Help me pick an animation college! (CMU vs SVA vs SCAD vs Drexel vs Ringling*)

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
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<p>Hi guys. I’m looking to get into animation or VFX and have been accepted to a few schools for that.</p>

<p>Here are the colleges and their majors:
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) School of Art (Electronic / Time based media)
Drexel University - Antoinette Westphall college of media art and design (Computer animation / VFX)
School of Visual Arts (Computer art, computer animation, visual effects)
Ringling college of art and desgn (NOT ANIMATION, Game art and design)
Savannah College of Art and Design (Animation or VFX) </p>

<p>While I have read through all of the reviews I could find and thought I had made a decision I reverted back to not knowing which to choose. HELP PLEASE! I would really appreciate if parents of students or students themselves could give me feedback on these programs!!! If you're not a parent or student please give some feedback anyway! All of the schools would cost me around the same. due to scholarships and such.</p>

<p>I've visited SCAD and Ringling and will visit SVA this Saturday. I actually thought scad's layout wasn't too bad although it is spread out. I was given a tour of their animation/vfx department and it was very impressive. Same with Ringling however I really think animation is where I want to go and don't know if there's enough crossover in their game art program.</p>

<p>When I received all of my acceptances Carnegie Mellon seemed stand out due to the nature and prestige of the school. They claim to host a curriculum which facilitates computer animation in their school of art but I'm not sure. Does anyone have info on them?</p>

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<p>Just bumping up. Does anyone have something to day about these schools? I’d really appreciate it :)</p>

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<p>I remember visiting CMU about 7 years ago for my daughter and don’t remember any strong undergrad programs in animation. Unless things have changed greatly, I don’t recommend CMU for undergrad animation. They do have a grad program, however, in entertainment design that looks quite good , however,</p>

<p>SCAD looks very good on paper. They have majors in 2d, 3d , game development, themed entertainment and even VFX. They even had audio design if I remember and kids can take courses in all these area. However, I REALLY didn’t like the location where SCAD is situated compared to the location of other schools, and I don’t think that they have the same degree of connections for both jobs and internships as some of the others such as SVA. However, since I have never been to their career service department, I could well be in error on this. You need to check out their connections for internships etc. I also don’t know the background of SCAD’s faculty.
Ringling is probably the most well-known and ranked school for 3d animation in the US. However, I have never seen anyone recommending them for traditional 2d animation. I have seen Ringling’s student work,which was fantastic.
As for SVU, I am familiar with them. They also have a strong 3d animation program,which is labeled as “computer art.” They also have a 2d animation program that looks good,but I know little about it. Kids can take courses in both areas such as with SCAD.SVA does, however, have lots of internship contacts since they are located in Manhattan.SVA also has a strong grad program in Computer Art too. I also know that the faculty are all practicing in their field and work in top studios.</p>

<p>As for Drexel, I know little about their program,but I didn’t like location of Drexel ,which is inner city Philly. However, at least you are in Philly,which may give rise to some good contacts. Again, I haven’t visited career services; thus, I don’t know how good their connections with the industry really is. I did, however, read over the background of Drexel’s faculty in the animation department and wasn’t impressed.Read over the faculty background, training etc. Their faculty backgrounds seem stronger in interactive design than in animation. They do have some faculty with very broad based backgrounds such as a PHD in anthropology,which could result in some different emphasis if you want it, such as maybe some work in forensic animation. However, I didn’t see many faculty members with strong studio experience or currently with a major studio.</p>

