We went to the MICA open house yesterday and we LOVED IT! I was shocked that my daughter who is not keen on attending an art school, loved MICA. She wants to get a BFA in Animation and wanted to attend a university with all sorts of different people (not just artists) but really loved MICAs animation program and the feel on campus. She also loved that even though it’s in a city, it doesn’t feel like she’s in the heart of a big city. She was impressed that she had lots of control over what classes she’d like to take and explore. So far PRATT and MICA are her favorites. I loved how the area looked and felt like Brooklyn and is so close to transportation to NYC and DC.
@NYCMomof3 SVA is a done deal for us! After the admitted students day, she was 100% sold, and honestly I was as well. We are a bit under the weather today, so I’ll fill more details in later!
@moonpie so glad it’s all done for you both!!! I am hoping when my daughter takes computer animation at SVA this summer, she will want to apply. She would literally be about a mile from home. Congrats
@NYCMomof3 I’ve been on and off this forum as I have an S18 interested in arts and animation. What you said "She wants to get a BFA in Animation and wanted to attend a university with all sorts of different people (not just artists) " describes exactly how S18 has been feeling. As we finalize the college list I’d like to ask if you only applied to art colleges or did you look into other universities or LAC’s?
@magnetnh my daughter is just starting to make her list. She is currently a junior. She really got turned off last summer at the idea of going to an art school because of the summer intensive she took at Cooper Union. She didn’t like the vibe, felt fake and very competitive. She’s currently at a boarding school with all sorts of kids and loves being on a campus with all types of people. What I did tell her is that she cannot assume all art schools would be like what she experienced at Cooper. That’s why when we went to MICA yesterday and she told me she loved it, I was ecstatic. I’ve been telling her that for what she wants (BFA ANIMATION), she will most likely be attending an art school. We are still looking and I think she is softening to the idea of attending an art school. She was impressed by PRATT and MICA. These two are definitely on our application lists. We visited UCONN and she did like their program but the main campus has more than 20k students and the classes are huge. I think the size turned her off. We will visit RIT and Alfred this summer. I think she may look into SCAD, MASSArt, too. She’s not a fan of hot weather so I’m not sure she will apply to SCAD OR RINGLING. There is s small university called Lesley that offers what she wants but I don’t know much about this program. She will be taking computer animation this summer at SVA and I’m hoping she will like it enough to apply (she really doesn’t want to be here in manhattan for school since we live here). I’m trying to convince her to stay in NYC or nearby for internships. She is willing to go anywhere so o just have to research more schools out west. We will see.
@NYCMomof3 Sorry I thought you were already admitted! S18 attends an arts high school as well as a traditional high school for his college prep work and it makes for a long school day. Freshman year was all about art schools with a love for RISD and CalArts. Towards the end of sophomore year he declared that he also wanted to be with science majors and history majors as he liked his current set up of a going to a regular and an arts high school. So I immediately thought of LAC’s with strong art departments but that is hard to quantify. We are in CT, so UCONN is our state school. He also thinks it is too big and many of his classmates end up there. The Stamford branch is now becoming the animation hub under the Digital Media Design department umbrella and they will have housing this year. I like that it is close to NYC for internships, so that is one you may want to look into. I like PRATT and MICA but will now take some convincing. For LAC’s Skidmore, Wesleyan, Vassar and Bard seem to have the arts component. We have heard of Lesley and he was accepted into their pre college program last year but did not attend. His arts school director has reported that students who have ended up there have not been too happy. She thinks that they have done so much at the arts high school that they think they were too advanced for Lesley, at least for their foundations classes. These colleges come and visit S18 arts high school for recruitment and he had a portfolio review and early acceptance to Montserrat, but not sure about their program. MECA in Maine is another one that has some students from his school and they report they are happy there. In summary, just when I think we should be done with finalizing a list it seems like we are still developing it.
@magnetnh we visited the UCONN Stamford campus a few weeks ago and she liked their curriculum but it’s more of a commuter school and the rents for the new residence halls are so $$$ and they won’t have a food plan. So that campus is out for us…and she doesn’t want their main campus (because of their size and their animation is more focused in Stamford). Thanks for the heads up on Lesley. I was thinking it wasn’t a great program since I could barely find anything on it. Your son sounds a lot like my daughter. Honestly I hope she goes to either Pratt or SVA so she will be close to home (we are in manhattan) and the internships…but who knows. Seems like you and I will be on this ride for the next year together.
