Hard college exams are no place for faint of art
OUTSIDE the campus of the Communication University of China, Zhang Ke carries her drawing board and pigments as she hurries to another exam site in chilly, windy Beijing.
“I applied for three art majors this year and have entered the final rounds for all the three,” Zhang said.
The entrance exams for art academies have begun in China, and students from across the country are striving to secure a place in the college of their dreams.
In Beijing, famous art colleges, including Communication University of China, Beijing Film Academy and the Central Academy of Drama, all reported a record number of applicants this year.
The admission exam of the Beijing Film Academy began on Saturday, with close to 60,000 applicants, a year-onyear increase of 31 percent, according to the academy.
The academy plans to recruit 520 students this year, 30 more than that in 2018, for its 16 schools and departments.
A total of 10,454 students have applied for the academy’s Performing Arts School, which will enroll only 60 students, based on candidates’ performances during the art exam and their results in gaokao — China’s national college entrance examination.
Among the 24 majors open for application, new-media art reported the biggest growth, with a year-on-year increase of 284.36 percent in the number of applicants.
Similar situations can be found in the Central Academy of Drama, where more than 67,000 applicants are competing for 573 positions. The number of this year’s applicants is the highest in the academy’s history.
In the Communication University of China, about 50,000 have taken part in the college’s exam. More than 10,000 students have applied for the university’s performing arts major, which will recruit just 26.
In the face of such cutthroat competition, students like Zhang are trying their best to make their artistic dreams come true.
“I always loved paintings and cartoons,” Zhang said. “When I was in high school, I was determined to study a major related to cartoons. I hope one day I can create an iconic cartoon character.”
Zhang Weinan, from east China’s Jiangxi Province, has a passion for performing arts.
“My family did not support me in pursuing art because they thought it would be too difficult,” said Zhang Weinan, all smiles. “But I adore performing, and I chose to chase my dream.”
Many parents showed up to give moral support to their children.
Han Gaoming, 48, took his daughter all the way from northern Shanxi Province to Beijing to chase her dream of being a director.
“I have been encouraging her,” Han said. “She wants to be a director in the future.”
Art colleges in China have been raising demands on applicants’ “comprehensive abilities” by requiring good exam scores in literature, history and philosophy.
(Xinhua)