I don’t see many Chance Me threads for art schools (I’m applying to a few normal ones as well)…just ivies, so I hope I get some replies anyway!
Schools I’m applying to:
Art Schools: Ringling, RISD, SVA, MICA, SAIC, Pratt, CalArts (Far reach I KNOW), Otis, Art Center
Normal Schools: Rochester Institute of Technology and Hampshire College (Probably a few Texas state schools as well as I live in Texas)
Intended Major: Animation, but may switch to Illustration
GPA: 3.2 UW/3.5 W
Full IB Diploma Candidate (IB Art HL, IB English Lit HL, IB History HL, IB Envi Sci SL, IB French Ab SL, IB Math Studies SL)
ACT: 27 but plan to take again next month
SAT: Just took it so waiting for my score, expecting around a 1300-ish
SAT Subject Tests: Planning to take Literature in August
Rank: Unknown but most likely at least in top 50%, my school is super competitive
President of art fundraising club
President of drama club
Candidate for one of the head chairs of school’s judicial comittee
Been in theater productions since freshman year
Have contributed around 150 hours to school’s tech crew
Was part of the Gay-Straight Alliance for two years (unfortunately was disbanded)
Became part of judicial committee this year
Drama club since sophomore year (I’m ending my junior year now)
Equality club for a year an a half, still in it
Part of Blue Key club (give tours to prospective students/parents of school)
Did volunteer work in Puerto Rico as part of a school trip
On a mural committee as part of my school’s collaboration with MIT, we are painting in areas affected by recent flooding.
I know my portfolio plays a huge factor but I’m not comfortable with sharing my art online/It’s still a work in progress (will be finished by end of summer). But based on stats, what do you guys think?
I’m going to say what you already know–your portfolio is the biggest part of the equation. But good to keep your grades up.
Figure drawing from life, quick sketch and study perspective. Make sure you love art 24/7.
Go to some sites where students regularly post portfolio work.You can see what they post and the critiques they receive. If you do post your portfolio you can get some decent feedback.
One biggie is conceptart dot org
SVA is outstanding in the field with connections to creative paths - either fine art or industry - in every subject area. BUT and this is a big one for some- the financial aid will not be competitive to alot of other schools. It just isn’t. So you can incur the debt, look for outside scholarships and take the reasonable but highly dependent on your work ethic/talent combo risk and end up doing really well in your field. Other schools give more money and they have some great grads but overall fewer numbers of people in the field professionally but still learned alot in art school but don’t have doors open professionally like SVA.
Portfolio submission is huge but SVA also casts a wide net for potential and your background is very interesting thus far so I would consider your chances there very good on admission.So weigh out debt vs. opportunity on your personal scale of risk is my advice.
Your portfolio is going to be the most important part. Personally, I had pretty bad grades in high school, got a 1080 on the SAT, didn’t do any extracurriculars except for art, did the bare minimum of academics so I could focus only on my portfolio. I would definitely not recommend doing that, but I was accepted to every school that I applied to (SAIC, SVA, MIAD, MCAD, Pratt, Cooper Union, Lesley Arts, MassArt, Parsons, MECA) and I will be attending Cooper Union in the fall. Don’t worry about academics as much as your portfolio. Your art is what will make or break you.