<p>I am currently a high schooler right now and I am interested in getting an Art Major (either Illustration or Animation). However, I'm not exactly sure which college would be best for me (although I have already considered Cooper Union and CALARTS). For those who are getting or already have gotten an Art Major, could you please help me? It would also be nice if you could describe how the college is like.</p>
<p>Good for you for knowing what you want to pursue! What year are you in HS? Our personal experience was that the decision process is quite a journey. If you or your parents are the kind who will do research and keep a list of the pros and cons, that would be a good start. You may get more focused opinions from this site if you do a little introspective work and think about the kind of environment you want for college and then pose “this or that” kinds of questions. I hope this is not remedial, but let me share the process D and I went through to narrow down the choices.</p>
<ol>
<li>College Board - Search to ID schools with desired major: Hundreds of hits. Overwhelming. Decided we needed a better initial research vehicle, but came back to this site to get quick comparisons on costs, size, admit rates, SATs, GPAs</li>
<li>Peterson’s College Guide for Visual Arts Majors - This was a very helpful resource, but again hundreds to choose from. Good descriptive info on schools plus a comparison chart by state. It made it easier for us to scan state-by-state to make sure we weren’t missing good match.</li>
<li>National Portfolio Day - Get to as many as you can so you can get feedback and meet reps from the schools. See threads in this forum on how to prepare. You’ll start to get a feel for whether people think your work is very conceptual or comic-like, etc. For example, RIT was on our list until we went to NPD and rep said, “yes, we’ll accept your portfolio, but really we like to see more practical, realistic work.” D thrives on conceptual, so it was out.</li>
<li>Decide what kind of environment(s) you want and make a short list. ex. Cooper Union and Art Center were on our list until we realized (late in the process) that housing availability was not what she wanted. These are all the things only you can decide.</li>
<li>Visit.</li>
</ol>
<p>Our “short list” was about 20-30 schools at first. That’s better than hundreds. D is picky, so eventually we narrowed it down to 4 that met her criteria. And meeting your criteria is ultimately better than picking Top This or Top That.</p>
<p>For the National Portfolio Day, are freshmen allowed to come?</p>
<p>I would guess Freshmen can bring their work. If you are a Freshman now, you will be a Sophomore before the next NPD. They run from late Sept to Jan. You have plenty of time to accumulate work. There are several out there, but this is the most recent NPD thread: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1008321-national-portfolio-day-advice.html?highlight=national+portfolio+day[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1008321-national-portfolio-day-advice.html?highlight=national+portfolio+day</a></p>
<p>I have never seen anything that gives a limit on age or HS year at NPD. When they review your portfolio, they may ask you what year you are in, but that’s OK. You want as much input as you can get, as early on as you can get it. Peterson’s guide as mentioned above was very helpful for my D’s search, had lots of good info as well as a checklist to use when visiting colleges, to make sure you didn’t miss anything. D is an illustration major at MCAD (Minneapolis) and her first semester experience can be read here.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1005291-mcad-experience-long.html?highlight=mcad[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1005291-mcad-experience-long.html?highlight=mcad</a></p>
<p>Check out the CalArts animation major portfolio requirements at least a year before submission and be ready to part with your sketch book! They have some very specific requirements so the earlier you know what they are the better prepared you will be. Get good grades in high school - it may not be necessary for acceptance if you have a solid portfolio but for many schools it will help with scholarship $$. Get some figure drawing classes in if you can. Sorry, I know you weren’t asking for this type of advice but you’re in a good position to get a jump on these things so I thought I’d share.</p>