I'm currently in high school, and am interested in continuing education in art (teaching, fine art), writing (especially journalism and creative), or both.  Do you have any suggestions as to schools with good programs in these areas?  Which classes are best to take in high school to get into (and succeed) in these programs?  Also, when is the best time to start applying for entrance to the school, schoalarships, etc?
120920
I would actually recommend Brown University. They have some amazing writing programs, both in journalism and creative writing. By enrolling at Brown, you're also eligible to take classes at Rhode Island School of Design (on the same hill, and one of the best art colleges in the country). (You're eligible to take Brown classes if you attend RISD, but RISD's program is not flexible enough in many cases to allow for much exploration beyond your degree program)\n\nThat would be my first choice. I'd recommend calling these other art colleges and requesting a catalog:\n\nArt Center College of Design (Pasadena, CA)\nCalifornia College of Arts & Crafts\nCalifornia Institute of the Arts\nSchool of Visual Arts (New York, NY)\nArt Institute of Chicago\n\nAs soon as you choose a school, I would contact the financial aid office and ask them for a list of local scholarships. \n\nAnother tip as far as financial aid is concernced would be to appeal to your financial aid office if they do not give you all the aid you need (this is done after the semester begins). Sometimes colleges leave private scholarships they are aware of to those who have difficulty with the aid they originally get (in my case, I put in an appeal for extra aid and got an additional $5000.00 for my junior and senior years)
276101
Sounds like you're looking for interesting freshman year courses to take--I'd definitely avoid declaring a major at this point, and look more for courses that will fill some requirements for general electives!  Based on your interests, some classes to consider would be:\n\n--Art Appreciation / Art History\n--2-D or 3-D design / Drawing / Graphic Design / Photography\n--Any freshman English or English literature class\n--Any introductory biology class\n--An introductory astronomy class\n\nIt would be helpful to read the course descriptions in your college catalog to see which courses appeal to you on paper!\n\nPlease recognize that as a first-time student selecting courses, you may get the "bottom of the barrel" to choose from.  The trick to improving the selection process is to find out through the student grapevine which professors/courses you should avoid, and which are worth your investment of time and money.  As you complete more credits, you'll get to select earlier in the process.  \n\nAlso, sooner or later, you'll probably have to take that dreaded "Intro to Math" course.  Get the right professor, and the course could even be enjoyable for you.\n\nGood luck in choosing courses that appeal to you, and finding out what you'd like to major in!  \n\nPennsylvania teacher
257223
Does your school offer something like taking classes at a college near you?  The schools here have a program that lets students take classes in areas where they have exhausted the school's ability to offer classes in those areas.  The school district even pays for their tuition and books.  One of my kids took art and history classes a couple hours a day during his last year of high school. He got to go to three different colleges and had a good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of each of them when it was time to pick a college to go to.  A friend of his took computer courses and got a head start on college that way.\n\nIf your school doesn't have this program, you might try signing up for an independent study class with a faculty member at your school.  That can be a lot less structured than a regular class and you can go in the direction of your interest with someone who will guide you and may enjoy the experience with you.  You can probably help decide what your final project will be and you can make it something you're really excited about learning.\n\nOr take an evening class at a college near you--see if your school will give you credit for it.  If not, too bad, but you'll still get to infuse your intellectual life with some new energy.\n\nIs there some way to get experience in things you don't do as easily as learning at your school?  How about leadership skills, or exploring career areas through mentorships or job shadowing?  Volunteering to help less able students might challenge you more than learning does, but life skills are even more important than intellectual ones in the long run.\n\nYou really have a long time coming in that life you don't want to waste any of.  I understand how you feel, truly I do, but you should take a long, wise view here.  Unless you can demonstrate to your school district that you know it all already or you can convince a college to offer you entrance without a high school diploma (which might be an option, actually), or you're wealthy enough to live without getting a job, you're stuck in school.  \n\nYou do have my sympathy.  I know it's no easier for very talented students to make it through school than it is for intellectually challenged ones.  In both cases, special education options are needed.
491006
I believe, given a school with good art teachers, that one can aspire to great opportunities in the creative field. I have certainly seen this to be the case during my time teaching. I taught Mathematics which is an important subject for much of ones aspirations of higher education which is why it is considered a vital part of the curriculum. Equally creativity is encouraged where a child shows promise in that field. I was also qualified to teach art, science, design, technology and many other subjects and found huge satisfaction in developing knowledge but with art it is a matter of encouraging and developing skills which is quite a difficult process as I believe true art comes from the soul. Hence I had immense admiration for those art teachers who were able to encourage the youngsters to perform to a high standard.
378434
English and creative writing is a fantastic degree scheme and can be more easily applied to many job/career prospects where the need for literacy is greater in many jobs today.  There is a high demand for teachers, so you would easily get into this no matter what degree scheme you followed.\n\nSomething practical and vocational such as engineering requires enormous math skills and so you would have to excel in A-Level math before even applying to University unless you are passionate about mechanics - your math would have to be outstanding.  Social work is also another good route to take and you only have to do a diploma for this and is very good paid employment.  Sports science is another popular area of study, but there is some amount of math required for this, but it will require you to be physical yourself and is fairly creative.\n\nArt and craft are excellent of course, but they are very competetive industries to go into to and very few artists ever get to sell their works because there are just too many competitors around and you would have to make this your life-passion as with writing.  \n\nDepending upon your age and ability, I would look at the options open to you first and find out exactlet what is involved with each one that interests you, because like you, I am also very creative but to get into the world of art of all genre, is not as easy as it sounds and artists tend to be the poorest of working people because they have to spend out thousands just exhibiting their works and then trying to sell them. I have many friends who are arists of all kinds and not one of them can make money from their works and they are very talented people.\n\nIt is sad that it is this way, but you have to be outstandingly unquie amongst all other artists and even then, you come into difficulties because of the competiveness of the industry.  You would be more likely to succeed in an acting career than in the art world but acting can be very difficult to get into and also requires exceptional talent.\n\nI am not trying to put you off - Just want to give you the facts that I know of and what you do will be your choice and you should always do whatever appeals most to your personality and character.  Though like everything, it requires determination and commitment.  Talking to a career's advisor will help you and to put you on the right track you want to follow.  \n\nGood luck.
