I’ve loved art all my life and I’m so torn between pursuing art and going to an actual art school and studying biomedical/chemical engineering (which I’m also so interested in and would love to study). I love them both so much but since they’re so different it’s impossible to seek a compromise between them. It comes down to one or the other, and lately I’ve been leaning so much toward art school because I’ve fallen in love with RISD. I would love to pursue pretty much any type of art career, whether it be illustration for novels or fashion or advertising or game design. Yes, obviously it’s more of a struggle to find a job, pay off debt and make a substantial living than if I studied engineering, but there’s such a nagging feeling that I would give up engineering to pursue art one day anyway. The problem right now is that I’m taking and planning on taking around 6-8 AP classes. I really don’t want that money to go to waste since I am taking the tests, though the whole reason I take AP classes is because I want to learn about those subjects in detail (college credit is a bonus to work hard toward). I can’t justify it to my parents if I decide on an art school and those hundreds of dollars mean nothing. My question is, is it worth it to give up credits for a school like RISD, or is it a rip off from them to not award you credit?
No education is ever wasted, but sometimes test fees are. The fact that you are still thinking about engineering means you should probably take the AP tests and wait and see where you apply and where you get in.
If you forgot to mention that you have an acceptance from RISD, never mind.
All schools have their own AP credit acceptance policies. Some offer more, some offer less credit. Schools that offer less credit are generally more prestigious and feel their own courses are much better than anything you could have done in high school. (They are right about this, for most high schools,)
Early in high school, when you don’t know for sure where you are going, it makes sense to take the AP tests. By May of senior year, when you have your acceptances in hand, you may want to skip those that you know you won’t get credit for. Your dream school may not offer credit, but the school you get accepted to with good financial aid may.
I’m a junior in high school right now, so I’m not accepted anywhere or making any final decisions yet. I think it’s definitely worth still taking AP tests in case some places give credits, and you’re right about schools wanting you to take their own courses. I don’t mind retaking things again because I love to learn, but the money issue is my biggest concern.
Art school isn’t a waste “persay”. However, given the generally low salaries and job outlooks for pure art professions, it is a bad idea to take out loans for it.
^Well, it’s probably a bad idea to take out large loans for it, but taking out a small or average amount of education debt (in the $25-30K range or lower) is probably okay. Even most art majors are able to find employment that allows them to repay that debt.
OP, there are ways to combine your love of art with an interest in science and engineering. They actually go quite nicely together.
-Graphic design/computer-generated art.
-Industrial design. RISD actually has a major in this, but so do many other engineering and sciences schools. Industrial design is basically designing products that are intended to be mass produced.
-UX design, known by a variety of other names. You can sometimes find this in computer science departments, often in programs called human-computer interaction. And some programs are popping up that focus on this exclusively, like Michigan State’s experience architecture program.
-Animation, as you mentioned, whether it’s for game design or children’s television shows or movies, or something else
-Medical illustration
Maybe look at a few high-quality art schools (like RISD and CalArts) but also look at some great universities that have traditional art programs and/or other departments that will allow you to employ art in another field.
If you go into art, you can also go into law. Intellectual Property and estates (as people give museums things as part of their estate) and contracts etc. https://www.pbwt.com/art-and-museum-law/
Also–Costume design
FIT has many art and design areas and it’s placed well in NYC for internships and the price is low compared with many other schools – http://www.fitnyc.edu/
Industrial design: look into Cincinnati – great school and not mentioned that often-- https://daap.uc.edu/academics/design/bs_industrial.html
RIT has a medical illustration specialty https://www.rit.edu/healthsciences/graduate-programs/medical-illustration
Another thought is to seek placment in a school that has science and art–
Carnegie Mellon has some cool interdisciplinary programs that combine arts and sciences
https://www.cmu.edu/academics/interdisciplinary-programs.html
Look at the BXA programs esp.