thinking about art/design school...

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
1

<p>Hello everybody! I recently graduated from high school and have decided that I want to go to an art or design school. My greatest interest is in fashion/sewing, but am interested in other forms of art as well (like drawing). I have a couple of questions and was hoping you could help me out.</p>

<p>What exactly does an art school look for in an applicant? Do they look for grades? ACT score? SAT? A good portfolio? My ACT was a little above average and I didn't take the SAT... should I consider retaking for a higher score if I want to get into a good school?</p>

<p>Also, where do you find out what goes into an application? I tried going to some school's sites but they all said that they weren't taking 2008 applications anymore.</p>

<p>And lastly, do art schools give boosts to students who add diversity? Like under-represented minorities, people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, people from geographically diverse places?</p>

<p>Thanks for your help!</p>

2

<p>Let me take your questions in order:</p>

<p>1Exactly what does art schools look for? The answer varies among art schools and art programs. Some programs are very academically oriented such as University of Cincinnati, UCLA, Washington U. St Louis. RISD and MICA, and CMU also have strong academic requirements.</p>

<p>Some want both strong academics AND strong portfolio. RISD, MICA, CMU and a few others would meet this criteria.</p>

<p>Some want strong portfolio and decent academics,but academics seems a bit secondary. This would include most other art programs such as Pratt Institute. </p>

<p>Some programs only require a strong porfolio. Some only want a pulse from you. Thus, you really need to investigate each school to find an answer to your question.</p>

<p>I will say that the better your SAT/ACTs are, the better chance for scholarships.</p>

<p>I should note that you REALLY need to focus on what each school's web site requires regarding portfolio submission. Too many kids seem to ignore the directions given. Also, attending national portfolio days,which occur in many cities, can be very valuable about finding out what admission officers really look for in portfolios. just do a google search for "national portfolio day," and yo will get the cities and dates of the events.</p>

<ol>
<li>As to your application question, you need to go to each school's web site or call their admission office. No one can help you here.</li>
</ol>

<p>3.Is diversity important to art schools? I would say the answer is Yes. However, diversity to an art school would require a different sort of folk from that of a university. For example, at most of the top art schools and art programs, females would dominate. Thus, being a guy, would give you some extra clout. I do think that minority applicants get a boost almost everywhere. Geographic diversity might also help,but there is no way to measure diversity's exact affect on admission since these stats aren't published anywhere to my knowledge.</p>

<p>Hope this all helps.</p>

3

<p>can I ask you what are you doing meanwhile, attending any school? working? traveling? When and what made you think you want to go to art school?</p>

4

<p>Thanks for your help so far!!</p>

<p>I've been working at a call center since graduating 2 years ago from high school while I decided what I wanted to do with my life. Art is something that I find very enjoyable and interesting. I also come from a strong family tradition of art making, so its something I'm familiar with.</p>

<p>I do have another question now: how can you tell a bad art school from a good one? I understand that some schools will take you for all your money and (1) not teach you much and (2) not produce employment opportunities. For undergrad and graduate schools (non-art) there are rankings like US News and World Report, but I haven't found any "lists" of art schools that would be worthwhile considering.</p>

5

<p>Can I ask, why you didn’t think about this while you are in High school? What was your obstacle? Someone or something stopped you from preparing it?
I think you need to build portfolio if you don’t have one already and it takes time unless schools that do not require it, which are brainy universities and/or art schools that takes anyone who can pay, like you said.
I don’t know what “good” and “bad” because it depends on what you are looking for.
If you want good paying professional starting job right after the graduation, then you’d want more vocational training and work experience even the school is less prestigious.
You can go back and search each art school in this forum, it covers pretty much every school I ever heard of. There are art-visual major directory you can get from bookstore. Read and compare, then go to NPD aiming at schools you are considering.</p>