Is Art School the Best Fit for You?

Is Art School the Best Fit for You?

If you are interested in a creative passion such as art, film, design, or theatre, institutes like the Rhode Island School of Design or CalArts may be perfect for you. These schools offer undergraduates specialized classes, career offices with ample connections, and accomplished faulty to help you hone your craft. You will be immersed in a community brimming with fellow photographers, painters, and movie makers who can fuel your creative juices.

Art school, however, is not the only avenue to pursue your passions. Universities like Carnegie Mellon and UCLA boast strong programs in the fine arts and film, respectively. Attending these institutions will offer you more flexibility if you decide to explore other fields like science or the humanities while in college.

No two artists are exactly the same. Each student has their own quirks, needs, and habits that require different learning environments to be cultivated well. The decision of how you want to nurture your talents is an important one for sure. The good news is that there are sign posts for how you may go about choosing the best path for you.

We have compiled a list of questions that can help you think through whether art school is right for you. Read on to learn more.

1. How certain are you about studying art, and only art?  

Let’s start with the basics. Committing to art school means committing your entire undergraduate education to mastering your craft. You may feel certain about your passion in this current moment, but interests can be fleeting at times. One way to test the depth of your dedication is by looking into your personal history.

• How long have you pursued your creative passion?
• Do you tend to thrive while having the freedom to explore diverse subjects?
• Are any other interests calling you—like math, science, languages, the humanities?
• Do you develop intrigue in new subjects or topics easily?

The answer to these questions can shed light on whether dedicating your entire college career to studying the arts makes sense for you. Take time to think through your passion in the whole context of who you are and the resources you have had available. Art school can sound perfect if you attend a high school where you’re starved for opportunities to explore your creative side. But once you get to art school, you may find yourself missing classes where you get to write essays on your favorite author or solve calculus problems.  

Conversely, if you have had experience attending creative summer camps and programs, or if your high school has had a strong arts curriculum, and you loved your time there, then this is a positive sign that art school makes sense for you.

2. What kind of people stir your creative juices?

Art school will surround you with classmates who are also pursuing a creative passion. While this type of environment may fuel the artistic drive of some, others will experience the opposite effect. It all depends on how you gain inspiration.

At a university or liberal arts college, you will be exposed to students studying all types of disciplines. Discussions on the logic underlying geometric shapes may inspire you later in the studio; talking about issues of human rights with an international studies major may help you to tap into an emotional core for a documentary assignment.

On the other hand, being around fellow creatives can propel you to refine your craft and master technical skills. You will have easy access to people who “speak your language” when it comes to your experiences and needs as an artist. Because of this, you may feel freer to be bold in your work, experimenting with new mediums alongside classmates who resonate with your desire to push traditional boundaries.

We borrow, learn, and gain motivation from the people in close proximity to ourselves. Your classmates will inevitably influence your work. What kind of influence do you seek? What kind of classmates do you need to be your best creative self? 

3. What specific skills or experience do you want to develop?

It isn’t necessary that you have to start with choosing between art school or university program when crafting your list. Another way to approach the process is to contemplate what skills or expertise you want to cultivate. A university program may have a stronger curriculum than an art school for aspiring animation artists, for example, or maybe you are interested in a niche topic that is only available at certain institutions.

Research the course offerings of different colleges that catch your eye to find out what makes most sense for you. Think about the careers you’re interested in and reverse engineer your path from there to figure out whether a program or major fits your needs.

4. What kind of person do you want to become?

College is a critical time in your development, because you will be away from home and making many independent choices about your education, personal life, and values. With the freedom to explore yourself and your surroundings, you will develop more than your academic or artistic skills. These four years of life are fundamental to the type of habits you build, friends you meet, and person you will ultimately blossom into.

The ingredients that make up your environment—the resources you have access to, professors you interact with, town that you live in—will matter in shaping the person you are. Do you want to have traditional experiences like football games on Saturday nights? Do you want to immerse yourself in an institution where you can focus your energies solely on your creative passions alone? Think through how you want to spend your time outside of the classroom—on free afternoons, or weekends. This will not only help you to decide if art school is right for you, but also what kind of art school or university will propel you to reach your goals.

The expert admissions consultants at Wise World Prep have helped hundreds of students maximize their potential of being admitted to their top choice colleges and universities. Over 20 years, we have successfully guided students through each stage of the application process – from choosing competitive high school courses to building an appropriate college list to drafting winning essays to writing persuasive update and appeals letters. We would be happy to answer your questions and partner with you to create a successful admissions roadmap.

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