School’s Out, Or Not

by Babs Rappleye (aka Tucker Neel)

Artillery Magazine, Nov./Dec. 2020.

Dear Babs, I’m a high school senior and I was planning on enrolling in college to study art next fall either in Los Angeles or New York City, but Covid has me thinking I might want to take a year off or reconsider college entirely. What should I do?

—Nervous in Nebraska

Dear Nervous in Nebraska,

The fact is colleges are just as unsure of what to expect as you are. They will hope for the best and plan for the worst, and you should do the same. According to the CDC, a vaccine could be available as early as the first quarter of 2021. So by the start of school in the fall, colleges might have enough certified vaccinated students, teachers and staff to resume instruction in whatever the new normal is going to look like (but don’t expect the masks to go away anytime soon).

If you were a currently enrolled student, I’d say consider taking the spring semester off if possible. After all, most colleges in Los Angeles and New York will probably either be entirely online, or operating with restrictive rules about how many students can be in class at one time, which sucks because art students need space to make work and access expensive technology. Also, one-on-one critique isn’t the same through Zoom; you need to be in the room with your professors and peers. To get a feel for what this experience is like, try connecting with students at some of the schools you’re considering and ask them how it’s going.

Thankfully, you have some time to make your decision.
Acceptance deadlines are usually around March or April, and you can expect colleges to extend those dates far into the future to keep enrollment numbers up and tuition payments flowing. In the meantime, you’re smart to ask tough questions about the education you want or need to become the artist you want to be. College—let alone art school—isn’t for everyone. But if between now and when you decide to matriculate your conviction to be an artist has grown even stronger, then you’ll know you’ve made the right decision to start learning at your future alma mater.