thoughts on taking extra classes to get into an art school? + art extracurricular request
Hi, I'm a junior in high school and have only recently started to look at colleges and I really hope starting this late won't affect my chances or anything. I have a 3.46 total GPA so I know I'm not that smart, but I'm wondering if I should try and raise my GPA for art school. I know many art schools are largely based off of individual portfolios (which I haven't even started looking at...) but I feel like trying to do a little extra in the academic part won't hurt. I've never taken any AP classes and my honors classes have been limited, but I am planning on taking two APs (English and Art History) in my senior year, and I have also decided to take a fourth year of math to try and be more competitive (even though only three years is required). My other classes will be Civics, Economics, and Art. I am also planning on taking Spanish and a Drawing class at my local community college over the summer to bump up what classes I've taken!
What I'm trying to ask is, should I attempt to take anything else? I don't know how to raise my GPA but I really would like to aim for at least a 3.6 or 3.7 unweighted. If I were to get all As next year, would that perhaps help?
Lastly, does anyone have any recommendations for extracuriculars regarding art? I am considering going into fine art/studio art, though I also enjoy mixed media art. I don't have any art extracurriculars even though I've been set on having art as my career for the past two years lol. I'd consider just about anything
Thank you if you can help me about, I've never been the best at school and I have just started really trying to be recently, so any help is appreciated
I think that you are taking the right steps to make your application more competitive. Continue to try to take as many AP classes as you can next year, and do as well as you can on the SAT or ACT. Submitting a standardized test score can help you even at test optional schools, so long as your score would place you in the top 75% of accepted students.
Here are some CollegeVine resources which can answer your other questions:
- How to Create a Portfolio for Art School
- Extracurriculars for High Schoolers Interested in Studying Visual Arts
Hope this helps!
Thank you so much for your answer! I'll definitely be taking your advice about the AP classes and the SAT/ACT. I'm planning on taking the SAT to try and make myself look a little better on applications, regardless if the college I want to go to requires it haha. Also thank you for the other resources, I'll check them out! :)
I'm also looking into taking an art program over the summer at a university, which will be fun and might look good on my applications too!
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