<p>For informational purposes, here's the stuff my daughter had to say about her summer at SAIC ECP and CalArts for CSSSA. It was really helpful for her application process, because she got to be at an urban "apartment centered" campus and a suburban "dorm-centered" campus. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>The summer precollege program at SAIC really impressed her. She had expected that because non-scholarship students don't have to submit a portfolio, there would be a lot of dabbler/novice/unserious students with money, but her classmates were almost all very serious, very skilled, and very mature. There were very high expectations from the instructors, who were not kidding about treating it as a college level class. </p></li>
<li><p>CSSSA, on the other hand, was very disappointing. She thinks if she hadn't had SAIC first, it would not have been so bad, but there was a much lower level of talent/skill/maturity. Students are treated much more like kids at CSSSA, lots more restrictions. She got very little out of the painting part of the program. AT SAIC, they did several oil paintings a day. At CSSSA, they did 3 acrylic paintings in 4 weeks. </p></li>
<li><p>Daughter loved the Chicago Building residences at SAIC and really loved having a kitchenette in the room. She says she thought the CalArts dorm was "janked up" and "lame" and that while the public spaces at CalArts are nice, the dorms/work rooms were much less so. Also, the dining hall food got very boring and repetitive for her (she's a vegetarian). She <em>thought</em> she'd rather have a dining hall until she had one for a month, and now she's totally over that. :-) </p></li>
<li><p>She has decided that one of the things she really wants in a school is green grass to hang out on, and lots of technique courses. She still doesn't want the narrow focus of some schools, and still really likes the interdisciplinary approach of SAIC. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I think if we had spent money on CSSSA it would have been <em>really</em> a waste, but because she had a full scholarship, it was "better than staying at home for a month". SAIC, on the other hand, was worth the $1800 we had to spend in room/board/travel/supplies. I also would recommend SAIC ECP for folks who need serious need-based aid, as they were incredible in working with us to make it affordable. The had followed her for two years at NPD and everyone we spoke to knew who daughter was and was really great about trying to get her there for the summer.</p>
<p>I’m really sorry that she had a disappointing time at CSSSA - I was in the Creative Writing program this year, and it was basically incomparable to other writing programs within California. It is great that she got to explore two different atmospheres and see what type of college curriculums she would enjoy in the future.</p>
<p>well it really does depend on what your daughter was looking for. SAIC is definitely a great school. I got to attend for a year while in high school as a guest student for free because my HS teacher also taught there. If your daughter is into the formal arts like painting then I would probably suggest SAIC.</p>
<p>From what I’ve seen and heard, SAIC is great if you want guidance and instruction. I haven’t visited CalArts but from what I’ve heard most of their programs give a huge amount of independence and freedom to their students. I could be wrong of course but that’s what I had gathered</p>
<p>4R13: Interesting. The feedback that we had gotten was almost exactly opposite that. SAIC was more about independence and freedom, and CalArts students had many more restrictions placed on them. Several people my daughter has talked to have commented on feeling that they did not get enough guidance at SAIC, while people I know thought they didn’t get <em>any</em> freedom in their major at CalArts.</p>
<p>Correct me if I didn’t get it right.
When I was digging for past couple years, I had the expression CASSSA was made to promote arts in CA students in general from many different background and skill levels. They intentionally mix ability, socioeconomic range etc so kids can learn from each other while living together not only arts but community living and tolerance and whatnot otherwise they won’t experience at home. For this, they used to give aid for out-state/ international as well in the past, though not anymore. It is just borrowing Calart facility and not necessary Calart pre college experiences. For animations maybe but other disciplines are taught by other than Calart faculties?
Same thing could be said to any prestigious pre college done at any art schools but I think SAIC is more self-selective than CASSSA. The applicants must have feel for the school because it is really $$$, especially if you’d do full 5 weeks schedules in two parts, considering meals are not provided, about same price as RISD, SMFA if not more. I speculated it must be spent on instruction, higher caliber of faculties; less of out of work “working” artist but “FACULTIES” doing summer job because SAIC has much more specific classes in depth, not so much of get together game night sort of activities.
