Our daughter is very interested in an animation career and is unsure of whether to focus on 2D or 3D. Nevertheless, she had focused her sites on SCAD when she was in 6th grade (she’s a HS junior now). A few months ago, as we discussed options for applying to other colleges, we made a list that included RCAD, SVA, CalArts (reach school), and RISD. We visited RCAD in February and I started realizing that she was woefully unprepared for a portfolio submission. I also started having doubts about SCAD based on what I have read here from posters. Being an Engineer, this is unchartered territory for me and I really want to be sure that if we are making a large financial investment, that she will be best prepared within her degree and have the best prospects for employment. We have recently started looking at adding universities to our list and RIT appears to have a very reputable program. I just want to make sure that any program she chooses will have the foundational elements needed as well as the opportunity to explore 2D as well as 3D animation. RIT appears to do that. Any feedback on which colleges provide really good foundational prep for an animation program, opportunity to explore options, and have good relationships with studios for internships and ultimately, jobs, would be greatly appreciated!
astute12 thanks for the reply. I really don’t expect her to make it into CalArts although that would be amazing! It seems that there are a lot of options as long as you are willing to do the hard work. She will need to probably focus on some of the lesser competitive colleges since her portfolio will need work. But she does have really strong grades and has taken a pretty challenging high school track of courses with a good amount of AP work. However, I want to make sure that wherever she goes, she has a strong art based foundation that sets her up well for her higher level classes and future opportunities.
Attend National Portfolio Days (different dates, different cities) if possible. A lot of schools will be present and they’ll give feedback on portfolios as to what is good, what to focus on etc.
A portfolio for animation should be heavier on figure drawing and quick sketch showing action. (Ringling had separate lines for fine art vs animation portfolios since different skills are required).
Attend a pre-college experience. Ringling has a 4 week program where you sign up for two immersion experiences. Much of my D’s portfolio was created during that program. Pre-college is a great way to determine if this career path is really what you want. After all, it’s called computer animation not paper animation. You need to love that aspect.
Ringling’s CA program is focused on 3D animation but you learn the entire pipeline of work which adds to your employment opportunities. The admission rate for CA is very low (not far behind CalArts–it was at 10% but may be higher since they now accept a few more students to the program) but there is possibility of being offered Game Art or Motion Design. They’ve started a VR program also (wish I could sign up!).
Especially if your D is interested in 2D , I would suggest she check out those majors in addition to CA and the student work. She may find it fits her goals even better. Ringling’s career services is excellent.
Conceptart.org is a great site with many forums where you can post questions about various art schools. Many students go there to get feedback on their portfolios. Just looking around the site can help you start get a feel of the different schools.
With her grades & APs, RIT may be a good fit. They have a well regarded program and if she’s looking for a larger university, there’s a ton of on-campus activities. My friend’s son recently graduated from the game design program and I believe all majors have a co-op semester where they’re working basically a full time internship and this helps a lot with networking/job placement by graduation.
Also, I don’t know if they still do it, but at NPD the RIT rep was handing out a feedback sheet with portfolio ‘scores’ & it helped to know their benchmark, constructive feedback etc.
@midcoastmom My D was also interested in animation, and we got to know a lot of the schools. A good alternative to CalArts is ArtCenter in Pasadena, a program as rigorous, if not more so, than CalArts, and with very good ties to the industry. But it is still not as hot as CalArts, so easier to get into. We visited, and we were impressed. As for the portfolio, my D took a year off to work on her portfolio before applying, and I think it helped. Online, you can see the portfolios of other applicants, and it gives you an idea of what it takes. However, after a year of preparation, including taking a summer animation course at CalArts, she decided that animation was not for her, and she is now more interested in illustration and design. Good luck!
@midcoastmom Our daughter has been passionate about animation since middle school and is now a senior in high school. She attended rural public schools with sparse art resources, so she is self taught in her craft. We began researching colleges with animation programs during her freshman year and have visited RISD, SCAD, CALARTS, USC, Chapman and Loyola Marymount. RISD students told her that since she is set on animation, she might be better served at another school, preferably on west coast. SCAD is a for profit school and we have been turned off by what we have learned. CALARTS is the pinnacle animation school, however, she didn’t feel it was a good fit and has chosen to study in an environment that is not solely an art school. She applied for the animation programs at USC SCA, the Dodge College at Chapman and Loyola Marymount and was accepted to all three. She is most impressed with the programs at USC and Chapman; however, all three are great and provide solid foundations in both 2D and 3D. Hope this helps and good luck to your daughter!
My daughter sounds similar to yours. She graduated with 6 AP’s, and all other classes were honors. GPA was 4.3, ACT 30. Selected for Governor’s School for the Arts after junior year. All-state singer, cello all 4 years, section leader senior year, President of art club, junior senior year, special needs peer volunteer, 4 years, worked as an office assistant, cello teacher, and camp counselor during high school. Won local art competition, Scholastic Gold Key winner. Just giving stats FYI, not to brag… because that’s water under the bridge, but just to let you know what mattered. In the end, yes, grade for sure helped! But truly, it’s the portfolio that matters. We visited many of the schools on your list, and applied to SAIC (accepted $18,500/yr scholarship), Pratt ($26,000/yr ), SCAD ($18/yr- i think, they kept stacking scholarships at the end, and I don’t remember the final number). East Tn State -digital media design, (complete full ride, including room and board), Laguna ($13,000/yr). RISD/BROWN dual applicant-rejected. She was admitted to SVA, honors program with $12,500 a year scholarship. She also got $5000 a year work study. CalArts-Rejected. Visited Ringling, Parson’s and MCA, did not apply after visiting, not for her. In the end, after all the visiting, hand-wringing, and sleepless nights, she came down to SVA and Pratt. SVA was her #1 choice after visiting, and then it came down to money. In the end, we let her choose with her knowing she would not be living a NY lifestyle in NY! She has done very well. Loves it there, and was just selected to be an RA next year, which will now make it UNDER budget. Dreams do come true! (but she had to WORK for it).
