Over $10,000,000 in Merit Scholarships awarded to this year’s seniors!
This year we had the unbelievable, and enviable opportunity to work with some amazing creative seniors and we want to acknowledge their hard work and tell you the lessons we learned.
Know why a college is a great fit for you. Do your research. Are you doom-scrolling and reading social media posts about how the most amazingly qualified applicants were denied? Or, how students were accepted to schools that they couldn’t afford? Yes, there is probably much truth to that, but we can attest that if you do your research and find schools that are the best match for you the feeling will be mutual, and the rewards will be great. These students used the common data set to determine where they were a great fit both academically, financially, and institutionally (read the blog on common data set here). For example, a creative student applying to heavy engineering school that also has a fantastic art history department was highly desirable, similarly, a girl applying to a school that is only 35% female was successful. If you do your homework this will work in your favor, apply to schools that love you (and need you) as much as you love the school — the recipe for acceptance and for great merit aid packages.
Think holistically about your whole application. Craft your application so it tells your whole story. If you are reading this you are most likely an artist, but you are more than your art and the admissions committee needs to see that. One applicant shared her love of being a pen pal and how much those correspondences meant to both her and the recipients. Another applicant wrote about how helping her dog and cat navigate crossing on the stairs shows her abilities to help people with differing opinions meet on common ground. A third told how overcoming her fear of scary movies has given her the confidence to be challenged by new situations. In all of these stories, the students let the reader learn more about them throughout their application, in their extra curricular activities, descriptions of their artwork, and their essays, and it paid off, both in acceptances and in merit aid.
Respond to the application prompts. Prepare your written responses with careful attention to the questions. Schools want to learn why you are the applicant they should accept to their school or program. When asked what you consider important about design and studying design at their school, do your research. What classes do they have that interest you? What unique or unusual facilities do they have which will allow you to further your art? What experiences have you had, or do you want to have that will make use of their offerings? This is your place to show off, do it.
Work as hard on your artwork as you do on your essays. Your creative work does not magically appear out of thin air, spend the time to create thoughtful, authentic, well created work. This year our students worked hard to create their work, from the initial concept to implement their ideas with a high level of technique and professionalism. Many of our visual artists spent hours with our Art Coaches to take their portfolios from good to amazing. Our film students spent weekends planning, shooting, and editing their short films. Performing arts applicants read many monologues to be sure that their selections were right for them. Just like athletes spend hours practicing so must artists. If you’re a creative student make sure you allocate time to create your best work.
If you’re just starting the process get good grades. Yes, your creative talents will contribute to your acceptances and merit, but good grades make it all possible. All schools want to reward academics, good grades and strong test scores will be a big part of your ticket towards acceptance and merit. Again, look at the common data set, specifically Section C, to see where you fall with respect to grades and test scores. If you are above the 50th percentile for grades and test scores you have a much greater chance of receiving merit aid. A caveat on grades and scores, there will always be some students who are accepted to highly competitive schools with grades or scores below yours. You have no idea what else the applicant brings to the school (their grandmother may be on the Board), nor the institutional priorities of the school that year (they may play the bassoon and the school is desperate for a bassoon player), that lead to admission.
Merit aid is available. The right applications to the right schools is rewarded. The most remarkable aspect of this admissions cycle is the amount of aid students received both because they selected the right schools for their profile and submitted excellent applications.
Congratulations to all seniors and the hard work they put into achieving their successes. We can’t wait to sing this song next year as well.