First of all, hope you all had a wonderful summer!
It is time for my son to start thinking of the applications, essay, enhance the portfolio, …etc
My son attended the pre-College at Ringling this summer which helps him a lot. I can see a big difference in his skills.
He wants to major in ether 2D animation or illustration.
These are his choices (in no particular order):
Ringling (illustration)
SVA (animation, illustration, sequential art)
MICA (animation, illustration)
SCAD (animation, illustration)
Mass Arts (animation)
CalArts (animation)
CCA (animation, illustration)
Minneapolis College of Art and Design (animation, illustration)
Not sure about these schools.
They don’t seem to be mentioned very often in forums.
Laguna
Otis
Has anyone gone to the students review website? I am not sure how much I can trust those review comments. It seems some schools on his list get very negative feedback from both existing and former students.
Any comments on the schools above? Any other recommendation?
Any info is greatly appreciated. Many thanks. Good luck to you all!
@AskExperts did you think about PRATT? My daughter wants 3D and her friend who’s a current film student there told her the new head of animation is a 2D guy who isn’t a fan of 3D and now my daughter doesn’t want to apply because she feels like the 3D program has suffered. We are applying to 4 of the schools you listed.
So far her list for 3D computer Animation is:
RIT
SVA
Emerson
MICA
MassArt
CIA
MCAD
PRATT (?)
FIT (she’s not loving it but I said it’s a state school so add it as a back up)
She really wants to start her major in freshman year so if a school doesn’t start animation until sophomore or junior year, she’s really put off by that. The list is not final and we are still visiting schools.
We may put Drexel and Uarts…not sure. Have to visit
@NYCMomof3 Thank you so much for the reply and the information. A friend of my son’s attended the preCollege program at PRATT, he said he was not impressed. I need to browse around for more information. Please share with me if you are familiar with PRATT.
Have you ever checked out the website “students review”? I am not sure how much I can trust those comments.
I have a sophomore at RISD majoring in Illustration and a junior in HS also pursuing art and have visited many of the schools on the first part of your list. A lot of the pros & cons you’ll read from others come down to things like school size, location etc which are individual to the student and family. But also pay attention to overall art philosophy, how they approach foundation year, networking/job resources etc.
And keep in mind some student reviews are sour grapes. I teach in an art department and students generally like us much better AFTER the fact. I’d try and see what alum are doing and what they think of their experience.
Per Laguna, we recently visited Laguna and CalArts on vacation and my HSer really liked Laguna - but in his case it has a very specific niche illustration major he’s interested in (Concept Art for gaming/film etc and they have a some great ties with Blizzard and the LA entertainment field). However it is a very small school so that was a con for him. And he’s not a fan of sun and sand (altho I’d be thrilled to visit him there - it’s a beautiful area!).
Interestingly he was NOT interested in CalArts - he liked the vibe and campus, but major wise it’s much more geared to animation than he’s interested in.
He also visited Pratt last year and really liked it. We know some current students and graduates who are very happy with their experience altho to be fair they were in different majors than illustration. Also note, pre-college programs are often not taught by faculty so the experience gives a student a good feel for what a campus looks like and doing more immersive art, but not necessarily the teaching styles or overall vibe of that art department. Worth taking a look online and seeing if its a good fit academically first and then visiting since the NYC ties are a big boost in finding jobs on the East Coast.
@AskExperts I have not checked out the website “student review”. I have to agree with ArtAngst that sometimes they could be sour grapes. I will check it out but will not put too much worth into what I read. I try to reach out to alums and speak to them.
I toured PRATT and really liked it, my daughter liked it too until her film major friend told her about the new head of animation. I am trying to get her to revisit and meet with the new chair and ask questions. I’d like her to see things for herself.
NYCmom–your D should consider Ringling if she wants 3D. Might as well put the best on your list.
It is a four year program (not 5 or 6 like some other programs–or what rather grows into 5 or 6) and she’ll start immediately in computer animation.
The head of the program is absolutely terrific. The end focus is 3D because that’s where he feels the industry is and what you need to know to be employed. The focus of Ringling is creating a career. Super faculty.
It’s a VERY tough program but the best. Not every student wants to work that hard to be honest.
The acceptance rate into CA program at Ringling is about 10 per cent.
As you compare schools take a good look at the quality of student work and the studios/companies that visit for recruitment purposes. Consider that the final reel that is produced is your resume.
The focus of schools varies which is why you need to consider the student work. Some are focused on “art” with an imaginative view (good for the “free thinker”). Some teach skills but without specific direction to “get a job”.
Ringling is “commercially focused” for lack of a better term–the skills you need to know to start a career in the industry. It is not for the “I want to do my own thing and nothing else” free spirit type person.
