@jigsaw19 - I see your daughter chose SVA for Animation last year? how has she liked it? My daughter is strongly leaning towards SVA’s Computer Art program, class of 2024, I’d love to hear your thoughts!
@JuneOsborne - looks like you have a daughter in Digital Arts at Pratt? Mine is considering this same program for class of 2024. Her other top choices are SVA (Computer Art) and Ringling (Computer Animation) - how has your daughter liked her first year at Pratt?
@LadybugPicnic So sorry for the delay!!! I haven’t been on much due to CV craziness! My daughter is a junior Animation and Film major. In the end, my girl had many great offers, but came down to SVA and Pratt. Pratt offered her the most money, but SVA was ultimately where she felt the best fit. One big reason for her was starting her animation classes freshman year. She didn’t want a “foundation” year. She loves living in the city, and has had an incredible experience there. One of her dear friends goes to Pratt for animation and she LOVES Pratt. In the end, it came down to fit and finance. For her the fit at SVA has been amazing, and she has had incredible opportunities! She made the finance part work by becoming an RA, and that has proved to be very beneficial. She was promoted to an Administrative position at the end of her sophomore year, and she loves it. She was also a TA this year for one of her favorite professors, so got a little spending money as well! If you (or your child) have any questions about student life, living in the city, etc I can hook you up with my daughter!
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^ This is a really good comment that points out one of the big differences between SVA and Pratt. Pratt will offer a traditional general foundation year; SVA will have the student taking major courses right away. Fit will be key to the experience as both are appropriate depending on what you are looking for. Keep in mind that Time is a limited resource no matter which path you choose. One school will offer “less” than the other in some things and “more” in other things. You just have to understand the trade-offs.
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@moonpie - so helpful, thank you! at application time last Fall, SVA was the runaway favorite for just the reasons you list - living in the heart of NYC and jumping straight to work in her major. Pratt and Ringling both force a foundation year and she feels her entire high school career has been so invested in art that she doesn’t want to wait any longer to specialize! not only that, but (in her eyes) the computer art/animation curriculum at SVA seems to offer the highest technical level of any of the schools she toured and she loves the added bonus of a deep dive into visual effects as well. she also feels very connected and inspired by the student work there.
so why is she hesitant now that she has what she wanted? she sees the beautiful, traditional, enclosed campuses at Pratt and Ringling and she can easily see a community there. at SVA, she sees independent commuter students and a spread out “campus” of buildings with no place to gather socially, not even a dining hall - and, as working professionals, even the teachers are commuters! in short, she’s having trouble seeing the “community” at SVA. I would love to hear your (and your daughter’s) perspective on whether this is a fair assessment?
@JBFlying - indeed it is a critical difference! my daughter is anti-“foundations year”, she feels focused and ready to run, which is what makes SVA her favorite program. for her, the struggle is whether or not she’s giving up too much on the social side at SVA, where they seem to lack a cohesive community - or perhaps it’s just less apparent given the non-traditional ‘campus’?? in her mind >> give up my dream program for a tighter-knit community - or - give up a tight-knit community for my dream program? i’m eager to hear @moonpie 's perspective and hoping there’s more than meets the eye (socially) at SVA!!
@LadybugPicnic I’ll answer here, because I think it may help others in future! My daughter has had no shortage of friends or community. Yes, there are people who commute, and my daughter frequently goes to Brooklyn to hang out for sleepovers with friends who live there. But she has a large group of friends, not only to they go all over the city to enjoy the NY life, but they congregate in the basement to play games, hang on the terrace, or watch movies (24th street is better set-up for that), and have kitchen parties. Freshman year 23rd street dorm, they definitely hung out in the basement the most. They do a lot of work in orientation with community building. Her friends have different majors, and there are a lot of clubs and activities of interest that build friendships. Interestingly, a mom I “met” on here 4 years ago had a daughter going there as well. We introduced them digitally, they met on move-in day, and she is still my daughter’s best friend! She has been here to visit us over summer, and every time I go to NYC, I take them both out. One thing that is pretty cool, is seniors hire younger students to do “fill in” work, coloring in backgrounds, sound design and even music… so my daughter got film “credits” starting freshman year. I also wanted to add that my daughter felt the same way about the high technical level of the work being produced. She looked are reels of senior thesis projects from all the schools, and felt the most inspired by SVA. I truly wanted her to go to Pratt because I wanted the “college experience” for her. I loved my college time and went to a traditional school, and felt she would be safer, and more grounded at Pratt. I was wrong. She is a city girl, and NY is her home now. She has several amazing paid internship opportunities there this summer, and I doubt she’ll every be home again except to visit.
