@sallyface I visited RIT a few years ago with my daughter who’s currently an illustration major. This purely from my kid’s perspective - but she wasn’t terribly impressed with the work she saw and the class size at the time was VERY SMALL. Ultimately she chose not to apply to RIT.
However, we were impressed with what we saw in the animation and game design studios. And it’s completely understandable that RIT will put more resources and emphasis on those programs considering the type of school they are. We also have friends who are graduates of various departments there and have received a great education and job connections.
If you get a chance, I’d advise a visit so you can research the illustration program and see things for yourself at RIT.
We’re similarly waiting on more financial info from MICA for my son. So good luck on that front too!
So SAIC is looking like the top school for kiddo, but we are going to need to negotiate for more aid. She is only getting merit–for some reason, FAFSA says we are moneybags (we are not). Any suggestions on how to negotiate? Right now she is getting $18k a year, which helps, of course, but more would be even more helpful!
@missis I was wondering how your visits to various schools went, and how the decision-making was coming along! In addition to considering SAIC, you were thinking of visiting Tufts, MICA and Pratt, if I recall correctly, or they were in the running at least? We’re in the same boat here, with our daughter awarded merit scholarships but no need-based aid and trying to figure out which is the best option for her, but while she’s whittled down the list somewhat, she hasn’t decided on one school yet. We may have to visit a few more for her to firm up her thoughts. Regarding negotiation, looking at past art school threads, it appears that sometimes just talking with the schools is enough to get them to raise their merit offers for seriously interested applicants, as they are eager to increase their admissions yield. Also, if your daughter has any higher merit offers from another school, that can help negotiate a matching or greater offer from her first choice school. My daughter’s art teacher told her that past students have frequently gotten schools to match other schools’ better offers. Best of luck!
@artdreamer also to add to the calling the schools info - it worked GREAT for Parsons and hubs got more added to our package…BUT Pratt literally does not answer their phones and no voice messages have been returned so we’re not holding out much hope there.
@ArtAngst Thanks for the tip about Parsons! Of the schools that offered our daughter a merit scholarship, Parsons offered the least, so if she ultimately favors them, we will try calling them to see if they will increase it!
We emailed RISD asking if they’d consider matching Parsons’ award, which was $8K higher. It was a thoughtful letter. The financial aid folks returned with a thoughtful email of their own, stating that all the awards are final and best offers. We’re trying to see if we can make it work…
We also tried calling RISD the first time around for D’s package…although I warned hub that researching alot on here that I knew we got offered a big package by RISD standards…and like you all, no go for extra money. S also applied to RISD this year and got literally the same package as his sister so we didn’t bother calling.
@ArtAngst Is your daughter happy at RISD? Is your son considering other schools due to better financial offers elsewhere or that he is pursuing a different major or looking for a different kind of environment (like NYC bigger city life than Providence) or due to any dissatisfactions with your daughter’s RISD experience?
@artdreamer, yes, kiddo was looking at Tufts, Pratt and MICA. Personally, I LOVED MICA and they just came back with an additional $10K. But we had a weird tour that I realized didn’t look at any of the facilities. Also, it didn’t help that we flew in on a 5AM flight and were running on fumes. Tufts was very impressive and the people couldn’t be nicer, but she didn’t like Boston compared to Chicago. Pratt, well, it would be great but it’s just too expensive. Oddly, DH, who usually is a miser, is pushing for Pratt–his brother knows someone whose daughter went there and did well.
Kiddo likes SAIC because it has a very open curriculum (which makes me a little nervous) and all the classes are pass/fail. She was a straight-A student in high school and I think she is tired of grades. Also, she’s taken summer classes there since middle school and it’s familiar.
I really feel for people making this decision because it’s a lot of good options! It would be easier if it was a choice between a great place and one that is clearly a bad fit.
Does anyone know of a current thread where there is much discussion of SAIC? I don’t see it in the school list and the few discussions I was able to find were either old or had one or two posts.
Does anyone know anything about CCA? Got a pretty big financial aid package so far and I’m looking more into it right now but I can’t find much information on it. (I’m planning on majoring in Animation if that helps)
@artdreamer S applied to RISD since he did like the caliber of the work and the type of classes his sis was taking, but he’s interested in a more multi-disciplinary approach and RISD is more rigid in their curriculum. There’s pros and cons to that per kid and what one wants to study.
