Tianru Wang: The Advantageous Path, Starting at US Fine Art

The Future Starts Here…

Prompt: Parent Testimonials: The institution’s educational plan is an essential component. It begins with learning to draw, but it gives the child a complete education, giving the child everything she has today.

When Tiranru received acceptance letters and scholarship offers from Yale and eleven other top universities, her father came to the realization that, US Fine Arts institute’s CTA based curriculum was very important. It wasn’t just about just one piece of art, or one little bit of improvement but about the overall big picture. This was the reason behind his daughter’s achievement.

No matter the sacrifice, she must attend this type of school.

When Tianru was nine years old, her dad brought her to US Fine Arts Institute to learn how to draw, despite the distance they lived. This is something that might mystify some: there are so many art schools out there, why not just pick one that was at a more convenient location, why bother traveling such a far distance? Her father’s reasoning? Because he worked at a university, there one thing that he thoroughly understood: the goal behind having his daughter learn how to draw wasn’t so she could someday be a professional artist, but for her to learn the kind of qualities that well known universities looked for in applications. These kinds of qualities couldn’t simply be taught through how to sketch or how to work with acrylics. Tianru’s father became determined to find a school that would fulfill his daughter’s educational needs, which was not a simple task. Once he had found such a place, he was firm in his decision that his daughter should receive the best education, no matter the distance they would have to travel. A school’s curriculum is crucial; US Fine Art’s curriculum starts with drawing, but gives the child an overall education, so that the child has a strong foundation in all aspects of their development.

Tianru at nine year old

Receiving the Recommendations and Support of Professors from UCLA

At that time, there was a group of professors from UCLA that really wanted their kids to learn art, and on multiple occasions had plead with Principal Zhao, Jianxin to open up a second branch of US Fine Arts at UCLA, but she refused. They used over two years of time and energy to convince Principal Zhao, but unfortunately, they could not convince her. Not long after, Tianru’s father ran into Principal Zhao, and because he too did not understand why she was unwilling to open up a second branch, questioned her on this decision. “After all, US Fine Arts was rather well known; wouldn’t it be easy to open up a successful second branch? Delegate a teacher to the new location, and the rest would be simple; after all, there were plenty of UCLA professors with kids that lived in that area. This way, we wouldn’t have to constantly drive nearly two hours to get to US Fine Arts. Arts schools are a dime a dozen, but we are resolute in the decision that our kids should attend US Fine Art because we believe in this CTA based curriculum.

Principal Zhao replied, “College classrooms are time slot based, which is a very opposite environment from what we have at US Fine Art Institute. To open up a second branch in such an environment would require a reduction of the quality of education that we are committed to providing. If the quality of education drops, despite the extra checks I am now able to provide, we have ruined the name of US Fine Art. Instead, let’s hold an open house and you can see for yourself.”

So everyone came to the open house, and it became obvious that to the eye that US Fine Art Institute’s environment, with staff’s teamwork and qualifications all played a very important role. It was then that they came to understand Principal Zhao’s commitment; you can’t just casually delegate any teacher to a second branch and expect the same results. A school’s excellence and value is something worked for as a whole. Because of this, the UCLA professors too began to bring their kids to US Fine arts despite the distance, because they too wanted their children to be educated with the CTA system.

Only With Proper Support, Can You Have an Elite Student

When Tianru was in high school, she participated in tryouts for the school yearbook. Ultimately, she was not chosen for the editorials, but due to her artistic talents, they had unexpectedly created a fine arts position for her. From then on, every yearbook was designed by her. During her key moment, it was her artistic stills that had helped her out. Her artistic talent was able to take the place of her writing and editorial talents. It was because of this still that the school was able to give a column to write commentary. During the world art book expo, authors also came to her to write critiques on their book. All this was possible, because she had an art background. Towards this, Tianru’s dad said, “no matter what she ends up doing, she will be able to see the big picture but focus on the small details. This is all because she was able to see the delicacy in things from studying fine art. Because she was educated with the CTA curriculum at a young age, after eight years of hard work and improvement, we can now witness her skill and ability. Tianru has always been a very introverted child, when she first began; even the littlest bit of criticism or direction was an exercise in thought. Only after learning to focus on the big picture did she learn patience. In those eight years, as her parents, we were never impatient. Not once did we demand to see a certain type of improvement. We only asked that she build her foundational skill, as a whole, learning little by little. No matter what she does, whether it is law, journalism, or design, she will achieve her goal. This is all because she has the ability of critical thinking. US Fine Art’s CTA curriculum really is important, because it does not emphasize one piece of work or improvement on one piece of skill. Instead, it is focusing both the art and the person as whole. It is only from this kind of support do you achieve the results of today.”

Ivy League Colleges Don’t Pick Students Based on Their Test Scores

“Every teacher that has ever taught me at US Fine Art has left me with a different kind of reward. My high school counselor had told me, based on my capabilities, there really wasn’t a prestigious college that was out of reach for me. But I knew that Ivy League schools didn’t pick their students based on scores alone. No matter if you chose to major in art or not, it was always good to prepare an exceptional portfolio as way to distinguish yourself from the rest. So even during my busiest period in high school, not only did I not give up my art lessons, I put more time and effort into my art, so I could prepare a better portfolio.” – Tianru

Tianru received acceptance letters and scholarship offers from over Yale and eleven other top universities; she ended up choosing to attend Yale and major in English with a scholarship of $64,000 a year. On top of that, Yale has also put her into the Freshmen Honors class, along with 11 other students. Fearful of losing out on an excellence student, Yale also provide her with an exceptional offer: a completely complimentary guided tour of Yale, including travel and board, as well as a professor and graduate student to help her plan her future at Yale.
The year of her acceptance, the city the school was located in had rolled out a city sponsored program, offering the top five students $7000 each, encouraging them to start their own business. Tianru top student among the five; excelling in the areas everyone else had excelled in but also having the capability to designing and illustrating her own art, she was able to set up her own website for promotions without any help.

Tianru’s Parents’ Complete Trust in US Fine Art

Tianru’s parents have always been very grateful to us, crediting us with helping their daughter become the exceptional talent that she is. Of course, says principal Zhao, the parts have played a huge part in her success. Never once they did they complain or comment of the arrangement of schedules or classes, putting all their trust in the school. Recognizing the school’s abilities, they whole heartedly supported the school’s decisions. Not once did they have an opinion, no matter how long a certain piece took to finish or who was teaching the class. To Tianru’s parents, since they had chosen for Tianru to attend this school, then they wholeheartedly entrusted Tianru with the staff at US Fine Arts, faith in all of our arrangements.

Because of the parents trust, the school felt secure in planning all of Tianru’s lessons based on her specialties and needs. This sketch of David took her four month to complete. If you calculate the time spent, based on one class per week, that is still a lot of time. In this one piece alone, you are able to see improvements in her ability in aesthetic determination, artistic abilities, ability to resolve difficult situations, etc. This piece is the most stimulating (exciting?) piece in all of her works. It wasn’t that other students didn’t have the skill to create this piece, but for fear of parent complaints on spending so much time on just one piece of art. This piece has received endless praise and marvel from everyone that has seen it, because for Tianru to draw this piece, not only did she use time and dedication, but she also gave heart and attention to detail.
Tianru’s parents are very satisfied with her achievements; they never thought that drawing would have such a large effect. Little did they think that what had merely began as a cultivation of cultural appreciation would blossom and produce such an exceptional person under the guidance of the CTA program. After Tianru’s father saw such excellent results from his eldest daughter, he then registered Tianru’s seven year old younger sister for US Fine Art.