Love it and congratulations on being thoughtful and strategic.
5 Likes
I think if you have capacity in regard to finishing apps and some space left on common, WUSTL may be worth a go still as they have numerous half and full scholarships.
Sort of a Hail Mary.
Not on your list but Vandy is similar but has even more and W&L has the Johnson, which goes to 10% of the entering class.
So WUSTL may not be top of list due to costs but perhaps if you have time itās still worth a go. Not sure if you looked at the other two.
1 Like
As an aspect to consider, note that even schools generally excellent in studio arts differ in their attributes. Not all offer ceramics, for example.
2 Likes
Thankfully, my kid is still a junior. But itās good to hear that WUSTL offers merit aid. I kind of assume that anything in the T-30 isnāt going to offer merit aid. And WUSTL isnāt that far outside our range.
Of course, Iām well aware that even with great stats, it is extremely difficult to get into a school like WashU, let alone get merit aid.
If your student is a junior, you will need to run those net price calculators again in September of her senior year when they will be updated for your daughterās freshman college year. And yes, financial aid formula calculations and policies DO change. Soā¦you will need to do theseā¦again.
8 Likes
Not sure if you saw this list (linked below) and obviously there are different disciplines in art and your daughter seems to want to study many of them, but this list might give a few more non elite but affordable top schools. I see Cincy and VCU as examples to help get OOS if the elites donāt work since you noted your daughter wants to be OOS.
And with merit they may be affordable. And U of Cincy pushes co-op. Not my area but many on the CC have pushed VCU for art majors in the past. Itās not Williams but if your child wants to be OOS maybe worth investigating as an alternative should the top schools not work.
I also noted your comment on many LAC profs coming from LACs. I checked a few and WUSTL and actually came across UCSC most often (not WUE unfortunately), Kansas, and many other āregularā schoolsā¦and LACs as well. ā¦.but mostly art schools which I know is outside your interest.
Just doing a little research. Interesting subject.
Best of luck.
4 Likes
Havenāt read all the responses but Iām going to suggest running the Vassar NPC again. Iām pretty sure something got entered wrong. We had extensive need and good home equity just like you and vassar was right in line with others - not the cheapest but not the most expensive either and certainly not a major difference. They also only expected my kid to take the $3500 subsidized loan rather than the full $5500 so that made them very close to the others (ivies and schools like Williams and swarthmore excepted since they donāt include loans at all). Also when my kids package came back from Vassar after her acceptance it was even better than the NPC indicated. Iām not saying Vassar is necessarily right for her but Iād almost guarantee you entered something wrong when you ran the NPC.
4 Likes
Thanks again, tsbna44. VCUArts was initially high on our list. Along with Stamps and Tyler, VCUArts seems like one of the few schools to offer an art-school-quality education for a public school price . . . if you happen to live in VA, MI, or PA. Both VCUArts, according to their NPCs (which factor in some merit aid), are still $10k-15k outside our budget. But Iām not sure whether weād qualify for additional, discretionary merit aid at either.
To return to my original question though, Iām curious as to what an art education is like a great LAC predominantly known for other subjects, like Carleton or Bowdoin. To state the obvious, there were be fewer courses, faculty, and students. But Iām not sure how much that matters if my kid is seeking a more general art education. And it could mean even more attention from the schoolās art professors.
Will do. Itās always possible that I added an extra zero somewhere.
The difference in facilities also may be notable across LACs. In addition to the range of media for which studios may be equipped, you also may encounter differences in the prominence of the arts facilitiesā locations and in the details of their characteristics. Some will be near the center of campus, while others may be near the periphery. Some may be in buildings dedicated to the arts, others may be in more mixed facilities. Some will be associated with an art museum or in proximity to an art history department. Some will emphasize natural northern light, ideal for artists.
I think it could matter - what if your child doesnāt care for a professor teaching several of the art classes needed or the small student size doesnāt reflect her passion or personality. I believe it is important to look at # of students and professors interests. My English major daughter crossed several schools off her list with the dept head having a much different interest vs her / ie: poetry heavy is one example i remember.
3 Likes
For simplified access to financial estimates for scores of partner schools, this site may be helpful:
Promising results can be substantiated through Net Price Calculators.
2 Likes
Wesleyan (not on your list), Wellesley, Williams, Amherst, Yale, Swarthmore, and Pomona all treat home equity the same way, according to this pdf:
Latest PDF Home equity 2021 used by colleges.pdf - Google Drive
Carleton and Bowdoin assess home equity at substantially higher rates (especially, Carleton.)
4 Likes
Wesleyan was deleted from their consideration because the NPC indicated the cost would be too high. Maybe that NPC needs to be done again.
@BentWookie are either of the Parents here self employed? Do you own real estate other than your primary residence?
3 Likes
Thanks! That spreadsheet is a nice resource.
In terms of career directions, would she be interested in doing art for (for example) physics books or magazine articles? That could expand the options she has in career directions ā it may help to have some knowledge of physics when producing art that illustrates something about physics.
1 Like
Negative. My house and my 401k are our only real assets, and the latter doesnāt count. I make slightly over six figures but live in an area with a very high cost of living, which I donāt think anyone takes into consideration.
1 Like
The future is still an open book. I think she loves art and want to seriously explore a future in it. But sheās also bright and is still interested in other things. (She happens to be taking AP Physics right now and seems to like it, which is why I mentioned it.) Anyhow, this is part of the reason I like the idea of a LACāthey seem to allow open exploration. That said, her primary interest is definitely art.
Personally, I think being an art professor sounds like a good gig. It wouldnāt pay all that much, but they seem to get a steady paycheck while both teaching and creating their own art.
It would be a shame if this was an NPC fluke. Wesleyanās art mafia is almost as prominent as its film āmafiaā has been over the years. Glenn Ligon `82, in particular, has been appearing everywhere lately:
Notable Alumni, Art Studio - Wesleyan University
3 Likes
LACs that are peers in many ways may nonetheless differ in level of curricular freedom.
2 Likes