Hi all. Recently I've been feeling down in the dumps lately since starting my junior year in late August. I don't really want to pour my emotions here, so I'll just get right to it.
I started Freshman year in a public magnet school for the visual and performing arts. Being a visual artist, I was definitely one of the most talented there. In my arts, I averaged a near perfect 4.0 However, academic wise, I was eh. At the end of my sophomore year i averaged a 3.1 GPA, 4.1 weighted. I definitely took challenging classes there, while i was there up until sophmore year. I was fed up with the super long distance I had to travel by train to downtown everyday, as well as feeling depressed being far away from home and just feeling foreign. I absolutely hated getting home so late only to be burdened with exhaustion and having to stay up past midnight everyday doing work and getting up at 5 AM.
I left this art school at the end of my sophmore year, and enrolled in a regular public high school for my junior year much, much closer to home. I can definitely say that I feel much more relaxed, emotionally stable, and in control. I'm now in the beginning of my first semester junior year, and already getting near straight A's taking two AP classes and 6 Dual Enrollment classes working towards my Associate's in Arts. I'm also actively participating in clubs, getting lots of community service hours, and getting noticed around with my art. I definitely want to become an artist when I grow up, but just looking at how I did in my old school, my GPA, and how I had the potential to do better, makes me want to break down crying.
I feel like I messed up and that I'm destined for failure. I know I had the potential to be the best I could, but the state of my mental health and exhaustion just inhibited me from doing so. Lately, however, I've been so, so stressed out about college. I've been looking on websites to win scholarships such as Fastweb.com, but I seriously have no idea if these are legitamite and worth giving a try. I've applied for two already, one of which was a short essay for $1000. I also wanted to apply for Young Arts this year, but I realized the deadline is too near, so I'll do that for my senior year. Does anyone have advice for this 16-year-old that is really, REALLY determined to get into a good college ( preferably an art one)? I just feel so hopeless and not knowing what to really do. Much appreciated, thanks.
If you’re looking at art schools, your portfolio will have a major impact on your admission. A 3.1 GPA probably won’t be detrimental if you present strong material.
Scholarships are much harder. There are a lot of outside ones, but competition is high, and most are only available for one year. The best plan I can suggest would be first talking to your parents about how much they’re actually willing to spend. Once you have a ballpark number, start running the Net Price Calculators that most colleges have on their website. That’ll give you an idea of how much you’ll actually be spending. Once you take standardized tests, and once you have a better estimate of what your final GPA will be, you can start looking for schools that have guaranteed merit aid, which will likely be more generous than any outside scholarships.
Finally, try not to be too hard on yourself. There are a lot of good colleges out there, and a 3.1 GPA coming out of your sophomore year isn’t the end of the world. If you show an upwards trend (which it sounds like you’re doing) and present a strong portfolio, you’ll have a shot at plenty of places.
For specific ideas related to your potential major, visit the forum for art majors: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/