I’m currently a senior in highschool who wasnt quite sure what to do in college until a majority of deadlines had already passed
I’ve decided on going into the art field and I’m unsure if I want to take a year off to develop my portfolio and then apply to schools as a freshman or if I should go to community for a year as a transfer.
My question is: do you have more scholarship opportunities if you apply as a freshman than as a transfer? I would much rather hold off on going to community and have a higher chance of scholarships than going to community college and not having much aid when I transfer to an art school.
I’m in the top ten of 600 students in my grade, I take a lot of ap classss, and do lots of extra curricular activies (choir, theater, beta club and nhs) and I feel like applying with this seems better than applying as a transfer student from a community college?
Thanks in advance!
Freshmen always have more opportunities for scholarships, but art is rarely a field in which those are offered. Most scholarships are based on GPA and scores. You’ll need to ask your parents if they are willing to pay all the costs for the art degree. Some other things to consider from people I know:
There is a chance that despite loving your art being required to produce on a regular basis for school will wear you down. This happened to a D’s friend who dropped out. My W’s sister graduated with a degree in art but is now working in the health care industry because there is no money in art. And another friend who had the choice in college to go into finance or photography went with finance. He is now living of his retirement (from his job in finance) and happily doing photography full time. He’s told me multiple times he’s glad he made the choice he did.
Did you ever check on your supplementary materials for UT?
Yes, there are more merit aid for freshmen.
Art schools are expensive and don’t offer much in the way of financial aid, so if that’s what you’re thinking about, you need to take a look at those schools and see if they’re even possible.
Then take a look at a variety of other schools, starting with your in-state public colleges, and see what’s available. Yes, you may find that it makes sense to wait and apply in the fall so you can qualify for additional merit aid . . . or you may find that your state university is affordable (without additional merit aid) and is still accepting applications, so there’s no need to wait a year to start!
Probably it is a better chance for more aid as a freshman. Many colleges will not give any aid to transfers at all.
But what if you do not get any scholarships next year? Or enough, what then is the plan? How much do you need, or rather how much do you have to spend each year.
I have heard of a success story of someone who did apply to art schools her high school senior year, didn’t get much in the way of aid, took a gap year, worked on her portfolio, reapplied the following year and did get some great scholarships as a delayed freshman. Some private art schools give merit aid based on the portfolio.
But there’s no guarantee this will happen. However, if you really don’t want to go to college right away, CC or other, then if it were my kid, I would say there’s no hurry. Take the year, get a job, work on your portfolio, and see what happens next year.
Some recommendations if you do take the gap year: explore all your options for college (I don’t know what your passion is - fine art or design or animation or film…), see what schools offer freshmen scholarships, see what schools are financially within reach, get as much feedback as possible (National Portfolio Day, other art teachers or professionals), and work on your art, if that’s what you want to do.
Good luck.
My advice:
If you are really committed to art, go to Europe and work in an atelier.
You can always apply to colleges later if you feel you need to go.
@"Erin’s Dad"
I’ve thought about this a lot! And if anything, taking this year off would let me weigh more of my options, but I’ve decided on going into the art field for sure (illustration/animation specifically)
I was worried that going to school for art would just wear me down since I’d be forced to make art for school work, but I’m actually excited to be pushed to work harder and learn more.
And yes, UT said there was nothing that could be done and I got rejected.
@billcsho thank you!
@dodgersmom
I’m looking at some art schools and some liberal arts colleges with really good illustration/animation programs to and I’m trying to keep my options open. I’ve looked at some schools in state but the ones that are still accepting aren’t what I’m really looking for. Thank you though!
@BrownParent
I’ve accepted that that there’s no way to go to school for art without going into a significant amount of debt, that I know for sure. I just didn’t have a chance to apply to the art schools I would have liked to attend. If I get accepted into any of them, I would be going to the one that costs the least/has more money to offer. And if i get next to nothing, I’ll either find a way with outside scholarships or go to community and use the time to get better.
@GrnMtnMom
I understand that I won’t be as lucky as some of the successful few, but I’d like to try! 
If I end up taking a gap year, I’d probably end up working my butt off to improve for a higher possibility of scholarships and doing a lot more research for schools than I did this year… thank you for your help!
@PurpleTitan
Going to Europe or traveling anywhere overseas is financially out of the question for me right now but I guess I’ll have to see! Since my intended field of choice would either be illustration/animation I don’t really see a need to go overseas to learn what I need to learn. Thank you though!
You should get a job and save as much as you can. You can’t do it with outside scholarships. You can only borrow 28k total for college.