<p>So I am applying as a transfer student for the Fall 2013 semester. I am not a typical student so this won't be a typical chance, more of a "help me figure out what to do" sort of thing.</p>
<p>I am a 27 year old female who has an A.A. with an interest in Visual Arts from a small community college in Waco, TX (the school doesn't do traditional majors for most areas, thus the "interest in") and am working on a second A.A. in Anthropology from Austin Community College. </p>
<p>It took me 7 years to finish my first A.A. with many breaks, dropped classes, and a forced major switch near the end. I say forced because my community college got rid of the Journalism department and forced those of us who had more than 3 classes remaining for their degree to change majors. I was interested in art, had previously attempted classes in the dept., and needed only two art classes to get a degree "with an interest in Visual Arts" so I switched to that. I had A's in all but one of my Journalism classes, but have a few f's in my Arts classes due to not dropping classes after I no longer could attend them (bad idea, I know.) I also previously attended Sam Houston State University for a year before dropping out. I took my GPA from a 1.7 up to a 3.2 with that A.A.</p>
<p>I am now at ACC and have a 3.276 GPA, which included classes that were transferred in, but I have mainly made A's and B's. I did make 2 c's and 1 f, but I have replaced one of the c's with a b and the f with an A. I have dropped 2 classes in 3 1/2 years I have been at ACC which is a far improvement compared to my last A.A. I am a member of the honors society and Phi Theta Kappa. I have a 3.5 GPA in Anthropology, and a 3.25 in Arts classes.</p>
<p>I am applying to art programs, with an interest in Photography and Art History/Criticism/Theory. I have been told I have a strong portfolio: Application</a> Portfolio - a set on Flickr
I have a very strong recommendation letter from my Art History professor who is the associate dean of the art dept. at ACC. I have very strong writing samples from my Art History classes, as well. </p>
<p>EC:
Work at the largest university art museum in the nation for 4 years, full time.
Work at one of the most reputable comic book stores in the southwest, consignment assistant there as well, part time.
Have assisted tech crew at museum with two major artist exhibitions' set up.
Volunteer with 3 different galleries in Austin.
Volunteer camp counselor with Girls Rock Austin.
Member of a book arts/works group.
Helped found literary/art magazine and worked as assistant art director for a year.
Volunteered for 3 years with the Cherokee Nation's summer arts program. (Yes, I'm NDN.)
I also helped run an art collective for 3 years while I lived in Waco, but no longer do so.
I am also the first person in my family to finish HS and to go to college.</p>
<p>I have written about, and plan to continue to do so, about my adverse circumstances that have greatly affected my college performance. My father passed away right after I graduated high school and I went off to a state school with the bare minimum amount of aid and did very poorly. I aged out of our state's need based health insurance program for children at that time and due to that my epilepsy and major depressive disorder were untreated (this was the case until 4 years ago when I got a job with the state.) These issues made attending class pretty much impossible. Once I transferred to my cc in Waco, I was working three jobs trying to pay for meds and school expenses. I was hospitalized twice for psychiatric issues while working on that degree. In the past four years, I have worked two jobs and been treated for both of these issues and have done fairly well while taking classes in the evening and online. I will be taking two classes during a short semester this spring and then will take 3 more classes over the summer to finish my degree, two of these in Anthropology. If I make a 4.0 for both of those sessions I will bring my GPA up to a 3.393 with a 3.75 GPA in Anthropology.</p>
<p>Schools:
School of the Art Institute of Chicago (applied, allowed for early merit aid, had very strong Nat. portfolio day interview)
San Francisco Art Institute (applied)
Savannah College of Art & Design (applied)
Rhode Island School of Design
Pacific Northwest College of Art
School of Visual Arts
Bard College
Mills College
Evergreen State College (applied)
Institute of American Indian Arts (safety)
Texas Women's University (safety, was admitted previously)</p>
<p>Considering, but know these are probably not going to happen:
-Yale (They require SATs and mine are from over 10 years ago, were paltry, and I registration filled up for the Jan. & Feb. dates which are the last dates they accept)
-Stanford (I really like the idea of Stanford for the NDN community there.)
-Dartmouth (not a great art program, but very strong NDN community)
-UT-Austin (I applied here for Fall '10 and was rejected, but I was not in honors or PTK at the time, nor had finished first A.A.)
-University of London, Goldsmiths College
-University of London, Central St. Martins</p>
<p>Are there other schools I should be considering? I would also like to take classes in Native American Studies and Women's Studies (big part of considering the LA schools I am looking at.) Sorry this is so long!</p>