I’m a HS senior from MA with a GPA of 3.92 and ACT of 32 (though I’m retaking it), and I’m looking to major in animation and minor in psychology. When it comes to animation, I’m more interested in the tradigital, drawing-oriented side of things, and am hoping to get a fair amount of illustration experience within my studies. I’m also fairly interested in game design and animation/illustration for games, especially since that’s where job prospects are more promising & my interests are perfect for the field.
I currently have 16 colleges on my list (+1 w/o a fee), which makes me worry about application fees! My family can probably swing the fees if necessary, but it’ll be difficult. I was unsure about college majors until recently, and there are a number of schools on my list that I’m not sure about, but don’t want to take off. I’ve only visited one school (Tufts), though I plan to visit what I can in December and March.
I’ll put my full list below in case anyone has comments, but here are my questions about the schools I’m most concerned about.
RISD: Obviously one of the “top” arts schools, but I’ve heard so many mixed things about it that I’m confused. It’s clearly a good art school in most areas, and Animation Career Review (ACR) lists it as #6 for my major. However, others say its animation isn’t good as compared to its illustration. What concerns me most is its reputation for being a gallery school catered to fine artists. Maybe it’s changed, but I want a school that will help me learn what I’m passionate about while giving me practical business skills and preparing me for the real art world.
NYU: They /do/ have an animation major, right? Some sources say they do, but the website itself is very unhelpful and confusing. I have yet to contact them about it because I had to cancel a recent tour. Is the program oriented towards a particular side of animation, and can I do a lot of Illustration and Game stuff while at Tisch?
Ringling: Known as one of the best schools for animation, but also sounds like it’s 3D-oriented. How true is this? Does it sound like it fits my interests and plans?
Parsons (New School): ACR says you can choose animation as a focus, but the website only lists Game Design and Creative Technology. Is there really an animation focus, and will I still get to do what I hope to? I’m worried because the major is called “Design and Technology”.
Tufts (SMFA): Is there a real animation major?? I toured the school over the summer, but I only talked about animation as a minor as that’s what I thought I would do at the time. The website is really general and doesn’t confirm or deny it.
My full list: (kind of in order)
Carnegie Mellon
Tufts University
University of Southern California
Maryland Institute College of Art
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
DePaul University
Champlain College
Lesley University
Marist College
New York University
Rhode Island School of Design
Ringling College of Art and Design
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Syracuse University
The New School
Thanks in advance for any replies, stories, or suggestions! Anything advice is helpful. (:
Did you look into PRATT? They have animation as a major and from what I hear, the head of the animation Dept steers it closer to 2D. When we toured it, I really liked the school (nice campus, good school, good program and close to NYC internships) but my daughter wants computer 3D animation and felt like they lacked in that area. Good luck
Ringling’s CA major is very much 3D oriented because that’s where the industry is. It is an extremely competitive program Ringling does have a major in Game Art and Design which actually might fit your needs better than the CA major (more blend of illustration and animation) You may want to check it out.
Since Ringling is primarily an ART school, you wouldn’t be able to get a minor in psychology as far as I know.
They do have some minors but relate primarily to business.
All the art- focused schools are extremely expensive. You may want to look at universities that offer a program–then you could get your minor also.
Get on-line and look at the student work being produced by each of the schools–it’ll help narrow your choices. And what companies come to interview at the school.
@NYCMomof3 I have, and I’m definitely applying there! I forgot to add it to my post because they don’t use the CA, which is where I copy/pasted my list from, lol. Thanks!
@gouf78 Thanks for the suggestion! I hadn’t considered pursuing a Game Art major because I imagined it as more 3D stuff and game design, but I’ll certainly look into it – if it really is just animation + illustration for gaming, then that would be even better.
I can’t be sure, but I vaguely remember my college counselor saying that Ringling students could take classes at partner universities. I’ll have to look into it some more, though.
Yeah, all of the art schools were actually pretty recent additions to my list – I’d originally planned to double major, so I needed schools with both. That’s why I have schools like Tufts, Marist, USC, NYU, RIT, RPI and Lesley – they’re all full universities with a good arts program. A lot of the more selective schools offer need-based aid, too.
