to your parents that “merit” scholarships in US colleges are very different from their perspective as Korean-Americans. Ivy leagues do not offer merit. I understand that they believe what they believe, but they have to grasp it quickly since you are in your senior year. Possibly ask other community members in your network to help explain it.
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This is a super reach option to consider if you want to combine art and CS/behavioral science (5 year program). It’s a super reach because you have to be accepted by RISD and Brown. Also I think a very small number of students are admitted each year (maybe about 20 students?). thttps://www.brown.edu/academics/brown-risd-dual-degree/.
Both schools are need based so costs will be high if your family’s income is high. My D applied to the dual degree program, but only got accepted to RISD. RISD’s COA was nearly full pay for us ($59k annually).
- I don’t know anything about Rutgers, except a quick google search, that “All undergraduate applicants will be reviewed for scholarships after admissions decisions have been processed. Only applicants who have been assigned an award will be notified of their award. Notifications are posted after the initial admissions decision, typically in early April. The average Mason Gross undergraduate scholarship ranges between $2,000 and $10,000 per year. Note: Each school within Rutgers University has its own criteria for merit scholarships. If a student is admitted to multiple schools within Rutgers University, the student will receive only the award affiliated with the school in which they enroll. A student can only enroll in only one Rutgers University unit, so scholarships from different schools cannot be combined even if the student intends to double major.” You may have a good chance given your high stats applying to the college of art.
We had one rule when my children were applying. They had to apply to one in-state public school (EA) even if it was not their top choice, just in case of potential aid or finances, etc.
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You didn’t mention this, but if you are interested in studying design at any school, I hope you have a portfolio of 10 to 12 pieces that you have worked on the past couple of years. Time required to complete a portfolio is very difficult while applying to colleges.
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It is very difficult to double major in art/design and another major, bc of class scheduling. Art/design classes are longer than 1 hour, generally about 3 hours per meeting. So a design class that meet 3 times a week means students meet for 9 hours each week for one class. I recommend really exploring course scheduling at your interested colleges.
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My D was admitted to RISD, USC (School of Cinematic Arts), Pratt, Ringling, Skidmore, and our state’s flagship. She had an excellent portfolio and high academic stats (3.9 UW GPA and 1530 SAT etc). RISD was her top choice, until the flagship surprised her with a full ride offer that she didn’t not anticipate. Even without the full ride, it was an excellent option for her looking back on her experience. She majored in Industrial Design and this major gave her several opportunities to work on research projects outside of the college of art, mainly the college of engineering. I didn’t anticipate that engineering research projects need designers to sketch out ideas, the work process, communication, etc. She took every opportunity the school offered. She didn’t care that it was not an ivy or just a public flagship.
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Some one mentioned Syracuse. It does have a good art college, but they are very stingy with aid. My D did not apply. However, at a local HS art exhibition in her senior year (winter semester), a Syracuse rep gave her a half tuition discount upfront and asked her to apply.
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Another reach to consider for design and cognitive science combo is WUSTL.
I agree wholeheartedly. Since many spots will be reserved for athletes and legacies, the chances of getting accepted are a lot lower.
Like said, most of the Ivy Leagues on the list are not my top preferences (maybe except for Brown, but I’m not too deadset on it) and originally my college list had no Ivies. Convincing them is a challenge, but I know that they’ll learn once I get rejected.
Thank you! I’ll look into this!
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They know Ivy Leagues don’t offer merit, but they are willing to pay regardless. That’s the only exception. I’ll ask around people to explain to them.
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I am planning to apply for the BRDD program. If I don’t get in I won’t be upset.
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I’ll keep this in mind when applying. Do other schools at Rutgers offer similar/higher amounts of scholarship money? If that is the case, is it worth going for just the Mason Gross scholarship or from another school? If it is, I might apply for another major and double major later on.
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I am currently working on a portfolio. So far I have five works done, 4 works in progress that are halfway/almost done, and composition ideas for at least the next 3 works. Plus an art capstone project in the coming few months that I can submit. It’s probably really bad that I started my portfolio relatively later (started in July) than others but my parents would literally not let me work on it for a good month or two after summer started, or even during the school year.
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I’ll look into it!
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I’ll look into Syracuse, but it’s very possible that my parents will refuse to pay for it. I’ll give it a try!
Thank you! I’ll look into it!
It’s hard when your parents my need to learn what schools carry the prestige they are looking for. It’s not just Ivies!
