@thewishingstar,
DS was looking into GEs and minors at SJSU. DS, too, was accepted into honors humanities program at SJSU. (Actually, all of the Animation/illustration kiddos probably could be accepted if they wanted to, since A/I had the highest Eligibility index for admission this year at SJSU - higher than comp sci.). Based on the unit requirements, we weren’t sure if he could fit in a minor, honors GE, and animation major. The anim major at SJSU requires 87 units! (LMU or chapman require 60 units). And some of the GEs apply to major where as the honors GEs might not. So DS might need to do non-honors GEs in order to free up enough units for a minor. Bottom line: explore both honors and non honors options because the units will be tight if you want to do a minor. He will find out more on the advising/ orientation session.
He"s pretty committed and excited to attend SJSU, but I want him to check out chapman since their new digital arts building opened since the last time that we was there (over 1 yr ago).
@WriteF,
DS did visit Chapman on Mon by himself. Almost all of the other kids who were visiting had already committed to Chapman (non-Digital Arts majors) and all of the committed pre-frosh were so friendly, which he really liked. Attended an animation class, which he did not like as much as when he attended OTIS precollege. It made him wonder what an actual class at SJSU would be like and made him wish that he had been able to sit in on a class at SJSU. He liked the new digital arts building. Overall, he liked the social/residential aspects of Chapman more than SJSU but preferred the animation program at SJSU.
DS has decided on SJSU, animation/illustration major.
I want to thank those for contributing to this thread! My DD is a junior and several of the schools mentioned here are on our list as she wants to pursue animation. We have already visited several and still have a few to go, but all the information here is extremely helpful. I hope she will have as many choices when the time comes to decide after acceptances are received next year. Did any of your students apply to CalArts? I know their acceptance rate is very low, but after our visit there, it’s up at the top of her list. Congratulations to your kids on committing to great schools and programs.
@Momto3 My friend got accepted at CalArts for Character Animation. I suggest that your daughter to start on her portfolio and sketchbook as soon as possible because not only would she compete with other very talented people of her age, but also international and 20+ years old students who do not make it the first time around (or second and plus time around) and spend their years practicing until they get in. I’m pretty sure CalArts does not focus so much on realism, as long as you demonstrate mastery/design/conceptual thinking in the sketchbook that students must submit. Close connections with staff is a big plus too. My friend attended CSSSA and got to know some animation professors.
It’s nice that your DD knows what she want to study in college now (sooner the better). I didn’t really figure out what I wanted to do in college even after I applied to some universities. As a result, my portfolio wasn’t as strong as I wanted it to be, but I had backup plans that didn’t involve animation.
DS did not apply to cal arts because he did not apply to any arts colleges. His interest in 2d animation / char design would have made cal arts a top contender. Would have been very hard for him to get accepted, I suspect, because although his animations are funny and tell a great story, his life drawing and drawing from observation needs work. He needs to work on this in college. Cal arts so has a very close relationship with Disney.
@thewishingstar thanks for your input. My DD has started working on her portfolio and she understands that many applicants to CalArts apply multiple times before being admitted or attending somewhere else. That’s why we are trying to generate a list of potential schools with appropriate programs that will be excellent choices no matter what. We actually found out that she was accepted to CSSSA for animation this past weekend and will be attending this summer. She is hoping that the experience and training during the four weeks will help to improve her technique and generate some good additions for her portfolio. Any connections she makes would be a bonus. @yohoyoho from what I have read about the program at SJSU, the classes there will definitely help your DS with his technique. It is certainly a program we are looking at as well!
@YoHoYoHo what is the effective % admission for animation/illustration at SJSU? D2 is looking into animation programs - we are out of state (not CA residents) and it looks like the effective EI was around 4000 (SAT-based)? She meets that criteria but does that mean she’s a definite admit or are there other factors resulting from the amount of impaction? Also, are the students admitted directly to animation/illustration this upcoming year or to the design program? Thanks for any info. you can provide.
Update: can you also provide some advice on how easy it is to apply to the CSU system? Is it like one application for the entire system and then you specify your schools and pay the fees accordingly? She really likes Fullerton but isn’t as familiar with SJSU and doesn’t want to apply to “just another school” (she’s just beginning her research into this). My thoughts are that you should apply to all the ones which are strong in animation due to the very high selectivity rate for these schools and I’m really hoping that the system has it’s own version of the “common ap”.
