Our daughter (now a junior in HS) is looking to get her BFA in Animation/Illustration. She has some disabilities and an IEP. She is very talented, well rounded and has been in art shows. She also participates in leadership roles, volunteering and has a magnetic personality. She benefits from a slower pace at school, she struggles in math and chemistry but excels in art and has a great imagination with the passion and ambition to match. She has a hard time with transitions (getting from place to place quickly) and isn’t always able to form lasting bonds so we’re thinking smaller might be better. We’re also on a 529 type of financial program and we know art schools are not cheap. Her team at school has expressed that there is no reason why she can’t attend a four year school and succeed. She will have great recommendations from her teachers, an impressive portfolio and is working hard on her essay. I have always known deep down that she will find her way. We are open to a Liberal Arts college with a great animation department. Since her GPA and PSAT’s do not match how hard she works, she will probably not get into the more selective schools, so we are looking for something on the eastern seaboard (up from VT and down to Florida) and as far west as Illinois. We have looked at Lesley, NVU Lyndon and will look at MassArt, Ringling, MECA, Montclaire, Fairleigh Dickenson, UMass Lowell and whatever else you suggest. Thanks in advance.
SUNY Oswego is mid-sized (~8K students, more than half of whom live on campus) and offers both BA and BFA programs in Studio Art, both of which have specific Illustration tracks (further described as offering “a variety of courses in 2D, 3D, and animated traditional and digital illustration forms.”) Oswego has a strong emphasis on experiential learning, both on campus and through co-ops and internships, which could be helpful in paving the way forward after college. The stat profile isn’t overly daunting, and it’s reasonably affordable even for OOS. https://www.oswego.edu/art/art-department
The school is in downtown Richmond (RVA). The city has transformed over the last couple of years and is now a great city for college students and young professionals.
It is an urban environment, which does not always appeal, and the school is larger. It doesn’t really impress at first blush. A friend’s daughter at first refused to get out of the car when they arrived for visit. She did, ended up going, and had a terrific experience. We’ve known several students who’ve had really transformative experiences there. I know a couple of students at our very large public high school who won the top art student award and have gone or are going. Those there love VCU Arts.
Another name I’ll toss out is UNC-Asheville. It’s a public liberal arts college, not another large public university, and is strong in arts. Asheville is a great art city, and just a neat, funky place, if a little touristy. It’s a real folk art center. The campus is a short distance from downtown. It doesn’t look like it has animation, but maybe you can see if any of the programs would work. It sounds like the school itself would have a lot of potential interest. It is also relatively inexpensive for OOS students (not saying inexpensive).
Being familiar with some of the challenges you mention, I’d suggest wherever she goes, she gets to know someone in academic counseling before she goes. It’s helpful to arrive with a mentor and a good understanding of programs that would be available for students with learning challenges. For example, lots of schools offer short classes-say an hour a week for 6-8 weeks–where students learn how to function more successfully in a college environment. And it’s just nice to have a familiar face to talk out challenges with, and to maybe feel some accountability with.
Thanks, we did look at SCAD’s program. Not sure it’s in our budget and we do have more connections in FL than GA (relatives) but we’re definitely looking at it.
VCU- The degree isn’t animation but kinetic studies…not sure it’s exactly what she’s looking for and our college counselor said it might be a stretch to get in . I’ll check out UNC but anything that’s harder than average to get in might be a stretch. Thank you so much though, I will look at it. Thank you too for the advice on academic counseling. Those are amazing tips and really helpful. So far we’ve asked about support everywhere we went. The idea of shorter classes is really appealing too. Thanks again.