<p>I got accepted by MICA,yesterday, received an e-mail from the admission office.
I'm an international student from Shanghai China
Waiting for reply from RISD now:)</p>
<p>My d got her package on Friday 2.27.08 and we live in GA.</p>
<p>I'd start this as a new thread but I'm very technologically challenged and can't figure out how to do this.</p>
<p>Anyway, my D got invited to a "Scholarship Finalist" Open House at Mica. It's some special open house with a different schedule than the 'regular' one. Does anyone know anything about this? Is this a good sign for her? She could REALLY use a scholarship!</p>
<p>hoveringmom, we attended the Scholarship Finalist open house last year. My son got a scholarship, so I'd say it's a good sign for your daughter. I don't think attendance at the open house affects scholarships; it's more of a last chance effort to get you to fall in love with MICA. </p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks, sketchy. I"m assuming your son enjoyed the visit since he ultimately went to MICA? Is there anything you think I or my daughter should be asking? Anything that wouldn't occur to us necessarily, but you wish you had asked at the time, or did ask and was glad you did? I do have one question about Johns Hopkins--how easy and do-able is it to take classes there? Does anyone do it?</p>
<p>hoveringmom, one thing we found invaluble was to talk to all the teachers about the majors. It wasn't critical since you don't pick a major you're 1st year anyway, but we had assumed my son would major in Interactive Media since he wants to be a video game artist. After talking we the teacher in the classroom we realized that would have been the wrong major.</p>
<p>In general, we found talking to the teachers the highlight of our visit. Also, visiting the upper classman studios was cool; you can see some real talented people's work in progress.</p>
<p>I'm not sure how taking classes at John Hopkins would work out. I know MICA's foundation year workload is pretty high, I'm not sure MICA would even allow one to try taking classes at Hopkins your freshman year. Hopkins is probably about 2 miles from MICA. There's a shuttle bus that runs between all the local colleges, but not sure how efficient it would be.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! She'll certainly talk to the teachers. I love how they welcome you to sit in on classes. We had a weird experience when we visited RISD. They told us, sure, you can visit classes, just go on up, there's a class in such and such a room. So we did. The class was already in session, so naturally I didn't want to interrupt it. We waited outside in the hallway for a natural break, but when the teacher came out and saw us, he acted as though we were lunatics-- I'm not kidding. We were just me, my daughter and my other daughter. Obviously we were vistors. We were very quiet, just waiting in the hallway. He frowned at us, glared, then ostentatiously closed the door again. That was our 'visit'. Not welcoming!!! Anyone else have a similar experience there? Anyway, MICA seems very ,very different, openly inviting people into their classes. So yes, we will take advantage of that. As far as Johns Hopkins, I'm sure in Freshman year it would be impossible, but I was wondering if later they could. Or is it just impossible? This is important for my daughter to know since she also has a gorgeous singing voice and would like to continue voice. She also likes writing, and would like to take a creative writing class and/or literature. Any thoughts? Thanks again!</p>
<p>Hoveringmom, I'm so sorry that happened to you. Those first impressions are critical. My daughter might have been in one of those classes and they are so very intense at RISD. This school is not for the faint of heart to be sure. On our official visit, we saw many classrooms but didn’t go in any ongoing classes. We did see many single students at work at different locations working. Now that I think about it, might have been an official holiday like MLK day or something. We did an intensive 3-hour tour up and down those hills. We started with about a 45-minute talk about the school and the admissions process. I thought it was very helpful to my daughter’s thought process when she was making her decision. And I thought might be important at small school to show our interest. I wish we had spent more time walking around on our own to get a feel for the city. But she had felt very at home in Providence so it worked out.</p>
<p>Thanks, artmommy77! I have to say that though I was turned off, my daughter proceeded to fall in love with Providence and RISD & Brown too. She kept asking me anxiously if I liked it as much as she did, and I said quite truthfully that it was irrelevant what I thought since I wasn't the one going, but that I trusted her judgement and any place she connected with so strongly must be terrific. I still don't really get it how she could like it so much after that snub and a couple of others, but hey, she does, so that's great. In fact I think it's her number one. But I have to ask you - and I know we're in a MICA thread, but I just had this one question - when you say it's 'not for the faint of heart,' in what way do you mean? Are people cold and unwelcoming? Is there a culture of competitiveness rather than more nurturing? Do teachers respect the students' vision or do they try to enforce their vision onto the student? I'm sure it varies from student to student, but overall, what would your daughter say the school's culture is? Thanks!</p>