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<p>Taxguy</p>

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<li>What didn’t you like about the location?</li>
<li>What do you know of SCAD’s connections in order to draw this conclusion?</li>
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<p>For the OP. Here is a list of SCAD graduates and where they have found employment.
<a href=“http://www.scad.edu/info-for/alumni/where-are-they-now/scad/[/url]”>http://www.scad.edu/info-for/alumni/where-are-they-now/scad/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here’s a demo real of some student work:
<a href=“http://www.scad.edu/_cs_apps/ajaxProxy.cfm?bean=SCADDeptsSevice&method=getDepartmentalPortfolioHTML&department=Animation[/url]”>http://www.scad.edu/_cs_apps/ajaxProxy.cfm?bean=SCADDeptsSevice&method=getDepartmentalPortfolioHTML&department=Animation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>For the OP, here is a list of SCAD faculty. You can review their bios:
<a href=“http://www.scad.edu/animation/faculty.cfm[/url]”>http://www.scad.edu/animation/faculty.cfm&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Remember one thing though, a great CV does not necessarily mean the professor is a good teacher. That’s a little harder to pin down.</p>

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<p>As for the SCAD link to the list of grads who have found employment: I only counted 3-4 in animation and/or VFX who were listed out of the hundred or so students. That isn’t a good record if it is at all inclusive.</p>

<p>As for the student work, I like it,but it was almost all 2d oriented. SCAD has a 3d program, VFX, game development etc. I didn’t see a lot of student work listed in those areas by you.</p>

<p>As to why I don’t like Savannah, we have discussed this before in other threads. let’s just say it isn’t Manhattan or L.A…</p>

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<p>Just wanted to speak about location of Drexel. It is in a very decent part of Philadelphia, University City. It is right next door to Penn and the area is one of the safest for students. There has been a substantial amount of development at the University including new dorms. One of the best things about Drexel is the co-op program. If this is available in their art programs, it could be very helpful. For the record, my dd is an illustration major at Ringling. Her foundation year was specialized, and Ringling groups the illustration, game design and animation majors together, for the most part. The work at Ringling in animation is outstanding. We are always impressed. Good luck with your decisions.</p>

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<p>It is not inclusive.</p>

<p>What year(s) did you review? You can review 25+ years worth of information. There will be less data for newer grads simply because the information is solicited and collected via email to students. You’ll find the same at all schools. </p>

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<p>I only posted a link to the 2D Animation samples. You can go to each department on the SCAD site and find student project samples. </p>

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<p>You didn’t say anything relevant actually. What you did say you were scared off by the neighborhood, but I provided photos proving that your description was extremely misleading.</p>

<p>And again you commented on something (connections) of which you have no knowledge, but put a negative slant on it.</p>

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<p>I am focused on computer animation so the 2-d samples, while interesting are not too helpful to me. I couldn’t really find any 3d work from SCAD even after visiting their department sites. </p>

<p>I’m pretty sure taxguy isn’t primarily bashing the Savannah area because of safety or anything like that, more so because of the lack of studios near that area. </p>

<p>Does anyone believe that receiving the degree in time based media and going for a graduate degree in computer animation would be effective?</p>

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<p>RainingAgain, read over what I said about SCAD’s connections, to wit:" I don’t think that they have the same degree of connections for both jobs and internships as some of the others such as SVA. However, since I have never been to their career service department, I could well be in error on this."</p>

<p>I didn’t make a categorical statement about SCAD’s connection since I admitted that I could be in error about this!</p>

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<p>Why say anything about which you know nothing? </p>

<p>Admitting you could be in error is a tactful way of trying to divert attention from your intent – to put a negative spin on the topic.</p>

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<p>To be fair…here is what Taxguy said on another thread. He meant both…</p>

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<p>If you have any worries about the location of Montgomery Hall, it is just south of a lower class business district and east of a lower class residential area. The area has improved substantially in the past ten years, and homes a few blocks to the east start to climb to $300k to $500k and up. </p>

<p>I don’t know what TG saw, but I’ve been to Monty Hall dozens of times over the past 10+ years and never had a problem. Still, Savannah is a city. It’s not in the middle of Nebraska.</p>

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<p>Hi luxapodular,
I will try to help you, but can you clarify the major program to which you’ve been accepted? My daughter, like phillyartmom’s, is an illustration major at Ringling so that is the program I know best. Were you accepted to the game art or motion design major, and now want to switch to computer animation? Your best bet as far as learning your chances of doing that is to just call or email Admissions as they are super helpful and very friendly! I am assuming that is what you mean by cross over.</p>