What I found out during tours of art schools this summer is, pre college in general is money making /recruit opp for most art schools. Tour guides tend to dismiss them as
“ Oh, they are just high school students doing pre college”
“ even for pre college, this (lab, printing press, galleries) could be…”
“ These are just pre college works and not good reflections but…”
One positive note is it could be great talent search for the schools without setting up those fly-in diversity weekends. All schools have to do is sit back and wait amazing portfolio asking scholarships from all over the country and beyond come to them. They can pick and choose from best-est art magnet schools often far away from the places the college is located. Best bet is, they have yet time to figure out if the kids really “have” it while they are at it during summer while families somehow squeeze out room board travel and art supplies.
There is very few EVERYTHING plus stipend paid scholarships for the summer.
I call this “shoo in you are Picasso”
What happen to the kid like that?
She decides after the summer, art school is waste of money and time and chose Ivy free ride with art supplements. dah.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard CSSSA(not ever being there, i went to AAU in SF for pre-college which… was not steller since only one or two students per class was even interested in seriously attending an art school) is a completely different experience from actually attending CalArts. I’m going to CalArts for college and from what I’ve heard, at least for my major (character animation), the program is tough and there are alot of work involved but it’s mostly what the student makes of it. There is structure but in the classes themselves the students are encouraged to be more freeminded and there is less instructions, which I assume is to prevent any teacher from influencing a student’s style too much. </p>
<p>Both schools are great and competitive but it just depends on what major a student is aiming for. Maybe painting isn’ a strong point for CalArts. I know SAIC has a strong Fine Arts department so that could explain it. And the locations are really different. (which sucks cause I wanted to go to a big campus or city but instead CalArts is smaller then my graduating class and in a smaller town too, but i’m going there because it is top in my major regardless of where it’s located). Also the CalArts dorms for CSSSA are smaller then usual just because they added extra beds to a usually 2/3 person dorm room to make it accommodate 3/4.</p>
<p>I should have been more clear. I was not trying to suggest that my daughter’s experiences at CSSSA are indicative of the coursework at CalArts. However, they don’t use different dorms or studios – the facilities and location don’t change somehow between the summer and the school year. So her assessment of the dorms and studio facilities (and to the isolation of the location) are useful for potential applicants.</p>
<p>With regard to 3 students instead of 2 in the rooms; my daughter’s feedback is about the quality of the dorm, not the space per student by itself. Even if there were only 2 students in the room, the dorms are objectively not as spacious, well-maintained, or equipped as the buildings that SAIC has. Just walking around the CalArts dorm when I was there, it was dirty looking, paint was chipping, and it smelled faintly of mold and old laundry. Even if every room had been a single, it still would have smelled icky. :-)</p>
<p>valtergeorge: She was in first session, and then flew immediately to Los Angeles for CSSSA. I agree about the SAIC program being strongly self-driven and interdisciplinary – that’s a large part of the appeal for my daughter, who uses a lot of modes and media in her art.</p>
<p>“AT SAIC, they did several oil paintings a day. It’s all about making like 10 paintings a day”</p>
<p>What does this really mean? 10 paintings a day? Is this an exercise in being looser or just a quantity over quality approach or what. Maybe someone could direct us to somewhere where we could see examples of what those 10 paintings a day look like.</p>
<p>It just seems to me that if the approach is about the number of paintings doesn’t that leave out a few other options and ways of working. It’s a pretty regimented focus, is it just about cranking 'em out? Just wondering. Seriously I’d love to see what these works look like.</p>
<p>Alex, my dd did ECP two years ago and absolutely loved it. She was pushed and her art changed and grew. The school is basically in the Art Institute, just in a building behind it. The area is very touristy and near Mich ave. The dorms are a short walk away and are basically little studio apartments that are very nice. There is no dining commons, so kids go out for all meals or make their meals in their kitchenette. As far as safety, dd went everywhere with others and she felt very safe. Long answer, hope it helps!</p>