<p>When I said it was not for the faint of heart, I meant that it was very competitive and demands a serious amount of work. If you are not willing to do a lot of work all the time; you should not pick this school. And yes, some time it is too competitive. The teachers are a mix of encouraging and discouraging. Some teachers want you to do what they want you to do; so yes they are “enforcing their vision”. But they are there to teach. Why shouldn’t a student be made to do something different? They can discard it when they leave the class. This is the time to try new things and maybe retool your art…or not. My daughter and I talked about this before she left for school. She takes criticism very well, but it can be hard to take every week. I think they are trying to instill a serious work ethic in these kids. But because this is a small school, I think all these things can feel even more exaggerated. </p>
<p>Regarding the students: Kids are kids; some are wonderful and some are not. No surprise there, but again this is a small school. Brown University helps to bring more kids in to the mix. My daughter has several really good friends and has found teachers she talks to and respects. She has the same roommate that she was assigned to as a freshman. She has a boyfriend at another known art school and hearing him talk about his school, I don’t think his school is so different. Art is a very competitive field. RISD is just very hard in the amount of talented kids, work and criticism. If a student is not up to the task, it could be hell. My daughter would tell you this is a serious school. She is not having the same experience that her High school friends who go to the State University are having. She works harder, doesn’t party as much, and is more serious. Does that help to answer your questions? I hope so.</p>
<p>Yes, thank you so much. I'm trying to gauge the culture because my older son was mismatched to his BFA program in theatre--the school was a top school, very competitive (in that there wasn't a culture of support amongst the students) with tons of work and teachers whose attitude was to 'toughen them up and weed them out.' It was really bad for him (not for others, of course). I myself am a writer and have my MFA and know how the culture of the school can permeate everything, down to the individual classes. Some schools (such as Iowa, in the case of writing) have a great reputation but are very competitive, critical, and demand a certain kind of vision. People sink or swim, and while the swimming can be great, the sinking can be spectacularly awful, and worse, the sinking doesn't really have to do with talent as much as 'fitting in.' Some very untalented people do quite well in Iowa and some very talented people are broken and don't write again for many years. There is sort of an idea that if you are an artist (writer, musician, artist), you need to be tough because the art world is 'tough'--sort of like boot camp. If you swim under these conditions you've proven your worth, but if you sink, then you don't have what it takes to be an artist. You can probably tell by my tone that I disagree with this attitude and find it not only untrue and unproven but soul damaging. it has literally destroyed potential careers and I don't think there is a need for it. So i guess I was trying to find out if RISD fell under this category. I'm not talking about working hard or having high expectations. I'm talking about the culture that permeates the school--are people encouraged to be supportive and nurturing while being critical, or do people equate being critical with being harsh, top-down and sometimes nasty? Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems from what you're saying that RISD does have this attitude, at least in part. I don't really know what to do with this info, though. My daughter is 'tougher' than my son. Maybe she'd be fine there. It's so hard to tell!</p>
<p>This is very hard. I'm trying to guess what my daughter would tell you. I really haven't heard her complain about the nasty harsh critical teachers. I think that it was a little more difficult for her regarding culture, because she is from the Midwest. She talks to me about the culture of the northeast more than anything. For example, she has been there for 2 years and hasn’t been invited to anyone’s home. When I visit her, I take all the girls out for dinner and talk with them. No one else does. They give them mommy’s credit card and forgo taking them. She thinks that is just plain strange. However, she does have supportive friends and did from day one. Next year she will have lived with all the same girls for 2 and 3 years. I don't know many people who do that at any college. But she says that all the kids come from somewhere else. 97% of kids are from out of state and out of country. I think if anything, it may lack a certain amount of a cohesive culture. Yea. I think that maybe it. In class, the Asian kids are great and talk to her and are helpful to her regarding the crits, but out of class there is so much work to do they don't get together. There is a lack of things to pull the whole school together besides the art itself. I think the new president is trying to remedy that by jogging with kids in the morning and blogging. He is great and very hands on. I think he will be a positive change agent.</p>
<p>I got my acceptence material today.
However, due to my stupidity, I sent my finacial aid stuff today, and my scholarships will be sent tomorrow.