Really good points from @gouf78 about whether a school is focused on job attainment/commercial arts etc. Art-wise I see merit in both kinds of approaches and this is NOT knock on anyone pursuing fine arts. But its important for students and their families to be aware of the differences and how a school or department approaches that - especially if you’re unfamiliar with how the art world works, what jobs are out there, freelancing etc
@NYCMomof3 --what about the location? I have to laugh–I’m used to the heat but the CA labs are pretty much an iceburg. Bring a jacket.
Safe area overall.
It is a lower key environment than NYC for sure.
What kind of concerns does she have?
Location is a concern. I’m not down playing that in the least. I wouldn’t want to go somewhere for 4 years where I thought I was totally out of my element.
Feel free to ask here or PM me.
@ArtAngst – Post was directed to Ugimom–“He is interested in Illustration, EntertainmentArt, Concept Art and Storyboarding”.
CA just happens to encompass all of those facets. There’s also game art, visual arts, motion studies, heck–quite a lot. Make up your own list.
My main caution is that EVERYBODY is interested in concept art (illustration is actually a good major for this I think) and storyboarding. But keep in mind that those actual job opportunities are small for the number of people applying.
If you think you’ll land in the “story department” after graduation and “won’t settle for less” you could be severely disappointed and unemployed. If you’ve learned broader skills and an appreciation for many jobs along the pipeline and open your mind to opportunities then your chance of being employed and happy too greatly expand. And you might find even more rewarding things for you that you hadn’t considered before college. You don’t stop learning after college.
And you NEED to think things through! I don’t take one thing you said as “snarky!”
But I don’t think the location of the school will dictate where you ultimately work.
That’s the same impression my son and I got about Ringling. The teachers are very professional with lots of industry experiences. My son loves to draw and he thinks 3D animation has much less drawing than 2D. If my son prefers 3D, Ringling is the school to go.
OP, MCAD is very small but that means lots of personal attention. I have been impressed with their students’ animation work, but haven’t looked into the school for a couple of years now. They are local to us so we’ve been on campus a lot. D15 chose Pratt for GD and D16 chose SCAD for animation (2D) and storyboarding. Both really like their schools. Fit is very important so try to do as many campus visits as you can.
My daughter is interested in animation (both 2D & 3D) and game design. She’s been looking at most of the schools previously mentioned, but focused in the Northeast as she doesn’t want to go far from home. We’re still looking at a mix of art schools and LACs. One of her favorites is Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. I rarely see comments on this one.
I’d be happy to hear anything anyone knows about it.
@NYart15 our daughters sound the same (mine wants the same as your daughter). We also are in NY and are looking mostly northeast and maybe Midwest. How is Lesley? We didn’t get a chance to visit when we were in Boston.
We both loved it. It’s in a lovely area abutting Harvard in Cambridge. You can choose to live in dorms that are in Victorian houses or a more traditional dorm setting. They recently renovated the art library from an old church which was beautiful and the art class facilities seemed up to par with dedicated art schools that we’ve visited. They also recently lowered their tuition and seem to be very flexible about financial aid. My daughter is eager to start right into animation which is the draw with LACs, rather than that required foundation year at most art schools. My concern is that it is not well-known and the faculty is smaller than at other schools.
@NYart15 thanks for the info. Nice to know that they start you in the animation courses freshman year. That is also what my daughter wants. She doesn’t want to wait until sophomore or junior year to start. Our SUNY option is FIT and there it seems like you start your animation in junior year only after you get an AAS in another field. That’s something that has turned her off.
I haven’t heard anything about this school but I did (a long while back) go on to YouTube and checked for any videos of Lesley and their animation program
@NYCMomof3 Yes, FIT is a good option to have. My daughter did precollege portfolio development & animation courses there & really enjoyed it. It’s not her first choice (b/c of the 2-year delay in joining the animation program) but she will apply. It’s a cool place…I find the students there seem very driven & know what they want to do after college.
Please take a look at the student work which is featured by any school you consider.
(I go back to Ringling because that is what I know best but do comparisons in quality of work between schools
Sometimes there is no comparison.)
(Lesley just wouldn’t cut it for me if I had any aspirations–no offense but competition is tough).
Remember that the resume and culmination of all this work and ticket into the work place is a two minute student reel. Not much else will matter.
Nobody will care what grades you got–they just look at the reel and are either “yeah, looks promising” or “nope”.
It is not just about taking a few classes and learning some computer programs.
Don’t discount the value of being an artist first over computer technique. Ringling built its CA reputation on turning out artists first then creating animators.
Faculty and their experience matters in guiding you to an employable resume (reel).
Who comes to recruit at the school? Where are the alumni working presently? Awards?
What do you want to learn and where do you want to ultimately work?
Working in multi-media, ads, computer graphics, cartoons, small local place, free-lance or at a big movie studio?
I’d try and see what alum are doing and what they think of their experience.