<p>I am wondering if it is wrong for me to hate college especially Eastern Washington University. My dream is to be a Visual Communication Design major so I can work for advertising firm and use my photography skills. My parents made me go to college rather than attending art school because they claim I can not get a better job than other people if I do not get a bachelors associates degree from Eastern. I really want to go down to San Francisco and have the time of my life and feel that Cheney is way too sheltered and uncultured for me.I do not like school because it involves writing papers,doing math (when it is technically useless in my life) and reading. I would prefer getting to a real occupation rather than fooling around at a University and having to jump through general education requirement hurdles. I know I am doing well in college I made the deans list and i need to know if I am better off waiting to transfer to a new institution or if I should just go to art school.I am confused about what to think because I am an art oriented person and I feel like I am wasting my time and money up in a place where I do not want to be. I am a smart student I got As and Bs through out high school, I was involved in soccer,band and yearbook. Do people that come out of Art School with a Bachelors Associates and a portfolio have a better chance than me to work in an advertising firm? I am scared my future will gone if I stop going to college. Am i wrong?</p>
<p>Hi
Is it OK if I ask you few questions?
Are you in-state student of WA?
Are you going to the school in your hometown, do you live on the campus, do you see many of your HS friends around?
If answer to any are yes, have you looked at any other schools in WA, have you applied to any?
Did your parents allow you to apply to out of state or private schools?
I am trying to figure out what is that bothering you the most; Is it the particular school you are in, or it does not matter the size of the school or its location you simply do not want to stay in any universities any longer?
Have you looked at any art schools in SF?
If so, where would you like to go?</p>
<p>College is not really (from us parents’ perspective) for our kids to have “the time of their lives,” but really so they can get the skills and credentials needed so they CAN GET A JOB. As an employer, if I have a choice between an employee that has a college degree vs. one who just has an associate’s degree in art, I would likely give a preference to the one with the college degree.</p>
<p>Paying for years of partying really is not high on most parents list of what they want for their kids.</p>
<p>Hi
I am wondering where did you get the idea this student is just wanting to party on parents’ dime?
Going to SF does not mean automatically playing around, does it?
There are fine art schools and museums in SF. I thought that the student might want to study and spend time there since s/he is a photographer.
Art related occupations are different from other jobs.
There really is no one way to get to where kids want to go.
I would like to wait until the student comes back and talks more about issues before dismissing anything.
Or do you know anything more about this student that you want to share, that we should be aware of?</p>
<p>I have some more questions. What is your major now? Does your school offer any art or advertising majors or minors? </p>
<p>If you’ve been getting good grades, it will be easier to transfer and should be easier to convince your parents. If you want to transfer to an art school, it will be better to have a portfolio now even if it is all photographs. Many art schools also have some general education requirements so those math and writing classes you find underwhelming should at least help you place out of them if you transfer. </p>
<p>I’m confused by the phrase “bachelors associate”. A Bachelors degree usually takes 4 years, an Associates degrees takes two. If you want a BFA (bachelor of fine arts) it may take you more than 4 years total since it is very heavy on studio requirements (usually about 2/3 of the classes). You can also get a BA and major in art and the studio class requirements are more like 1/3 of the total so your transfer credits may be more useful there. </p>
<p>Do some research about art schools and programs you like and present it intelligently to your parents. You can say that you feel unhappy and out of place in the country where you are now, but don’t phrase it as wanting to have fun in San Francisco, that won’t go over too well! Plus, you’ll be too busy to have fun while school is in session.</p>
<p>Yes to transferring but…
…there are a few of caveats.
- You may have to transfer in as a freshman. - transferring to a school with no gen ed reqs means that many of your gen ed credits won’t apply to anything but that’s why you want to transfer.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>You will get in based on your talent and need to get a portfolio together.</p></li>
<li><p>Art Schools cost a lot more than most state schools. Your good grades and an outstanding portfolio can net you a scholarship but it probably won’t cover more than half the tuition which means its still more expensive than many state schools.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Madaboutx–just curious–are there BFA-awarding schools that have no Gen Eds? I haven’t seen any, but maybe there are some? Most require English and social sciences and art history academics at minimum and a lot seem to require a science as well, but that’s just the ones my kid was looking at.</p>
<p>But even with Gen Eds transferring, you will probably have so many Freshman studios to do that you will have to go for 4 years.</p>
<p>Mad is right about cost of art school! Your parents may not be wild about your plan partly due to the cost of being in San Fran and the cost of art school.</p>
<p>OP–Can you major in Graphics at Eastern Wa U? Or can you transfer to another state school from EWU, and major in Graphics?</p>
<p>I’m originally from Washington State, and agree with you about the remoteness of Eastern Washington University. I too would not want to study there, even though they have some good departments.</p>
<p>Decades ago when I was at the University of Washington in Seattle, the graphics department was considered very good. I don’t know what it is like now. I mention the UW because it would be an in-state transfer, and Seattle is a pretty big city.</p>
<p>My artist-daughter (age 25) found it very important to be surrounded by art and inspiration, which is why she chose to study art for five years in Florence, Italy. She did not goof off whatsover, usually drew/painted 7 days a week, all day and evening. Still, she was able to see the city by biking everywhere.</p>
<p>@Paperplane, I think the gen ed classes are there but mostly what you mentioned. They are generally geared toward artists though and not necessarily interchangeable with the general reqs at liberal arts schools - art history, a science, a math but these are usually not too intense. My S toured a couple schools with potential transfers in the mix and I echoed the advice they got from the admissions rep. </p>
<p>On another note, we settled on an art college for our S because on our tours with potential transfers, they would say things on the tour like “we never did that at my school”, “I never worked with one of those”, “I don’t know how to do that.”. Over and over we heard that. My S knew more than they did about many processes or software or equipment and thought a liberal arts school might hold him back or slow his progress.</p>