I’m 18 and will be getting my Associate’s in Liberal Arts / Humanities with Honors + Dean’s List this fall. I plan on transferring for the spring and my list of schools includes RISD, Pratt, RIT, New Paltz, and MICA as of now. I feel like there are some more good ones I’m missing.
My GPA is 3.91 and I anticipate it climbing higher. I had an internship at an advertising agency this summer and I tutored GD at my school last semester.
My requirements in a school are that it has a centralized campus and a good program. I definitely want to make friends, so a friendly atmosphere is preferred. I understand that I will probably transfer as a sophomore or more realistically, a freshman. Money is definitely a deciding factor, but for now, I just want some more great schools to apply to.
I was considering University of Deleware and SAIC, but I’m not sure how good of a fit they’d be for me.
Look into Carnegie Mellon University. The art program and the design program are separate, if I remember correctly, and both are excellent programs, particularly design. It is in Pittsburgh, a major city, but has its own centralized campus (there are some apartment-style dorms that are not connected to the main campus, however). It’s kind of pricey and they’re generally pretty stingy on financial aid, but if you get in an can pay, I think you’d love it.
I would be attending community college this fall. I also want to major in art. From my research It seems RISD is a very good Art school. I’m from NYC and most art schools here are expensive. Pratt is extremely expensive, almost $45,000+ a year same goes for RISD. Have you heard of Cooper Union? The school pays half of the tuition but its extremely competitive.
I just want to ask, if you majored in liberal arts at CC did you take any art classes for art credit? because to get into art school you need some art credits at least. Also how did you prepare your portfolio? Did you have help from a teacher?
@Vazzio123 check out the websites for the instructions pertaining to transfers and, if necessary, talk to your admissions counselor about what credits will transfer. You want to be on-track to graduate as planned. If you haven’t had any studio you’ll probably need to do some foundation before progressing on to specialize in your major so definitely check on that.
Parson’s is great for GD but they don’t have a defined campus and that bothered my D when we visited. She, too, wanted the sense of community that comes with a defined centralized campus. She ended up choosing Pratt due in part to the campus environment which she loved (she also loved the very defined and structured ComD program - for her it just seems to be a very good fit). CU is also great but you might want to check out what’s currently going on there - the administration has been increasing tuition and students were demonstrating last time I checked into it. For us it just signaled too much tumult and also the possibility of financial problems. However, they are an EXCELLENT school reputation-wise so if they were able to put those issues behind them then I’d say go for it. However, it’s another school w/o a defined campus.
Another possibility is SVA which is probably second only to RISD in terms of reputation in GD. Again, though, no definite campus.
D was accepted to MICA as well as Pratt and spent last summer at RISD. Both schools do meet her requirement of a “defined campus”, though MICA is probably on the edge of that concept a bit - a bit more spread out which is very typical for art schools which purchase and re-purpose other buildings in order to grow. MICA, of course, has an excellent reputation for GD. It’s also very interdisciplinary which allows the student to specialize in another field or take a variety of different studios to form a unique specialization. SAIC takes that one step further with no defined major and no defined campus. We toured SAIC and my daughter decided it wasn’t for her right away. However, they, too, have a great rep. in graphic and plenty of students choose a conventional path with the help of their academic advisor. Some kids LOVE all that flexibility - others don’t. What’s great is that you have so many options.
There is also MCAD in Minneapolis - small but a central campus, very affordable apartment-style housing, and a great arts community just to the north (ranked #1!). The facilities are top-notch and open 24/7 (you will not find that at many schools) and each student gets a dedicated studio by 2nd year. Lots of personal attention there too due to the small, cozy nature - but w/o doubt it’s a vibrant, cohesive community. @redbug119’s D attended there so can tell you more. GD is probably MCAD’s most highly ranked program - I’ve seen it placed in the top 15 art programs. Definitely up and coming. D really liked it there but we live in MN and it was a bit too close to home.
Edit/Update: Forgot to mention that MCAD is about $10,000 LESS than other art programs so tuition is affordable as well.
@merc81 Thanks for the suggestion! I think I will end up applying to Purchase but I visited it and did not love the vibe. However, because I am going to have an Associate’s from a SUNY my application fee is waived and it doesn’t hurt to apply.
@Vazzio123 I’ve heard of Cooper, and I am not sure how much of a fit it is for me. I will look more into it, though. I did take a couple of studios, and I am taking a GD class this semester. I went to National Portfolio Day and took various school’s advice!
@Mamelot I am not even considering Parson’s because of the campus issue… it is very important to me to have a campus for understandable reasons. Pratt is currently my top pick for location and program strength! I didn’t realize SAIC doesn’t have a real campus… I guess it’s out of the running then. MCAD is sounding good, though, I will look into that. Thanks so much for your detailed response!
I don’t know anything about it personally, and can’t say it would meet all your requirements, but I have heard Savannah College of Art and Design mentioned frequently as a well-regarded option in the arts field, so you should probably check it out.
@chisopolis SAIC consists of studio and classroom space adjacent to, and in some cases underneath, the Art Institute. The dorms are a few blocks away. If you are familiar with Chicago at all you see that no, it’s not a defined or centralized campus given it’s location in or right outside the Loop. there ARE campuses in Chicago - UChicago, DePaul (main campus), and Loyola come to mind and SAIC isn’t like those at all in terms of space. It is a great school, however, and everything you need is either right there at the Art Institute or maybe a block away. Plus you have the Art Institute as a MAJOR resource.
If a real campus is high on the list then Pratt or MCAD would fit the bill. RISD too gave off a real “campus-y” feel when I dropped my D there last summer. Being adjacent to Brown helps with that and the two schools really seem to blend in together there (although RISD is on the STEEP side of College Hill LOL). The 1st year dorms at RISD are very close to class and right on top of the dining hall (which has GREAT food). The longest walk might be to the library across the river but that’s just a few extra minutes of time.
There might be others that I’m not thinking of - for my D a campus was super important and it is a major selling point for Pratt. Quite a feature to have all that green space there in the middle of busy Brooklyn. My D will be living right on campus so she’s a hop skip and jump away from her classes.
@chisopolis don’t judge a school based on internet comments - if that were the case you’d eliminate a good number of schools including Pratt LOL. SCAD won’t be for you due to the lack of real campus. The school is spread out quite a bit with buildings here and there and some of them maybe a mile away from the dorms. My D2 and I are visiting at the end of August. I’d be happy to update you based on what I find. But I assure you if a campus is important you will NOT want to go to SCAD. It’s one of the (verifiably legitimate) weak points about the school.
@Mamelot Lol, this is true, this is true. But I’ve barely seen ANY good things about is what I meant. And yeah, campus is huge to me. Pratt is the dream, but money-wise might not be the best choice.
@chisopolis I read a lot of the commentary - both the negative and the responses - and much of the stuff is based on personal experience and several years old (at the very least). That’s not to say that the experiences aren’t legit or that there aren’t problems - the enormous and rapid growth would warrant difficulty for any school - esp. a new one - to be able to manage effectively. I’ve heard nothing but great comments the last couple of years but again, based on people’s personal experiences. In cases such as this - where there is some impressive work coming out of a school but it has some associated “baggage”, it’s always best to visit and judge for oneself unless there is a definite reason to eliminate. The lack of campus is an easy elimination - you don’t even have to worry about the controversy