@mamelot,
For SJSU, this year there were over 500 applicants (unclear if this is for frosh and transfers, but I presume that it is for both). Number of expected frosh in class is 50-60. It’s difficult to calculate actual selectivity because I don’t know the yield of the frosh students (ie the number that they actually had to accept in order to get a class size of 50-60) and I don’t know of the 500+ applicants how many were for frosh only.
As for eligibility index, as a CA student if you are over the threshold, then you should get accepted. I’m not sure if they add additional points to the EI for OOS students. And they might. So you might want to call or email to ask this.
Kids are admitted into animation/illustration as a placeholder (this was for fall 2015). But starting mid soph yr, you have to pass portfolio review to continue on into the major (BFA animation/illustration). If you do not pass portfolio review after 3 tries, you get taken out of A/I major and placed in a BA design studies major. But this design studies major is new (and set up to handle the overflow of kids) so what I wrote might be different for upcoming fall 2016.
The Cal state university application is so easy. Yes, you fill out just one app and then click which of the CSUs to send the same app. There is no Essay (I think), no LORs to be sent, no transcript. The only requirement is to have the sat/act scores sent, and you only send 1 report and then you have to fill out a section to get it distributed to all of the CSUs that you have applied to. CSUs basically just have a computer look at grades, std tests, where you live, and major that kid is applying to, and a computer does the admissions process.
Lastly, my DS applied to other CSUs that had animation programs such as CSU Los Angeles and CSU Channel Islands and many CSUs offer animation programs. But after learning more about animation programs at CSUs, I now know that the CSUs with the well connected (internships, networks) animation programs are
SJSU
SFSU
CSUN
CSUF
CSULB
Thank you @YoHoYoHo this is so helpful!! 50 - 60 kids out of 500 applicants? Yikes!!! I figured it must be huge given the size of the university. D2 will be applying to all the ones you listed if she decides on animation. Her goal is to get into a program that is well-connected.
Yes, the OOS have a higher EI and the effective one for last year was 4000 I believe for SJSU. I think I’m computing her GPA and everything else correctly when I said she met that criteria but I think that’s a minimum. Not sure how they choose after that with no portfolio, essay, rec letters etc. But hey - it’s an easy app! Found CSUMentor which has been very helpful and which I believe is where she would go to apply come Oct. 1.
Thank you again and good luck to your son. And well done on his admission to SJSU. I’m just starting to get up to speed on animation programs but everything I read tells me that it’s pretty awesome.
CSU purely chooses based on a formula with GPA, standardized tests, where you live, I believe. I presume there is some computer that ranks all applicants based on institutional desires. After the applicants are ranked, there is a cutoff made based on the number of students that they want to accept which is based on yields, etc.
Because of this, the stats that you need to make the cutoff varies each year based on the number of applications. For a year wih lots of kiddos with higher stats, the cutoff will be higher than other years.
Calculating the CSU or UC gpa is full of rules. Exclude frosh yr. Using soph and jr yr, exclude all + and -. So A- will be A = 4.00 etc. Hs and Ap classes get an extra “point” in gpa calculation. Not all honors classes qualify because some HSs will call a class honors, but UC/CSU will not consider them honors for an extra point. The HS classes have been evaluated at a website which called ucop doorways (but that is changing) to determine if an H class will be awarded the extra point. OOS applicants probably should make the assumption that their H class will qualify. Only 8 semesters (4 classes) of Ap or H will be awarded the extra point. Everything above and beyond gets no extra point. Have to also have met a-g requirements.
The rules on the CSU mentor website are a little vague. More specific rules can be found on the UC application website.
The CSUs are more like directional universities. The UCs are more like flagship universities.
Thanks @YoHoYoHo! She is definitely excited and really looking forward to going. Waiting the 2 months for either the acceptance or rejection was so hard. Getting the big envelope was very exciting for her. I suppose it was good training for college applications coming up senior year!
CalArts loves CSSSA kids, and if your d gets accepted to CalArts and attended CSSSA there is a scholarship available (my d attended CSSSA last year and was accepted to CalArts in Theater for the fall).
Resurrecting this thread as we get close to making this year’s decision of which animation program to choose. I wanted to see how your DS is doing at SJSU @Yohoyoho. My d just got accepted there today. Still waiting on 3 other schools.