Fine Arts/painting major... ANY suggestions, advice, and opinions on schools welcome!

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
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<p>Alright. Haha, sorry if this is just my very uninteresting life story. It might be lengthy, but i want to give details to get more applicable advice and i just haven't found much info on fine art majors at different schools in all these threads.
to help out, key questions/things to be noted are bold.</p>

<p>from the beginning...
for my first year of college i did a sort of alternative program called LEAPYear which involved traveling in Latin America, lots of soul-searching, and the most amazing experiences of my life. it was accredited, but had nothing to do with art (spanish language, world study, personal development, etc). It was also only a one-year program.</p>

<p>i have always been interested in going to an art school (both my parents are professional artists, i've done it all my life, love it...) but being abroad, didn't have time to put together a good portfolio to apply to the really elite schools. all the work i currently have is from high school (country run-of-the-mill school, barely any focus on art) and although i've won plenty of awards with it, i don't feel it's at all good enough to get me into a really good art school with scholarship money (my parents being artists, and fairly recently divorced, we are reallllllly low on college funds.)</p>

<p>i live in GA, and decided to go to SCAD-atlanta for my sophomore year because it seemed to be the easiest option. i got accepted with a $20,000 scholarship and will start school in a few days. </p>

<p>hopefully SCAD will be a great experience, and it will definitely be a good school. i'm very excited about it.... buuut i'm guessing i will want to transfer again after this year. I'd like to get out of the south, and if going to art school, (no offense to scad) would really like to go somewhere better(for fine arts? DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW SCAD REALLY COMPARES IN THAT AREA?). i guess i really shouldn't judge it before i get there .....although, their Lacoste program could be worth sticking with it, i've fallen in love with traveling.</p>

<p>I think I want to major in Painting, thats what i have the most experience with, but am extremely interested in many other areas (photography, sculpture, ceramics, film, printmaking....) and for that reason have been somewhat DRAWN TOWARDS SCHOOLS WITH MORE FLEXIBLE PROGRAMS THAT LET YOU TAKE COURSES IN DIFFERENT MAJORS. (i think MICA, SMFA, Cooper Union, i'd love to hear about more!)</p>

<p>I have so many different interests and i've been listening to my boyfriend (at Wesleyan U) and others friends at really good liberal arts colleges and universities talk about the great, interesting academic classes they are taking (intro to buddhism, environmental studies, blah, blah blah) and have started thinking about what i may be missing out on. for this reason, i have been DRAEN TO SCHOOLS THAT HAVE RELATIONSHIPS WITH NEARBY COLLEGES WHERE YOU CAN TAKE COURSES FOR FREE AND WITHOUT APPLYING TO THE OTHER SCHOOL (RISD/Brown, SMFA/Tufts, once again, love to hear more, or advice on those, it seems MAYBE ITS ACTUALLY A REALLY HARD THING TO ACCOMPLISH?). I suppose i could just attend a regular college or university with a very good arts program, but i doubt i have good enough highschool record/sat scores to get into a really good academic school with scholarship. SAT: 1350 (old standards), ACT: 30, GPA: 3.4 ... haha this is all from bad memory though. on the other hand, i've got a good amount of art awards and such through the years, probably the most exciting being a national gold award for a piece i entered in scholastic art awards.</p>

<p>i would be transferring in for my third year of college, and really would love to do that as a junior, but i'm afraid with my first year not having to do with art, and scad not actually being nationally accredited, this might not be possible. (by the way, HOW MUCH DOES THE NASAD TECHINICALLY MATTER? it seems maybe not so much?)</p>

<p>And soo.... i'm mainly looking at schools in the northeast (close to the boyfriend, i know, lame, but that also seems to be where most of the 'top' schools are)</p>

<p>Here are my pros/cons and what i think i know about different schools i'm interested in:</p>

<p>RISD- its one of the best. their relationship with brown is a huge plus, two amazing schools in one, gives me so many more options for academic stuff, but with the intensity of work load, would that even be possible? i hear they are not as known for their fine arts/painting major, but i'm sure if they are that great of a school, they will have good fine arts departments (CAN ANYONE EXPAND ON THAT?). I'm not sure about the amount of scholarship they give out (I MUST GET A FAIRLY LARGE SCHOLARSHIP TO ATTEND AN ART SCHOOL, or probably any school at all outside of GA) it seems it may be a lot lower than other places, and it would just be harder to get into. RISD seems to be very strict with majors and not taking courses outside of them.</p>

