<p>Hi. New to the board, but have been reading for a little while. My daughter is a junior, she spent last summer at ECP at SAIC and has been accepted to MICA Tuscany program this summer. We have been doing the college tour thing and over break visited MassArt, among other schools and she loved it. I do not have a lot of feel for the school and wondered if others knew much about it. We used to live near Boston, and we do love the area too. So, any information about the quality of the students, living situation, quality of the teaching and programs, job opportunities, etc would be greatly appreciated. Daughter is interested in illustration and animation. Thanks all.</p>
<p>MassArt is the best deal going for Mass and New England students, Mass students get a really reduced tuition, I think it’s $7,000 as MassArt is maybe the only public college that is just an art school. New England students pay around $14,000 tuition. I think the out of area tuition was more reasonable than most also. Large school, the advertising department looked pretty good and my overall impression was good. Appeared to have much more hands on realistic real world approach which, to be honest, I found refreshing. My child sat in on a sculpture class and was absolutely blown away by the practicality of the approach and the technical skill of the instructor. It’s the only class I’ve seen where my kid walked out really really excited (and we’ve done a few sit-in on a class types of tests), excited about a class and instructor. Of course in a school this big that doesn’t necessarily mean this sort of expertise is everywhere but it was an very positive experience.</p>
<p>I don’t think the emphasis is all on technical skill but to me this school might have found a way to skirt a problem at many of the big fancy and expensive art schools. Which is so much emphasis on conceptual art that technical skill and actual instruction in how to produce things has really fallen by the wayside. There seems to be a good mix of both at MassArt. And you can’t beat the location, it’s like a huge college campus in the middle of a big city with all those schools right around there, the museum (in fact 2 or 3) within walking distance.</p>
<p>New dorm being built, the state seems to be really dedicated to supporting this school. And because of it’s tuition level a much wider range of students from differing economic tiers which I think is always a good thing. You’re much less likely to find this at the more expensive schols and that lends some variety in world view and approach and that always great.</p>
<p>Thanks Artsmarts. We are from out of the area, but the tuition is still good. I guess I am looking for more of the prestige of the school. I agree with all you said and we loved the school. We will be looking at Mica, SAIC, Tyler, CMU, Ringling and a few other schools. Do you or does anyone have an impression as to how Massarts compares? I know that it is a “good deal” and we do love the idea of an art school surrounded by all the other schools in the area. Just trying to get a handle on how my daughter would fair after school for work or graduate programs. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Others may have direct experience with the illustration and animation departments but my nephew graduated in 2007 in film/media and had wonderful internship opportunities and now works for WGBH in the media lab as well as continuing to do freelance work. While at MassArt he won a prestigious award that had $$ attached to it for his senior film project. Coming from a family of artists (graphic design, film, illustration, advertising) I have always thought the school is extremely well regarded, but I am not in those industries myself.</p>
<p>There are some sites online where schools are rated, just do a search for “college reviews.” A couple of those sites have sections where graduates weigh in. I posted some results here somewhere awhile back but can’t find it now. At any rate this was interesting, it gives you some information as to how graduates feel about their schools after being out in the real world. As I remember it MassArt faired very well on those particular review sites.</p>