Thanks, @BrooklynRye! My daughter (currently HS junior) is in the same situation. She really wants to go to a dedicated art school, rather than a university, but she doesn’t want to close the door on academics altogether. She’s interested in both RISD and Pratt (we visited RISD in June and are visiting Pratt and Parsons next week), but she also really likes MassArt. I know they offer cross registration with the other “Fenway” schools and MIT, but I wish they had a closer relationship with Northeastern or BU.
Funny you should mention that, @ProfWmSmith. We also visited MassArt and were disappointed for the same reason. At the time, Museum of the School of Fine Arts was affiliated with Tufts. I believe it is now wholly owned by Tufts which allows for some academic cross-pollination. But MSFA was super-small. Our daughter’s choice boiled down to RISD and Pratt. In fact, we did 3 consecutive days of acceptance students functions, driving from Baltimore (MICA), to Pratt (Brooklyn), and then up to RISD (Providence). In the end it was a combination of things. Our daughter felt most comfortable in Providence. While she is a NY girl, she wasn’t convinced that she would access NYC all that much considering foundation year, etc. Baltimore literally scared her. Not the best neighborhood around MICA especially. The stronger academic offerings at RISD and Pratt were a key as well. RISD’s synergy with Brown was the winner on that score. In the end though, she felt that Pratt and RISD offered the best combination of art, academics, and reputation/job-placement. Pratt offers lifetime career placement! But it was some off-handed exchanges among the accepted students that really impacted her. Several students asked her which schools she was considering. When she told them that RISD was one of them, the typical answer was, “You got into RISD! So, why are you here then?” Don’t want that to sound elitist. I think she would have been happy and done well at Pratt, SCAD, Tyler, and probably others we visited. The kicker for us, the parents, was job placement. Knowing all of that time, money and real sweat-equity at an intense art school resulted in a stellar career opportunity is an amazing feeling.
@mommek3 - The reason the person probably asked your daughter that question is because there are schools that are superior when it comes to national opportunities, whether in NY, LA or otherwise, than is VCUArts. People sometimes connect the quality of the art school with the portability of the degree. This is not inherently true. One can get a fine education, art or otherwise, at a school that simply has more regional connections than national ones. I have heard zero complaints about the rigor or value of an undergraduate art education at VCUArts. Criticisms relate to the lack of a higher-ranked larger university in which to take non-Art courses, the difficulty in attaining merit and/or financial aid, and the portability of the BFA.
But there are undergraduate art schools with clear, established national recognition that carry weight around the country. Of course, the proof is in the pudding, as long as the pudding consists of more than one or two personal experiences. For instance, I think it would be of great value if @stones3 will discuss her daughter’s work experiences, including internships. It will also be of great interest to know where the student is employed post-graduation.
I am happy to discuss(as I have many times now) our D accomplishments. She has had a great experience at VCUARTS , and has had many opportunities both professionally and academically. While this might have happened just the same at other institutions we can only credit VCUARTS and her experience while attending.
If @mommek3 would like the specifics feel free to PM me.
But we can ALL benefit from the specifics of your experience. You are THE champion for VCUArts, in large part due to your daughter’s experience. What kind of opportunities (professional and academic) did your daughter have…specifics, please. How was career placement and the job search? Did she receive interviews, callbacks, etc.? Where will she be employed post-graduation. THESE are the things that ultimately matter post-graduation. I assume, as parents, that we ALL want our child to be happy wherever they choose to be at school. But they go with an express purpose to learn, to hone their craft, and to (hopefully) gain an employment after graduation on the path toward financial independence. Citing “great experience,” “many opportunities,” and other abstract positives without specifics is meaningless in the framework of this site, i.e., it provides little to no data upon which to evaluate the school in question.
??? why do you now pretend not to know all I posted previously? If mommek3 wants to pm great, if not great. I have no need to continually post our D resume. Why don’t you post your kids . I am very curious to hear about all her “call backs” and post graduation opps, we could all learn… Bottom line take all you already know from my previousl posts add another school grant just awarded to develop a for profit business project, and several on going contacts/meetings for post grad. Ill happily post where she lands once she has landed and graduated.