<p>MICA- another of the best. from what i've heard, they are much more known for their painting department. they are more flexible with taking courses from different areas. perhaps they give out more scholarship money? i don't think they are affiliated with any other college, but does anyone know anything about the liberal arts/acedemic side of MICA? its further from CT...</p>

<p>SVA- I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO FIND MUCH INFO ABOUT THIS SCHOOL. the website kinda annoys me. does anyone know anything about the focus of the school, the vibe, how the academic curriculum looks, how the fine arts departments compare to others... etc.</p>

<p>Cooper Union- might be a long shot. but hey, i could try. a lot of trouble finding info about this school as well. ANYONE THATS BEEN THERE, PLEEASSEE, WHATS IT LIKE? full scholarship is a plus, but living in new york is still expensive. i'm guessing they gotta have a good painting program, and i remember finding that you could take lots of different types of courses. i get the feeling i won't get much liberal art stuff there, but i have no idea. i also get the feeling it is for crazy people. haha. </p>

<p>SMFAboston: two things i'm looking for, this place has. relationship with Tufts, and flexible course options. sounds perfect. but HOW ACCESSIBLE IS TUFTS, ARE THE CLASSES THERE WORTH IT, would it be too much work to handle? if anyone has any more info on how SMFA works with courses, that'd be great. i really haven't been able to find too much info on the school though. it doesn't really seem to be up there with the best of the best in art schools, but WOULD IT STILL BE OF HIGHER CALIBER THAN SCAD, as far as fine arts go? whats the environment/work ethic/student life/etc like there?</p>

<p>so i guess those are the main schools that have been on my mind recently. i suppose i do have some research down, but i never had high school art teachers or counselors who knew anything about art schools, and <strong>some guidance would be great. really just anything from students or other people who have truly been there or know about the details and more personal experience of different art schools would be soooo much appreciated. suggestions for other schools would also definitely be helpful.</strong></p>

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<p>Liz, you have a lot of ideas ricocheting around in your brain! Slow down and take them one by one.</p>

<p>First, and foremost, the money. Private colleges offer financial aid based on need and/or merit. As a transfer student you may or may not qualify. Before you go one step further you need to clarify your financial situation. Would you qualify for need based aid? Do the colleges and art schools you're interested in offer need or merit aid to transfers? </p>

<p>Second, do you want an art school or an art department inside a liberal arts college or a university? It's time to answer this question, late but not TOO late. Your experience to date has been unorthodox, but not in a bad way. </p>

<p>I don't know enough about SCAD or about you to counsel you, but it sounds to me as if you should consider foregoing SCAD, taking a gap year and applying all over again to a "full service" college that would allow you to explore all of your areas of interest. Because your situation is unusual I have no idea if you would apply as a first year or a sophomore, but I think there are many colleges that would find you a person of interest.</p>

<p>One college that I would look at would be Smith. They like women with unusual backgrounds and the art department is very good. I'd also take a look at some of the larger universities like UMass where you'd have access to the 5 college consortium and CMU which has an excellent art department.</p>

<p>Simultaneously, you could develop your portfolio and increase your chance of admission at the "combination" programs that you mention. Again, you'd have to probe further into the financial options available at each.</p>

<p>My son is a recent graduate of a college very much like Wesleyan. He majored in art studio and art history and found it to be an extraordinary experience both intellectually and artistically. He's now working for an architectural firm and considering his next step. Next week he starts a painting night-course at the Boston Museum School. It's going to be interesting to see what direction he eventually takes. The point of this tale is to give you confidence that the hunger for intellectual stimulus that you're experiencing is a good thing. Feed it!</p>

<p>Good luck and let us know how you do.</p>

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<p>I am not sure how generous art schools are with transfers... You should contact each one and find out, if your ability to attend depends on getting a scholarship. </p>

<p>KCAI is not on the coast, but is supposed to be good, and could be more affordable. You might also end up happy where you are. Keep an open mind, and see how things work out.</p>

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<p>Liz, I live in Maryland and know a bit about MICA. MICA is very well known for its fine arts offerings. As you noted, it is also well known for allowing students to be able to take a lot of interdisciplanary courses. Finally, MICA prides itself on its libeal arts offerings. They don't water down their liberal arts or make them especially easy as some art schools do.</p>

