<p>Can anyone tell me how grades run in art school? Are As the norm? Do different schools have easier or harder grading scales? Do critiques drive the grade? Is Art school an easy way to get good grades? This seems to be the perception among my daughters friends. They are assuming she works less than they do and gets better grades because the school is just an art school. She really worked very very hard this year. She rarely went out on the weekends and often worked into the night. She got so frustrated about this topic she stopped talking about her college experience to her good friends. </p>
<p>Whats the story? Do the students or parents of students have a feel for this</p>
<p>There were at least 5 kids asked to pick up their grades drastically or leave MICA this semester. I know 3 who couldn't keep up who left.</p>
<p>So no, A's are not the norm, and it is not easy.</p>
<p>When my boyfriend came to visit, he was kind of like "lol art school" but after spending a week with me and watching me spend hours upon hours working and trying to figure things out and not having the ability to just "wikipedia it" or "throw something together" he left with a new respect for art school, haha.</p>
<p>I can't speak for all art schools;however, for University of Cincinnati, the grading is quite tough for anything above a C+. They demand a LOT of quality work and demand that it be submitted on time. Any variance from these requirements will hurt a student's grades. Also, many teachers, at least in the freshmen year, have the attitude that the highest grade that they will give is an A- UNLESS the work is equal to what the teacher could have done,which is very, very tough.</p>
<p>In my daughter's classes, she has said that fewer than 3 kids out of 25 normally might get A's in her freshmen studio classes. Some studios only gave out one "A."</p>
<p>The good news is that if you do a good job and submit your work on a timely basis, you shouldn't get less than a B or B-. I fyour work is very good and submitted on a timely basis, you should get a B+. If it is excellent, you might get an A-.</p>
<p>Liberal arts are graded a bit differently and usually there is some sort of curve based on how other kids are doing. Average freshmen GPA for the whole university is about a 2.7 (based on university published statistics). Average freshmen GPA for the DAAP school (Design, Art, Architecture and Planning) was a 2.95. Average Sophomore grades for DAAP students are about 3.2, from what I have been told.</p>
<p>Also noted, DAAP is very academic when it comes to admission. Almost none of these kids had less than an unweighted GPA in high school of 3.5 and many had unweighted GPAs of 3.65++ in high school.</p>
<p>I should note that DAAP is very well regarded at University of Cincinnati. When most kids hear that my daughter is in DAAP, they usually are very impressed and I think a bit jealous. However, this changes when they see how hard she has to work and how much work is given. Even her roommates, one of whom was majoring in bioengineering, thought my daughter had more work than she did in engineering.</p>
<p>
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There were at least 5 kids asked to pick up their grades drastically or leave MICA this semester. I know 3 who couldn't keep up who left.
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Wow... MICA asked them to leave forever? That's harsh. I screwed up a couple of my classes this semester but the school just suggested that I take a couple of semester off and then return. They didn't force me to leave or anything and they where very nice about it. I don't have to reapply. It's not really unusual for kids here to take 5 years to graduate though, because there's so much work that has to be done. They made me work 70 hours per week. </p>
<p>It's nearly impossible to get all A's at art school. Fortunately, grades don't matter for artists. Your portfolio matters. </p>
<p>The other day I tried to explain art school to a business major. It was weird how ignorant she was. When I told her there are architecture students here she was surprised but I think that's when she finally realized I go to a real college. Growing up I always had creative type friends so I've always been in my little art world. But that conversation made me realize that the world in general probably considers my degree useless.</p>
<p>To answer your question, art school is more difficult than any other type of school except maybe music school and military academies. </p>
<p>Here's an advertisement for the annual fund at the back of my school magazine. Remember, this is supposed to convince you to give the school money.</p>
<p>"The RISD experience for me is staying up all night working on projects and every once and a while crying on the phone about being exhaused and then just getting through a crit and smiling and being in a completely different place." -person</p>
<p>So basically, we have to give money to RISD so that this women can work herself to tears and then smile because she got through her day without killing anybody. I can't believe the school is being so honest about this.</p>
<p>Actually expect that grading standards at the better art schools and colleges may get much harder. Simply put, these programs (in many cases) had become a little too fuzzy for academic or professional credibility. Ethics of that matter aside, there will be a tendancy to 'harden up' these programs simply because it will be percieved as an attempt at reform before the grants or enrollments fade away. The old days of selling an arts program simply 'to do art' are going to die, which may not be a bad thing.
Ethics considered, a good school or art professor will raise the standards, simply because art is a very tough field in which to succede. Handing out "A"s to avoid short term distress, is a cruelty in the long term. So if someone's going to enter this field, worrying more about whether the school can teach an artist to function successfully as a professional in a very tough field. If a persons intent is to worry about an 'easy A' it would be better to not enter an art program. Any art program which hands out fluffy "A's" is simply preying on the hopes and aspirations of stargazers, and might be better avoided.</p>