Son has taken the plunge and started filling out the Common App. This will be our 2nd kid applying to art school so we’ve learned the drill BUT he and I aren’t sure about including Dungeons and Dragons as an extra curricular. He’s doesn’t have a whole lot of activities but what he has (Tech Crew) has depth since he’s been running it since sophomore year and it is a BIG undertaking at his high school.
However, he’s been in DnD since freshman year and I argue that any art school reading his application gets the positives of it all and it sort of fills in/fleshes out his interests more. DS wants to go into illustration with emphasis on concept art - school resume shows a ton of art classes and creative writing, extra English and lit classes etc. So I feel DnD helps to emphasize that side of him even more…that he’s not also visually creative but a storyteller too.
Any admissions folks or other parents have experience with this? Worth to put on as an EC since it’s not such a ‘stigma’ at art schools? Or is he legit in arguing it seems too amateurish/not really an ‘official’ club or activity? Thanks!
Unless he’s actually done something with it that’s significant - competed in some external tournament, or won an award, or something - I’d leave it off. If he wanted to use it as part of his essay to illustrate something he feels is important, that’d be fine.
I say go for it. Not only does it help your kid stand out, a lot goes into playing D&D, especially if you design your own games. This game is different from sitting in front of a gaming system by yourself. D&D requires collaborstion, leadership, teamwork, creativity, problem solving skills, imagination, etc…all skills I can see being a plus in ilustration/art field in college.
D&D is huge now and getting huger. Whether the adcoms know this or not is an open question. Currently D&D (not the gaming company but the gamers) is producing full-on podcasts of actors playing the game (hilarious I might add); there are board-games (general) and various fantasy board games as college clubs forming right and left. You may want to check out the college’s clubs page to see if any gaming is cropping up there formally. Even if it’s not, he could mention that gaming is big and he could help start it. Players of D&D know that it’s great for writing and art skills (teaching plotting, character development, etc).
Board Gaming is getting so big that now there are several cafes and bard in Manhattan that are devoted to this. They are packed.
It’s a “thing” and it seems to be growing still – going mainstream. If he were my child I would help him create a resume in addition to the Common App. Not all schools allow you to submit a resume but some do. I would make sure that gaming was on his app and would ask him to write 1-3 sentences explaining how D&D affects his life and his plans for it at school. This allows him also the ability to “speak” to the adcoms in a way that he may not be able to elsewhere on his app. Just one more chance for them to get to know his wonderful personality.-- and maybe get hip to the burgeoning gaming culture besides. If they see that this will add to their community, that will probably interest them in a positive way.
Thanks for your reply @Dustyfeathers …in a very nice way you’re preaching to the choir at my house. We’re really big into playing board games and son loves The Adventure Zone, Critical Role etc too and aware of all of their professional backgrounds (he wants to be a concept artist for video games, films etc so follows alot of the creators in those fields).
But I do see the others’ point in that it’s hard to categorize since up until now he’s been a member but not a DM, so hasn’t really had any ‘leadership’ in this group AND it’s not a school club, just friends (an offshoot of the theater and tech crew kids where he DOES have a ton of leadership/involvement to put in Common App and on an a resume).
Altho I may float the idea to put it on his resume…thanks for the ideas/suggestions!
The resume is a wonderful tool for applications, I find. It’s a great way to have just that much more “voice” in the discussion of who your child is. We treat it not like an adult’s resume, but a child’s – meaning “talking” in 1-2 sentences to the adcoms about certain activities that may not stand on their own (like D&D or like one of my kid’s political activities – I didn’t want the adcoms to think that this child would get on campus and wreak havoc with protests etc. Instead I wanted my child to be able to get credit for the amazing work he/she had done while also making sure that child was able to communicate his/her intention, which was ultimately to create community on campus and at the local level, not disrupt things.) Again, the resume is just one more chance for the student to introduce his or herself.
If your child is interested in concept art and development, then perhaps consider encouraging him or her to also pick up some fiction-writing (particularly screenwriting) chops. That skill set will really help.
Other things – history, psychology, philosophy, science – of course also important in world-building and character development!! As I’m sure your family already has discovered!!
That’s a GREAT description and examples of how to do a college resume! Thanks!
And yep, he’s been taking creative writing classes in high school too. His brain is definitely wired for storytelling in lots of mediums and he’s gravitating to schools where he can explore that more with minors and/or geographic areas where he’ll be exposed to a lot of art forms (like NYC). Obviously, I’m biased for my kiddo, but I’m really excited to see what he creates in the future.