Going to MICA depends on what I get in aid.</p>
<p>I handed my dad the acceptence material. I got a hand written letter congradulating me and thanking me for my academic success. Yet the only thing my dad saw was the $31,000 tution. I then proceeded to get yelled at for wanting to go to such a school.</p>
<p>brianm02
Sometimes parents are just idiots! That is yelling is about what they can't give you, not about you. Parents feel really bad when they can't give you something important. Please forgive them.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information.</p>
<p>As a parent, is there anything you would want to hear from a child? I'm not sure if I want to go to MICA. I applied to RISD, PRATT, and MICA, and I willing to take whenever gives me the most aid.
My dad thinks it's a buch better idea for me to stay in state and go to the University of Illinois for art.
I truely believe te experience I could get at a true art school would be uncomparable, but I just can't seem to tell him that.</p>
<p>I know what you are asking. But I don't have the words to unlock what your parents can't give you or what they won't give you. All you can change is what YOU can change. Make a deal with them. Do 2 years at the State U and transfer last 2 years to art school. Or how about 2 years at a CC (really cheap) and then transfer? Or TAXGUY says the University of Cincinnati is a great art college (I've heard the same) look into that. Look up two or three of your favorite modern artists and see where they went to school. It might surprise you. Rarely is one choice the only answer. Flexibility is a great commodity at an impasse.</p>
<p>I totally agree with artmommy77, briannm02. She has said some very wise things. I would only add to wait and see where you get in and what is offered to you. Since I am not well-off, I have told both my kids who have applied to college that they have two hurdles to jump--first the acceptance and then the grants/scholarships. I just don't think it's practical to take out large loans when you're going into a career that potentially will make very little money. I also want to stress how wise Artmommy77's words are about your dad--it is so awful to see that you can't give your child what you wish you could. And he is also probably worried about your future, whether it's practical. Transferring is a good possibility; and there are so many paths to personal succcess. But you also might end up getting a scholarship to a school you want--so wait and see. And don't be afraid to negotiate with colleges once you find out--you can sometimes knock of several thousand dollars this way. In my kidss cases, they decided to apply only to the colleges they wanted to get into, and their back up plan - if they didn't get in AND we couldn't afford it - was to take a year off, work full time in a job that would expand their experience, and try once more the next year. That was their own plan; I did ask it to be detailed and practical, and they did map out a practical work plan (one involved going to Israel and working on a kibbutz, the other working on her novel and in the town library). I agreed (because I do feel that delaying a year is not a bad idea at all). In both cases, they have ended up getting the scholarship and going (although as you see above, my son ended up being mismatched--another story). But hang in there. I do also feel that 'rarely is one choice the only answer.' Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks artmommy77 for your thoughtful response about RISD. Actually, it doesn't sound as bad as my son's experience (and I'm not blaming the school he went to; it was more that it was bad for him). I love the image of the president jogging! I am from New Jersey and live now in South Jersey, but lived in the Midwest for 15 years (Ann Arbor & Madison), so I totally empathize with your daughter about culture shock! (And New England is also very different from South Jersey.--from my perspective, much colder socially, and richer.) It's strange how the different regions are so different, isn't it? Much more than you'd think they'd be.</p>
<p>Hoveringmom</p>
<p>Yes, cultures do matter in making the right decision for college. My daughter thought she wanted the NE culture, but she was thinking in terms of museums, diversity and cities. Culture extends to students and friendships. I was is awe of my daughter when she left her home and comfort level to go to a school thousand of miles away, not knowing anyone. DD was pretty stressed her 1st year. But she left home, without friends, started college, started a new job, took a full load at a competitive school and was living in a dorm with a million kids, in a new city, in a new culture. Wow. I couldn’t have done it at age 18 and all these kids do this. Kids do this every fall. I don’t think we appreciate what this means. They are so brave. It’s not surprising when some klitches happen along the way. So, as with your son, it is important to consider the school’s culture when you pick. I think you’ve brought up a very important point. It might be instructive for the kids on CC to shave your son’s struggle at his school.</p>
<p>Anyone going to the MICA Scholarship visiting day thing APril 5? D still hasn’t heard from Cooper Union or RISD (just took in the mail today)–I see one person already heard from Cooper Union, so I’m guessing that’s bad news for my D. So we’ll just wait. But we’ve heard that RISD’s financial aid is not good, and that MICA’s is much better. Anybody else on that?</p>