<p>Thanks, Momrath. This article does bring attention to a few of the issues involved in the choice between art school and a more general college/university. The placement/recruitment issue hasn’t received much attention on this “Arts Majors” board. I would emphasize that the burden of getting a job/placement almost always falls 75% or more on the students/graduates (whether they attend art school or some other type of college), though certainly they can benefit from some contacts and advice.</p>
<p>I was surprised by the 50% attrition rate in art schools reported in this article, but am curious about the reasons. (Attrition is far lower than that at the art school that my daughter attended.) How much is due to the difficulty of the programs (one factor noted in the article), how much to students’ figuring out that they don’t really have the talent needed (another factor mentioned), how much to students discovering other interests (also mentioned), and how much to the fact that art schools do not provide great financial aid packages on the whole (a factor not mentioned)? I do think it’s important for students who choose to go to art school to have a pretty good idea beforehand what it’s like. That’s one reason, in my opinion, why high school students should try out summer precollege programs, even though they aren’t as intensive as the real thing. I also think high school students should have a good idea how talented they are against the competition. That’s another value of summer precollege programs for many students – students can see how they match up, and they can also begin to fill in some gaps in their precollege training.</p>