I tend to think these distinctions of “campus” vs. “no campus” kind of go away after about five minutes after Orientation starts. The big issue for my kids (who differed on the “campus” vs “no campus” sentiment) was whether there was a critical mass of other creative kids around. That’s why both chose dedicated art/design schools over a “school of art” in a larger university setting. Note: the university might have a dedicated campus, but not a thriving art and design community (or thriving enough for my kids). My guess is that both SVA and Pratt will have the community that your kids are all looking for. It will really come down to which one they just like better.
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My son was is deciding between Pratt and SVA currently. Were you concerned at all with SVA being for profit? What about the lack of a meal plan and campus dining? My son will not want to cook
@moonpie - WOW, thank you so much for your feedback! It’s very encouraging to hear how much your daughter has loved SVA, not only for the same things my daughter sees (the high caliber, the connection to the student work, the many opportunities to jump right into your specialty, the love of NYC), but especially for the things that my daughter can’t quite see … yet! I really appreciate your perspective, it’s incredibly helpful! I may circle back with a PM if my daughter has anything specific she wants to know, but your daughter’s story has certainly been reassuring for both of us, thank you!
@Greendaisey859 - we’re in the same boat re: Pratt vs SVA - what is your son’s program at each? For us, the biggest problem with no dining hall at SVA is the social aspect - my daughter is an incredibly picky eater and will likely eat better when she’s the one who picks/prepares the menu. As far as the ‘for profit’ aspect, I was concerned but can’t really see a dealbreaker … as a 3-year SVA parent, I would ask @moonpie if it has been a concern? is your son leaning one way more than the other? mine has been consistently gravitating toward SVA, but not 100% ready to let go of Pratt or Ringling just yet - hard to believe we need to commit so soon!
@LadybugPicnic --left a long reply on the 2024 thread. Be happy to pm with you or just ask away.
@gouf78 - thank you for the reply on 2024, I see it’s a long one! heading over to that thread now to read and digest …
@Greendaisey859 Lack of meal plan was not an issue for my daughter freshman year, but she does love to cook. Her roommate freshman year was scared of the stove, and never cooked anything that couldn’t be heated up in a microwave! But she did eat some of my daughter’s dinners, LOL. If you look up costs of meal plans in schools in NYC (or any school, really) they are ridiculously expensive, and my daughter spent 1/4 of the money on food and groceries than we spent on meal plans for my other 2! That being said, food is very expensive in NYC if you eat out everywhere, but there are also places you can eat a TON for very little. As for the “for profit” status, that’s a big turn off for a lot of people, my husband included. But we researched how the profits are used, how they invest back in the school, and then compared that to the same data for several of the “non-profit” schools she was accepted to, and found that the differences were not that much. In fact, at many of the not-for-profit schools, the salaries for the president were WAY more. Feel free to PM any questions!
Portfolio … All ART colleges ONLY care how good your PORTFOLIO . Thats what I’m getting nowadays for my Sr HS.
^ Portfolio is a key component of your application. TIP: follow the directions on the art school’s website and provide them with what they are asking for. Also, if they provide advice, follow that as well.
Keep in mind that if you have a high GPA and/or test scores, that will help bring in extra scholarship funding at some schools. It won’t substitute for an impressive portfolio but it might help in a scholarship decision. My oldest (Pratt, 2019) decided on art school well before she had a decent portfolio so she had to play catch-up in her junior and senior year of high school. However, her decent GPA and excellent ACT score allowed her to consider a variety of funding from at least four institutions (that I recall). My second oldest (SCAD, 2020) had even less art experience going in than her older sister did! However, she was awarded scholarships from at least three schools that I recall because she had an excellent GPA and a very decent SAT score. These schools really do care about your academics and test scores - although not really sure about the latter these days given the pandemic and the mass cancelation of testing. The reason those other measures are considered important is that they are highly correlated with things like finishing your degree on time, not dropping out, etc. A BFA program is very hard and you will be challenged well beyond your comfort zone. If you struggle to complete work under those circumstances, you might struggle in art school as well.
So don’t give up on high grades and other measures of academic acumen while in high school - even if you are applying to art school. In fact, just expect that more will be demanded of you than of your friends applying to regular college. Schools don’t give out those scholarships to just anyone - they pick and choose and bestow that money on who they believe will get through the program and go on to have a successful career as a practicing artist/designer. Since they don’t know you personally, pretty much everything you send in will be relevant, including transcript and test scores.
Hey guys. First post ever on CC. My senior son is admitted to animation programs at DePaul, Purdue (we are IN residents), Ball State and Ohio State. Waiting on NYU film USC film, and some spots without animation programs. Got presidential scholarship from DePaul, which is 24k or so. Also full ride to IU, which doesn’t have animation.
Of his current options, he is leaning towards DePaul. His interest is 2D animation. He has great grades and scores, and we want a place with good all-around academics in addition to the animation.
Thanks for your input!
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DD did an online Animation precollege with DePaul 2 years ago. Feel free to PM. Great schools, all around!