I have been thinking about going into art school after highschool, but I am still rather confused about how you choose the right school to apply? I mean of course we have to take tuition, location, reputation, programs and all that into consideration but what about the curriculum or the school ‘style’ (?) particularly? How can you know if the program is geared towards what you want in your arts and if it could strengthen my skills in the way i want to?
Both of my kids attend art colleges and I teach in a BFA progam, one of the best ways to get a feel for that is if you can visit the schools, go on the tours but most importantly LOOK at the art that’s being created - what’s put up on the hallway walls, what you see when you go through classrooms and what’s being shown in a campus student museum, display cases and in the admin offices.
Does the art speak to you? Is it the kind of things you want to learn and do? It varies by department, but some schools will be much more about the ‘concept’ of the art piece and how you think about and articulate an idea…where other schools are going to really drill you on the technique say of drawing and have 100s of figure drawing examples in a freshman foundation course. If you can’t go to the school, at least follow all of their social media platforms (especially instagram) and see what kind of student work they celebrate.
Also, students gossip 
so read threads online forums for the school, Niche etc. There’s also alot of youtube videos…and it may just be a ‘dorm tour’ but they’ll talk about their life, homework loads etc. Take all this with a grain of salt since it’s the more extroverted students posting these things, and just one person’s opinion…but something they say may resonate with what you’re looking for.
Good luck!
@alliepham I am a college counselor at my local high school. I have a daughter currently in art school and created the page below to help other students understand how to navigate the unique college application process for any art student. It talks about art schools vs traditional college; what to pay attention to when selecting a school; preparing a portfolio; lists of colleges to consider; and more. I hope this helps.
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@animal1096 read through your link and that is a GREAT and comprehensive guide! It’s like distilling decades of advice we have on this forum.
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