Thanks MICA and Johns Hopkins University!

I'll be spending this week in the Baltimore area visiting 11 private colleges on a counselor tour called the Crab Crawl. Because know how demanding these tours are, I'm going to prioritize getting summary information up on the blog each night, even if it comes in the form of a bulleted list.

Maryland Institute College of Art - MICA

• Oldest continually operational visual arts college in the country, founded in 1826
• A good fit for intellectual thinkers seeking technical training in the arts
• Students seeking a BA in a Liberal Arts setting can expect to take 30-45% of their courses in art and design. By contrast, students at a place like MICA getting a BFA can expect to take 65-70% of their courses in art and design. 
• Option to cross register at other Baltimore area schools, Johns Hopkins in particular
• Particularly useful for students interested in prosthetic design or medical drawing to be able to take science courses
• Portfolio of 12-20 pieces required with application
• Compared with other art schools, MICA is an accredited art school that offers a decent balance between structure and exploration
• They do offer academic merit aid, something not found at every art school
• 1220+ on the SAT or 26+ on the ACT
• The artist who did the recent portrait of Michelle Obama, now at the Smithsonian, is a MICA Professor

Overall Impression: For the right student (artsy, funky, creative, seeking a community of makers) could be a great way to earn a degree in art and still be prepared to enter the working world and make a living (career services and internships were emphasized, my tour guide, for example, has an internship at the Whitney Museum this summer). 

Johns Hopkins University

• Urban residential campus with an undergraduate focus (a little over 6,000 students total). About 70% of students study the Arts & Sciences and 30% study Engineering.
• Students here describe themselves as working hard academically but also working equally hard to be involved in the campus community. 
• Research is a strong aspect of academic life, across all disciplines. 
• The supplemental essay was changed recently to ask about collaboration. Johns Hopkins has a reputation for being cutthroat, but they see themselves as much more collaborative. They consider who else is in the room-- the Professor and other bright and interesting peers-- to be an essential element toward attracting the right students to their campus. 
• They do not track demonstrated interest and have discontinued interviews as part of the application process. They do offer informal small group chats to students seeking that on their campus visit. 
• About 40% of the class enrolls via Early Decision, so visit with enough time to decide if this is a route you want to take. 

Overall Impression: Our tour guide told us one of the main factors he used in deciding where to enroll in college was the ability for him to continue running his antique license plate store on Ebay. I cite this to illustrate that this is a place that embraces quirkiness (it was also my favorite moment on the tour). Students are driven, excited about learning, and seem to find fun in non-traditional places.