To the contrary, you absolutely do have a need to continually post your daughter’s resume. That’s pretty much all you do. To my recollection, however, all of your posts have been general/abstract, with no specifics whatsoever. I recall posts about showings, published works, sold works, internship opportunities, and more, but do not recall any specifics relating to these general concepts. I do know that you have never posted specifics about actual internships or post-grad employment. My purpose is never to disparage VCUArts, and absolutely not your child. I simply believe that abstract, non-specific positive experiences do not provide hard data from which parents and students on this site can base decisions.
As for my “kids”, I assume we are limiting this to our daughter in art school. I do not just offer this information unless I am asked, as I think it is gratuitous grandstanding. Since you ask, however… starting this past summer into the fall senior job search, our daughter sent out a wide range of application packages. She interviewed with CVS, Philips Electronics, Drop Box, Spotify, Xymedica, Fidelity, and a large assortment of companies interested in ID/UX. This past summer she worked for 3 months as an intern at Amazon doing UX mixed with ID. While she was offered employment at 2 or 3 of the places with which she interviewed, she ultimately accepted an offer from Amazon and will relocate to Seattle. In part, her reason for choosing Amazon is due to the company’s intention to launch several of the concepts she originated during her internship. The opportunity to work full time, on a design team tasked with implementing her concepts, is just too exciting an opportunity on which to pass.
Looking forward to greater detail from you, especially re post-grad employment, and wish your daughter good fortune in her job search.
congratulations to your daughter. How much is she making? what is her exact title? what degree will she be graduating with and exactly what were her grades. Please be specific. What specifically of hers are they implementing? when is this happening? What are her specific duties?
As for my previous post I guess its not specific when I list things like the NY International art book festival and the LA international art book festival ? that’s not specific. Receiving a grant to study in Seoul, South Korea? that wasn’t specific? Fact of being honor roll each and every semester? not specific enough? Receiving yet another school Grant to launch a for profit business she designed and pitched? As for employment specifically she was one of one creative internship at a large media firm
which I will gladly name after graduation. She has had many additional opportunities that are still ongoing and I frankly find your insinuation that this is not genuine to be both abhorrent and disgusting. Again, ANYONE with sincere interest can PM .
Lastly YOU are the one who asked for further insight to my D resume, you did that, not me , your the one who is forever pestering any positives I post on vcuarts. That’s all you buddy! And before that you did the same in regards to TCNJ ! BTW son graduated in 3 1/2 years and is working at top 4 consulting firm ! Now get back on ignore!
I understand your frustration. My request for specifics to edify those considering VCUArts clearly intimidated you. The circumstance that I called your bluff and actually responded with specific detail obviously made things worse. Rather than respond in kind, you have chosen to mock, asking for details you know are private. Even so…she will be a UX Designer. You can look up the salary ranges for the position. She will graduate with BFA in ID, with Highest Honors based on a current GPA of 3.94. Pursuant to confidentiality agreements with Amazon, she is not free to discuss her work there and we do not know the specifics of either her summer work or ongoing projects. She will start her full-time job Summer 2020. As a UX Designer she will work with a team devoted to a large variety of projects; some currently ongoing, others newly-developed by the team.
No, a grant to study in South Korea is not specific. Your daughter could have received money from her grandmother to host paint ‘n’ sip parties in Seoul. Same thing for a subsequent unidentified grant connected to an unidentified business. Without specifics, the range of possibilities is too great to evaluate the value relative to attending VCUArts. For all we know, your daughter could have received funding to open a frozen yogurt stand in the VCU cafeteria.
Kudos on honor roll, but this attests solely to your student’s acumen, not the value or substance of the school, e.g., is it important for inquiring parents to know that my student was honor roll at our local community college?
Guess we will have to wait on the identity of the large media firm, but again, this data is meaningless in the context of providing information upon which people assess the value of attending VCUArts. “Many additional opportunities” speaks for itself.
