<p>artschoolmom notes,"but I say skip NPD, stay home and do your homework and make sure your portfolios and applications are well organized and presented."</p>
<p>Response: Certainly making sure that portfolios and applications are well presented is important. However, how do you know what is important to each school? Attending NPD is a great way to get the needed feedback for portfolio improvement.</p>
<p>Focus on both portfolio and academics. </p>
<p>Art schools will give the best merit aid to students who exceed in both academics and art. </p>
<p>Great portfolios may also provide a hook for academically strong students at Brown, Cornell, Wesleyan, etc.</p>
<p>Taxguy, she never went to NPD so she never got input from the different schools and it did not seem to handicap her in anyway. I remember her agonizing whether to go or not, because she had alot of work to do. She decided not to make the trek to Boston and never regretted missing it. Sometimes I feel we all get so caught up in the process that we forget that what really matters is simply : hard work and the ability to follow directions.</p>
<p>artschoolmom,</p>
<p>Thanks for the input. My D is going to go to the class on putting together a portfolio and perhaps wait on the NPD. At this point her art is mostly for pleasure and not necessarily the type needed in a portfolio. She does mostly pencil/ink drawing and is just starting to explore different areas in school.</p>
<p>We are going to begin looking at colleges this spring just to get an idea of what type of size, curriculum etc that she prefers. Is it necessary to schedule an interview at that time or is that reserved for when you have narrowed down your selection?</p>
<p>I showed my D some of the info on Pratt and she really liked the way the visual communication design program was structured. Glad to hear your daughter is happy. When I looked at Pratt's website it seemed that they were trying to make sure that the students have a support system behind them. Remind me what type of major your daughter is in.</p>
<p>Artschool Mom,
We chatted a little a few months ago in this forum - my son is also loving Pratt. It sounds like a lot of work - but, it should be!</p>
<p>Interestingly, my daughter (a hs junior) is thinking about majors in art history, English (creative writing), and/or dance and I'm also looking for suggestions.</p>
<p>However - can anyone suggest schools that are good for any of these majors, but not as hard to get into as the ones that have been discussed?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>ART MOM, Would Skidmore fit? I'd suggest that you take a look at some posts (or website) by Carolyn whose did a lot of research with her creatively-minded daughter. She liked Earlham, but ultimately chose Beloit.</p>
<p>I would suggest Goucher , Sarah Lawrence, and Bennington.....</p>
<p>Thanks - all realistic places for her to start looking.</p>
<p>Hello fellow Pratt moms - ART MOM and artschoolmom. My daughter is a sophomore and loves Pratt. She has had a good experience this year with the nurse and health folks while she was fighting an infection. My daughter is an example of someone who cannot imagine life without art - art school has been a dream come true for her. The workload has been incredibly heavy but she is managing.</p>
<p>HI Art Mom, I have to admit I chuckled when I read your post--"...can anyone recommend schools not as hard to get into as the ones..." because as I was reading the thread, that's what I was thinking! Anyway, my daughter is a HS Senior, we have been processing all of this stuff for a about a year. She is my second child to go off to college, as different from her sister as can be. My D is all about the arts. She has won some national awards, an Art All State, and has a pretty good all around resume. Her schools include RISD, but it is very $$$$ and has little FinAid, however they bought the Fleet Bank building and turned it into a large dorm, so RISD has more of a campus feel rather than the commuter(as in living in apartments)feel it used to have, it is however all about Art*<em>. RIT--fabulous, cool school, home of the School of American Crafts, and takes that quite seriously-good FinAid and a university, Syracuse--good Visual Arts school and obviously a university. Boston University-good art department, MECA-all art, and then, Simmons or Emmanuel BECAUSE-they are part of a consortium, you can take one art couse per semester at Mass College of Art-which is 2-6 blocks away. THey also have their own Art programs. I don't really know where you are looking at schools, but that is another way to go. Arcadia in PA also has a strong Art department. Some others we came across are-SUNY New Palz, Mercyhurst in PA, Temple U, Wheaton in MA, James MAdison in VA, Hofstra in NY, Denison in OH, College of St Rose in Albany NY, SUNY Purchase, ALfred in NY, UConn and Bowling Green in OH. whew. Most of these were not considered because they didn't have the concentration she wanted.
