Complete College Solutions

If your child wants to major in musical theater or some other performing art, go ahead and blame it on Glee, American Idol or America's Got Talent.

Television shows make performing look fun, but the process of applying to colleges as a prospective visual or performing arts major is anything but. For these students, the admission process can be even more nerve wracking and time consuming because of requirements for auditions or portfolios.

To learn more about what's involved in being a prospective visual or performing art major, I talked with Halley Shefler, former dean of admissions at both the Boston Conservatory and the School of Music at Boston University. She is now a college consultant at The Arts Edge, which works with students who want to major in music, theatre, arts, and dance.

Here are six of Shefler's suggestions on how artistic students—and their parents—can navigate the admission process:

When considering employment after college, you may want to check out the public sector. According to this article from Forbes, public sector employees make, on average, DOUBLE that of their private sector contemporaries (when you factor in benefits). Maybe its time to start studying for that civil service test...