Studio/Visual Art at Elite LACs?

College Search & Selection
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Studio/Visual Art at Elite LACs?

Does anybody have any experience or opinions at any of the following elite LACs?

  • Carleton (particularly interested)
  • Smith
  • Bowdoin
  • Swarthmore
  • Amherst
  • Pomona
  • Wellesley
  • Wooster (an outlier in this list for sure)
  • Dartmouth (not an LAC, but somewhat LAC-adjacent)

How is the art education at these schools? The community of fellow art students? The opportunities for internships, jobs, and MFA-preparation? While the schools above all offer a wonderful general education, I sometimes get the sense that studio art is often the lesser major of a double majorā€”e.g., a biology student who studies art for fun knowing that they will pursue a career in medicine, etc. My kid might be the oppositeā€”i.e., an art student who might study physics for fun. On the other hand, Iā€™ve noticed a large proportion of college art professors got their undergraduate degrees from LACs, which seems like a positive sign.

Background: My kid is an artistically talented, academically strong high-school junior. Sheā€™s been passionate about art since her freshman year, but she also does well in and enjoys STEM classes and other subjects. Her plan is to major in art and dabble in other subjects, perhaps finding a minor or second major. She does illustration, painting, and digital art but would also like to explore other mediums. She has great grades in hard classes, and I assume her test scores will be good. Weā€™re aware of the differences between a BA in Art and a BFA, and it seems like one can have a successful art career with either.

Cost is a major factor: This is part of the reason we wonā€™t be applying to art schools; the other part is the desire for a broader education. Iā€™ve run NPCs on 70+ schools, and the ones above are within or close to our price range. If it seems like an odd list, thatā€™s part of the reason. Weā€™ll also likely be applying to (1) Williams (this will be frontrunner choice but admissions seem like a crapshoot), Brown, CMU, BU, and Bard and possibly (2) Yale, Columbia, and Stanford. We are already somewhat familiar with the great art programs in the former group. The latter group of schools are always going to be super reaches. Here are some of the many schools with good art reputations weā€™re not considering because of cost:

  • Vassar (most expensive EFC Iā€™ve seen)
  • Wesleyan
  • Skidmore
  • Scripps
  • Alfred
  • Cornell
  • Washington U.
  • RIT
  • Tufts
  • NYU (astronomical EFC)
  • Virtually all state schools, including VCU and Temple (which are still at least $10k out of our price range).

Our Safety: I work at our local flagship state school (University of Nevada, Reno), where she would get free tuition and probably more. Itā€™s a wonderful local school and has a decent art department that offers a BFA. But, while my daughter is open to UNR, sheā€™d prefer to leave the state. So, I think our approach will be to go big and affordable or stay home. If my list up top seems odd and full of hard reaches, thatā€™s why. Also, at this point, weā€™re open to other significant variables such as location (East Coast vs. West Coast vs. Midwest), setting (rural vs. urban), and gender-inclusivity (all womenā€™s colleges).

Many, many thanks for all prospective input! Consider this question open through 2024.

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Donā€™t have experience with the schools but Iā€™m confused by your cost assessments.

None of these (short of Wooster and then Smith/Carleston minimal) give merit aid - so Iā€™m assuming you are full pay judging by your comments.

When I see Vassar, etc, yes -itā€™s expensive but so are Bowdoin, Swarthmore, Amherst, Dartmouth, etc.

RIT has merit - and would likely cost far less than schools you are mentioning given a strong academic profile. But it was removed based on cost.

WUSTL - very expensive but has merit. Hard to get but has so at least thereā€™s a chance of lower cost vs. a Williams, Amherst, etc.

So confused by how you put your overall list together if cost is playing a central part.

Iā€™m making the assumption that if you have need at Swat or Amherst, then you have need at Vassar, etc. Not all schools look at things the same but it seems that, and perhaps Iā€™m incorrectly viewing it, but that your initial premise is off.

Good luck.

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It looks like you are looking at schools where need based aid will be betterā€¦is that correct?

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Thanks for the input, tsbna44.

The list is put together based on my putting our financial information into each schoolā€™s Net Price Calculator (NPC). According to their NPCs, the schools I asked about offer much better financial aid for our circumstances. So, for example, Smith, Amherst, Dartmouth, and Carletonā€™s NPCs for us come out to $28k-$29k/year. Bowdoin, Brown, and Williams are about $24k/year and Swarthmore is somehow $17k/year. Whereas schools like Vassar and NYU are $70k/year.

Some schoolsā€™ NPCs include merit based on GPA/test scores, such as Whitman. But theyā€™re still out of our range and I donā€™t know how much we can rely on additional, discretionary merit aid.

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Bingo.

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So we know there are schools that have no merit aid - they are pure need based.

Those you listed - Amherst, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Brown, Williams, Swat - are need only.

A school like Whitman has merit aid as you mentioned - and yes, they will often include in the NPC based on academic stats.

