High schools generally only require students to take a full year of fine arts for graduation requirements. As senior year rolls along, most students will sign up for as many art classes as possible since they’ve already met requirements for graduation and want an “easy” year. However, what most do not know is that art is much more than just color by number.

Many schools now have AP Studio Art classes which are college level classes. These classes are meant to improve the work of the student and better their understanding of the many techniques and styles of the art world. Many will partake in the AP test which is just a submission of their AP portfolio. This contains 29 of their best pieces, which is broken up into smaller categories. Concentration—the students find a focus for this section and submit 12 pieces relating to that focus. Breadth—the students will submit 12 pieces showing that they are able to use a number of mediums and styles and still maintain high quality of work. The last category is Quality—students submit the 5 best pieces they’ve created.

If the portfolio shows high enough quality then they will be rewarded with an AP grade of 5. Many find this useful for applying for art colleges since it allows admissions to see that they are able to create college level pieces of work at an early age.

However a 5 in the AP test doesn’t guarantee acceptance into any art college. Many art colleges these days are not just looking for students who are exceptionally well with creating masterpieces. They are also looking for students who have taken the SAT or ACT and have scored high. They are also looking for students who have above 3.0 GPAs. It seems that even getting accepted into an art college is now difficult.

These colleges do not just want any other “art junkie” but also want good, dedicated students who will get work done in a timely manner. Because it is more difficult, many are now double thinking slacking in high school classes and instead are partaking in difficult classes and actually paying attention, rather than just sitting and doodling. This shows just how dedicated artists need to be in order to be able to pursue dreams of attending their art school of choice.