Specialty Applicants

Finding Your Balance—Applying as a Student-Artist

Start-to-finish admissions consultancy to help your student-artist realize their full admission potential

Here for Each STAGE of Your Young Artist’s Admissions Journey

Our young artists are groundbreakers, inspiring with their skill and vision in their respective fields. Our role in their lives is a very specific one. For young artists and their families, we are the critical agents of balance—between their scholarly lives and their lives of artistic creation. Gaining admission to top art programs that are housed in prestigious universities can be daunting. An artist-applicant must aim to be just as strong in their scholarly merits as they are in their artistic ones, because they will be evaluated by eyes both in their respective art program of interest and in the admissions department for the university more broadly.

Constructing balanced applications for young artists and their families requires consistent compromise between simultaneous demands, and thus requires a connectedness with the granular detail of dual timelines and admissions requirements, and an ability to navigate a path in-between. Further, for young-artists, there is often highly technical information that is needed for proper evaluation of things like their portfolio development and program selection. We serve a vital hub role for gathering and connecting information sources from both the artistic and academic sides of the coin and are happy to coordinate the inputs of outside technical experts and build toward a balanced and winning application.

Finding Your BALANCE—Artistry & Scholarship in the Application Process

For a young artist moving into the college admissions process, the most challenging aspect of it all is often juggling the dual standards placed upon them as simultaneous artist-applicants and traditional applicants to the university. If one side of the process is weaker than the other it can become a liability for the other and for the overall prospect of admissions success. However, if both dimensions of a student-artist’s application are to their highest degree of excellence, then they can begin to boost one another, a student’s overall prospects of admission rise considerably, and their duality goes from a liability to a student-artist’s greatest admissions asset. We serve as critical managers of the balancing process, for our student-artists and their families, and we’re always excited to see the great things they achieve along all lines of their multidimensional selves. From making tough tradeoff analyses, to coordinating competing timelines, we are here to assist our young artists and their families, at every step of the way.

Finding Pre-College Programs to Grow Your Artistic Potential

Pre-College programs in the Arts have grown into a routine part of many young artist’s journeys, and are a great opportunity for students to build their skills while adding to their official resume and making valuable connections. We can help your family identify and apply to the programs that are most fitted to your young artist’s admissions trajectories. Critically, we are also able to evaluate the optimal fit of pre-college programs into your child’s overall admissions timeline, and suggest timing that can maintain the mutually-reinforcing relationship between the arts and academic components of your child’s application. We love to see our young artists develop into dynamic artist-scholars, and exceptional admissions candidates, and leave no stones unturned to help them achieve their highest aims.

Working with my tutor was an absolute pleasure. He is knowledgeable, experienced, competent, and he genuinely cares about your success. It’s very easy for me to say that without his help, I would not have been able to achieve my goals.

–j.s., los angeles, CA - student, U.C.L.A.

Arriving at programs of best-fit—where you can be your best self.

For our young artists, finding a college of best fit has a myriad of considerations beyond those of a traditional applicant. Comparing the the strength and fit of specialized sub-departments; comparing the strength and fit of art programs as a whole; and weighing and comparing the relative arts-scholarship balance across colleges are just some of the considerations our young artists must think through when choosing which art programs ad respective universities to apply to. We help families wade through the decision points, and, when necessary, work with outside arts consultants, all to ensure that your child ultimately finds themself at the art program and college where they can best be themselves.

Getting outside input & managing communication

For our art students, developing winning portfolios that convey their artistic priorities and aesthetic skills is central to their overall admissions process. We help our young artists and their families to keep tabs on the distinct portfolio and application requirements specific to each program in their list of colleges and, often working in conjunction with specialty consultants, help develop their portfolios to a level they feel expresses themselves most strongly and will also give them their strongest chance for admission. The partnerships we form with specialty consultants, although not needed in all situations, can be just the team approach to put our student artists over the top. Additionally, we will help your child as they move through their interactions with the programs they are considering, so they can be sure to always put their best foot forward and always be ready to seize opportunities.

Your Admissions Roadmap

We combine time-tested trajectories with our bespoke service model to help our students and their families carve out unique admissions pathways that are backed by expert guidance—so your child gains admission to their dream schools, where they can truly thrive.

Initial exploratory meeting

The first step—establishing a set of goals that are flexible to change while concentrated upon your family’s highest goals.

Ongoing prep & assessment

Test preparation and developing a college list are pathways that are intertwined and grow together. Score increases bring new colleges into the fold, and newly considered colleges can conversely push upon existing score targets.

Application, prep & tours

In the latter stages of prep, college lists and score targets jointly narrow, and efforts become focused around gathering information on, and applying successfully to, the top colleges on a family’s list.

Deciding & responding to offers

Cue the confetti showers. The time has come to reap the rewards of your high school career and all your admissions prep. We’re here to help you and your family weigh offers and make the big decision.

Assuring readiness

You’ve made it to your dream school, now make sure you’re ready to hit the ground running and truly get the most out of your college experience. Through a combination of in-house college readiness coaching and connecting you with the right pre-college programs suited to your major, we’ll have you ready to go.

Let’s get your JOURNEY started

No matter where you’re at in your admissions journey, we can provide the resources and guidance you’ll need to achieve your college admissions dreams.