To the contrary, I do not doubt the genuineness of any accolade you cite. I just have no way to evaluate these opportunities so that I can in turn make an educated calculation as to the value of a VCUArts education. I did not ask for your daughter’s resume. I asked for specifics regarding the opportunities you regularly cite so that we can all understand why VCUArts is a top undergraduate art school.
You seem to think that I have it out for you personally. This is not the case. You regularly champion VCUArts, often citing misleading or discredited rankings and other data, and frequently citie accomplishments with no verifiable specificity. PM’ing is not a matter of privacy for you. It is a way to spout inaccurate information outside of the public forum which often calls such posters to task. As the parent of an art student, I started as a newbie on this site when our daughter applied for art school. For the most part, I have found the parents and students who post to be knowledgeable, eloquent, and helpful. This in large part stems from a fair amount of experience, specific data, and objectivity, even when it comes to the institution at which the student ultimately matriculated. You exhibit none of these traits and are particularly lacking in the latter.
unless your going to post an actual transcript your just posting #'s, Unless you post full offer letter with specific salary and contact info, your not providing any real proof. and where are your specifics of what and when they will be implementing her intiative? so on. That’s how ridiculous your arguments are. really, you suggest her grandmother “granted” not the school, you very obviously have some kind of defect .With that, this discussion is concluded. As usual , I have called you out on your BS and you have no real response. Anyone with sincere interest may PM for specifics about our D’s experience. Until then, I will maintain her anonymity till post graduation. And I add it’s truly ashame that one individual hijacks a thread with such disingenuous nonsense.
Has anyone started to hear from EA2 or RD yet? My son heard from MassArt, SVA, and PrattMWP the past week and a half (acceptances). Anxious to hear from the rest, but I think it may be a while, right? Odd that some deadlines were much later, and we heard back within a couple of weeks, and then others with earlier deadlines have been silent.
Still waiting for RD: Pratt, Rutgers (Mason Gross), RIT, RISD (deadline today), Parsons
and EAII: MICA (we had a friend who received acceptance in snail mail yesterday) and SAIC
@Graphitemovermom my daughter did mostly early action so has heard from SVA, Pratt, MICA, Tyler, Pratt MWP, SCAD and VCUArts. RIT regular decision so still waiting but did receive a likely letter the other day. Also applied regular to Washington University In St. Lous so still waiting on that. Did not apply to Rutgers although in State for the usual reason? Time for some serious number crunching!
@mommek3 son didn’t apply to any true early action, except for VCUarts (that was the only school that required it for scholarship). Received same “favorable response is likely” letter from RIT, so I hope official letter comes soon, and with money. =) The early action 2 for MICA and SAIC weren’t really that early, but I hoped it meant they would get back to people quickly. Can’t decide on anything, until all the scholarship #'s come in, anyway, so I guess he’ll be waiting either way.
He’s also still working on the CU hometest, which will get sent out early this week, so I know that one is going to take much longer than the rest to get back to us, but it is VERY unlikely he’ll get in. I think we’ll all be pleasantly surprised with even a “waitlist”. LOL! He put a lot of thought and work into it, but he’s late to the game in this drawing/art world and has had to cram a lot of classes these past 18 months to learn the techniques to “proper” drawing, so his skill level is not quite as advanced as I imagine many art students are. And his grades/test scores are probably at the bottom of CU’s middle 50%, just giving him a fighting chance, but we are well aware that his chances are slim to none. He wanted to try anyway. Didn’t want to discourage that.
Was the scholarship money for Pratt and PrattMWP proportionate to the schools’ tuitions?
Mommek3
Was wondering if you could list any merit money your child received from Tyler and VCUarts and RIT if you have heard yet. Those schools are on my son’s list. Thanks in advance.
Heard back from MICA and RIT this week, both with merit, and heard back from SVA merit and PrattMWP merit. Listing them here, in order of receipt for future prospective art students (because I know I was looking for them myself a few months ago. LOL).
GPA: 3.5 (or really 3.49)
SAT: 1330
Portfolio: Very good (admittedly, not amazing–he’s only been taking proper drawing classes, i.e. not comic/cartooning, since summer 2018…great technical skills but needs work on composition and experimentation)
VCUarts (EA) - accepted, but no word on merit (not until later this month/March?)
