School of FA-- ART Dept.

<p>I'm reading a lot about honors and scholarships and the business school, but... can anyone (current students or others) out there comment on the quality and nature of the experience of a Studio Art major at Miami? My son is admitted to the SFA, and we are very familiar with other parts of the university and the place itself, but could have a better feel for what being an artist at MU is like.</p>

<p>Yes, inquiring minds want to know...</p>

<p>Bigpicdad-what area of concentration? D is looking at applying to SFA also for Fall '08. Would love to hear your experiences with S's application.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>believersmom,
Studio Art is the concentration. He does everything but has a gift for 3d visualization, so he has been doing sculpture in wire.
It's the only large school to which he applied. He interviewed at the small schools, but not at Miami. I would never recommend this, but he was pressed for time by a travel hockey schedule, and he has worked for MU in the summer hockey program for two years so he was familiar.<br>
He applied by the December deadline with a portfolio by mail. The process was very clear and there was ample communication and opportunity to present questions or concerns. He was notified of the decision of the SFA simultaneously with admission. I know someone else who applied to the honors college in November, was accepted early on, and then heard from the SFA at the same time as my son.<br>
All of son's other schools think he is a biology major and an art major. MU will not accept a double designation of major on the application, although they apparently will allow double majors. Son was advised by admissions that it would be more difficult to get into the SFA at the end of first year, so he should opt for art on the application.</p>

<p>Very interesting.
My impression was that interviews were neither required or recommended. Or are you refering to an in-person portfolio review?</p>

<p>C'mon Miami art students, lets get some input here, our kids want to know.</p>

<p>My bad. I guess I have forgotten the specific MU procedure at this point. I just have been so convinced of the advantage of a personal interview at the other schools to which he applied.</p>

<p>No, not your bad. Nothing says I'm right, I'm going on recollection and that is not necessarily a good thing :)</p>

<p>Thanks again for all the good info.</p>

<p>For the record, my d has applied as a double major (not art, though.) On the Common Ap, it allowed her to name only one major. When she applied for a music audition, they asked why they didn't have her application on file. And she explained that she could only list one major. They apparently then changed her file to name linguistics and music (BA). Then she was contacted by the violin teacher, asking her to change it to linguistics and music (performance.) So obviously, she IS allowed to list a double major.</p>

<p>Realistically, looking at the course requirements, I think a double major - at least those particular two - will be very difficult to do in four years - but not impossible. Other majors might be easier, with fewer requirements.</p>

<p>I believe that the matter of a double Biology/Studio Art major is problematic also.
I just checked the Common App version that my son sent to MU and several other schools. It is set up for multiple designation. His listed Biology and under </p>

<p>OOPs on that last truncated post....</p>

<p>I believe that the matter of a double Biology/Studio Art major is problematic also.
I just checked the Common App version that my son sent to MU and several other schools. It listed Biology and under </p>

<p>OOPs on the last 2 truncated posts....</p>

<p>I believe that the matter of a double Biology/Studio Art major is problematic also.
I just checked the Common App version that my son sent to MU and several other schools. It listed Biology and under “Other”, Studio Art. The Common App was preceded by MU Part I which was on-line and which instructed the applicant to designate only one major from the MU list. Part one was sent to open an early application file and, of course, to get MU an early $45 and a statistic for their applicant pool.
When my son was confronted with the decision regarding a major on Part I, an inquiry made to Admissions brought the instruction to designate Studio Art for the reasons I related in an earlier post. It was emphasized that a Zoology major would be easier to begin after he had entered MU than would a Studio Art major.</p>

<p>Bumping to keep this on the front page...</p>

<p>I would appreciate any update on this thread form parents or current students.</p>

<p>I'm particularly interested to learn if Miami integrates the study of psychology (perception, Theory of Mind, etc.) into their approach of Fine Art studies.</p>

<p>Stitch-
The best thing to do is to contact the FA department directly. They are excellent at answering these type of questions.</p>

<p>Are you a student or a parent?</p>

<p>good luck either way.</p>

<p>My D. is freshman Zoology major which is probably very close to Biology. She had very demanding class BMZ (Botany, Microbiology, Zoology) in her first semester that would totally rule out demanding schedule of Art major (I am familiar with FA from my S. experience at different university). She was happy that her other 3 classes were easy for her.<br>
In regard to Psychology, she is registered to take H. Psychology next semester, although it is outside of her major. It looks like you can take the class if you are interested, it does not need to be integrated into your major.
My advice after my D. first semester would be to declare one major and learn more about classes and their demands and time consumption. Talk to conselors/professors/students while at school then make desicion if you can effectively combine majors. It is pretty challenging at Miami in regard to academics. My D. actually thinking about dropping her minor in music. Do not spread yourself thin, if you want to do well. Of course, everything is possible, but goal of high GPA and human body reguirement of some amount of sleep might rule it out.</p>

<p>Believersmom: Thanks...I'm a parent.</p>

<p>MiamiDAP: It's good to hear that Miami takes their science scholarship seriously.</p>

<p>BTW, for those interested in the intersection of art and psychology, I recommend you view a great video presentation on the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) website: Your brain is badly wired -- enjoy it!">http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/78)&lt;/a&gt;).&lt;/p>

<p>I recommend all parents have their young students book mark this site (<a href="http://www.ted.com)%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.ted.com)&lt;/a>. The presentations on this site are powerful, thought provoking and get young adults exposed to and excited about applications of leading-edge research, technology, etc.</p>

<p>Warning...the site is addictive...in a good way.</p>

<p>This is what I don't get.........Miami doesn't have biology as a major!
Can anyone think of any conceivable reason why they wouldn't have it?
All the pre-meds I know are zoology majors.</p>

<p>What is wrong with Microbiology?
Miami</a> University: Majors: Microbiology</p>

<p>At Miami, biology is divided into three majors: botany, microbiology, and zoology. Zoology is, IMO, the broadest of the three (there are classes in cell biology, embryology, ecology, etc.), and the zoology classes and requirements at Miami are extremely similar to the biology requirements at other universities, such as IU.</p>

<p>StitchInTime-- have you looked at the faculty profiles on the Art Department's website? You could check out the faculty's research interests and the current course offerings.</p>

<p>Aussiek517:</p>

<p>Good idea...I've also emailed the department head and will post a synopsis of his reply when he gets back to me for anyone else interested.</p>

<p>Aussiek517, et al.:</p>

<p>Department head did respond to an email request and noted that integration of psychology into the department's approach to art traing was minimal, but that a student could double major in art and psychology.</p>