My daughter will be applying to colleges this fall and is hoping to increase her chance of acceptances and/or merit by submitting an art portfolio when allowed. While she loves art, she has decided she does not want to attend an art school, or major in art. While she is more interested in majoring in a STEM subject, she does not have many extracurriculars to showcase her skills and commitment to STEM. Academically, she is a very strong student (4.0 avg, 1520 SAT (780 math, 740 verbal, lots of AP classes) but most of her activities involve art in some capacity (clubs, volunteering, teen art council).
I’m wondering whether she should apply to schools as an art major anyway (or at least a double major with a STEM subject). Once she starts as a freshman, she can always switch majors. I know this may be difficult with some majors, such as engineering, nursing, or CS, but she most likely will not want those majors anyway. My concern is that if she puts “biology” or something similar as her intended major, she will have little to support that “passion” on her application. I also thought that applying as an art major may be an advantage at a more technical school, such as Stevens. Is this a good idea or should she just put “undecided” or pick a STEM subject she THINKS she may want?
It depends on the school.
For schools where her stats make her likely for admission and/or merit, it doesn’t really matter what you do.
But for reaches, it may well matter. Many reach schools are looking for more humanities majors rather than more CS and biology majors. So if my kid had the ECs to be “packaged” plausibly as a humanities/arts major, that’s what I would do. At most reach schools, they don’t hold you to it.
ETA: what schools is she considering?
Prefers northeast schools. Will definitely apply to Bing (in-state). Not sure whether she will apply to any Ivys. We were hoping to pay under 50K per year. We would qualify for enough financial aid at the top schools to get under 50K but lesser tier schools would be tricky without merit. It’s really not worth paying 80K for mid-tier private schools when Binghampton is so affordable. OOS public schools could be an option if she could get merit (Vermont, Maryland, Delaware, Mass). She wants a mid-large school so that rules out small liberal arts schools. She even liked Stevens which my older daughter was considering at the time.
Thanks for the info. I know even Binghampton is hard to get into now, especially as a CS or engineering major.
I think Delaware and UMASS will deliver, my daughter has slightly lower stats and UMD offered $3000 a year.
Vermont and Delaware will likely provide sufficient merit money to get you to $50k.
Maryland is a popular school with high stats kids, so they don’t give much merit.
I don’t know about UMass.
Great school. You may get enough merit t to get you to $55k.
I agree that with Bing as a state school option, a lot of the mid-tier privates don’t make much sense. I don’t know the rules about major switching at Bing, so you would have to look into that. If she does apply to schools such as Ivys, I would definitely give strong consideration to packaging her as a humanities/arts major.
Have you looked at Pitt?
Assuming she gets into BInghampton, the OOS schools need to be at least close in price to Bing (we don’t mind paying a bit more if she really likes it). I’m assumming this would mean at least a 15-20k reduction in OOS tution. It wouldn’t make sense to send her to University of Delaware for more money than Binghampton, which I’m assuming is much better academically, especially for STEM.
I don’t think you should “falsely” major in anything you know you won’t be majoring in.
I would submit an arts supplement if allowed and wouldn’t worry if not.
With her stats, $50K won’t be an issue at schools that have merit. It may not be Brandeis or Rochester but certainly fine LAC or mid size types - and publics.
And with those stats, you can be as low as $20K-ish per year in the Southeast (if a significant save mattered to you to help your future) and you can also look mid-west.
But - I wouldn’t apply as an art major anywhere - it’s a puzzle already solved that you don’t need to scramble.
Good luck.
PS - no chance she doesn’t get into Bing - and the published COA is $31K.
So at $31K - maybe you apply to W&L (for the Johnson full ride), Miami of Ohio - not NE and unlikely but not impossible to hit the target, Maine and Rhode Island, and then you have mid size and mid tier schools like Salisbury, Christopher Newport, and Millersville - that are smaller that may hit.
