Art Schools for Painting /Drawing /Illustraton

Hello! we are just beginning my daughters search for art school. She is undecided on her program of study but is interested in Painting, Drawing and Illustration. I am looking for feedback on schools. We visited RISD last summer and are certainly interested in that. Looking for feedback on RISD vs Pratt vs MICA. She is interested in East Coast only. Would love to hear your thoughts!!
Thanks

momfromtexaswheretherearenogoodartschools :)

I’m from Houston so I feel that hashtag haha! I’m a senior in high school right now going into illustration next year, and the schools on the east coast I applied to were: RISD, MICA, Pratt, SVA, Parsons, and RIT. I did tours at all of these places except SVA (the only one I’ve been accepted to so far…lol), and I was extremely impressed with the traditional illustration facilities each school offered. Your D should check them out and see which vibe she likes best. Also check out MassArt, I didn’t apply there but I’ve heard only good things about it.

I have one who’s a sophomore in Illustration at RISD (who only wanted East Coast) and a HS junior S who’s touring schools too, here’s where my kids have visited and/or applied to schools with drawing/illustration departments:

CalArts
LCAD
MICA
MassArts
Pratt
Ringling
RISD
RIT
St Rose
SUNY New Paltz
SUNY Purchase
SVA
Syracuse
Yale

Thank you both for the input . Is RIT Rochester? I think so far we have agreed to a summer session at Pratt so we can decide if the whole Brooklyn thing is overwhelming ( we are from small southern town). I am getting the impression that academic wise Risd is most challenging then Pratt and Mica least of the three? Did you also get that impression? She could probably make RISD but she is unsure she wants that much “pressure”. THanks for your replies and also best of luck to you both!

@crystin yes, RIT is Rochester…very nice campus, though yes, New York can be overwhelming in general, especially coming in from Texas.

As for the academically rigorous topic…I feel like yes, RISD is definitely the most intense, but I honestly would say MICA and Pratt are around the same. I have a friend at MICA and she often tells me she is academically challenged, yet enjoys by her Liberal Arts classes there. I do not have a close connection to Pratt so I do not know how the students feel about the academics there, but my tour guide there gave off the vibe that the academics are no joke.

@pastelrain Thanks again. I’m curious what is your first pick? and are you coming from one of the Arts high schools in Houston?

@crystin No, I go to a private k-12 school in Houston. I got into one of the main art high schools here but decided not to go as my parents were very worried about the surrounding neighborhood.

My top choice is RISD, but with my GPA and test scores I’m scared that it’s a reach for me. I don’t really expect to get in so my second choice (and what I think I can get into) is Ringling, in Sarasota Florida (I didn’t mention it in my original post because you seem to be looking at the northeast).

My daughter is planning to study illustration–but did not apply to any of the NYC schools (because we live in NYC and she wants to go elsewhere for school!). But she did apply to RISD, MICA, and SCAD on the east coast. She also toured VCUArts but it wasn’t for her. There were a couple art/design schools in PA that might be worth looking into–PAFA (in Philadelphia), Moore (also in Philadelphia, women only), and PCAD in Lancaster. My daughter didn’t apply to the PA schools, mostly because she already had an extensive enough list.

Re NYC/Pratt - My oldest wasn’t interested in being in NYC at all, but my youngest is so we toured Pratt and SVA (School of Visual Arts) on the same weekend. Academically he liked both alot, but they have distinct ‘feels’. Pratt felt more like a traditional college campus in that it has a defined campus with quads and feels more contained. One side of campus has a commercial district but the other three sides are fairly residential. But all the museums and draws of NYC are just a few subway stops away.

Whereas SVA is spread out more throughout the heart of Manhattan, but you’re right in the midst of everything in an exciting way and all the potential employers surrounding the school.