I'm Going to be an Art Major. Does My Score Matter?

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been discussing what the SAT means in terms of your complete college application. One of the questions that comes up when discussing SAT and ACT scores is whether or not they are important depending on your intended major.

For example, what if you want to be a theater, art, music, dance, or film major and you don’t score very well on the SAT? This is the case with one reader who emailed us:

I'm a 3.5 student, I'm the drum major/conductor of the marching band and vice chair of school site council. I'm also in G.S.A. and N.H.S., but my SAT score was horrible: 1280. Do you think I have a chance of getting into the UC that I want, which is UCI, as a film major?

This brings up the question, why should an SAT score matter for a future filmmaker? I've heard this same question from many of my students who are going to school specifically to study the arts. They feel that the SAT is no indication of how they will perform in their chosen field. They hope the admissions committee will ignore mediocre scores and focus instead on the artistic visions presented in their application essays. But is that the case?

Before we answer that question, let’s get back to our aspiring filmmaker who wants to attend UC Irvine. Her GPA is just a shade under the average for students admitted, she can list some good extracurriculars, and nearly half of the students who apply to UCI are accepted. All of this works in her favor.

But there’s no way around it: A total SAT score of 1280 isn’t going to help your application. And unfortunately, UCI will look at this score for all students who want to get in, regardless of their intended majors. This is because your college degree will ultimately reflect more than what you majored in. It will indicate someone who was able to fulfill his or her math, science, and English requirements, even when those classes met at 8 AM three times a week. So unless you’re applying to an arts school that minimizes SAT or ACT requirements, the schools you apply to will consider your scores an important factor in their admissions decision.

For this UCI hopeful, I would recommend retaking the SAT and spending some serious time preparing, perhaps even taking a class if necessary. And while this might seem highly unfair to some of you future Spike Jonzes or Martin Scorseses out there, think of this as simply another way you have to pay your dues.

Got any other questions about your SAT or ACT scores? Let us know in the comments or email testpreptutor@sparknotes.com.

Related Post: Should I Re-take the SAT or Try the ACT?