u/3863-9

I am American

Along with the typical stem stuff like scioly, math olympiad, and hackathons, I have:

Art

- 2 week residential classical arts program low acceptance under partial merit scholarship (7k>4k)

- 4 week arts intensive residential high accpetance (8k)

- 2 week arts intensive Shanghai lowish (19) acceptance (6k)

- took multiple arts classes at the New York art league under a scholarship program (partially merit based partially need based)

- applied and accepted to an artists' residency in Rome where I worked on a personal project without instruction (artists' residency typically for adults) (2.5k)

- 4 week art intensive in an arc-approved atelier Manila, Philippines (though I might have just been accepted because I made a very large donation, I don't know; arc is the gold standard of ateliers) (2.5k)

- Met teen copyist program (this was a painting program for teens in my local art museum that had a low acceptance rate as I imagine)

- scholarship student at a particular low acceptance arts foundation

- gold and silver in the freaking scholastics

Other

- did volunteering in china with turtles though I lowk had to pay to volunteer but it was fun- $500

- read the bible, quaran, torah, and vedas

I included the approximate, unscholarshipped apparent costs of all the programs.. I feel like some of this might just paint me a nepo

Along with the typical math stuff: (I am American)

- 2 week residential classical arts program low acceptance

- 4 week arts intensive residential high accpetance

- did volunteering in china with turtles though I lowk had to pay to volunteer but it was fun

- 2 week arts intensive Shanghai lowish (19) acceptance

- took multiple classes at the New York art league under a scholarship program (partially merit based partially need based)

- applied and accepted to an artists' residency in Rome where I worked on a personal project without instruction (artists' residency typically for adults)

- 4 week art intensive in an arc-approved atelier Manila, Philippines (though I might have just been accepted because I made a very large donation, I don't know; arc is the gold standard of ateliers)

- read the bible, quaran, torah, and vedas

- Met teen copyist program (this was a painting program for teens in my local art museum that had a low acceptance rate as I imagine)

- scholarship student at a particular low acceptance foundation

idk how nepo baby sum of this sounds

I am wondering if I should focus more on academic programs that have to do with my intended major or traveling/cultural programs such as plein air in Ireland, architecture in Paris, or cuisine in Italy. It is good to be cultured and have experience of the world around me, but I know some of these colleges are just going to think of me as just a nepo baby when I list out 8 travel programs and like 1 math camp or something.

I am a very busy student who goes to an insanely difficult high school, so I only make 4 or 5 drawings a year. However, it takes me about 13 hours on each one. On my current one, I am using a piece of .5 lead just to get the detail right. The rest of the time, I am studying and doing research. I really like my drawings, and they are usually very nice. However, every time I finish a drawing it just so happens to be another family member's birthday and so I have to give it to them. They are incredibly grateful -- they do not disregard my drawings at all! But because of my very low artistic output and their general expectation of something handmade or hardworked for (all gifts in my family are either really expensive, or very hard worked for and so it is seen as rude if anything less than you are capable of is given), I have no drawings to keep of my own. My wall is bare, except for a few ripped up oil pastels and charcoal drawings from 6th grade or something. I work so hard on these, and I wish I could keep them!!! What do I do?