MassArt (RD) - $8K merit, $2.8K grant
SVA (RD)- $9K Silas Rhodes merit (nothing else, except a generous $5K work study)
MICA (Early Action 2) - $9K Creative Vision Award merit, $1.5K grant (need based?), Competitive scholarship not until April
RIT (RD) $16K Presidential Scholarship merit (no word on financial aid/grants yet)
PrattMWP (RD)- $16K merit (no word on financial aid/grants yet)
Waiting to hear back from the other schools (CU, RISD, Rutgers, Parsons, Pratt, SAIC) regarding acceptance.
I don’t know if this happens often, but EFC decreased recently (like a week ago) from October number. EFC already high to begin with…I really don’t know how they get that ridiculous number, but the drop is 23%. Since it happened so close to when we received the financial aid numbers, I wonder if it would be worth it to call them up and ask if they used the old EFC or the new EFC. I will probably wait until we get all the numbers and call only the schools that he really wants to go to.
I should add that, using PrattMWP’s net cost calculator to guess the scholarship amount, using those academic numbers and then self-rate the portfolio (out of 1-4, 4 being the best), we were hoping for a 3 but expecting a 2. As it turns out, it had to be rated 3 to get the scholarship that he did. So, 3 = Very good, possibly great, not amazing. =) In the rating scale, to help you self-rate, they show you a percentage of portfolios that fall in each rating category, and a majority of the portfolios fall in the 2 and 3 rating. Pratt has a calculator too. Both links are below, if anybody wants to try it.
PrattMWP calculator:
https://tcc.ruffalonl.com/Pratt%20Institute/PrattMWP-Freshman-Students-Calculator
Pratt Calculator (gives you different $$ for each rating than PrattMWP, but their internal rating might be different from PrattMWP because if you put 1 for PrattMWP, you still get a scholarship amount, but if you put 1 for Pratt, it spits out “Keep Going” LOL):
https://tcc.ruffalonl.com/Pratt%20Institute/Freshman%20Students
So now that almost half the schools have responded with acceptances and #s, there are a couple of schools that S20 knows are off his list. We figured it might be nice to let the schools know now, so that they can offer that acceptance or money to someone on the waitlist. I can’t seem to find a way amongst the forms or portals to decline acceptance. How do people do that usually? By phone?
My D just got her acceptance into MICA, and she is super excited, as that has been her #1 for the past 4 years. She’s also been accepted into MassArt and SUNY Purchase. Still waiting to hear on MECA and Pratt.
For those interested, here is what she’s been awarded so far. We’re just starting to get acceptance packets and award info, so I will update this post when I hear more.
SAT: 1080 (not good at all - she gets major test anxiety)
GPA: 4.0
Portfolio: I think that it is very strong- mostly painting, photo & mixed media. She’s taken many drawing & painting, photo, portfolio dev classes and intensives over the past 4 years at an art institute for high school students, and just completed a Sr. Project intensive course.
MassArt: $9K merit (came w her acceptance letter)
MICA: $14.5K Creative Vision Award, $1K Grant
SUNY Purchase: accepted, no info $$ yet
A word about PrattMWP:
I have seen many posts about this, and I’ve tried to keep an open mind. I grew up in Utica. In fact, I studied dance at MWP before it was affiliated w Pratt. I also went to Pratt (Main) for college. So, I think that I have a lot of insight. Utica is a run down town with no culture. There is nothing around the campus to stimulate creativity in any way. Being an artistic kid, I could not wait to leave the area. My whole family still lives there.
I couldn’t figure out why Pratt would open a campus there, until I realized what they are most likely doing is getting students into the program knowing that they will be transitioned into the main campus as Jr’s. That helps them replenish their student population as attrition happens. Pretty smart on Pratt’s part! And they are promoting the campus like crazy. They wouldn’t stop trying to recruit my D to apply there. They seem to be giving out lots of incentives to students to attend in an attempt to get them into “the funnel.”
