Art Major in College vs. Art School

This video weighs the pros and cons of being at an art major at a university, how it affects how to approach the college admissions process, how to figure out whether studying art at a college is a better fit for you.

Prof Lieu speaks to University of California, Los Angeles students Anya Chen and Ruth Lee.

• Many universities and colleges will allow you to add your portfolio as a supplement to your application.
• To find out how to add your portfolio to your application, it’s best to contact the school’s art department so you know what they want in terms of submitting your portfolio.
• Art school really is doing art 24-7, if you have interests outside of art, a liberal arts college is probably a better fit.
• Art schools usually have a liberal arts department, but generally speaking, the courses are not academically rigorous compared to a college or university.
• At a liberal arts college, you get to meet people from all different types of majors.

• Studio art classes at liberal arts college are often broken up into shorter classes, unlike art school where studio classes are long, like 5 hours or so.
• Studying fields outside of art at a liberal arts college can greatly impact your artwork, in both direct and indirect ways.
• Learning to be an artist is not just reading art books, and learning about artists; it’s important to have a diverse experience and that is more likely in a liberal arts program.
• At art school you don’t get to meet people in fields that are very different, which can limit the types of people you get to interact with.

Ruth Lee

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Anya Chen

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