<p>Hi @scylla! I’m a high school senior right now, and thought I could add my two cents to this post. When I first started my college hunt a year and a half ago, I thought I wanted to go into photography/graphic arts/advertising. So, similar to your daughter. I also felt that a small, New England liberal arts college would best fit me. I faced the same dilemma that you have now– liberal arts college that offers an art major, or an arts school. </p>
<p>I toured Pratt, and felt that it was too artsy for my taste. All those kids at art institutes eat, sleep, and breathe art. I walked around campus and I cannot tell you how many were scribbling and doodling in sketchbooks or wearing paint splattered clothing, which honestly scared me out of my mind because while I enjoy photography, it isn’t my whole life.</p>
<p>I changed my mind last summer, after realizing that while I love photography and graphic design, and decided that I didn’t want to major in photo/arts it in college. There’s a saying, aimed specifically towards the arts, that if you major in your hobby, you soon come to hate it. I decided I’d rather take some courses in photography and major in something else. I also wanted to have classes with real textbooks and lectures, etc. with a non-super artsy student body. </p>
<p>The arts major is a long road, with no guarantee of return on investment when you graduate. Ask you daughter what she intends on doing once she graduates– does she want to work for an advertising firm? If so, usually it’s very difficult to come by those jobs unless you already have a foot in the door which comes with a prestigious college title. The BFA degrees from liberal arts colleges usually don’t compare to the actual art schools like RISD, Pratt, Art Institutes. When you graduate, you also usually just have a BFA in “Studio Art” with an emphasis on painting, drawing, sculpture, etc. which is different from an arts school where you major in something specific like Photography, Graphic Design, etc.</p>
<p>Anyway, I thought I’d list a few colleges that I toured before I changed my mind that have design programs in a non-art school. I know they’re not small liberal arts colleges, but they do have art programs. Drexel University, Carnegie Mellon, Syracuse University, Temple University, Rochester Institute of Technology (it was a surprise to me that they had arts, since they’re a technical school, but the Kodak Camera was created in Rochester so they have a really good visual arts program), Vassar College, Ithaca College, Miami University in Ohio. I’d say definitely check out Miami University– they have a specific graphic design program, the school is smaller than most of the other schools I mentioned, and the campus looks like a New England liberal arts school. I posted the link to Miami’s majors below:
<a href=“Home - Miami University Program Finder”>Home - Miami University Program Finder;
<p>Anyway, best of luck to you and your daughter! If you have any more questions, I’d be happy to answer but I’m new here so I don’t think I can receive private messages yet? I’ll try to check back to see if you’ve commented on this post though. </p>