And I think some of it was to prove to himself he could get in too…they’re siblings after all
Some of his sister’s experience may have swayed him a bit negatively - RISD’s wrk culture is VERY intense. And again, pros and cons depending on your kid on how that works for them. Some semester’s its been great and really fueled D to create amazing stuff…other semesters or classes she’s a bit more resentful of the pressure. You can DM for more info if you’d like. But to be fair to the school, D would probably have experiences similar self-driven stress anywhere!
S is also is interested in a bigger city in general and immediately gravitated to NYC based schools which his sister didn’t even consider.
We’re going to RISD’s admitted students day on Friday. We struck Parsons off the list, even though they had better scholarship $, because we’re from a very small town in the middle of nowhere. Going to college is intense. Going to art school is intense. Living in NYC is intense. Our son didn’t want a layer cake of intensity like that. Made sense to us…though his grandad, who went to the New School back in the day, was rooting for it.
I also think that RISD’s tough fundamental year will be good for our kiddo. He likes to think he doesn’t need or want structure, but actually he does really need it. Helps focus him.
The money is an issue, though we can squeak by if he loves it. His choice is between RISD and UT’s College of Fine Arts, which was really impressive and far, far more affordable. Two really different places, both excellent programs in their own ways. I’m really curious what his thoughts will be after this weekend!
@ArtAngst Thanks for the info! My daughter decided on RISD yesterday, so we are finally finished with the stress of the college search! (Yipee!) We had planned to visit Parsons and Pratt this coming week (NYC being a big draw), but she decided she really wanted to go to RISD regardless and canceled the trip. She had a great time at their pre-college program last summer which is supposed to be modeled after a foundation year with the addition of taking a major class, and she felt that she thrived in their climate of rigorous workload because it inspired and motivated her. After six weeks of it last summer, hopefully she got a good taste of what it’s like and will continue to like it in the coming four years! In addition to Parsons and Pratt, her other options were MICA and Tufts/SMFA. both of which had some great features but ultimately she wasn’t as keen on them as RISD. Good luck everyone with their decisions!
@artdreamer Congrats on your decision! I guess after months of going through this it can be the biggest relief!
Have been following this board for so many months now and want to see all these kids settled in to places they want to be. My D is pretty decided too but we haven’t formally accepted the offer yet. Will have to do it soon!
@Monkey99 Good Luck! looks like you are close to deciding. We are in a small tow in Texas and we were pushing D for UT Fine Arts school for the reasons of cost and that it stands pretty well ranked with a good internship program (we have heard)… but she wants to get out of Texas and be in a real art school. As much as she wants to be in the city she ruled out Parsons for the same reason as yours. We thought it would be too much for her to handle all too suddenly. PrattMWP it is for now and that way she gets two years in a small place and will get to know others to move to Brooklyn. (She didnt apply to RISD … decided she couldnt handle the pressure).
This group in CC was the biggest help we had through this entire process!! So appreciate everyone’s help.
@SomaRathore, thanks! Sounds like Pratt is a great choice for your daughter! My understanding is that the Brooklyn campus is very “college campus-y” and doesn’t have the completely-immersed big city feel of schools in Manhattan that she might not have liked, so it should be a good fit for her even when she moves to Brooklyn in two years, a great combination of the pluses of NYC without what some find to be overwhelming. Best of luck to her!
Congrats @artdreamer and feel free to reach out if you have any RISD questions. Since your D already did a summer session she might not be as interested in it, but my D really enjoyed their “POSE” program before the regular orientation.
@artdreamer, Congrats on your daughter’s decision! Hooray! Will you all go to the admitted students day on Friday?
@SomaRathore, That’s very cool that your daughter’s chosen the Pratt MWP option. We always wanted our son to go out of state for college and he did too. UT was our kiddo’s last choice by far, yet his estimation of the place really rose after we visited for their COFA open house. There’s a lot to like about that campus and the quality of life it affords. Rigorous, but not too much so, far away from home, but not too much so, and he loved the entrepreneurial and internship aspects of their design program.
He gave a hard look at the Pratt MWP option as well. Makes so much good sense to start at that one campus, get grounded, and then go “big” in Brooklyn for two years. We are in small town Texas as well. It’s wonderful that the small student body at that Utica campus allows so much personal attention. Our son graduated from a high school class of 17, however, and he wanted a bigger feel to his college experience, which knocked Pratt MWP out of contention. We’ve got friends who teach writing at Pratt’s Brooklyn campus and a young acquaintance attending there now. I’m sure your daughter will love it.
