@gouf78 Thanks for your advice…I really appreciate it. My daughter is smitten with the environment at Lesley without giving much thought to career prep. We’ll look at the student work at the schools she’s looking at and hopefully that will focus her search more effectively. We’re focusing on the major hubs of the Northeast (Boston, NY, Philly, Baltimore)
RIT (love their career-focused-ness, she says too far, too off the beaten path)
Northeastern (the concern is $$$, little financial aid)
Lesley U. (beautiful setting, not as rigorous)
Tufts/SMFA
MassArt (don't know much about it, just love Boston)
FIT (our SUNY option)
SVA
Pratt (my fave)
Brown/RISD
Drexel (degree is Bachelor's, would prefer BFA)
Moore (D loves the all-girl atmosphere)
MICA (seems like the art school most like LACs)
Although this is secondary, she’s a very talented musician/singer/actress and would love to continue those activities in college.
Hi @NYart15 between my two kids they’ve visited (& applied to several) of the following schools on your list:
RIT
MassArt
SVA
Pratt
Brown/RISD (oldest is now an illustration major at RISD)
MICA
Let me know if you have any questions/want opinions. And if you haven’t visited already, definitely take @gouf78 's advice and when you visit have you and your daughter very critically view current student work. This made a big difference to my oldest in where she chose to apply to and why.
Thanks for the input. My daughter has looked over the curriculum and faculty at our choices but I will definitely have her check out the student work…great plan!
@ArtAngst Is your daughter in the Brown/RISD 5-year program? If so, how was the transition to Brown sophomore year?
@NYart15 she’s just at RISD. However, my brother’s a researcher at Brown so we’re pretty familiar with both schools. The dual degree thing seems very tricky in that they have different semesters - RISD has 2 “regular” semesters and a 6 week winter session so they do NOT align. Dual students live in their own dorms too since their scheduling/housing over break can get wonky.
My brother had one student who was dual and he said she had amazing STEAM aspirations. It seems like the kids who get chosen really have something unique in what they’re pursuing academically. Altho on the flip side my daughter says she has a friend who’s doing it so her parents feel an art degree is ‘legitimized’ by the Ivy component and that it’s easy. But take that with a grain of salt cuz that kid is a very high achiever academically.
I may be wrong but the RISD program seems to be focused on film and animation as a combo rather than animation as the main focus. Probably great if your D is interested in film also.
We visited RISD (very pretty!) and while I loved the possibility of extra classes at Brown at the time as a parent, I now realize that it would never have happened because of work load and time constraints as ArtAngst has described.
Where do your D’s talent lie? Illustration? Computer? Combo?
( A friend of D’s was gung-ho on animation–and ultimately went into illustration because spending 24/7 in front of a computer screen became a reality she didn’t want. Her love was really paper and pencil.)
Programs have very different focuses. Ringling has CA with very limited admission but also has degrees in motion design, game art and design, graphic design, illustration. If you don’t get admitted to CA you may be invited into another degree program which may actually suit a student better.
@ArtAngst Don’t say “JUST at RISD”…RISD is fantastic!
While the animation program does seem to be more media-based, it is RISD after all and she can get her fine art fix there easily. The only downside for her there is the intense foundation year. She’d love to start into animation classes asap.
Brown/RISD 5-year also a very small program (N=15) and RISD’s first year is so intense you can only fit in one Brown class so I’m afraid she’ll be out of the Brown loop when she moves there sophomore year (though they attempt to put you in a freshman-heavy dorm as that’s the cohort you’d be graduating with).
She was turned off by Emerson as their animation program seemed to be almost an afterthought without much art curriculum surrounding it. It fell into the Digital Media category more.
@gouf78 Good point re: film/animation. RIT was similar in that regard. I love RIT for its return on investment, but D thinks it’s too far and (again) not enough pure art support.
She’s a mystery as she likes both fine/art illustration and digital art; wants to be immersed in art but not so much that she can’t fit animation in. She’s focused on the eastern seaboard, urban/suburban, Boston to Baltimore.
@NYart15 - Following up on what @gouf78 's pointing out…have you visited RIT? It was on our list since one of daughter’s mentors (& a successful working artist/graphic novel creator) was an Illustration grad from there.
