I’m cross-posting this from my studio art & LAC post in the College Selection sub-forum. For context, we’re from a small, mountain town in Nevada and my kid is very interested in studio art. Fair warning, this review is 98% positive and largely uncritical because, in truth, my kid (and I) liked all the colleges we visited.
Boston University gets a thumbs up. My kid did the four-week art program at BU, where she stayed in a freshman dorm. She really liked the city of Boston, which she opined seemed relatively clean, safe, and manageable. The freshmen dorms were fine, and she really liked the meal-plan food. She enjoyed the art facilities and instructors. She came away wanting a demanding art program in college–i.e., one that will challenge her in a similar manner. She also wants a strong sense of community and involved, motivated students. She will apply to BU and we’ll cross our fingers for the off chance of a reasonable merit-aid award. We didn’t do a tour given her prior four weeks there.
Bowdoin was a hit. She really liked Bowdoin in large part because she really enjoyed her interview, which was with a student. We ate at the Bowdoin dining hall, which was cheap and delicious. Unfortunately, the museums were closed because it was a Monday. We were able to let ourselves into the studio art building and peeked into the classrooms and art studios, which seemed nice. My impressions were that Bowdoin is very well resourced and seemed like the most intimate and friendly college of the ones we visited. I asked if there is any advantage to ED, and the official answer was no. That said, Bowdoin takes about 50% of their class in ED and considers demonstrated interest, so . . . my personal opinion is that ED probably offers a minor advantage as I construe that term. Parent tip: I enjoyed dinner on the outdoor deck of the Sea Dog Brewery around sunset on a fine Maine day. The gelato place was also excellent, as advertised.
Dartmouth was also great. It felt like something of a university-LAC hybrid in size and felt a little more bustling with students there for summer term. We ate at one of the dining halls, which, like Bowdoin, was cheap and very good. We also got a personal tour of the studio art facilities, which are slightly disconnected from the main campus and more in the town of Hanover (but not particularly inconvenient). The recently constructed art facilities are very impressive and well resourced. One drawback, however, is that Dartmouth doesn’t currently offer a study-abroad program at a foreign art school or even one with a studio art focus. It sounds like art students have been pushing for one though. Dartmouth’s post-degree internship program is a cool opportunity for fine artists. My kid was a little underwhelmed by the quality of the student art in a second-year drawing class, which may have affected her impression a little. I advised her to avoid drawing any hasty conclusions and look at senior projects and other sources online. Parent tip: If you like rye whisky and/or extremely bucolic Vermont locales, the WhistlePig Tasting Room is worth the 15-ish minute drive to Quechee, VT from Hanover.
Williams was probably the most impressive and extremely well-resourced college. I think we both agreed that it had the nicest campus, although I don’t think my kid had particularly strong feelings on the niceness of each campus. There was no building or feature that was not extremely well designed and sophisticated. We let ourselves into the studio art building and again peeked in the windows of the various studios and classrooms. Williams probably has the nicest facilities, although Dartmouth is awfully close. The art museum was cute and well-integrated into the school. Williams offers an art-loan program to students (similar to Oberlin and Skidmore) where students can borrow a piece (usually a print) and put it on the wall of their dorms. The dining halls, sadly, were not open. Williamstown exceeded my expectations–I thought it was on par with Brunswick, although I get the impression that my opinion may be in the minority. Parent tip: The Clark was excellent, but after a lot of general walking and standing from the campus tour, we enjoyed the little cinema in town, where we saw Barbie. The Thai place was also much better than expected.
Skidmore was also fantastic and seemed the most art-focused. The kid liked it. We received an extremely intimate and personal art tour, info session, and general tour. The art studios and facilities were extensive but perhaps as not as highfalutin as the first three. One thing I personally liked about Skidmore (not sure about my kid) is that they offer several classes and a minor in Art Administration (the business side of art), which is somewhat rare. The campus had a much more modern feel than the other colleges. It was nice, but not as nice as the other four colleges. We had lunch at a dining hall, which was good but maybe not as good as Bowdoin or Dartmouth. Most freshmen get triples, one of which we toured. The kid thought Skidmore triples are more spacious than the BU double she lived in for four weeks. The Tang art museum was also nice and well-integrated into the school. As mentioned above, students can borrow a piece of art and put it up in their dorms. We didn’t get to explore the town much, but I got the impression that it and Northampton probably had the most of offer of all the LACs we toured. One quirk of Skidmore is that graduates will receive a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree, not a BA, which has something to do with art students taking more classes in their major. Ironically, if one were to major in chemistry or another STEM field, the degree would be a BA. Go figure. I got the sense from the info session that Skidmore pushes ED harder than the other schools. Parent tip: Sorry, I have none.
Smith was great. It felt a bit like Bowdoin and Williams, but all women. The kid said she’d be fine with a women’s college, but it wasn’t particularly a draw either. The residential housing system is definitely a cool feature. We got a personal tour of the studio art facilities from a longtime professor, which was extremely cool. The facilities were great, but perhaps a smidgeon less fancy than Williams and Dartmouth. Still, it had everything and the professor was extremely charming. The art museum was impressive and like Williams and Skidmore, very integrated into the school. As we were walking through campus back toward our car, another professor (of a non-art subject) randomly stopped us and asked if we were touring the campus. He proceeded to talk to us for 15-20 minutes about Smith and college generally, which was extremely gracious of him. That and our professor-led tour spoke very well of Smith specifically and the kind of professorial attention one gets at an LAC generally. Sadly, the dining halls were closed, but Northampton seemed very charming. Parental tip: Pita Pockets in town has great falafel. We actually ate there twice.
New York: We did tourist things in New York, including a quick walk by Columbia. The kid said she had no interest in going to college in New York, which is good because we’re not looking at any schools there and probably couldn’t afford them anyway.
Overall: She liked all five colleges we toured and also BU. There was no clear standout, and she thought she could be happy at any of the six schools. She’s also fine with Nevada. I think she is fairly flexible and adaptable, so some things that might be dealbreakers for others are of less of a concern for her. I think this is ideal, as it means she’s not married to any particular school and could be happy in multiple situations. She understands that all of these schools are reaches (and some far reaches) and that cost is a heavy factor. That said, if she were hypothetically admitted to all six schools for the same overall cost, I think her current rankings would be (1) Williams, (2-tie) Bowdoin and BU, (4) Dartmouth, (5) Smith, and (6) Skidmore. But the gap between #1 and #6 is small and that order is still subject to change.