Have you checked with colleges on what they want/require for an art portfolio? You are not composing (music) are you? Just checking!
You might want to add Rowan as a safety. It’s much more likely an admit than Rutgers Mason Gross and gives decent merit. It’s growing like crazy adding a vet school and has 2 medical schools. It also has some really interesting art programs like anatomy art I’ve heard are very successful in placing graduates plus is solid with the music offerings. It’s not as spread out as Rutgers either.
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Great info! Did your D apply for a special scholarship at your state flagship or was it offered spontaneously with her admission? Was it a departmental scholarship based on her portfolio or a general merit scholarship?
I am not familiar with Rutgers’s scholarship/merit aids, just what I googled. You’ll have to spend some time on the website. Some schools are transparent, some not.
Another college you may want to research is University of Cincinnati. We didn’t know anything about the school when she was applying, but we recently heard good things about their Industrial Design program. It’s a 5 year program because coops are required. University of Cincinnati
In your initial post, your interest included design, cognitive/CS. I wondered if you are interested in Industrial Design. Most people are not knowledgeable about it; I think U of Cinn’s description of ID is very thorough. Often UI/UX and product design positions look for ID training.
“People who are successful in industrial design have visual and kinesthetic/tactile learning styles. Industrial designers must be intrigued by how things work, enjoy putting things together and not be intimidated by the need to generate alternate solutions to complex problems. Product design involves the synthesis of a variety of diverse requirements and values into a coherent creation. Among such requirements and values are functional suitability, aesthetics, technical performance, economic resources and constraints, social and cultural issues, environmental concerns and human comfort. They must be attentive listeners, possess strong communication skills and be comfortable interacting with many different types of people. Industrial designers must have excellent time- and project-management skills, and must understand business planning. They need to know how to create informative and persuasive proposals and maintain good client relationships.”
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No, my D did not apply for a special scholarship at her flagship. She had no interest in applying to the university but only did so because of our family’s one rule - apply to one instate public option. I received a call from the university’s rep about the scholarship after she was admitted. The rep tried calling her initially but she didn’t answer his calls (lol).
It was a departmental scholarship based on her portfolio. We later learned that the flagship has a long established scholarship funds in the college of arts. We were not aware at all about any of it. She did meet the donor and his family at her graduation. It was incredibly lovely to thank them in person.
To be frank, we didn’t go into the her application process with receiving merit awards as an option at all. We thought it would not be offered for art majors esp at art specific schools. Mostly our thoughts were correct. RISD did not offer any merit since all accepted students were very talented in their skills. Pratt and Ringling did offer her 1/2 tuition awards. Skidmore’s need aid was surprisingly generous compare to RISD and USC’s need aid.
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By USN rankings, Rutgers places among the top 61 schools in a category of 443 schools. It’s overall score in this category (on a scale that extends to 100) is 69. Inferences regarding Rutgers’ national standing cannot properly be made through this information alone, in my my opinion.
To me, for kids from New Jersey, the most important ranking is that Rutgers is the #1 public college in New Jersey.
Obviously the “flagship” schools in different states vary, although that is a double-edged sword. Doesn’t do you much good if you are in a state with, say, one of the “top 5” publics if you cannot actually get admitted in-state to that public.
But in any event, looks like Rutgers is tied for #19 on the US News public list, and 6 of the 18 above are in California, 2 in Virginia, 2 in Georgia. Not that this is gospel, but taken at face value, that implies only something like 11 states have a “better” flagship than NJ. So that’s not at all bad.
And actually–I am sympathetic to families of limited means who tell their kids if they can get into a good in-state flagship, they will only pay an equivalent amount or less for an OOS or private.
What I think is less understandable is a variation of the rule here, which I have seen before, which is basically that same in-state cost sets the budget rule–except if it is an Ivy. To me that is just way overestimating the importance of those particular colleges, and generally putting unnecessary stress on such kids. But to me there is nothing wrong with having a budget, as long as you are open-minded about how that kid chooses to use that budget.
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I was thinking of pursuing Graphic Design, but I am open to any art field. I was thinking about UX/UI design, and even Industrial Design, but I’m afraid that I have no experience regarding the field compared to something like UI/Graphic Design. It does look interesting though, but I’m not sure if, for instance, I was to apply to an ID program, that I would need to show works regarding ID.
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The latest version still has them at 55.
But regardless, I’m not sure what your message to OP is, regarding applying to Rutgers. A clarification might be helpful.