Hey guys! I really need advice from you. It’s kinda long but please bear with me.
Things been looking promising so far, but it’s still very possible that it might not work out (financially) on my top choice schools (MICA, Pratt, Art center, Otis, MCAD) so now I’m starting to think seriously about my second choices.
Did anyone else apply to these schools or have any feedback about them…
Watkins college of art and design
(Got in, decent scholarship, totally doable. But I mean, it’s entirely unranked, unknown, super small like 200 undergrads overall, and I don’t feel so good about Tennessee to be honest, no offence)
Art Academy of Cincinnati
(Same as Watkins)
Cleveland institute of art
(Got in, but don't how much $$ I got yet. I actually feel pretty good about this one, might even end up choosing it over my top choices)
Pennsylvania college of art and design
(got in, no scholarships, doable but it'll be kinda of a stretch financially. But also unranked. And no campus housing)
And I also applied to SUNY new paltz. Don’t know the results yet, and I’m not so optimistic about it either, they didn’t ask for a portfolio, and my academics are mediocre (kinda). But if I do get in, do you think I should really chose it over the aforementioned art schools though?
I’m starting to feel like crap for not planing my safety list better, probably should have added more universities, less art schools that I didn’t feel good about to begin with.
By the way, my intended major is graphic design, but I’m also more interested in an interdisciplinary approach, preferably with a foundation year too.
My son’s girlfriend is a junior at Watkins, and she absolutely loves it and is an amazing artist. She got a full scholarship too. She says the faculty there are amazing. She is a really talented and visionary artist and says that Watkins has brought out the best in her. My S says the work the Watkins students do that he has seen is wonderful. She has an internship now at Zeitgeist Gallery, one of the top galleries in Nashville. She and my S just got a commission to do a video for a concert at Intermusic later this month. Nashville may not have the art scene of Philly or New York, but it is pretty good and it’s a great city to go to college in.
I am in PA and my D will probably go to Temple/Tyler next year. She did not even apply to PCAD. It is not considered in these parts to be as good as Tyler, UArts. Moore, or PAFA (the big 4 art schools in Philly.) I would definitely rule that one out.
My D did not want to apply to any school that didn’t require a portfolio. Her HS teacher (Penn graduate) said those are not good places for serious artists.
@honestmom Hey, thanks! that was helpful. CIA gave me a pretty decent scholarship too (but would still cost like $10k more than Watkins).
Do you have any idea about the accent in Nashville though? I know this might sound silly in the bigger picture, but I’m an international student and I’m far more accustomed to the standard American accent than the southern one, so that might be a problem.
I guess another concern I have about Watkins is that I’ll probably be the only international student, but eh that’s okay…
@wbasbc I lived in Tennessee all my life and pretty much 1 out of 3 people have dat der country accent. At Watkins mostly everyone has a regular accent.
Also in my opinion, I wouldn’t recommend Watkins. I’ve toured around it during National portfolio day and it doesn’t seem too appealing to me.
@wbasbc The “accent” should not be a concern for you. My son goes to Belmont and one of his best friend is a Chinese student. He has had no problem with it at all. Even his girlfriend who goes to Watkins has no accent, and she is from Bristol, TN. I think there are a few international students there. Nashville is a pretty big melting pot.