I certainly need to go through each school and watch some of the student work – I have for some, but not all. (Lesley’s isn’t the best, especially compared to places like CalArts or USC, but it’s better than some other schools I’ve seen… that’s why it’s a backup, lol. I’ll have to compare it to others and eliminate the schools whose work impresses me the least, I guess.)
I think that is a lot of schools to handle applications, portfolios, follow ups, FA applications (and many of these don’t have great FA). It is not only the $100 or so per application, it is the time needed to make sure you are keeping all the schools happy.
Have you run the NPC for each school? Are the financials in your range?
RISD has a program to get dual degrees but I believe you have to be accepted into it. You are most likely underestimating the time commitment for top schools. It is art 24/7 with not much time to do anything else.
Ringling’s program in game design is more art-based. There are other programs in gaming that are more computer/coding based.
You really need to dig into the financial aspects.
Here’s some feedback re your list from the schools I’m familiar with (I teach in an art dept of a small east coast college and one kid is at RISD with another applying to art schools…so we’ve toured a lot of art school and larger universities with big art departments)
Maryland Institute College of Art - great art program, you need to see if they have a psych minor
Rochester Institute of Technology - this school’s big enough that you could double major; not sure how robust their psych department is since they’re primarily known for STEM majors. And they lean more heavily into digital animation/game design (which makes sense with their STEM focus).
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - hubs a math major alum and while it is a great schools for STEM, architecture, game design/new media there’s not much of a fine arts dept/traditional illustration, or psychology for that matter I think. Wouldn’t recc’d it based on your interests.
Rhode Island School of Design - acceptance rate for the dual Brown degree is VERY competitive so do more research to see if it’s a good fit. Also the schools semesters DO NOT ALIGN. So it’s a tricky thing to pull off and you’re a bit isolated from both campus’s socially the way the program works.
Ringling College of Art and Design - like MICA, great art program but not sure about liberal minors in psych
Syracuse University - very well respected art department and you can easily double major here since such a large university; fairly generous with $ aid based on merit/grades too
@twoinanddone I haven’t checked out the financials for many of the art schools, but I’m hoping I can get enough aid for at least one of my higher choices. My family is going to help me pay for college as much as they can, and they’re currently paying 13k per year for private high school (I got a bigger scholarship than we expected & my middle school brother costs more at the moment lol) – so I can’t afford 40k a year or anything, but if I can get any scholarships, up to 20 - 25k per year maybe be somewhat doable. I wasn’t worried about financials when I was just applying to schools like Tufts and CMU, which can afford to give you as much aid as you need, but now that I’m focusing on art schools I’m slightly more concerned, as I don’t know that art schools are famous for their financial aid…
@ArtAngst Thanks for your help! RPI is one that I haven’t looked into much; I think I threw it on there for their reputation for computer animation, but I hadn’t gotten around to checking whether they’re any good in 2d art.
I know double-majoring is possible at RIT, and their Psych is pretty solid, but I’ve kind of since forgotten about the Psych minor… I wrote an essay about majoring in art for USC’s deadline that helped me rethink it.
Still unsure about Syracuse; I’ll probably keep it there for a backup, but I’m really not a fan of the school’s reputation for partying and greek life… I guess I’ll have to look into it some more, because it’s not like I’m going to be outside all that much anyway as an animation student, lol.
@gouf78 Thanks for your help again. As I mentioned above, my desire to minor in Psych has shrunk significantly in the last 10 days, haha… so that’s not a problem anymore! Also, Brown/RISD was one of the first programs I looked at, but even if I was still interested in double majoring I’m reeeeally not into the way they split their classes up (plus it’s nearly impossible to get in, lol).
@taxguy i just saw this now, but i’m honestly not sure why i wasn’t considering sva when i posted this lol?? it mightve been cause i still wanted to minor in psych (which i don’t need anymore). i’m actually touring sva this monday.