I’ve always liked to draw, but I hadn’t thought of pursuing it in the future until a few months ago. I’d really like to go to an art school like Art Center.
The problem is that for my art credit, I’ve been taking orchestra. I picked it up in elementary school, and thought it was fun enough to stick with.
I realized that not taking art classes might be disadvantage on my transcript, especially with all the competition… Plus, I might need an art teacher to write a recommendation letter, or for advice, etc…
With all the credit requirements, it’s not very possible for me to take art classes without dropping orchestra…
Can attending an art club, or any other art related activities possibly compensate for this?
How big of a disadvantage is not taking art classes?
Sorry if this question is dumb. I’ve just been a little worried lately.
I just finished my freshman year by the way.
I’ve got one kid going off to an art college this fall and another who’s a rising sophomore and they’ve had to make the same choices. They both want to pursue a career in art so they also dropped their music elective…and since it’s common in our district, also dropped lunch so they could generally take 2 art classes per year. I also teach part-time in the art department of a local college so know how it works from that end too.
Here’s the reality - to apply to almost any major art program in the US your application includes an art portfolio. You generally need 12-20 pieces that you will photograph and submit online as part of your official application to these schools.
Art classes will provide you with the time and structure to create these pieces. And you’ll need and want the feedback of your art teachers to develop your skills and choose the pieces you’ll submit. An art club will look good on your resume, but will not help you in building your actual portfolio. When you’re enrolled in art classes at school your art teachers will usually submit your art to local contests, tell you of upcoming National Portfolio Review Days, arrange college visits to your class and generally help guide you through the process (which is a HUGE amount of work and you’ll want all the help you can get!).
If you’re unable to fit in art classes due to academics and other interests, than you can and should take as many summer classes or outside programs as you can and create art there. Due to scheduling mishaps and intense academics, my daughter couldn’t fit in the art classes she wanted junior year - so she took a 6 week summer class at a local college instead.
I hope this doesn’t scare you! There’s a lot to learn about getting into art schools and your guidance counselor may not be aware of (ours sure wasn’t!)…but generally your art teachers WILL know all about this and how to help.
Art class is very helpful in developing your portfolio, if the structure of your class allows it.
If you can’t find room in your schedule, going to a private studio (while expensive) is an option.
But most importantly, remember that art school admissions don’t really care about your transcript, extracurriculars, or even art-related awards. They care about your portfolio. Letters of Rec are important too.
Having an art class on your transcript doesn’t matter, but if you haven’t already developed a portfolio then it’d be in your best interest to take art. Art schools really don’t care about anything but your portfolio as long as you don’t flunk out of high school.