Students choose art school as easy way out

(Ecns.cn) – China's art institutions have started recruiting students for this year's classes, including the Communication University of China (CUC), which opened entrance examinations on February 1. And with more art institutions joining the trend, tens of thousands of applicants have registered as examinees, says the Beijing News.

Since 2002, the Chinese art market has been developing rapidly. Under such circumstances, more and more Chinese students are dreaming about becoming art majors in college, but are their dreams really for the pursuit of art, or are they just slackers looking for an easier option?

More choices

This year, art institutions such as the Beijing Film Academy (BFA), the Beijing Dance Academy (BDA), the Central Academy of Drama (CAD), and the Communication University of China have all made changes to their curricula.

According to Zhang Huijun, president of the BFA, the institution plans to accept more students in majors such as Cinema Chain Management, and students can now apply for majors in Sound Effects, Digital Media and Movie Stunt Design every year, which in the past were only available every two years.

Also this year, the BDA, the only institution of higher education for dance in China, plans to open a four-year experimental class for 26 students, which would include two years at the National Ballet of China (NBC), also known as the Central Ballet Troupe.

In addition, the CUC will open a new major called "Musicology (Vocal Performance)," and plans to modify its testing methods and content for this year's professional examinations.

Dreams or reality?

Li Jiangyuan is a high school graduate-to-be in Taiyuan of north China's Shanxi Province. He has registered to take examinations for the BFA, the CUC, the Sichuan Conservatory of Music and other art institutions, reports the Beijing News.

Li says he decided to learn vocal music and become a singer when he was in junior middle school. But after taking some vocal music courses in high school, Li found that he didn't have what it takes to be a singer, so he switched his focus to broadcasting and anchoring.

With time, Li realized that he enjoyed being under the spotlight. This year, Li has registered to take examinations at over 10 art institutions, and says he will continue to pursue his artistic dreams, regardless of the hardships.

However, with tens of thousands of applicants flocking to register for examinations, many are choosing this option not simply to pursue artistic dreams; some are applying to art schools because of less stringent requirements on the gaokao, or the national college entrance examination.

Art institutions have acceptance thresholds that are generally 100 to 200 points lower than regular universities and colleges. As a result, underperforming students in search of a diploma often apply to art schools.

Xiao Jie is a student from Dunhuang, in northwest China's Gansu Province, who passed her first examinations for the CUC on February 1 this year. Her parents say that her academic performance at school was not satisfactory, so she could only get into a second-tier university, but art major examinations have given her more opportunities.

Cutting corners

Though many art institutions have reduced their number of students, the number of applicants continues to rise.

The CUC plans to recruit 664 art majors in 2012, 36 fewer than last year, but the number of applicants has reached more than 21,000, says the Beijing News.

The number of online applicants at the BFA has also reached 25,000 this year, a 20 percent increase from last year. Hou Guangming, Party Chief at the BFA, noted that although many students did not show up for the exam, it still indicates an upward trend in art majors.

However, Hou pointed out that there are many misunderstandings among art major applicants and their parents, who usually think art institutions do not require solid "cultural knowledge" or "comprehensive quality." Some students even rely on last-minute preparations and cramming.

Judging by the feedback from various art institutions, such a trend has taken off among underperforming high school students before they take the exams. But excelling as an artist requires basic knowledge of all fields, says Hou.