If it’s still on your list make sure to request an additional tour of the illustration/fine arts department. The fine arts/illustration section was NOT a part of the general tour we took (the digital arts section was) and you’ll want to see the studios and work on the wall. We requested one ahead of time and a student showed us around…daughter was not impressed with the fine arts facilities. There literally is one small dark room the students all share for their personal work space. We got the impression that this is probably getting phased out/very low enrollment numbers…
Whereas the digital media labs are beautiful - shiny new building, huge classrooms, big Wacom pads for everyone. Clearly this is where the money and staff are going - & this is not a knock on RIT at all because that makes complete sense for the type of school they are and how they’re watching the market develop.
Just keep that in mind if your daughter may want a deeper experience in fine arts & illustration RIT might not offer the best mix.
Oh and re RISD “just” was more to clarify that she’s not in both. And yep that foundation year is INTENSE. My kid is still reeling…to the extent that her younger brother is now actively looking at school’s that don’t have a foundation year.
Random thought to add in - has she looked at Syracuse? Well regarded art departments, great studio spaces plus the benefits of a big university where one can dual degree or be in their Honors program (ie in place of what she’d be doing at Brown) and a strong theater program where she may be able to pursue more of those creative arts too. It’s costly, but we found had very generous aid packages based on grades, portfolio etc.
@ArtAngst Yes, we did visit RIT and you’re right…amazing facilities in the film/animation department and growing! We did not see the Fine Arts area so that’s really good to know, thank you!
We visited with Syracuse at Portfolio Day in NYC last year and they were very helpful and supportive so they were on our list for awhile. As my D narrowed her choices down, they dropped off due to location, but maybe we’ll revisit that idea. I’ve heard good things from others, just not about their art program. Thanks.
What does your son want to study? and where is he looking?
LCAD is the best fit for my son…the small size, location, and his interaction with the professors are what sold him. They were very down to earth and personable. They took their time looking at his work and giving great feedback. He is majoring in Animation with a focus on working in gaming (Blizzard would be his dream job, but there are many game companies nearby.)
My son is already doing an internship creating animation for a small game company and loves it. He wants to learn more though and is excited to get in there and do it.
@NYart15 son eventually wants to be a concept artist in entertainment (ie film, gaming etc) so he’s steering towards school’s where he can major in illustration and have some exposure to those mediums (but not full on animation or game design as a major per se) and more exposure possibly via location (ie West Coast/LA or NYC).
He’s just starting junior year so list is still growing but currently looking at and/or visited:
Pratt
LCAD
MICA
SVA
RISD - sister is there so that may be a deterrent
SUNYs (Fredonia and Oswego)
Haven’t looked at much yet/but on radar:
SCAD
Ringling
He’s visited a few others already and also during his sisters’ search that dropped off the list for various reasons. And he’s going to do a few regional portfolio days this fall and expand his search a bit more this year.
I may be late to the party - my S18 was interested in animation but now thinking illustration or graphic design. He attends an arts high school and the head of his visual arts departments has reported that previous students now at Lesley have not been too happy there. It could be the sour grapes thing but worth a visit for those considering it. We are looking at art schools in the northeast. A smaller art school his department head has recommended to students is MECA but the location in Maine can be a turn off. No mention of Parsons yet? Any feedback?
if interested in graphic design you need to consider VCUARTS in Richmond Va. top ranked design school in the country. Its grad program is #2 in the country behind only Yale. D attends as gp major .
And Richmond is a great small artsy city.
My DD started at Ringling in the middle of August and has loved it so far minus Irma.
Ringling it getting a lot of attention right now as one of of the senior projects "Ïn a Heartbeat"just won a student Academy Award. Google it. This page has some of the other senior projects in CA…
So glad to have found this thread–just finished reading through the Art School Admissions thread for 2017 which was so helpful! My D is a senior and applying mostly to art schools, with a couple liberal art schools with good art programs thrown in for good measure. Since we live in NYC and she’d like to study elsewhere, we’re not considering any of the local options. Her list for now is: RISD, SAIC, MICA, Stamps at UMich, SCAD, Bard, and possibly Vassar (we’ve visited them all, plus she’s done summer pre-college programs at both SCAD and SAIC). We also visited VCUArts, but it was not for her, so it’s dropped off her list. Considering taking a look at the Sam Fox School at Washington Univ. in St. Louis, but it’s been hard to get to. Has anyone else taken a look there?