There’s a host of schools that can get you to $50K - but not the $31K, etc - which is where the South comes in. But UDel, Temple, UVM maybe, UMASS maybe, etc. If you venture farther - a U of SC, College of Charleston, and FSU ($25K-ish). And UF and UGA for under $50K - but again, not NE but popular in the NE.
And you 100% hit and beat $31K at schools like Alabama, UAH, Mississippi State, and maybe UT Chattanooga - but they are not Northeast. W Carolina is also a beat (full price $20K).
But honestly, you can apply to Bing and one other SUNY as safeties - and then wherever else you want - knowing they’re unlikely to achieve price and you’re going to end up at SUNY short of leaving the region where you’d get an even cheaper price (and hence why thousands are heading south).
Good luck.
PS - your ECs DO NOT need to match an intended major - think about it, sports, work, band, etc - these aren’t matches - so I would put that out of my mind.
What your student has done will be fine - and hopefully they enjoyed doing it.
I would actually love for her to apply to Pitt but she wants her “own” college city (her older sister is at CMU).
Binghamton is just over $31,000. I don’t think schools like Maryland will come down to that cost (or close). Would she go south or is she set on the northeast?
She actually really enjoys art and would consider an art minor. She has an amazing AP art portfolio so I was hoping that would help her in some capacity. She really doesn’t know what she wants to do (although she “thinks” STEM might be an option) so it doesn’t seem too deceptive to put down art as a major or at least minor.
I do agree that changing majors could be an issue. It was a nightmare with my older daughter at CMU!
$50K not happening - but they have merit - maybe you get lucky. $31K def not happening - but kids change their minds so if you have a “spot” left on common, maybe she throws an app in - just in case.
Extracurriculars do not necessarily have to be in the student’s intended major.
Think of all of the students whose main extracurriculars are sports – do they all major in exercise biology, kinesiology, etc.?
Or all of those whose main extracurriculars are scouting (BSA / Scouting America, GSUSA, etc.) – do they all major in environmental science, geology, forestry, etc.? Would stating the achievement of the Nuclear Science merit badge be necessary for an Eagle scout to apply to college as a nuclear engineering major?
Working in a grocery store does not necessarily mean that the student has to go to college in a food-related major.
I was going by this - if a school offers a minor and she is qualified, sure why not - although I don’t recall listing “minors” in an app.
Bottom line - considering the level of school you are offering up, it’s not needed and it could, in theory, cause you issue (say you were awarded an art scholarship).
I’d go in with the chosen major or undecided - she’s going to have plenty of schools to hit $50K and some to hit $31K - if you expand your geographic reach.
There’s no reason for her to play games. She’s already in great shape.
Good luck.
We are fine with the 31K for Bing. She would consider further for a better school, such as Georgia Tech, but I don’t think at state school in the south will have the “vibe” she is looking for, even if she gets a large scholarship.
The ease of changing majors depends on the school. I think getting the cost down to $31,000 in the northeast will be tough. It’s harder now than it was just a few years ago.
What vibe is she looking for?
Extracurricular activities do not need to have anything to do with your intended major. An art portfolio is fine as an EC for someone who is intending to major in something completely different.
As one example, I know a few STEM majors whose primary ECs were related to music.
This shows the ability to focus and do very well in one particular area of interest, and to work well with others. This same focus can be applied to a different area, such as some subset of a STEM field (with the understanding that “STEM” covers a lot of different areas).
I think that this is fine.
As I understand it, most universities either do not consider your intended major when deciding whether to accept you, or make it more difficult to switch into the more popular majors.
Don’t try to fool admissions staff. They have done it before. I would recommend putting down as an intended major whatever the student current thinks they want to major in. Of course changing majors is relatively common.
When I ran the NPC, multiple years ago, the NPC for UVM did predict merit. When our daughter’s acceptance showed up a few months later, the NPC had been spot on (and did bring the price well under $50k/year at the time). I would expect that merit is also reasonably likely at U.Mass and U.Conn, but don’t have personal experience. A relative (who I remember as a baby) got merit aid at U.Conn as an out of state student and will be attending this fall so it does appear to be possible.