I am sure that the program is of quality, if it is affiliated with Pratt. I just wanted to let you all know my experience and thoughts. Pratt is a fantastic school, I just wouldn’t even consider sending my artistic D to live in Utica. She would be miserable.
Just my two cents!!
Good luck everyone with your acceptances!
xoxoxoxo
I understand @lrose121 hesitations about Pratt MWP but some history on the school for others who might be considering it…Pratt didn’t open it up as a satellite school/campus from scratch. It was originally Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute (founded in the early 1900s) and had a good solid rep as an affordable art school in Western NY.
Originally as a 2 years/associate level school, a lot of MWPA students would then easily transfer to other art colleges or often pursue their masters in art ed at places like SUNY Albany and the College of St Rose. I’d discussed this when hearing about it’s connections to Pratt with a good friend who’s one of their graduates (I think was one of the last classes right before Pratt merged with them). She was very pleased with her education there & has had a successful career as an art teacher and business owner.
I live near-ish so I understand your personal desire to get out of your own home town, and it is a small, industrial city lacking in a big art community, but in some aspects it’s a nice buffer for a Pratt student who might not be ready to live in the larger NYC area. Also there’s considerable cost savings to go to Pratt MWP for those first 2 years.
Just another side of the coin 
And good luck to your daughter and her upcoming decisions!
My daughter is winding down her college search.
Overall a better than average student who doesn’t test all that great.
GPA: 3.6
ACT: 24
Portfolio: Very good. I think she’s more advanced than my wife and I were are her age. (We both hold BFAs in painting/drawing)
She wants to be an animator/illustrator and has absolutely no interest in traditional academic settings.
She did not do the whole apply to a lot of schools route. Instead we looked at schools with strong animation programs that and thinned the list down to five. SCAD Atlanta, Pratt, Ringling, SVA and CalArts.
From those five she dropped three. SVA she didn’t like how disinterested and unhelpful the reviewer was at portfolio day to pretty much everyone. Meanwhile every other reviewer was engaging and helpful. So, no thanks.
Ringling is a fantastic school but it’s out because as former Florida residents… Florida holds no interest and Sarasota is essentially an old folks home (average age of residents is 65).
CalArts is again a great program but the location is pretty poor and it’s a loooong way from home to go to school someplace boring.
Through this she discovered that she really likes big cities.
SCAD was her front runner going in. She spent a week in Savannah at the SCAD summer seminars and loved her time there and has visited the Atlanta campus but prefers Atlanta to Savannah. In part because Atlanta actually has animation industry jobs but also because she’s a nationally ranked mountain bike racer. While both SCAD campuses have school race teams the Atlanta team is a Varsity program and Savannah is not. Frankly there is no mountain biking in, near or around Savannah that’s worth doing sooooo… Atlanta.
Pratt we visited in the summer and she absolutely fell in love with Pratt, the campus the kids she met and the New York area in general and Pratt became her front runner.
SAIC while not an animation powerhouse was added to the list as she really liked how they engaged with her at portfolio day and overall the school seemed exciting and loved Chicago so she added them.
Where she stands now is:
SCAD Atlanta: accepted with a $34K scholarship for all four years ( breaks down to $1500 art and $7000 academic - $8,500 annually) and may be getting a sports scholarship as well for cycling, jury is still out on that but so far it’s the least expensive.
SAIC: Accepted with a $50K scholarship for all four years and is still expensive
Pratt: still waiting to hear back on acceptance but it’s the most expensive of the three but their published scholarship ranges could make it competitive (within $2-3K) with SCAD.
This will most likely come down to a cost decision unless Pratt gets her very close to SCAD’s cost.
She’s decided to not go to SAIC as she’s very nervous about the lack of formalized pathways, the animation student work is… weak and while she loved everything else about the school it’s the most expensive so far. She feels kind of bad about that decision because SAIC has shown the greatest interest in her of the three schools and she gets at least two communications from the school a week. (some are handwritten)
She’s perfectly happy to just go to SCAD Atlanta and would be happy to go to Pratt so in her mind she’s all good. So we are just waiting to hear if she gets into Pratt and what level of scholarship that might be if she’s awarded one.
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