College recommendation please?

College Search & Selection
1

Hello all,

Hello all, I’m an international student in a US high school, intending to major in Art.

My SAT supercore: CR 770 + M 800 + W 740 = 2310
UW GPA: 3.9

I’m looking for colleges that match these conditions:

  1. Colleges/uni with a good art program, not an art school
    I’d like them to be “well-rounded” since I’m also interested in other areas like business. By “good” I mean preparing me well for the post-graduation world. I like both fine arts and graphic design and I’m not sure which path I’m going to take, but it’s definitely going to be art.

  2. Good chance of getting at least half the tuition off as an international student
    With our income (<$145K) my family probably can’t expect much from need-based financial aid, but we aren’t rich enough to be confident about paying for college.

Optional 3) Doesn’t exclude you for not being a hard partier.
I’m an introvert skewed toward music and art.
4) Urban settings preferred, where everything is in walking distance or transportation is well organized

So far this is my list of colleges/options but I have to narrow it down and I don’t know which ones I should choose to apply to.

Yale
RISD-Brown Dual Degree
WUSTL
Skidmore
Vassar
Bard
Swarthmore
VCU
Wellesley
Kenyon
MICA + classes at Johns Hopkins

Please note that there are many other colleges I’m thinking about that I didn’t mention on this list because they are exclusively art focused and/or provides little or no financial aid for internationals (ex. SAIC, CMU, NYU). I’m trying to find colleges that may replace them - if I have no choice they will stay as alternatives.

Not considering my grade/ECs/portfolio, which colleges would you recommend/add based on the things I mentioned above?

2

I would like a well rounded school because I’m planning to double major/minor/take classes in other fields while majoring in art

3

@tooblue, Before you finalize your list, you need to dig deeper into your financial options. How much do you actually need? And do you actually need this amount in order to attend?

Financial aid comes in two types: need based and merit.

With a family income of $145K you shouldn’t expect much need-based aid. The net price calculators that you find on the colleges’ websites will give you an idea of the maximum need-based aid you can expect to receive. HOWEVER, as an international you may end up getting less, especially if the college does not guarantee to meet full demonstrated need for internationals.

Yale, Brown, Vassar are “need only” schools, although they do guarantee to meet full demonstrated need for internationals. This means that if you don’t qualify for sufficient need-based aid, you will not get any additional merit aid. I believe that the same applies to some of the others on your list, but you’ll have to check individually.

My advice would be to run the net price calculators and see how much need-based aid you come up with. If this works, then contact the schools’ financial aid department and verify that, as an international, you would actually get that amount. If need-based aid works for you, then you could add some others that are generous with need-based aid for internationals.

If you graduate from a US high school, you may be considered a domestic applicant for financial aid. Again, you have to check each college for confirmation.

Some schools that offer merit aid for internationals are as follows. Among these I would recommend Kenyon, Smith, WUSTL as having good art departments, though you have to check to see if graphic design is offered. (I’m not sure what you mean by “contemporary” – subject matter or media?)

Merit aid for internationals:
Alabama, Babson, Bard, Carlton, Chicago, Clark, Davidson, Dickinson, Emory, Fordham, Grinnell, Howard, Kenyon, Louisiana, Mt. Holyoke ,North Carolina, Northeastern, Rhodes, Richmond, Rochester, Scripps, Smith, Wooster, W&L, WUSTL

I’m not familiar with the art schools’ financial aid policies for internationals.

4

I don’t think graduating from a US high school makes an international student domestic for financial aid. @Kelsmom would know for sure. Domestic students can qualify for federal Pell grants and the guaranteed federal student loans, but internationals aren’t eligible for them. Colleges have their own policies, but I think aid is either merit based (you have the stats or not) or need based (you meet the income levels or you don’t). I don’t know how where your high school diploma comes from could affect either of those things.

5

@tooblue Since your threads were very similar and only a day apart, I merged them.

RIT may be worth a look; it’s very strong in photography and design and offers many other subjects as well. Merit and financial aid are available to international students, though they note that full tuition scholarships are not available.

6

Did you look into Carnegie Mellon? They have an interesting option Interdisciplinary program mixing art with another major: The School of Art offers two fine arts degrees (BFA/MFA), and supports three interdisciplinary degrees (BXA), that serve as models for a flexible, progressive approach to educating artists: http://www.cmu.edu/art/programs/