<p>In addition, MICA does have a relationshipo with Johns Hopkins for students to take courses there, although Hopkins is a bit of a drive from MICA, unlike that of Brown-RISD,which is right across from each other.</p>

<p>I should note that MICA has a variety of 5 year BFA/MFA programs that you should look into,which can provide great training and a good education. They are also well known for their BFA and MFA in teaching,which usually provides good teaching credentials upon graduation.</p>

<p>Also check out the following thread about MICA and RISD:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=38737%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=38737&lt;/a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=331338%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=331338&lt;/a>
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=312604%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=312604&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Also, check out this thread about incuring large debts for college:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=326598%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=326598&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Good luck</p>

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<p>My daughter is a fine arts major at SVA in their honors program. Ironically, she transferred to Smith after her freshman year and then transferred back after one semester. I guess you might say that I am uniquely qualified to compare the two (She does not post here). Smith is a great school that gives very good financial aid packages to financially needy admitted students. The campus is lovely, there is a beautiful art museum right on campus, and they are strong in art history. My daughter felt that the art studio program at Smith was too traditional and too removed from the contemporary art scene. If you review the art courses at Smith you will see that reflected in the courses. Also, at Smith the art studio program is a BA not a BFA and she thought it would not matter. However, once she got to Smith she realized that there was a big difference in the amount of time dedicated to studio arts vs. SVA.</p>

<p>SVA started out as a school for illustration (mostly comic books) and then became very well know for their graphic design program. My daughter feels that SVA has become one of the top art schools in the country because with so many working artists and professionals teaching at SVA, the school tends to be on the cutting edge of the new trends out there. She started thinking she would concentrate on sculpture but now feels that she wants to be able to integrate sculpture, photography, painting, and video. She has interned with artists, hopes to do work-study in a gallery, and spend afternoons at the Guggenheim. Her friends are film students and photographers and she is constantly exposed to new ideas. She is quite happy with her choice. That said SVA, like most art schools, is notoriously stingy on financial aid and NYC is outrageuosly expensive.</p>

<p>She has friends at Cooper and the word is that there is a very elitist attitude among the art students at Cooper and that they work very hard (IMO not a bad thing). It is hard to get in to as a freshman, almost impossible as a transfer student.</p>

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<p>alright, so this is definitely helpful. thank you!</p>

<p>momrath- although your son won't have the normal experience at the museum school, i'd be very interested to here what he thinks about it. also, what wesleyan-esque school did he attend?</p>

<p>i'm really interested in finding out more about smfa... the details of the school and more personal opinions. i have a feeling they would be less expensive/give out more aid than RISD or MICA. i also just really have no idea where exactly it is on the pure quality scale in fine arts.</p>

<p>also, i'm in the process of contacting different schools to ask about financial aid and such for transfers. RISD might be a long shot as far as aid goes, but the Brown thing is so tempting. Also being the closest to conneticut is tempting me, although i don't really want that to be a factor. I also just found out about their wintersession program, which seems really interesting. do those 6 weeks seem to be enough to appease students interested in different courses?</p>

<p>i will definitely look into these different liberal art colleges and universities. smith seems like it could be a good option, but i really think i need a balance of testosterone. </p>

<p>does anyone know of any other really good non-art schools, but with excellent fine arts programs in the northeast area?</p>

<p>also, i was under the impression that most colleges and universities (not art schools) won't give merit-based aid on my artwork, just academic records and such. if i am positive i will major in fine arts, do any schools take portfolios into consideration when offering aid?</p>

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<p>Liz asks,"does anyone know of any other really good non-art schools, but with excellent fine arts programs in the northeast area"</p>

<p>Response: Liz, check out Syracuse University,which has a tremendous art program. Also, check on Carnegie Mellon, University of Cincinnati, Towson University here in Maryland etc.</p>

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<p>FYI, for freshman at least MICA is far more generous with merit based aid than RISD. MICA awards merit based aid on both portfolio/artistic skills and academics.</p>

<p>D. is a General Fine Arts (GFA) sophomore at MICA and is enjoying it.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

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<p>Have ou looked at Alfred University? Very generous with aid, and (if NYS resident) state subsidized.</p>

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<p>RISD & Brown combo looks great on the paper, but in real life it does not work that well. The two schools are on different schedules, so living at one and taking classes at the other can be a real problem.</p>

