So May 1st is approaching rapidly and I’ve been stuck deciding between a few colleges. I’m looking for a school that would encourage my growth as an artist, keep me relatively mentally healthy, and provide a somewhat good level of job security. I’ve visited all the campuses and they seemed alright.
MICA
Major: Illustration
Scholarship: $74k allocated + $5.2k loan/year
- It’s instate which is what I didn’t like because I don’t want to be near my parents but maybe I can get over it…
- I liked their electives like Eros, etc. Also their student work was very appealing to me. I think I like their curriculum the best but I did notice some bs classes scattered here and there.
- I’m scared because since it’s in Baltimore, I’m worried after I graduate I won’t have many opportunities/won’t make as many connections. Also concerned about my general safety there.
SVA
Major: Illustration
Scholarship: $50 k allocated + $5.2k loan/year
- I was originally planning to go there because it was my dream school but I am afraid that there are…too many asian fetishists/weeaboos there and I, being an asian girl, don’t want to be around those kinds of people.
- It’s also kind of expensive, w/o a meal plan and I feel like extra prices like laundry/printing will all slowly add up. However I was quite impressed with their equipment and cintiq lab but then again equipment =/= skill.
- The skill level of a lot of students there is kind of questionable. However, this is going to sound nasty, but I do better around people that are lower in skill because I’m not as nervous. Though being in a class that have people that are better than me is also good because I can learn from them. So I’m not sure how I feel about that.
- I liked the freedom expressed in student/alumni portfolios.
Pratt
Major: Communications Design (Illustration)
Scholarship: $96k allocated + $5.2k loan/year
- Their job security seemed pretty good and I really liked the campus. NYC is my ideal. Also they have a meal plan so I liked that too.
- However I wanted to do something like character design rather than an almost graphic design course. They had some questionable manadatory classes like Childrens Book Illustration or Typography (I am planning on taking this otherwise) which is something I would feel more comfortable being a choice.
- The majority of their student work was…kind of rigid and it made me feel heavy and restricted. I wouldn’t mind illustrating for magazines but I don’t want to make movie posters or childrens books.
SAIC
Major: Fine Arts
Scholarship: $81k allocated
- I liked being able to take a variety of classes like fashion design and etc. But I didn’t like their pass/fail grading system. My tour guide said “Here at SAIC, your final product doesn’t matter as much, but rather the time you spent on your exploration and experimentation.” and that turned me off because…isn’t the final product the most important?
Anyway, does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on which school is best for me? Thank you so much for your time!
Congratulations! They’re all good schools.
Re: credit/no credit at SAIC - my D felt the same as you when she was deciding on schools. But it has turned out to be a non issue. For anyone wanting to transfer or go to graduate school, there are no problems submitting a transcript from SAIC. Plus, if you think about it, how can you really grade someone’s art? Credit/no credit gives you the freedom to try new things and grow. Make no mistake - this isn’t a slacker type of school, and you receive weekly critiques in your studio courses and real grades in your liberal arts courses. It’s just at the end of the semester, your report card will only reflect the credit/no credit. Ultimately, you have to push yourself.
Anyway, good luck deciding!
Hey luckynim, I’m also an incoming freshman for 2015 fall! The choices I personally had was MICA, Ringling, SAIC, and RISD (I only applied to those 4)
I thought I could help you a little… just my 2 cents. 
Some of your worries doesn’t seem as important (example; living close to parents) as some other parts that you have listed. I think you should go ahead and really make a list of what’s most important to you. I’m not quite too sure what you are looking for in a college 100% since each point you listed is bit different. What are you exactly looking for in the illustration major? Character design? Entertainment arts? just a bit of everything?
With my personal experience with Baltimore, I didn’t particularly feel like I was in danger and I wasn’t much worried. It’s advised that you should travel in groups, and be more careful during evenings. Just common sense stuff that you should be aware of in any big cities. Rather, I felt like I was more worried about my safety when I was in NYC lol
" I graduate I won’t have many opportunities/won’t make as many connections" - If you put yourself out there, you shouldn’t worry about this but on the other hand I have had many friends who graduate from MICA and ended up not being able to jump into the industry. However, this is probably the same for any other colleges. Art school or not, the results really depend on personal effort and dedication.
