<p>I am currently in my sophomore year in Canada, enrolled in a ARTS-INTENSIVE program. I’m a visual arts major and I was wondering if my having spending at least 15+ hours per week at school doing visual arts will help me stand out among top schools in the US? I’m truly really passionate with my arts but i’m planning on pursuing a different major</p>
<p>My daughter’s involvement in art related activities seemed to help her in admissions, even though she may not major in art. </p>
<p>However, she did more than just take classes at school (she did max out on all of the art classes offered by her school) - she took additional art classes at a local museum and at a college summer program. She also was involved in her school’s art club, helped put together two art shows a year at her high school, participated in local non-school art shows, was a teaching assistant for her school’s introductory level art class, and most of her other extracurriculars had an art component of some sort which she highlighted on her application. (for example, she designed the tee shirts for the French Club, did arts and crafts activities with underpriviliged children as part of her community service hours, was the art director on a student made film for the film club, etc.) She also put together a very nice portfolio of her work which she showed college admissions people during interviews and had her high school art teacher write a supplemental recommendation. She also wrote a good short essay for her applications that explained the satisfaction she found in creating her art. (It was not her primary essay, however).</p>
<p>In short, just taking classes probably isn’t enough to make you stand out — but demonstrating your passion for art in other ways, and making that passion come through in your application materials, could be.</p>
<p>However, keep in mind that many US colleges do not consider art to be a “core” academic class. My daughter found that many schools actually recompute grade averages for admissions purposes, using only core classes, and dropping out all those A+'s in art. So be sure to take and do well in a challenging core academic course load all four years in subjects such as math, science, foreign languages, and English in addition to the art classes you take.</p>