I am too! I’m sure that he’s going to do great things
Good for you, Mom, for trusting his instincts and allowing him with full emotional support to do this.
I also have a child seemingly on this path . … .
One other idea – the Cincinnati school of design – one famous concept artist came out of there. You can see the hard-core design elements in that work. You might want to consider this school. https://daap.uc.edu/academics/design.html
That school I believe came originally out of (or had close ties to) the car industry and you can get this machine-type of design sense from that school.
Another possibility is SUNY’s F.I.T. – Fashion Institute of Technology. I’m not sure how cheap it is for OOS students (or maybe you’re in-state?) but it has lots of design programs and business programs (and film). It’s an under-the-radar school compared with NYU or Parsons or the like. Heart of midtown Manhattan. Very good for what it does. Maybe he’d be interested in their toy design program too? I’m also not sure how to get in-state status in NY . . …maybe not that hard? (or maybe impossible, you never know)
Just so’s you know. … I’m not talking college resume. I’m talking professional resumes in the
art realm.
And I never mentioned this thread at all or asked about it. Simply a volunteered piece of info.
He hasn’t looked at Cincinnati but pretty much has his list all set after a lot of visits and dropping some schools for various reasons. And he has a big chunk of his Common App/online applications done for them already (I am SO thankful he’s not the procrastinator his big sis was!!) and he’s applying to:
Pratt
Parsons
Ringling
MICA
FIT (we are in-state so yay! And our tour guide has had the most amazing internships, including Studio Ghibli)
Laguna College of Art and Design
RISD (Big sis is there and he wavered on this. I honestly think other schools would be a better fit for him, but he likes what he sees from his sister’s Illustration major.)
The first four are his current ‘favs’, but he likes all of them equally well/for different reasons, so is fairly logical about waiting to see 1) where he’s accepted and 2) what kind of aid we get.
@gouf78 That sort of doesn’t surprise me and yet it does. It’s huge. My neighbor across the hall is clearly bringing up his daughter on D&D. At the ripe age of like 9 she already was carrying around those huge books with the colorful illustrations. I’m not D&D expert but I recognize the books and she seems to always have one under her arm, with her dad’s arm around her shoulders. He’s big into development and the family is big into education, so I think it’s a good sign.
Yeah I heard about the “satanic” side of this too once upon a time and then I watched a youtube of some players who were really good at it and I immediately understood that it was just a board game on steroids. Anyone with a huge imagination and a sense of humor a la Monty Python could fall down that rabbit hole really fast. As I said there are gaming clubs cropping up on many campuses. It’s a thing.
Amazing for skill building, too, in my estimation.
@ArtAngst – I was almost the mom DONE with D&D just because it took so much time.
Never, ever thought “satanic” at any time but a LOT of parents thought so at the time.
But D and friends perfected a lot of story telling skills at that point. And continued those skills into current careers.
I was going to answer your initial post saying “go ahead and put it on” but wasn’t sure. It could go either way so didn’t comment. But this past weekend basically “out of the blue” came a comment from D that D&D is now being put on professional resumes (which blew me away). There are a lot of skills as you mentioned earlier that are learned (if you have a good group) that build a particular skill set.
I have no idea how you distinguish “my group is better than yours” as a skill set or how you distinguish yourself but I guess it is now being done at some level.
“Just this past weekend my D mentioned D&D was being put on resumes”
I think it’s fine to put it on resumes in the “Additional Information/Personal” section at the end of the resume so interviewers get a feel for your personality, what you like to do in your free time, etc. However, it should not be a highlight of your accomplishments/skill sets as it has a stigma of being primarily role-playing entertainment, played by introverts and dare I say nerds.
@ArtAngst – "up until now he’s been a member but not a DM, so hasn’t really had any ‘leadership’ in this group AND it’s not a school club, just friends (an offshoot of the theater and tech ).
I don’t know how you would quantify participation. If it’s important then it’ll be “this experience helped me…develop writing skills, collaborate on stories…” “And I want to continue this”.
I’ll say that D was a DM and friend as participant–and they now have a comic book going into its fourth issue…
Takes more than just a DM.
We’re really big into playing board games and son loves The Adventure Zone, Critical Role etc too and aware of all of their professional backgrounds (he wants to be a concept artist for video games, films etc so follows alot of the creators in those fields).