276539
colleges are looking to see if you can manage your time well.  a high gpa is great and ANY extra curr. activities is even better!  i don't think they can judge which are more important *some clubs are just as busy as say, drama or sports*.  what they really like is for you to "hold an office" - like be president, v.p., treasurer, etc. of your club. that looks good.  some big ones are: sport teams, academic teams (debate), volunteer work (in your church/community/school), and music (band/strings/chorus).  I think outside activities (things you do not related to school like hobbies, jobs, private lessons, etc.) can look just as good.  \n\nthey just want to know you are ready to juggle studies & life on campus & are prepared to contribute.   also don't forget to knock them out with your admissions essay!! good luck!
312637
does not matter whether you are an art or science stream... coz journalism is both. But you need extra effort to improve your oral and writing skills. Who knows, you might write topics about computer science, medicine, atomic bomb etc... Good luck in future
524783
there are photography programs at a lot of schools, the requirements are different for every school. start looking into which college have the best program and what you need to do to be excepted into the photography school. \n\nat the community college i went to the photography class i took didn't transfer to university it was counted at a trade/vocational class. so you should look into that too, to make sure that anything you do take transfers.
437092
http://www.topherreimroc.com/FullScholarship\n\n-I used that website senior year of high school during the big college search and it helped me search through colleges based on specific information(Such as Majors, Cost, Location, and Scholastic Rank) I was looking for. Not only was that a huge help, but it also has scholarships, student loans, and college aids you can apply for right there on the website. I'd highly recommend it.
322617
Private schools:\n\nOberlin College in Ohio is a top tier school that is generally well known for the creative arts.\n\nBaldwin-Wallace College is well-known for music.\n\nI don't know much about it myself, but Pamona College, CA has some strong programs.\n\nPublic schools (I'm from Ohio):\n\nMiami University and Bowling Green State University are leading competitors in these areas.  Although Miami (my alma matter) may be better overall, it seems to me BGSU has put more investment into music, writing, and education while Miami has strong programs in business, education, and interdisciplinary studies.  Both schools have some "party school" reputations though (don't they all?).\n\n\nOther options:\n\nCambridge and Oxford in England might also be great choices if you have huge wads of money to burn...\n\nMusic conservatories may exist in major cities that I don't know about... Bound to be a great one in NYC, London, etc.
626617
Umm...yea you can probably get into a state school or you can start out by going to a community college and make good grade (hs is a drain especially when you are learning things you are not interested in, so make sure you pick something you're interested in); then transfer to a bigger school.  but make sure when you write you essay you use spell check.  Good luck
106
I visited the SF Art Institute a few years ago with my brother, who was considering an art school for his undergrad work, and we were pretty impressed with the student work and facilities.    http://www.sanfranciscoart.edu/
33261
I'm a junior in high school, so I'm afraid I can't offer you firsthand experience, but I can pass on what I've been told (I'm also a student journalist):\n\nThe most important thing is to build up a portfolio.  You said you're on your school paper, so that's a good start.  You can use you articles from that to get an internship, which would probably be a good next move. From what I've heard, they don't really care about your grades as much as your recommendations and writing samples.  If your biggest local newspaper won't take you, you can also look for smaller papers or magazines operating in the area.\n\nIn the meantime, or if an internship isn't feasible, you can also try to freelance.  Many small papers are happy to get lifestyle or even full pieces from someone young and with a different take on life.  I once also pitched an editorial I'd written to a fairly big local paper and got a good reception, so you could try that too, but it's probably more helpful to have journalistic pieces rather than opinion ones.  Still, everything you have published is something you've got going for you.\n\nI hope all of this helps a little.  Good luck!
155312
I went to San Francisco State University for a BA in journalism (class of 2004). I LOVED the program there. You can do newspaper, magazine or online. USC is supposedly great. Berkley is good, but they only have journalism as a grad program. Long Beach and Northridge are also considered good J-schools in CA.
600831
It really depends on what you are looking to go into. I went to a traditional 4 year on-campus school but felt there was a lot I didn't learn and went back to school with an online program but asked to look at their course catalog first. That will help you a lot. Look into a few schools and compare their catalogs. If you can, ask some people who are already in the industry what their opinions are of the programs. \n\nI did look into AIU though and they did seem to have some merit. I didn't get much further than their catalog (my main focus). If you happen to be looking at graphic design, give Mt. Sierra or Art Institute Online a chance also. I am attending Mt. Sierra currently and can't say enough good about the program and faculty.\n\nAnother great resource is About.com's distance learning site. They helped me learn what to ask admissions representatives and a lot of the questions were ones I never would have thought of.\n\nGood luck!
605112
Some universities have programs for fashion designers.  If you can't find a university with a design program close by, look for a technical school that has one.\nIf you haven't finished high school yet, look for a charter school that caters to that field.
36536
I have never heard of the instructor, but a "Six Trait Writing" workshop is probably worth the money depending on the grade you teach.  I think that it's valuable K-8, but high school writing is a whole other thing.