There is a lot more to the Bachelor of Fine Arts program than just a fancy title. More credits, more shows, more focus and a lot more time to devote.

To be in the BFA program, there are three major shows every student must participate in: entry, junior review and senior review.

Within the next week, students who are attempting to enter the program, and who are looking to pass their junior reviews, will show their work to a panel of professors to decide whether they can move on in their degree.

“They don’t just give that degree out to anyone,” sophomore Adrianna Clift, an entry hopeful, said.

Clift said the BFA degree is something people have to work hard to get, but students might as well aim high.

Participating in her junior review with an emphasis in graphic design, senior Laura Moskal recalls her entry review, and said she had a lot of confidence going in because of all the different work she showed.

“I hope I can bring back some of the confidence I had as an entry to my junior review,” Moskal said.

Senior Amanda Shepherd, attempting her junior review with an emphasis in drawing and painting, said the entry is a student’s all around body of work from the classes they have taken so far. Once a student passes the entry, they declare their emphasis.

Shepherd said if she was not in the BFA program and only had a major and minor, she would not have progressed with her technique as much.

“I always felt I was good with drawing and painting, but I knew there was room to grow,” Shepherd said.

Moskal said students are so focused on their emphasis and don’t need a minor.

Junior Hana Keller, another entry hopeful, said having a BFA makes a student more marketable after they graduate. She said there is more professional credit, because there are more shows and galleries students have to participate in.

Clift said the degree holds students to certain standards because it means they have focused on one medium and shows you have a certain skill set with that medium.

Once a student has passed their entry, they have to go through a junior review, which is similar to the entry, but this review actually gives a student their degree.

Shepherd said the junior review shows how a student has improved and grown with their technique.

After a student passes their junior review, they will present a senior review the semester they graduate as a final show.

Keller said she has learned a lot from the art professors at UW-Whitewater, because they are very knowledgeable about all the different mediums.

Moskal said UW-Whitewater’s art program has given her more grow with.

“I wouldn’t have that growth if it weren’t for the opportunities given here. The professors challenge you to push the envelope because they want you to grow and to do well,” Moskal said.