We are so excited it’s OVER. For us, it came down to Pratt and SVA. The money was better at Pratt, but nothing could shake the “feel and fit” factor of SVA. She’s super excited about the honors program, and her AP credits and Governor’s School are going to give her a lot of freedom to take additional classes. In the end… it came down to being able to start doing animation first semester, and that was really important. The work of the freshman from this year was amazing! She’s registered for classes… and BUMMED about going back to high school tomorrow! LOL
@NYCMomof3…just like @moonpie we are DONE! SVA won my husband over and D was over the moon after seeing more and talking to students and the Illustration head. Just like @moonpie, she is REGISTERED AND READY!! Now to figure out the logistics of traveling from Ohio to NYC in August with a bunch of stuff for the dorm! Maybe we should fly and buy all the stuff there? We’ll figure it out. So sorry my D and @moonpie 's D missed seeing each other by about 2 minutes! But so funny that they’re twitter posts looked almost exactly the same by the ‘SVA NYC’ sign! We have to connect them in August! Less than a month of high school left thank goodness. My D is ready to move to NYC now!! Good luck to everyone!
@moonpie and @neapmom congrats to you both! Glad it’s over and happy that you’re daughters were able to attend where they truly wanted to attend. They will love NYC…born and raised here, I won’t leave. It’s safe, it’s easy and it’s always “ON”. As for packing your things up from Ohio, I’d order online and have it delivered to the school much as you can. When my daughter was moving into her boarding school, we ordered and shipped directly to the school as much as we could. The SVA dorm is just blocks from lots of stores (container store is on 18st and 6th Avenue), Michaels is on 6th avenue and 22st, TJ Maxx is across from the container store. Same goes for Bed Bath and Beyond (18th st and 6th ave). That area of 6th avenue is store after store. You can shop at the container store online and pick up at the store which saves on shipping and it’s like a half a mile from campus.
Good luck!!! Remember, you have a mom (me) in NYC God forbid an emergency
@NYCMomof3 THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH! So nice to have someone close by just in case. And GREAT TIPS on shopping!! That sounds so much better than packing our car (one car probably won’t hold it all) and braving the traffic. Thanks again!
@neapmom, Another idea - if they fly from your city - is to take Southwest. We had to get D16 from MN to SCAD and she already had a ton of stuff from her pre-college program the year before (we purchased her dorm-pack a year early). Southwest allows you to check two pieces per customer for FREE so we were able to get a LOT of her stuff packed into three large, light-weight duffels and checked through. She also checked her large suitcase which made up the fourth free piece. We then brought two overhead carry-ons and our purses/backpacks on board with us. We saved a TON on shipping. Purchased toiletries, cleaning supplies and anything else needed for the dorm at the local Target and met many other SCAD families doing the same thing. LOTS of SCAD ID’s and full shopping carts! Bet you will find similar at those Manhattan retailers!
@neapmom … our girls were texting and tweeting each other all day!!! So excited for them! @JBStillFlying i think Southwest offers the best way to get luggage up! My friend who lives there wants me to drive up since I have a large SUV, but it panics me to think about driving in the city !
@moonpie and @neapmom - SWA lands at Laguardia so super close to Manhattan! And they treat their passengers well, something that’s been an issue with other airlines lately
Does your daughter enjoy SCAD? My daughter is dying to go. We visited 2 summers ago and she fell in love. She t was accepted for 2016-2017, but due to an illness, took a year off. We are hoping for next year. Do you have any portfolio or scholorship tips? Thank you for any help!
My D16 attends SCAD and really enjoys it. They have tons of great tips on their website so there’s nothing I can say to improve upon that. Follow the guidelines and she’ll be in the best position for acceptance and hopefully scholarship. They do give academic merit aid as well which is great.
Good luck to your daughter! The Hive just opened their pool so that freshman dorm area is probably looking pretty spiffy right now.