<p>They now have a new 5 year program that grants degrees from both RISD and Brown (the students are expected to live and take classes at Brown half of the time, and at RISD the other half), but it is only starting this year, so I am not sure you can "transfer" into it as a sophomore. To get into that program, you have to be accepted by BOTH schools.</p>

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<p>I am going to suggest Bennington and Sarah Lawrence. Both are some where in between liberal arts schools and arts & performance schools because their emphasis on fine arts is so pronounced, although neither is an art school. I was blown away by the offerings at Sarah Lawrence. Both these schools would probaby also appreciate a non-traditional student like yourself.</p>

<p>My suggestion would be to actually look at the course offerings at schools you are interested in. Most schools have their current courses available online under the Academics section of their websites. Some offer the entire college catalogue in a PDF file.</p>

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<p>Liz, I think you have to spend some more time on the money-thing before you can evaluate your choices. Merit aid at non-art colleges IS mostly tied to academic achievement, although talent, like art, is a factor in admissions. Many of the colleges in the Northeast do not offer merit aid anyway, so it may be a moot point.</p>

<p>You may well be eligible for need based aid. Use one of those on-line calculators to find out. </p>

<p>The other complicating factor is the year that you would be applying for: first year, sophomore, junior? I think your LEAPYear experience would be a positive but I’m not sure if it would be counted as a full year academically. If you matriculate at SCAD this may actually be a negative if it puts you into the junior year classification. Slots for transfers diminish as you go up the ladder.</p>

<p>Your year may be less important at an all-art school. The best art schools are looking for demonstrated talent. To be seriously considered you will need to develop a strong portfolio. To be seriously considered with money you need a very strong portfolio.</p>

<p>I can give you a list of small liberal arts colleges in the Northeast with good art studio departments, but again, you really need to clarify the money and the grade level before you explore these further. They are: Williams (my son’s alma mater), Wesleyan, Vassar, Hamilton, Skidmore, Conn College and Smith. I don’t know much about Bennington or Sara Lawrence but I agree they are good options as well.</p>

<p>I would "star" Smith again because of its reputation for financially helping women with unorthodox backgrounds. I think you would be a person of interest there and would find it a good fit. For sure, it's a liberal arts college, not an art school. You won't find the artistic intensity at any LAC that you would at a 24/7 artschool.</p>

<p>Another route would be to concentrate on larger publics. They may not have the intellectual cache of a Wesleyan or the artistic appeal of RISD, but they would allow you to take a range of courses at an affordable tuition. This isn’t an area that I’m that familiar with, so I can’t give you a lot of names but UMass Amherst comes to mind because of its location and involvement in the consortium.</p>

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<p>ok. good good good. finding this forum has been soo extremely helpful.</p>

<p>i definitely should qualify for need-based financial aid, i did this year, and judging by my families actual income this year, i should qualify for even more next year.</p>

<p>i'm definitely going to leave my options open as far as liberal arts/stand alone art schools go, and research some more colleges, but i think right now i might be getting a little ahead of myself and stressing out over something too far in the future. trying to research art schools and make decisions right now is driving me a little crazy i think, haha.</p>

<p>i'm leaving tomorrow morning for SCAD, and am extremely excited. I think maybe for now i should just keep an open mind, focus on squeezing out every little thing SCAD has to offer, making some really amazing artwork and starting a portfolio that will kinda lead and direct me, where ever i want to go.</p>

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<p>just a quick note about the MICA/Hopkins distance:</p>

<p>the college town shuttle remedies this effectively since it's only about 6 or 7 minutes by car. Also, Baltimore is a huge biker's town and it's not a far bike ride at ALL.</p>

<p>I've got a bunch of friends over at the hop, and i don't feel like it's impossible to pop over there when i'd like to. There's a colltown shuttle stop about five feet from Mica's freshman dorm. Also, after 5, the MICA shuttle will most likely take you to or pick you up from the Hop.</p>

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<p>Momrath notes,"Many of the colleges in the Northeast do not offer merit aid anyway, so it may be a moot point."</p>

<p>Response: I am not sure what schools you are talking about. RIT offered my daughter a fair amount of merit aid as did University of Cincinnati. Syracuse offers a lot of merit aid,but it is almost solely based on SATs. My daughter has friends at Pratt who have all received some form of merit aid. Thus, there seem to be plenty of schools that do offer merit aid on the east coast. The only ones that clearly don't are the ivys and schools like RISD.</p>

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<p>And the top Lac's, also known as "llittle ivies."</p>