In addition to the usual essays and recommendations, the submission of a portfolio is central to the visual artist’s college application process. To this end, all senior majors in the Visual Arts Department attend a weekly seminar geared toward the assemblage of a portfolio. Instructors help the students prepare slides of their works, and the students receive training in how to discuss their artistic work and to speak articulately when meeting college and arts conservatory representatives. Students are also assisted in the development of their critical and analytical skills in order to write about their works, particularly in college application essays.
Working with the college counselor, the department chair and faculty help the student to develop a list of suitable schools, whether they are arts schools or liberal arts colleges. Deadlines and application procedures are discussed as well as strategies for essay writing and interviews. The college counselor and Visual Art Department faculty communicate with each other frequently to guarantee that students are applying to institutions that are appropriate to academic and artistic skill levels and that the process is carried out in a timely manner.
There are two national Portfolio Days in Southern California for visual arts students where art schools and colleges from across the country converge to view and critique student portfolios. The Visual Art Department at I.A.A. sponsors a trip to each of these Portfolio Days through this seminar so that students can show their work to prospective undergraduate institutions. Finally, college representatives from various arts schools often visit this class to review individual portfolios and to discuss the submission process from that institution’s own particular point of view.
Dance
Every senior dance major interacts with all department faculty in a manner that is geared toward the discussion of college search and audition strategies. The college counselor also works with the student to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of applying to dance conservatories versus a more traditional four-year undergraduate institution. This team gives specific counseling as to what institutions are a good fit from the standpoints of dance style, degree of talent, and academic record and interests. The school’s fall senior dance concert is intentionally scheduled to take place before Thanksgiving Break so that the department can spend the remaining months of the semester coaching and preparing the students for their various auditions.
Most of the students participate in regional auditions in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, and at the Juilliard School in New York. A few students travel overseas to schools such as Trinity Laban and London Contemporary in Europe for their auditions. The Dance Department faculty often accompanies students to their regional college and conservatory auditions in order to lend support and provide final coaching.
Theatre
Senior theatre majors attend two classes aimed specifically at the college application process. The first is a weekly seminar where students work together to conduct extensive research on colleges and to share their findings with their theatre teachers and peers. Students discuss location, size, nature and quality of programs, and to what extent students wish to blend an artistic and academic curriculum at the undergraduate level.
The second class that students take is a practicum devoted to the subject of the audition process. Idyllwild Arts faculty members are closely involved in the audition process for senior theater majors. Students are given advice on the selection of audition material, rehearsal time is carefully instructed and monitored, and the seniors are given specific tips about the nature of certain schools and the personalities of those involved on the “other side of the table.” They are also coached on how to present themselves articulately to the various audition committees that they will face.
Every year in early February, the theatre department faculty members accompany the students to the Chicago Unified Auditions, an assemblage of about thirty five colleges, universities, and conservatories from both the United States and Great Britain. Some of the schools represented there are well-known liberal arts colleges that happen to have strong theatre programs, some are large state universities, and some are conservatory programs. All of the schools assemble in the same large hotel, which is also where the Idyllwild Arts students also stay during a five-day audition period. At the beginning of the school year, the Idyllwild Arts Theatre Department generates a letter to parents and students that discusses the details of the audition process and the trip to the Chicago Unified Auditions.
Music
The Music Department at Idyllwild Arts also offers a weekly senior seminar, the major theme of which is the college-application and audition process. Taught by the department chair, the course is closely coordinated with the college counselor who is a visitor to the class, especially earlier in the school year. Students are charged with the responsibility of conducting research to discover what colleges and conservatories might be appropriate given their instrument and musical interests. Students are asked to submit a list of prospective colleges, to assemble a resume of musical honors and extracurricular activities, to work on essays for the various college applications, and to plan and execute their prescreening CDs and DVDs. Students are also asked to consider whom they intend to ask for letters of recommendation and why.
One of the more important subjects discussed with the students in this class is whether they should attend a college or conservatory. Some students are encouraged to visit certain music schools and to have an actual lesson with a prospective teacher to see if that person is a good match. A great deal of time in this class is devoted to the subject of auditions. After students are given guidelines and told what might be expected of them in an audition, they prepare and submit a list of pieces from their repertoire that they intend to perform. Students discuss the decision as to whether to send in a recorded tape or attend a live audition. If a decision is made in favor of a live audition, then the relative merits and benefits of attending an on-campus versus regional audition are weighed.
Since students attending live auditions must travel extensively and visit several institutions, the arrangement of travel plans, practical itineraries and the scheduling of auditions is also arranged within the context of the course. If they plan to submit a recorded CD or DVD instead of attending a live audition for some of their prospective colleges, students use the class time and resources to make recording arrangements and secure the services of a piano accompanist. Some music conservatories enthusiastic about our students request permission to come to Idyllwild to audition our students. Such visits are arranged by the music department chair.
Interdisciplinary Arts Major
The Interdisciplinary Arts Department also has a weekly seminar attended by all senior majors. The class is taught by the department chair. Within the first month of school, IM majors are asked to submit a list of colleges, universities, and conservatories in which they have an interest. The department also publishes for students a list of colleges and universities that it frequently recommends for its majors. Many of them offer interdisciplinary and thematic programs or individualized majors, structured similarly to what the students experience at Idyllwild Arts. Students are asked to maintain an accordion file of information on undergraduate programs of interest, and then obtain or download applications from each of these schools. They begin work on their applications during the senior seminar class by the third week in October, filling them out, and writing then editing statements of purpose and admissions essays. In addition, time is devoted to a discussion of the subject of requesting letters of recommendation and the mailing of transcripts.
Because of the broad nature of the interdisciplinary major, students in the department can often have a rather complex process of displaying their art to prospective colleges. Thus a great deal of class time is devoted to a discussion of appropriate artistic and portfolio submissions and, for those who may enter a music or theatrical program, various audition options are reviewed and decided upon, much as they are in the Idyllwild Arts theater and music programs.
Moving Pictures
The application process to undergraduate film programs is often similar to that of a traditional academic rather than an arts student. Many film schools do not require the submission of a motion picture in the application process because most entering freshmen do not have the prior cinematic experience of Idyllwild Arts Students. As a result, the college selection process for Idyllwild Arts Moving Pictures majors is a particularly careful one because their high school experience is often so extensive that once they matriculate, IAA graduates often find themselves fully two years ahead of their undergraduate peers from both technical and artistic standpoints. Thus, the college application process for some IAA moving pictures students often takes a more traditional approach with the consideration of many academic possibilities outside the realm of film schools, especially those offered by small liberal arts colleges. For those students who seek this option, the college counselor plays an important role in helping the students select and apply to various undergraduate institutions. For those students who wish to go on to a film school, the department and college counselor work together to facilitate this process.
Creative Writing
Since Creative Writing majors are more like students who take numerous English courses, their college counseling process is usually much more traditional. The department frequently invites guest writers from major college and university writing programs to come up to Idyllwild Arts and deliver master classes, which gives the students the opportunity to ask questions about the school in general and the application process. The college counselor and Creative Writing Department Chair regularly discuss each senior’s college list and make recommendations. The department helps the students in the assemblage of a writing portfolio to be submitted to schools in the application process.