I would re-run Vassar. I canā€™t think of any way that itā€™s coming out at $70K and the others are in the high teens and 20s.

Same with NYU that now meets need.

Perhaps Iā€™m missing something but those differentials seem too much.

If you eliminated WUSTL, Cornell and Tufts, I assume - the cost is higher but not $70K?

As these are all meets need schools, It just seems the $40K differential - something was off.

Tufts, as an fyi, is need aware - meaning they take finances into account when making an admission decision and 2/3 of their kids are full pay.

Maybe Iā€™m wrong - but it doesnā€™t seem to pass the ā€œeyeā€ test, hence Iā€™d run them again. Thatā€™s why I asked the question I did - separating Vassar from the rest.

Best of luck to your daughter.

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There can be a big difference in the way that schools consider home equity in the NPC. If you have a lot of home equity, you can get very different results between schools.

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ok - thatā€™s fair - it just seemed like from those level of schools, it wouldnā€™t be.

I can see it varying from a Miami or Franklin & Marshall which both meet need, but Vassar is in the same class as the others mentioned.

Anyway - thatā€™s what stood out so was asking the question.

But fair enough - as I didnā€™t have need, I didnā€™t have experience in that area.

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From your top list, Smith and Dartmouth offer excellent visual arts programs. Ordinarily, LACs such as Williams, Vassar, Hamilton, Kenyon, Connecticut College, Skidmore, Wheaton (MA) and Scripps should be considered for art as well (as you have in some cases, although with cost as a limiting aspect). Bard and Sarah Lawrence offer somewhat different styles of education from the schools just listed; nonetheless, either would be superb for art. The larger Brown also would be excellent.

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I was wondering why this wasnā€™t on the listā€¦

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I agree that the discrepancies between similar schools is a little weird. Like Eeyore mentioned, I think each school calculates things differently. My situation might be a little odd in that the home that we bought (and could barely afford) in 2014 has gone about 2.5 times in value (like all homes where I live). So, on paper, it looks like we have a lot money. Not the worst problem in the world to have, but Iā€™d certainly prefer not to sell my house.

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I attended Vassar, great school but not worth being homelessšŸ˜€. Another vote for Brown.

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Williams and Brown are on my list (and mentioned in my post), but I didnā€™t specifically ask about them because I already have a strong sense about their art departments. Williams would be my personal first choice for my kid (understanding that itā€™s her ultimate call), but I know that even with great stats, ECs, talent etc., itā€™s a long shot.

I think Iā€™ve run the NPCs on most of the other schools you mentioned and theyā€™re generally outside our price range, although Sarah Lawrence is close. SLC has an interesting reputation.

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Brown is on the list and I mentioned it deep within my novella-sized post. But I didnā€™t ask about it because I have a fairly decent understanding of their art department: Even without the RISD connection, itā€™s excellent.

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Brown is a reach as wellā€¦but glad itā€™s on the list.

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Your list is very reachy, except for Wooster.

Iā€™d probably rule out NYU. Yes, they now say they will ā€œmeet need,ā€ but I wouldnā€™t assume youā€™ll get it because they are notoriously stingy. How they calculate need is probably a closely guarded secret.

Alfred is primarily known for ceramics. I think RIT is a bit of an odd man out of the colleges you listed.

Bates has a popular arts program. Itā€™s generally regarded as the ā€œartiestā€ of the Maine NESCACs. Prospective students | Art & Visual Culture | Bates College

Hamilton is another reach, but has a good arts department. Art - Hamilton College Areas of Study

If merit is desired, consider Dickinson, which has a nice arts facility apparently. Art & Art History | Dickinson College

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That is precisely our situation. We purchased a home in Tahoe in 2014 when the market was low. Even then, we could barely afford it. In the past 8 years, the market has risen dramatically, particularly after Covid, and all the homes in the area have increased in value by about 250%. If we sold the house, itā€™d mean either renting or leaving Tahoe, which would suck. As I said elsewhere though, itā€™s not the worse situation to be in. But it does complicate financial aid for college.

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Those on the list given by merc81 that give merit might end up being more affordable than the NPC would suggest. That was our experience with LACs back in 2020ā€“we only applied to those that give merit, and between merit and need-based aid, most of them ended up being close to or at our budget (daughter ended up at Kenyon).

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The reachiness is intentional. We are fortunate enough to have the option of a near-full ride to our local state school. So the idea is to go big or stay home.

Alfred and NYU were on the list of schools that are outside our budget.

I donā€™t recall the costs of Hamilton and Bates, but Iā€™ll check the NPCs. Thanks for bringing them to my attention!

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Fair point and good to hear about Kenyon, which sounds like a great school. Iā€™ve found it very difficult to determine where weā€™d have a realistic shot at significant merit aid. To use an example, Oberlinā€™s NPC comes out to about $42k/year. But weā€™d need more than $10k in additional merit aid to make that work.