The OP’s daughter is currently a junior in high school.
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Thanks. She’s actually doing her first NPD this Sunday. She also did the U. Michigan Stamps pre-college program two summers ago and will likely do BU’s this coming summer. And I think RISD and CMU offer independent portfolio reviews that we’ll likely try in the future. So I assume she’ll have a strong portfolio by this time next year if she doesn’t already, but this this the quality of talent is the hardest thing for me to judge.
I’ve looked at the portfolio requirements for many of the LACs mentioned above, and they all tend to be extremely general–i.e., upload 8-12 recent pieces. Nor do I have any understanding as to the inclinations of individual art departments at LACs. For example, I’ve heard that CMU (not an LAC obviously) cares more about concept than technical skill and, unsurprisingly, loves the combination of technological innovation and art.
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So my S is applying to LACs and will be adding the arts supplement for classical music. Williams specifically has on their website to contact the music department and they will give you a tour and let you meet with the teachers. Many other schools do the same for performance based instrumental programs. I didnt see the same for visual arts but it definitely makes sense for your D to reach out to the programs that interest her to see if they offer the same. My S had a wonderful visit at Vassar after he did a blind reach out to the music department secretary.
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Unfortunately Paul is no longer with us, but the Paul J. Schupf Arts Center is opening soon in downtown Waterville. Paul loved the Colby community and was a big contributor to the Arts both at Colby and in the town of Waterville.
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Great. You are WAAAAY ahead of us at this time. Until her junior year D had really no idea what she wanted to do. She was a good STEM student but also very creative and artistic. She ended up majoring in Industrial Design at RIT as it allowed for diversity on how artsy vs techno you were.
D’s one portfolio review was with a RIT professor who taught a prosthetics class. D had some fantasy makeup work she did so they made something of a connection. She accepted her portfolio as it was but also suggested some things to work on to be better prepared for college. If possible, it may help to try to get reviews by the schools your daughter is most interested in so you have a better feel for how she stands.
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This started with a tour of my alma mater in August when we happened to be in LA. The school brochure provided a $67k sticker price for out-of-state students, which left me dumbfounded and concerned. Because I can’t give my kids a well-funded 529 or trust fund, I figure I can at least do my best in other regards.
RIT sounds like a great school! I’ve suggested to my kid that product design might be a nice option for someone who excels in both art and STEM. She’s kind of open to the idea, but she’s not exactly running with it. I also wonder if theater/costume design might be something worth exploring. Again though, this is my idea, not hers, so I’m not pushing.
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WWU has an excellent Industrial Design program, in addition to a Studio Art BA, and solid sciences. It should be in budget with the WUE discount, which is competitive at WWU but should be attainable for a Williams-level applicant. Not a(n) LAC, obviously, but somewhere in between a liberal arts experience and a large flagship - I’ve heard many positive things about the student experience.
Another WUE option with possible big merit would be U of Utah, which is strong in the arts and has a Multidisciplinary Design major that’s worth a look as well. Perhaps not different enough from UNR to justify going out of state… but I think the UofU Honors College may offer a more comprehensive cohort experience than UNR Honors - could be worth a look in the “making a big school smaller” genre.
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D loved RIT the minute she set foot on campus. She really felt she was in the right place despite the rather blah campus and cold weather.
It sounds like your daughter and mine would be great friends under different circumstances. She also sews and was very involved in one of the RIT theater groups - behind the scenes only - stage design, costuming, lighting, etc.
As I have learned through my daughter, industrial design and product design often have nuanced differences. To her industrial design is more focused on physical/material goods while product design is web/app based. Just something to think about.
She is beginning to morph into packaging design. She finds it more graphic designy while using her 3-d visualization skills. While in school she thought about adding a Packaging Science minor (more engineering-like) but went with ASL instead.
There is lots to think about. I’m glad we are done.
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FWIW, I’m adding Rice University to our list. Reachy for sure, but it is very LAC-esque and has a good art program and great financial aid. The only drawback is the lack of outdoorsy activities. (Same for Brown.)
Googie31: That is very cool. I didn’t know that packaging science could be a major, but given how many packages my household receives on a daily basis, it seems like it’d provide ample job opportunities.
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For this preference, this site may be of interest:
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Just stumbled upon this thread because I was searching package design!
