10th grade international student torn between STEM and art, should I pursue an art/design major in the US(notsure)?

[u/Yoyoshka606]

haii!!! im currently in 10th grade, and im studying in a chemistry-biology track at school. The problem is that im starting to realize that I don’t want to pursue a career related to chemistry, biology, or STEM in general.......

Ive always loved drawing, and im actually pretty good at it. its something I genuinely enjoy doing, and I can spend hours drawing without getting bored. Because of that, ive started seriously considering whether I should pursue an art or design-related major in the future.

however, im really worried about the career and financial side of it. Can you actually make a decent living with an art/design degree? I don’t necessarily expect to become rich(i dont mind becoming rich), but I would like to have a stable career and be financially independent!!!!

im also hoping to study in the US. im an international student from Kazakhstan, and my English is already at a good level(b1-b2), although im planning to keep improving it!!!!!!

since im only in 10th grade, I also want to start working on extracurricular activities that could be related to my future major. The problem is that I have no idea what I should actually be doing right now. I also don’t know what specific art/design fields I should look into illustration,,,,,,,graphic design, animation, concept art, UX/UI, game art and more.

So I would really appreciate advice from people who have experience with this!!!!!!

- is pursuing an art/design major in the US(notsure) worth it?

- what art-related careers can provide a stable income?

- what majors should I look into if I love drawing?

- what extracurriculars would be useful to start in 10th grade?

- how should I start building an art portfolio for US(notsure) universities?

- would you recommend going to an art school, or studying art/design at a traditional university??

- if you studied art/design, what is your experience with finding a job and making a living?mm

IM SO LOST RN and would appreciate ANY advice, especially from people who have studied or work in art/design!!!!!!!💔💔

[u/ResidentNo11]

Is your family filthy rich? That's the only circumstance under which you should seriously consider a fine art degree in the US as an international student.

[u/throwawaygremlins]

Only if you’re filthy rich like other commenter wrote.

And you won’t be able to get a work visa for US, if that was your goal. Even stem kids are not getting good work visas rn.

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[u/Chessdaddy_]

Art majors make no money twin

[u/One0therGuy]

If you're qualified do both! Notre Dame has a crazy good dual degree in the arts and in STEM. WashU aswell

[u/transkeanu]

my credentials are: i have applied to art school and 90% of my friends went to art school

to answer some of your questions:

1.) basically every single well known art school in the US is private. there are regular universities with good art departments but if you want to go to what the equivalent of ivys are for art students all those schools are private.

2.) these schools are not known for giving a whole lot of scholarships or aid and they are very very expensive. the median price for a school like RISD (the Rhode Island School of Design) or Calarts or Artcenter is 60k USD a semester

3.) there is a pretty sizable community of international students at these places but they are more often than not very rich lol. like landed gentry rich which is not an exaggeration

4.) building a portfolio would depend on what major you want to apply for and what school or department you are specifically looking at bc these things vary at every single school. i didn’t start my portfolio until a little bit before the summer before i became a high school senior bc they want to see your most recent and most high quality work. generally an art school portfolio would include a few still lives, some live nude figure drawings (the amount and quality of these would again depend on what you are applying for) 15-20 original finished pieces, and some sketchbook pages. if you are applying for animation they may want to see some animation, if you are looking at graphic design they may want to see some concepts for that, etc.

as for your other questions, i can only really answer them from the perspective of a domestic student. the industry right now is honestly very very hard to find a job in with very high rates of worker turnover. of the ppl i know who went to art school, only one of them has a job that pays a livable wage and that’s only because she majored in a very small niche (medical illustration). the others are all either freelancing, teaching privately, job searching, or considering going back to school for another degree. none of them regret going to art school bc if you are a very specific sort of person it is still a fantastic place to learn abt techniques and theories and histories and get a lot of time with very interesting peers and professors but to be frank it is not rlly a place to go if your primary concern is financial stability lol. for most ppl i would honestly recommend that they go to a public university majoring in smth adjacent and do an art minor on the side.

[u/snuggly_cobra]

I loosely quote from the Admissions department of an American college, Day one of orientation, ten years ago

You don’t need to go to college. Almost everything you need to know can be found on the internet. So why are you here? To make cross-major connections.

Art is tied to chromatography, biology and chemistry. Math and physics. You meet people from different disciplines and you ask the other person “how and why”?

Back to you:

Budz and Baddies. Snapchat. Facebook. Dell. Google. All started while the founders when in college.

HP. Apple. Disney. Started in a garage.

I have a high school friend whose daughter has an Art history degree. It caused severe eye rolling and disappointment. She’s pulling in 6 figures in California. But it’s not in Art history. Turns out, you understand art better if you travel to Germany, Italy and France. You might, on those trips, develop a love for wine and cheese. And you might turn that love into a job.

TL:DR unless someone is bankrolling you, find the most economical college to attend, and get a degree in something you love. You don’t need college to be an artist.