My 9th grade daughter has been learning from my 12th grade daughter’s experiences with the admissions process and has decided that she needs some sort of spike that will set her apart from all the other high achieving, well rounded, talented and smart people. Her big hobby is art (particularly painting), and she’s been developing her skills in that area on her own for a few years now. She posts all of her work to Instagram and has a small following.
She was saying that she was hoping that she could turn her love of art into a spike. I told her how the Common App has a section where she can upload some of her artwork, but she said that she thinks it would need to be bigger than that - maybe have an exhibition of her own at a local art museum or something. One idea we had was that she could put together a group of artists and go to the local children’s hospital and teach art classes and draw their portraits.
Any ideas of other ways to leverage her love of art into something that will set her apart from the tens of thousands of other people who love art?
Also, for clarity, she doesn’t plan on attending art school. Post graduation, she intends for art to continue to be her hobby, but she will probably not pursue it professionally. Right now she doesn’t know what kind of school she wants to attend, but I think the T-10 category is where she’s hoping to wind up.
At some schools, you can submit a portfolio or a slideroom only if you are going to pursue art as a major/minor. Soke schools you can submit regardless.
Your D should enter art competitions ie; scholastic art awards each year. Then she could note any awards won on her application
No idea what sort of colleges. Spike is so misunderstood, imo. It’s not about standing out in a pool of great applicants because you drove some one activity to the highest level. Continuing art, entering hs competitions, perhaps using it in an EC or volunteering, etc, can be plenty. She’ll still need the array of hs activities to be there. Depth and breadth. An adcom calling someone "spikey " can mean too much in one arena and missing the rounding they like.
Teaching art to younger kids is thoughtful, may not have much pull. Sometimes it can look as much like play time, not stretch or depth.
Now is a good time for her to explore various interests. Best wishes.
She will be able to submit a portfolio at many schools and it will be evaluated by the art department (typically.) You don’t have to be an aspiring art student to submit a portfolio. Her level of talent will be evaluated and that’s what’s most important. Any other art-related activities will be regular extracurriculars, and that’s fine too.
If she likes art and wants it to be her “thing,” I’d suggest she take as many art-related classes as she can in HS, including AP if they offer it, since that class does a good job of helping students put together a portfolio.
But really, it will be about if she’s talented or not.
Having gone through the college process twice, I disagree with your premise that a spike is necessary. I have heard many admissions officers say that they look to create a well rounded class – and that includes a number of well rounded students as well as some students with particular talents/interests. (FWIW neither of my kids had a “spike” and both did well in the admissions process).
My belief is that each kid should strive to do their best and to pursue their interests. I would allow your younger D’s interest in art and talents to evolve naturally. If she pursues art at a very high level then she may want to consider submitting an art portfolio to colleges that accept arts supplements (IMO for an arts supplement to be any benefit her work is would have to be at an extremely high level – at or close to an art school portfolio quality)… If your D find that she enjoys art and isn’t at that very elite level she can still find plenty of ways to explore her talents (ex. taking classes in HS, making posters for clubs, illustrating for newspaper or literary magazine at the HS, designing scenery for shows, to name but a few ideas). She may also find that she becomes less interested in art as the talent level, intensity, and time required to do higher level work increases. Please understand that whatever happens is fine.
Check out “How to be a High School Superstar” by Cal Newport.
“The basic message of the book is this: Don’t wear yourself out taking as many classes as you can and being involved in every club and sport. Instead, leave yourself enough free time to explore your interests. Cultivate one interest and make it into something special that will make you stand out among the other applicants and get you into the toughest schools, even if your grades and scores aren’t stellar. Newport calls this the “relaxed superstar approach,” and he shows you how to really do this, breaking the process down into three principles, explained and illustrated with real life examples of students who got into top schools: (1) underscheduling—making sure you have copious amounts of free time to pursue interesting things, (2) focusing on one or two pursuits instead of trying to be a “jack of all trades,” and (3) innovation—developing an interesting and important activity or project in your area of interest. This fruit yielded by this strategy, an interesting life and real, meaningful achievements, is sure to help not only with college admissions, but getting a job, starting a business, or whatever your goals.”
Look for ways to market or display her art. One of my kids submitted art through 4H for our county fair (and some pieces earn trips to the state fair). But to be fair, that was a very competitive category at our county fair, and I thought thevpiexes that won sometimes were pretty pedestrian - judging was by volunteers, and I don’t think they necessarily had much art knowledge.
Look for art competitions she can enter. Find summer activities (art camp?) or part time jobs (art supply store?) or volunteer activities related to art (docent?).