San Francisco Art Institute
The San Francisco Art Institute runs a PreCollege program that offers rising eleventh and twelfth grade students the opportunity to attend an intensive and immersive art school.
San Francisco Art Institute PreCollege gives you a jump start on the college experience with an intensive and transformative program in the arts.
This four-week, four college credit program combines in-depth study and practice with SFAI’s renowned faculty to help you build foundational skills, develop a portfolio, experiment with new media, and collaborate with like-minded peers who are driven to create. Visits to local museums and exhibition opportunities complement this immersive experience.
PreCollege takes place on SFAI’s legendary campus at 800 Chestnut Street in the heart of San Francisco’s historic Russian Hill neighborhood. Inspiring views of the Bay, a monumental Diego Rivera fresco, and a constant stream of visiting artists and visionaries are part of daily life at SFAI.
Where: San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, California
How Long: Five weeks
Specific Subjects: 15 art disciplines
How Much: $3,000 (commuters), $4,850 (residential)
How Do I Get Started? Go to their website and apply.
How do I expand this narrative arc? Thinking Community Engagement + Environment + Art:
Decorate a local basketball court with Project Backboard
Enhance your community’s beauty with Guerrilla Gardening
Launch a competition to create an artistic design on a local storm drain
HOT TIP: This is an interesting opportunity for a teen with art in his/her narrative arc, and could be a good jumping off point for an interesting essay or a thematic link between art interest and art study. See below for more information about summer programs in general.
IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT SUMMER PROGRAMS: College admissions officers are very adept at identifying “resume padders”: expensive, one-off programs paid for by your parents which do not mesh with your narrative arc. Therefore, make sure any summer program or course you consider falls into one (or more) of these four buckets:
Highly selective/competitive
Totally unique + linked to your narrative arc
Evidence of adulthood (long hours, multi-year commitment or simply hard work)
A jumping off point or expansion for an authentic narrative arc.
If none of the above apply, a program could still have value to you if it allows you to test a potential interest. However, if it does not end up being a jumping off point for further interests, then you may not want to mention it in your high school resume