She thinks she wants to major in/focus on Illustration, though she’s also interested in doing some character design/game design (she does a lot of coding and game design now)–her illustration focus is mainly sequential (comic) art/graphic novels, and she’s also interested in creative writing. AND interested in art education. She had a WONDERFUL time in Chicago at SAIC this summer, which has pushed it to the top of her list, and she especially liked the flexibility of the open curriculum. I feel like Stamps at U. Mich. also had an open curriculum. She loved RISD too, but isn’t sure she loves it enough to do ED (and doesn’t like Providence as much as she likes Chicago), so will probably be applying RD there.
She hasn’t done a National Portfolio Day yet, but I think there’s one coming up in NYC, so she will do that soon. Art school is completely out of my “wheelhouse” and this has been a HUGE learning curve for me (and for her college counselor at school–she goes to a very academic, private prep school and they don’t get a lot of kids applying to art schools). So it’s sort of the blind leading the blind here. Most of her art is character design/character sketches, so she took a figure drawing class this summer at SAIC so at least she now has a few more “classic” pieces to include. She also has some short films from which she could include clips, and a game she designed.
Anyway…is there anywhere else we should be thinking about?? She doesn’t want to go too far away–no West Coast, for sure. I even thought about Univ. of Vermont, though she’s not crazy about the rural location, but maybe we’ll take a look?
@KCHWriter - MICA also has a flexible curriculum. I think their illustration and GD students do very well. RISD is goig to be a more structured curriculum but illustration is going to be tops and it’s a very popular major there.
NPD’s get crazy busy in places like NY or Chicago so definitely help by standing in line as well (we saw lots of kids who had two parents in two separate lines while kid was in a third line!). Or . . .You might take a look at who’s going where (or if not yet announced, where they went last year since they tend to visit the same ones every year) and try to hit a lower-key NPD. Or divide it up - some schools at the NYC NPD, others elsewhere just to minimize the amount of wait time in lines. One final tip - some schools will see students at a nearby off-site location (again to avoid the crazy lines) but they might do this by invite only so definitely call the schools and let them know which NPD’s she plans to be at. Pratt, for instance, saw my daughter’s work privately in Chicago at a pre-set appt. the day before the NPD at SAIC (the largest in the Midwest). The next day she just had one school to hit at SAIC. She had already hit two other schools at a more local NPD the week before (we live in MN). The entire process was just more leisurely and she had more time to talk to the admissions counselors and gauge their interest in her work (for scholarship potential). Having been through two NPD seasons, we would definitely recommend breaking up these visits a bit if possible. The schools are definitely in town for the HS seniors and these visits should be treated as interviews with admission and scholarship potential.
@KCHWriter
My daughter is a senior as well, interested in Animation (game design/character design), living near NYC and applying to mostly art schools w/ some LACs thrown in. She’s more interested in staying close to home so I won’t list her NY choices as that’s off your table, but I think she’ll also apply to:
Brown/RISD
MICA
Mass College of Art & Design
Moore
Lesley U.
Northeastern
I wish she’d apply to RIT…fabulous program, but it’s not for her for some reason (mostly location, I think).
We did NPD last year, quite unprepared and although she’s made considerable progress, she doesn’t want to go back this year as it seems pretty late in the game to take advice on the portfolio (she wants to apply early action or get all apps in by mid-Nov.), but @JBStillFlying is giving me food for thought in that it should be treated as more of an interview senior year.
@KCHWriter If you are in NYC would you consider the NPD in Hartford, CT which may be lower key and not so far… Didn’t see Ringling on your list but may have missed it. We are in CT and S18 prefers liberal arts with strong art programs with the exception being FIT. He started the Common App and the portfolio requirements are all so different for each school that he has to keep good track of each of them.
And yep that foundation year is INTENSE. My kid is still reeling…to the extent that her younger brother is now actively looking at school’s that don’t have a foundation year. 