Do any of you know of any universities, liberal arts colleges, or colleges of science and art that offer a BFA?
I want to pursue a BFA for sure, and would absolutely love to minor or double major in chemistry or a chemistry-based medical/natural science. Pianos and practice rooms are also a bonus.
Music, art, and science have all been greatly influential in my life and I cannot imagine not pursuing or being surrounded by them all. I went to SAIC’s pre-college program and thoroughly enjoyed the curriculum and certainly grew academically and in perspective, but felt something was missing.
So you definitely don’t want a BA in music with an additional major or minor in chemistry, supplemented by art classes? If you were flexible to this point, it could really expand your choices, particularly if you are an academically accomplished student.
I know for certain that I want art to be my main focus for my undergrad, but I want the option to explore and the environment of science and music.
(I am not sure if this information is useful but it might be:
All of my art teachers have recommended BFA over BA programs, since a BFA provides deeper studio and interpretation experience and will land a job in the industry, while (to my understanding) a BA is a liberal arts degree.
I also know of a graphic design intern at Virgin Galactic who was studying at Oberlin (for possibly a BA in visual communication?), but besides his existence, I don’t know much else.)
You’ll have a problem finishing two degrees, a BA and a BFA, in 4 years. Those are often in two different colleges so have different core requirements.
At my daughter’s school, theater was a BFA but in the college of Arts and Sciences, so the same college as physics, chemistry, etc. Even so, the BFA was 65 credits, and the A&S core credits were about 40 more. If you were trying to get another 45 credit major, it would have been tough. It wouldn’t be tough to get a minor, or just take classes in the other subjects.
Ironically, at that school art and art history are BA’s. They too required a lot of basic art classes, a lot of lower division classes, and it would have been difficult to take all those and a second major. My D was in theater, transferred to art history, and realized she’d be in school forever if she had to take all those basic art classes. So on to just a BA in history. Still had plenty of theater and art classes.
Since you suggested a BFA and a science minor, I’ll suggest there are options out there. You haven’t mentioned how competitive your stats might be, or what region of the country you might favor. But I have a freshman daughter at Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA (across the river from Lehigh). They recently introduced a BFA program, which would be difficult to combine with a major in another subject. But her advisor suggested should could minor in English to supplement a BFA in graphic design if she doesn’t instead opt to major in English to go with a BA in GD. It looks like a chemistry minor is just five classes, so I’m guessing that’s quite manageable.
Obviously that’s just one LAC, but I’m assuming it isn’t a unique setup.
@apricitous Since you want a balance between arts (music and studio art) and science (chemistry and other sciences) you might look at some liberal arts colleges that are strong in both arts and sciences and that allow double, or even triple, majors. Williams, Vassar and Wesleyan come to mind. Smith if you are female.
Williams has a vibrant music department (with wonderful pianos) and multiple performance opportunities, even for non-majors. The studio art department is very strong aligned with one of the best art history departments in the country. There are three world class museums on or near campus. Sciences are excellent across the board.
It’s quite common for Williams students to pursue double majors in the sciences and the arts. Experimentation across disciplines is encouraged. I think your art teachers are correct that a BFA is the right route for someone who knows that they want a career in visual art; however, it doesn’t sound like you’re ready to limit yourself to that path alone.
I’d recommend you consider a range of schools at which you could pursue your varied interests. As a sampling, look into Barnard, Sarah Lawrence, Vassar, Bard, Skidmore, Smith, Hamilton, Kenyon and Oberlin. Not all of these colleges offers BFA degrees, but that could work to your advantage under certain scenarios.
@RandyErika@momrath
Thank you both so much for the insight & all the college info !
my stats are generally secure. currently I have a 4.50 weighted GPA, A to A+ averages in all PreAP/AP courses (7 APs taken: 5 5s, 2 4s), 1570 SAT (subjects coming up oct 6th ! fingers crossed). for ECs I’m in robotics (president) and have honors for uil litcrit, skillsusa, vase, and the nle.
I’m trying to get out of Texas (as most people do) for college, but UT and Rice do admittedly fit my desires. so I am hesitant to name a locational preference. Recently I’ve been looking into WashU (mostly because they were at national portfolio day) and their Beyond Boundaries program, but I haven’t researched enough to know if it’s a good fit for me.
I will definitely look into Williams and Moravian and research their programs!
@apricitous, I think you need to compare the curriculums of a few BFAs in visual arts and BAs in art to see which degree best allows you to achieve your goals.
For BFAs within a university setting (as opposed to an art school) I think WUSTL is a good choice. Also, Cornell and Tufts as @RandyErika suggested. I would add UMich, Carnegie Melon, USC and Syracuse. There are plenty of others, but I think the main point is for you to decide if the depth and intensity of the BFA is what you’re looking for.
For schools that offer the BA and that have strong visual art departments, strong natural sciences and extensive music performance opportunities, you will also have quite a few choices. All of the schools mentioned here fit the bill to some degree, some are stronger in one area than another. The smaller liber arts colleges, in particular, have distinct personalities, so you’ll want to research which cultures appeal to you.
There are also quite a few medium sized privates that have good fine art departments and excellent overall academics. Rice is one good example. Brown which has a good art department of i, ts own as well as a joint program with RISD is another.
One additional point: The BA degree at most liberal arts colleges and universities is mostly focused on fine arts – painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, print making. If you’re more interested in graphic design, illustration or other more commercial media then you might be better off in a BFA program.
The BFA is an undergraduate professional degree (like Engineering). It requires more than 2.5 times the number of art related courses as a typical art major at a liberal arts college. This makes it hard to double major in 4 years.
Tufts does offer a joint BS/BA & BFA degree, but, unless you have lots of advanced placement credit or take summer classes it is a five year program. The BFA degree is offered through the museum school which is affiliated with the Museum of Fine Arts in downtown Boston.
An alternative is to a minor in studio art, which involves taking a minimum of 5 studio courses (but you can take as many as you can fit in your schedule). This would be similar to a “studio art major” at a liberal arts college, but it would offer a wider range of studio courses.
Tufts also offers an interdisciplinary minor in Multimedia Arts through the Experimental College. It combines music and art.
An interdiciplinary Music Enginering minor (available to liberal arts majors) is also offered.
There is a new music facility that includes the top small perfomance hall in New England and 12 Steinways (including one that is considered the best in New England).
BFA Degree Requirements:
Studio Art 19 courses
Art History 5 courses
English I and II 2 courses
Humanities 1 course
Social Sciences 1 course
Language/Culture 1 course
Science/Technology 1 course
Electives 3 courses
Among other options, you might want to consider colleges with highly flexible curricula. Look into the fine arts offerings and facilities at Brown, Amherst, Hamilton and Smith.
RIT would be worth a look. They have a wide variety of BFA programs as well as strong STEM. You’d have to look closely, however, at how/if it would work to combine the two. https://www.rit.edu/programs/by_degree/ugrad