The portfolio will be the most important aspect of your son’s admission. Choose a precollege program that will help him build up a great portfolio for senior year. Reputation, length, and intensity all factors in determining that.
Programs may well differ in the amount of experience needed to try out a major for the summer. So check with the school. For animation in particular, your son is best off doing a LOT of figure drawing so if he’s interested in that major make sure you choose a program that includes a drawing studio.
@AskExperts I do believe that the prestige of a program can be a factor, but it is the actual experience that is most important.
The best case scenario is attending a summer program in a school that is a top choice. This allows a student to see if it is a good fit and possibly make connections with faculty. Even if classes are not taught by full-time faculty over the summer, the curriculum and program is generally overseen by faculty and should give a strong indication about what the BFA program is like.
If a student does apply to the pre-college school, it allows the student to write about their positive experience in essays. This can certainly help with admissions. It is the ultimate “demonstrates interest in a school” scenario.
In addition, even if the program isn’t explicitly about portfolio development, at the end of a successful program your son should have more work to add to his portfolio and an understanding of what additional pieces will help make his portfolio better.
I would have your son contact individual schools regarding prior experience in animation. I would guess that a high school program will start from ground zero, although students might have a range of experience.
Many of the students in Ds ceramics class had no prior expererience. The curriculum taught basic skills. Once those skills were taught, students were able to have more freedom with their work.
In our household finances are an issue so we could not afford programs farther afield &/or at more prestigious locations. However my daughter took a summer 6-week figure drawing class (+ a mixed media and portfolio prep workshop) from the art department at a small local college. The pieces she did in that class received some of the most positive feedback at on campus and NPD portfolio reviews. If your kid is going into animation, illustration etc the schools seemed thrilled to see ‘real world’ figure drawing.
Not only is your child developing their technique, but it was also mentioned to her that they see that as a sign that you’re serious about art, mature enough to sit and draw the nude form, and have discipline to draw/sit that long too. All good things that they can learn even if the program isn’t at a ‘top notch’ institution.
The same college had free weekly figure drawing sessions for their students and open to the community (didn’t include instruction but still good to hone her skills). And my daughter also did weekend drop in figure drawing sessions at a local art center and I think that cost maybe $15 a session.
So for any parents in a similar situation, don’t overlook programs that may already be in your community and cost less $. Obviously, It’s all relative to your child’s skill set and what’s in their portfolio, but this didn’t seem to hurt my child’s acceptance chances. She was accepted and offered generous aid to all the colleges she applied to and is currently a freshman at RISD (and is doing just fine work load/grade wise so she was not unprepared).
D ended up doing sculpture concentration, but her portfolio had figure drawing from live models in it. That was recommended for all applicants by almost all the schools she looked into. And I agree that local classes throughout the year can be valuable.
Agreed, @uskoolfish! In our experience we found that sticking with reputation paid off but we also knew people who had been through the particular program and could speak to its strengths. Our daughter was not accepted by RISD despite attending its precollege. But she was there primarily for the experience (length, intensity and structure of program all pluses in our view). Her portfolio was definitely a level or two higher upon emerging and that assisted big time with admissions and scholarships at her remaining schools. And yes she talked about her experience in her essays! Art schools seemed to be less concerned with whether you attended their program than that you attended a program and learned from it. I’m sure those kids have much higher success rates at art school.
@AskExperts I think it’s probably a good idea to attend a pre-college of one of the schools that your son will likely be applying to, but it certainly isn’t an issue if he doesn’t. My D chose the 2-week precollege at NHIA in Manchester, NH but she didn’t necessarily want to attend the school. She just liked the shorter program since she wanted to spend some of her summer working also. She did apply anyway and they did offer her an extra scholarship for attending the summer session. Ultimately though, she chose a school based on the campus vibe and how comfortable she felt when she visited for accepted student days.
I will say that If he’s considering animation, Ringling has a top-notch facility and probably great job placement. The major is the hardest to get into (and you do choose a major when you apply there—no foundation year) so a pre-college program with a lot of figure and observational drawing would be ideal. My D liked Ringling when she toured it, but ultimately it came down to money (they didn’t give nearly as much as Pratt and many others) and the campus vibe wasn’t rah-rah enough for her.
Visiting the schools is ideal, but if it’s tough to see them all, my suggestion would be to apply and see what kind of aid they offer and then go to the accepted students days. Those days are much more useful than just a school tour day. The professors and college admins usually spend time speaking about the merits of attending and you can get a good feel for the school in session since they are held during the school year.
Hope that helps! Feel free to ask any questions you have. I know if was a confusing maze of information when we went through it and I’m happy to help someone else feel less overwhelmed!
That’s not an easy choice for sure. The two areas of immersion might be more beneficial if he is looking to improve his portfolio. But the location of SVA is definitely a plus. If he’s considering one his top choice I might suggest attending that school as he’d meet the professors and they’d get to know him.
My only other piece of info is that SVA is a for-profit school. Ringling is private but not for-profit. If money is an issue for college, I know that SVA doesn’t give out as much in merit and grant aid. Might not be an issue for you but figured I’d pass that along.
One thing to consider is whether it makes sense to choose a program that offers the opportunity to take several subjects at the same time for a several-week session- say four to six weeks of drawing, design, and specialty studios along with a liberal arts course such as art history. So it mimics the foundation experience more accurately. My two art student D’s felt that this format helps you practice those time management skills which will be oh-so-important in art college!
When my D attended Ringling pre-college it was very intense. (She later attended).
You pick two immersions (and CA fills up fast so not guaranteed–apply early!) for your experience. She wanted CA and I really can’t remember the other immersion she chose. It was fabulous.
She experienced computer animation, figure drawing, sculpture, graphic design. She literally ate up every minute.
And most of her portfolio came from that experience. It was art 24/7.
So two immersions but a TON of foundation art.
Don’t know how that’s changed over the years. At the time it changed her–her art exploded as did her excitement level.
Ringling is the place for 3D CA. Know that the admission rate to the CA program presently is about 10 per cent.
Many are offered alternative acceptance to game design, motion studies, illustration.
Going to pre-college does not help admission but it certainly improves your portfolio which is great for admission to many schools.
If you do get accepted to Ringling then the pre-college will count for around 3 credits (or it did a few years ago).
It’s great to do an intensive longer type pre-college program.
One reason we sent our D was to make sure she REALLY wanted to do CA because art school is an expensive proposition. And kids really find out if art is a hobby or a passion.
Art 24/7 with other artists is very different than an hour art class in high school. You gotta love it.
