Hi,
My D (junior) wants to go to art colleges (such as MICA) and she seems to be the only one who wants to do so at her school, so we are clueless. All her close friends are preparing for Ivys or something similar and talk about grades, APs and SAT/ACT scores.
Let me ask you frankly - aside from developing a good portfolio, how important these academic scores for applying to art colleges?
More specifically - she needs to think about which classes to take for senior year now and she wonders if she needs to take APs (like her friends) in other disciplines (i.e. math, science, social studies) or save time for drawing. She is doing AP Studio Art now.
To those of you who go to art colleges or thinking of applying, how many APs have you taken?
Another question:
Did you (or do you) also take art lessons after school or during the weekend?
This is also a matter of priority - as someone who takes advanced level classes, her schoolwork (homework, project) is so demanding that she has little time left for serious extracurricular activities. I wonder if she should take easier classes next year and spend mote time on preparing for portfolio if she wants to go to art college.
Any thoughts/suggestions appreciated!
My D also applied to art schools, but she didn’t realize she would do that until the beginning of her senior year. So she did take a number of AP courses (Calc, Chem, US History, Bio). I really don’t think they are that important to the transcript if your D will only be applying to art schools.
The portfolio is number one. I think it helps to be a good student and have good test scores, but it isn’t nearly as important as a good portfolio.
As far as art lessons - yes. My D attended drop-in life drawing sessions every week at our city art center. It was for her to develop her skills, not necessarily to put anything down on her application.
I would recommend that your D take a course load that she can manage easily, so she has time to work on her portfolio and her applications. RISD and Cooper Union require extra specific art pieces, so if she’s applying there, she would need to have the time to do those, as well.
Op,
There is a section on cc…college majors then visual arts (sorry, on my phone so hard to cut and paste the link). Post your question here. Lots of helpful people there who have kids who attend art colleges.
Thanks, YoHoYoHo.
I originally posted there and then admin moved it here.
I spoke to the admin and now I have duplicate post there, too.
I went to Carnegie Mellon as an art major in the late 80’s, so keep in mind this is dated. They did have SAT requirements (which I met), but did not appear to be nearly as interested in my grades (I was a B student in college prep and some AP classes-mostly college prep, though), as they were in the portfolio and interview.
However, if it were my kid I would not advise her to take an “easy” load because a lot of kids changed their minds senior year-one of my closest friend’s daughter just changed from being an art major to more LAC, and she’s one of the most brilliant artists I’ve ever seen. I ended up changing my major, also (although I eventually came back around to art and I’m now a working artist).
So my recommendation would be to keep working hard and take as many AP’s as she is comfortable with, because kids change their minds a lot, and it’s good to keep as many options available as you can.
Yes, lots of art majors go to generalized universities or LACs rather than specialty art schools.
Depends on where you are applying - many universities and some art schools give academic scholarships as well as portfolio ones. I think most of the top art schools do look at GPA and test scores, because their programs are rigorous and they want to see students that have pushed themselves in school even in other subjects. RISD and Pratt definitely want top academic students. I am not familiar with MICA specifically since my D did not visit or apply there.
Your D does not need to load up on art classes in her senior year, unless she is deficient in some area such as drawing. But she will have to work up a portfolio outside of class. Look into portfolio prep programs at your local colleges and art museums. She should be doing portfolio level pieces in her AP Studio Art class too - if not, you need to speak with her teacher and make sure he/she understands your D wants to study art in college. Of course, if she has a strong interest in a particular area of art (e.g. ceramics, painting) and her high school offers classes in that, it would be good for her to take that class if she can.
My D has taken 5 AP classes, none in art. In addition to the basic Art 1-4 classes, she also took Drawing and Painting (junior year), and digital art. That’s it. This year she has taken only Art 3 and 4. She knew she wanted to go to a university with a strong art program though, so maximizing her GPA and course rigor was more important this year. She attended a portfolio boot camp last summer at Temple that was fantatsic, and it convinced her to apply there and she has been accepted. She completed 8 pieces in two weeks, and then only had to do one more in the fall to go with some she already had. She was also accepted at SAIC, and Drexel. She got a very nice academic scholarship at both Drexel and Temple. (Still waiting on two other schools but confident she will be accepted.)
There are many threads on the Visual Art and Film Majors forum that can probably help you out. Lots of threads about portfolios and specific schools.