To Scoop, it's cool that your daughter has an early interest in Art and Art schools, my daughter loves her art too, and has really flourished at her HS, she just did her art thing until mid Junior year, and then she let me talk about schools and direction etc. there is so much pressure on these kids, she would have none of it! As a sophmore, I think it's a great idea to go around and casually look at schools, my advice is not to interview--take a tour, attend an info session, but the interview process is nerve wracking and might turn her off to a school. Also, she is way different as a sophmore than she will be as a senior. Another hint on the portfolio deal--in her Junior year almost all of the schools we visited invited my D to bring along a sample portfolio for them to comment on--an advisory portfolio review, not a review for admission. This was very worthwhile. Also, be sure to get a tour of the art department and studios. MAke sure that the art department isn't the "weak sister" of the university. We toured a few universities that were eager to talk to my daughter but, the school of art couldn't even get a fence fixed that was obviously dangerous and right across the lawn the school was building a new building(2nd) for the school of natural sciences. My D really selected schools based on the facilities for Art, then the overall appearance etc.
*</em>A note about RISD-they have an info session that was very informative-as the host went on about the rigors of the Foundation year-drawing drawingand more drawing..my D got more interested while some of the kids got a little green around the gills, about 1/3 of the people in the info session didn't join the tour-just got in their cars and went home!<br>
Ooh this is too long</p>
<p>Hi Art Mom --some of my suggestions were more toward Art than Art History, but most of the schools I suggested also have good English Departments and some good dance depts-I just got on a roll!</p>
<p>sbarrytown,
SBarrytown,</p>
<p>Thanks for the great post. Has your daughter decided on schools to apply to? All this college research is totally on my part. I do not want my daughter to focus on this now and I would never have her interview at this point. It all came about because she expressed the interest in an art school. It is also hard because the style she loves (she would like to do character design for animation) is not the type of observational art the colleges want to see in a portfolio. She gets so little free time after all this homework that she, of course, just wants to draw for her own interests. She has more electives this year in the arts and will get more practice. She is such a good writer and all around excellent student that we have been talking about the pros and cons of the liberal arts vs stand alone art school. But somehow I always get accused of sounding like I don't like the "art school" idea which is not true. I did make the point last night that there is more to college than just preparing for a job.</p>
<p>Scoop</p>
<p>Yes, she is applying to RISD, RIT, Syracuse, BU, Arcadia, SCAD, MECA, Simmons or Emmanuel. The Simmons or EMmanuel is for her Boston connection. Mass COllege of Art is not appealing to her as a person, as appealing as it is to an artisit. But she can attend one of those 2 and take courses at Mass College of Art. RIT might be interesting to your daughter because of her interest in animation etc. I am not sure of their program but they do have lots of the latest stuff! Also SCAD, but that is a pure art school. Take a look at RIT's web site and their course listing. And what I have found when listening to my D talk to these schools is they are really interested in drawing and color. She is a metals and jewelry person but they all asked for her drawings--just charcoal drawings from landscapes or still life settings. Also her use of and eye for color. And they want to know that she has a good work ethic and will stick with it. I like the idea of the university because most of her friends are not art students, and if she changes her focus, she can, and I want her to be well educated. While I agree that college isn't just about getting a job, an Art department that prepares them for that gets my vote! I like the attitude of "yes, you are talented, go for it and how can you support yourself doing something you love?"
