<p>Okay, I've been searching and just cannot get much (objective) information on this school. Anyone "in the know" on this place?</p>
<p>Believersmom, I don't have a lot to offer you, but I recently was doing a college search for a client who wants to go into Interior Design and I was looking into all options of degree programs. I came across this school as an option that doesn't require a portfolio for this major and since most BFA programs do, I thought of this as a bottom line safety for this student. I have no idea what field your child wants to get into, but here is a little information that I found and wrote to my student about Academy of Art University, which is slanted a bit toward the field my student is interested in:</p>
<p>Academy of Art University: San Francisco, CA, urban, 5400 undergrads, largest accredited private art school, has dorms downtown, has own busses that connect all facilities, has open admissions meaning all get in, no portfolio required, BFA in Interior Architecture and Design, Commercial or Residential Degree Program, FIDER (now CIDA) accredited, has some liberal arts required including Art History. If you want an independent art school in a city that has an accredited BFA program with no portfolio as a safety option, look into this one. Most BFAs require portfolios and you may wish to have one or two that dont (besides the BA options).</p>
<p>Thanks, that helps. Really wish someone who attended would come on here and give some perspective-the school has been around since 1929!</p>
<p>I live near Academy of Art and have taken hs classes there . . . not the best classes, but cheap.</p>
<p>As far as Academy of Art not requiring a portfolio, this is true because they have a 100% admission rate -- they admit everyone. This makes them a good, guaranteed backup school. Also, they are relatively cheap (though living in San Francisco is not).</p>
<p>However, AAU is not accredited. This means that any credits you earn there are non-transferrable to other art schools.</p>
<p>Which HS classes have you taken? Thank you for the information.</p>
<p>I took a painting class (which was very useful for learning general technique, as I had no prior experience), a figure drawing class (I thought it could have been conducted better, but there were lots of models, and almost the entire time was spent drawing the models, which I liked), and a comic book drawing class (which focused mainly on procedure, and had a teacher who was a little more elitist than I would have liked, but was generally interesting) in their summer precollege program and in Saturday classes. They were generally good for technical learning, but left a bit to be desired creatively.</p>
<p>is there anyone who has actually gone there for degree purposes? Because i was looking into this school as well. </p>
<p>How is the Interior architecture and design program?</p>