I’m sorry but as a Korean girl myself, I couldn’t help but to laugh a little at the SVA comment haha. All the schools you listed have A LOT of Asian students, and there will always be that group of people who fetishizes certain races. I’m sure SVA is not the only school that has those kind of students. I’m sure you won’t be forced to hang out with them.
Honestly I really recommend just trying to analyze once again what is your top priority. In my case $$ was a big deal for me so I ended up choosing RISD who gave me the most scholarships/aid. MICA was my backup choice, due to the wide versatility of the classes I could take. Ringling I applied as Computer Animation major (the others I applied for the Illust. program) but ended up being way too expensive even with 25k a year that I received from them.
If you want to chat a bit more, just feel free to message! Good luck on your decision!
@luckynim just a technical observation: you are mistaken that children’s illustration is required for the ComD (Illustration) major at Pratt. The current requirements that I see from the ComD website allow for a choice: you either take Children’s Illustration I & II OR you take New Media I & II. You should check with Kathleen Creighton (department head) to verify. However, your point about the number of required courses at Pratt is spot on.
Pratt ComD is very structured and you would need to spend an entire year in communications design foundation studios before specializing in illustration. That method is going to work better for some than others for a couple of reasons. First, Pratt has a unique approach to the discipline of illustration - it’s not a stand-alone discipline but rather part of the broader communications design major. Second, I would put Pratt’s structured curriculum on par with RISD’s. Both programs only allow for a few open electives outside the ComD major and it’s probably nearly as hard to switch majors once you are in the sophomore year at Pratt as it is at RISD. SAIC and MICA are definitely more encouraging of students forging their own path and discovering what works for them and even switching their major at a later date. Not surprisingly, they also allow for a lot more choice w/r/t open electives. If that sounds more like you, I’d definitely encourage you to choose one of those schools (or SVA if it’s similar).
ALL of them are excellent schools. Congratulations and good luck with your choice!
Hi. Daughter got into Pratt and RIT for illustration. Any thoughts
They are rated equally online
Here’s a thought: how much of the curriculum at RIT will be studio and art history vs. general education? My D wanted a stand-alone art program precisely because at the larger universities she’d be taking a lot more general ed. stuff when she’d rather be taking studio classes. In general, a stand-alone art program tends to offer 2/3 studio 1/3 other (usually LAC’s) and that ratio is flipped for broader colleges and universities. Of course, that may not hold true for RIT.
The ratings you mention might be the graduate program. Per USNews, both Pratt and RIT are ranked equally for their graduate fine arts program - overall (not by specialty).
@givemeananswer
what Mamelot said, most of the rankings online are just graduate fine art programs.
Maybe she can join the Pratt and RIT 2019 Facebook groups and ask upperclassmen what they think about their school’s program? I reached out to many students that way to ask specific questions and they were more than willing to answer and very nice c:
@winterbi @Mamelot I decided to choose between MICA and SVA. I really love the environment that SVA is in but I liked how MICA’s classes are wider in variety. For me, I guess now I’m choosing between education and freedom, because I really do not want to be so close to my parents. They will be overbearing and are sometimes bad people. I think if I choose to go to SVA and I have regrets, I will be able to get over it. But if I have regrets at MICA I will probably be very sad. SVA is quite expensive though and being able to smoothly afford college is important too. I will have to decide very soon… ps thank you for your thoughts!
If I were you I would go to mica because it has a good rep, good scholarship, and close to home. You might be able to get in state grants because of that. Take advantage of it, because art school can be expensive, and its more expensive to live farther away. Some people (me) come from states that don’t have art schools in state. Also, in college, your parents might give you more freedom, and keep in mind maryland is a big state.