@ArtAngst We will definitely check out RIT! I am anxious to see what they have to offer as far as internships and co-op program. Its also a departure from the art schools we are visiting, being a rounded out college experience.
@moonpie your daughter’s story is so inspiring! We are visiting SVA on 4/17 and looking forward to it! We absolutely LOVE NYC. What year is your daughter in? Is there a meal plan at SVA? I hear that there is not one but some dorms seem to have cooking facilities?
@PNWmomto3 As far as SCAD, was it the stories from the 90s that were a turn off or anything else? I’m not sure of the placement rates for the animation majors there. I need to really look into their numbers.
@PNWmomto3 As far as SCAD, was it the stories from the 90s that were a turn off or anything else? I’m not sure of the placement rates for the animation majors there. I need to really look into their numbers.
@PNWmomto3 As far as SCAD, was it the stories from the 90s that were a turn off or anything else? I’m not sure of the placement rates for the animation majors there. I need to really look into their numbers.
@midcoastmom My HS junior D and I visited RIT yesterday. Though the schools is more remote and much larger than she ideally wants; we were both impressed with the college of art and the school environment as a whole. We also met with the illustration department chair and the animation department chair. They were both very generous with their time with us and gave my D a lot of fruit for thought advice to consider as she considers her path in the next year. They also spent a good deal of time looking at her work to date and gave her high remarks. So many students were friendly and welcoming to us, even outside of the art school. We left RIT feeling that it’ll be a solid match/safety school for her in many aspects. I highly recommend a visit.
One take away, at least for me since I’m a novice about art programs, animation at RIT is less drawing than illustration and more learning the technical side of animation from the beginning to the end. (Same goes for Game Design - less art and more coding.). The department chair explained that RIT graduates RIT are well trained to jobs/opportunities in various animation roles. He said the industry know that RIT grads can do any job in the pipeline of animation production and not just one aspect. I assume that’s similar at SVA and Ringling. It would be helpful if @moonpie and @gouf78 can elaborate on their D’s respective schools.
Another take away we got from talking to a grad student is that there aren’t as many staff as needed to teach the animation courses. She said many staff members are excellent and have worked in the industry, but more are needed and space availability in classes are a little limited. For example, illustration students can take animation classes, but often there just isn’t space available. Again, since I’m a novice about all of this, I don’t know if this is fairly normal or not. I get the sense that Ringlng’s CA is limited only to CA majors.
We also liked that the college of art was right in the center of the main campus, unlike Stamps School of Art at Michigan which is very far from the main campus. We did not stay to do a full campus tour because it was an exhausting day after the various meetings. We were there from 9 am and 12:30 pm just with the art staff and students. The info session was at 1 pm; fairly typical but we appreciated that the admission person kept the info practical and real.
Hope you let us know your D’s decision as she considers all her options.
@midcoastmom My daughter is ending her freshman year. The 23rd street residence is apartment style, and they have kitchens in their rooms. I was worried about the no meal plan, but it has been a non-issue. My girl goes grocery shopping about once every 1-2 weeks, and picks up fresh food like milk on the way from class. She loves cooking so that is not a problem, and eats healthy. She orders from amazon prime pantry, and that super easy to get most of her food! Next year she will be al RA at the newest dorm. There are “kitchenettes” in rooms, but every floor has a full kitchen and the basement has a HUGE kitchen. Kids gather and cook meals together in both areas. All dorms have cooking facilities, just not in room. If your child is OK with living the NY way, and not wanting a traditional campus, it’s probably a good fit! Feel free to PM me if you have more questions!
Thank you for this thread.
My rising senior daughter has done very well in high school, with a 4.2 weighted GPA and a 1340 (so far) on SAT. She is also self-taught in art and has developed her own portfolio over the years. In high school she focused on band and academics, and will be leading the drumline her senior year. The schools she is interested to ideally get a job in 3-D animation for a company like Disney/Pixar or Dreamworks, or Blizzard (we live in Southern CA so these companies are not far from us) are, highest to lowest interest: Texas A&M Vizlab, USC, Chapman, Loyola Marymount, CSUF/CSULB (which are cheap and close) and possibly San Jose State. She checked out Drexel and did not like the Urban feel. She LOVED SMU as it was a very comfortable campus, friendly, with a lot of school spirit in the heart of Dallas. (She would study Creative Computation). So far we haven’t checked out RIT, should we? Thoughts? Also she does NOT want to attend an art school only as she wants a larger campus with continued opportunities for Pep/Marching band possibly.
I live in the Dallas area and have checked out smu, a&m, and utd; came away unimpressed by smu student work, utd had great facilities but no industry connections, a&m had no art school and the facilities were sparse and seemed geared towards gaming.
@PNWmomto3 According to Wikipedia, Savannah College of Art and Design is nonprofit. The SCAD website says, “The Savannah College of Art and Design is a private, nonprofit, accredited institution conferring bachelor’s and master’s degrees at distinctive locations and online to prepare talented students for professional careers.”