All the best!</p>
<p>sbarrrytown - thanks for all your suggestions. Yes, this time we're looking at LACs. My son, majoring in industrial design, wanted a stand alone art college (he's a freshman at Pratt), but my daughter, who although very creative, has other interests. She had been considering creative writing, then dance, then when she heard that my son's academic courses at Pratt this year are English and Art History, she said, "what could be better than that - art, art history, and English!" So even though it's early (she's a junior), I thought it might be time to start investigating. </p>
<p>It seems like most of the children of parents who post and most of the students who post at this site are straight-A students, and so it seems that only the top colleges are discussed. Although my daughter is very bright and I would love her to go to the best college she could, ivy league and "ivy-leaguish" schools are kind of unrealistic at this point. sbarrytown - thanks, I knew I couldn't be the only one thinking this! :)</p>
<p>So thanks everyone for suggestions - Goucher looks really interesting to me (of course, what's really more important is what my daughter thinks). I hope we can occasionally go back to discussing some of these colleges some more.</p>
<p>Best of luck to your daughter. I did look at RIT's site in the last few days - would have to take some convincing with that weather! The programs looked very good. I agree with you regarding the choice to change direction. I was sure of what I wanted to major in and ended up changing after my first semester. I would not have wanted to transfer schools just to do that though I know that many students are comfortable with that.</p>
<p>Have a great day.</p>
<p>art mom,</p>
<p>It would certainly be of interest to me to discuss all types of schools. Thought my daughter is a very good student - there are many posts with stats that are just downright overwhelming. I keep in mind that we were told a college is not necessarily looking for a well rounded student but they needed to make up a well rounded class. That being said, I would rather see her excel in a more moderate academic atmosphere than fight to stay afloat somewhere more competitive. </p>
<p>scoop</p>
<p>Hi nocalmom,</p>
<p>I'm glad to hear that your daughter had a good experience with Pratt's health services. It's reassuring for a mom to hear! I hope she's feeling better.</p>
<p>My son is loving Pratt, too. Even though he is finding it's a lot of work, he said the other day that it doesn't "feel like college" because he gets to take lots of art courses, and he just so happens to live there.</p>
<p>Scoop,</p>
<p>I'm often at odds about whether it's better to excel in a "comfortable" situation, or struggle in a possibly too high situation. We're currently going through this regarding AP. I guess a little of each is probably the best solution.</p>
<p>HI Scoop--I agree that RIT's weather can be a little off putting-but my sister lives in Syracuse and their weather is even worse so.... Actually my tour guide was from Tahoe and he felt the talk about the weather and snow was not accurate. Apparently they have a different climate than Buffalo and Syracuse that is not so extreme of cold and snow...but it's all relative! As a matter of fact if it weren't for it's geographics, I think RIT would be her first choice over RISD. As she said
"their (RIT) craft studios are awesome, they pay alot of attention to their facilities, and it's 70% guys who are all smart, what could be wrong with that?"</p>
<p>HI Art Mom and Scoop--the ??? of the challenge of the school and the challenging academic record in high school are huge. As I have said this is my second college search(with 2 more to go) Here's what I think about college--he/she should go to the most challenging college, that they LIKE. It's so important that they really feel at home at the school, and there may be 3 or 4 schools that they feel that way about. Here's why, my oldest goes to B.C.-this was her choice, her decision(thankfully they have good finaid!)It's a bit of a party school BUT it's also a difficult school, so the kids have fun and then they study, a lot. Another friend chose a not so challenging school-a lot of the kids never stop partying. It drives her friend crazy. I think, and believe me I know I am just one opinion, that high school for my kids, is for a lot of things but mainly for preparing them to be successful in college. Which ever college they choose. Being organized, studying, participating in things that interest them can be sorted out in high school. As far as the AP question--omigosh--my high schools principal told me that she had a parent asking if her incoming hs freshman could take an AP History course!!!!! Anyway, my eldest took the AP courses as a junior and senior that she was interested in-not for her resume. She was eligible to take AP Physics because of her strong math and science but she chose not to as it wasn't a fascination for her, she took honors physics and loved it-and got into her first choice college. I think colleges are smart enough to see that a Jane Doe took Honors Eng 1, 2, 3 and did well and then chose AP ENG, is a person with consistency and willingness to take on the challenge. Someone taking AP Chemistry out of thin air? maybe not so much. Also, I think it depends on the HS curriculum. If your high school has a challenging curriculum or not.</p>