I asked my daughter, in her second year at Art Center to respond. Here are her words:
"It is very much a commuter school, but there are many ways to make friends. All of your first semester classes are assigned to you (or at least they were in my major, Illustration), and in many of those classes, it’s the same set of students. So you make friends quickly. These students share your passions since you are all studying the same thing. Some of these students will be classmates in subsequent semesters. To make friends outside your major, there are many clubs to join.
The work/life balance is a challenge because there is a lot of homework. Your friends who attend a traditional college won’t be able to relate to your workload. You have to make an effort to have a social life, manage your time, and prioritize some things over others, in order to squeeze in time with friends. It can be easy to fall into the trap that homework is the only thing you do. At other colleges you have Greek life, football games, and parties. At Art Center your social time with friends is spent on coffee dates, school clubs, and doing homework together. Because of the rigor, students collectively bond in the shared experience and support each other.
When going to an art school you’ll be surrounded only by other amazingly talented art and design students. Obviously not everyone has the same major, but all students are highly creative and innovative. I find that very inspiring. In academic classes you meet students from outside your major, which exposes you to different things.
Art Center does not have a traditional college feel. It has a professional vibe, so it almost feels like you are going to “work” every day with your friends instead of going to school. The small school size leads to small class sizes, which makes it easier to make friends and know your teachers. You will get to know your teachers, and they will know you by name.
Teachers are professionals and emphasize what it’s like in the workplace so that you are career-ready upon graduation. They are well connected in their industry and give a lot of insight into that industry, as well as help students get internships through their connections. The school offers independent studies where students pitch a project (a project that you wouldn’t be able to do in the classroom), then work 1-on-1 with a teacher for one or more semesters until the project is at a professional level and is done .
Personally, I found it hasn’t been a problem being a commuter school. But Art Center and a traditional college are two very different experiences. You need to be honest with yourself about which aspects of the college experience matter most to you and find a school that fits that. The factors that I focused on were the quality of education, industry preparedness, and small class sizes. Art Center has that in spades! I feel that Art Center gives you that extra push to get you where you want to be faster."