But, wanted to chime in – my oldest is a freshman at Rice right now, and yes, it’s ridiculously reach – their acceptance rate last year was 8.5% – BUT, I think she had an edge because she wanted to study linguistics, and her background was full of Latin and classics, etc. I think that stood out among so many STEM kids – so your kiddo should also make an impact with the arts. Just my two cents.
She loves it there – it’s really a great fit. Very, very diverse and full of nerdy, friendly kids of all kinds. We were also initially looking at LACs, but linguistics programs are hard to find. They’re only at giant state universities and Ivies and other reach schools – or geographically somewhere she didn’t want to go. So thank goodness Rice worked out, lol.
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Great to hear. I went to UT Austin for grad school in 00’s and heard a lot of great things about Rice from many friends who went there for undergrad.
Also, one option would be to apply ED to Williams and ED2 to Hamilton or the other options listed. That way you know you put forth your best effort for Williams and if not admitted, still have many good ED2 options.
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Here’s a cool instagram link re: Williams Studio Art:
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I see your cost assessments are based on NPC numbers from school websites, but I wouldn’t cut out options based solely on those (roughly calculated) numbers. We have a kid at Wesleyan whose aid package was fantastic–beyond what was expected, or estimates from other schools that more agressively flaunt their aid–and he loves it. Both studio art and art history are top-notch (several major artists, as in mid-career retrospectives at major NYC museums, are Wes alums) and the school has a great mix of serious, top-level arts activity and similarly high-level STEM work going on (with small PhD programs to match). Just sayin’; from our impression, Wes is a perfect place for an artsy kid who likes to take on other challenges, including STEM, social sciences, etc.
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I wouldn’t put much of anything in Houston in the same context as Rhode Island. Brown has one of the oldest outing clubs in the US, and it is very active. You have opportunities for sound or ocean access in all directions. Providence itself is less than 5 miles from the ocean ,27 miles from Narragansett, 50 mins from Watch Hill or Mystic, and it’s just over an hour to the Cape. It’s not the PNW, where I live, but RI has a ton of cool outdoor opportunities IMO. A ton of kids drive north in the winter to ski as well.
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Good to hear. We live in Tahoe, so our standards are a little high when it comes to outdoor opportunities. We’re not necessarily looking for that level of access, but I think being able to ski, trail run, or climb a little on the weekends would be an excellent (and familiar) way to counter-balance the pressure of academic rigor.
I’ve begun rerunning cost estimates with more accurate numbers to reflect my 2022 tax returns. A few schools like Wesleyan and Skidmore now appear potentially affordable and are very much on our radar. Here is our current long list of schools in order of approximate selectivity:
- Colombia
- Stanford
- Brown
- Yale
- WashU
- Dartmouth
- Swarthmore
- Pomona
- Cornell
- Williams
- Bowdoin
- Colby
- Rice
- Wesleyan
- BU
- Wellesley
- Carleton
- Smith
- CMU
- Skidmore
- Macalester
- Scripps
- Oberlin
- Kenyon
- Whitman
- Sarah Lawrence
- Bard
- Lewis & Clark
- University of Nevada, Reno (free)
If this list seems very reachy, that’s by intention. UNR is the admission-guaranteed safety and it’s free for us. Also, we’ll certainly cull this list by at least half come Fall. My kid currently indicates that she’d prefer a smaller school of 2,000-4,000, probably not in a city, and preferably with some outdoorsy access. She likes the idea of schools like Bowdoin and Dartmouth. But she also like the idea of Brown, so who knows. I’m urging her to keep an open mind for the time being. I’m also telling her that admissions at all of these schools is, despite her stellar stats, a crapshoot.
In that vein, she’s doing a 4-week art program this summer at BU. I think that will help inform her opinions on city living and big schools. We’ll also likely do a week-long road trip around New England in early August to check out schools like Bowdoin, Colby, Dartmouth, Skidmore, Williams, Smith, and Wesleyan. (Again, we’ll probably have do a little triage in selecting the schools at which we can do a proper tour given the time restraints.)
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The Berkshires are not the Sierras but they are a sophisticated summer and winter playground for east coast city dwellers. Williamstown is literally a mountain village with “walk-on” access to the activities you mention.
Plus as pointed out earlier in this thread, the world class art museums. Hope you can include the Clark and MassMoCA in your tour as their impact on an arts education at Williams is enormous.
You hardly need to enlarge your list, but I’d give Hamilton another look for an art, outdoors and academic combo.
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I’d think that the price estimate wasn’t within range for Hamilton. Otherwise, I can’t imagine a reason it wouldn’t be included in the list above.
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