Hi! I just graduated in May and I want to attend college for 2D animation within the next few years. I have done extensive research on different art schools, and I consider my ‘top 3’ schools to be CalArts, SVA, and SCAD. CalArts is without a doubt my ‘dream school’, but with it being so so difficult to get into I wonder if it’s worth the time I would need to spend improving my skills outside of college.
CalArts appeals to me so much due to it’s numerous notable alumni working in the field I want to enter, the absolutely outstanding student films that surface every spring, and, to a lesser extent, the fact that it has an actual campus as opposed to SVA and SCAD’s city campuses.
I’m currently a fairly mediocre artist, but I am working constantly to further hone my skills. I have no doubt that I could get into SCAD and I feel like I would have a good shot with SVA. I believe I would need to spend a few more years working towards CalArts admission standards to get ‘good enough’ to attend.
There is a decent arts scene where I live, so I do have access to things that will help me work towards CalArts. I attend figure drawing sessions and I enjoy the art program at my community college. I am rather eager to go away to college, but I do understand the benefits of delaying.
Long, rambling question short: Would it be worth it to wait to attend college so I can build up my skills enough to attend CalArts? Would it be better to attend college sooner and settle for somewhere that doesn’t appeal to me as much?
Related question, would I have trouble fitting in if I were to attend later and was a freshman at, say, 24?
@agmart - CalArts is w/o doubt the “gold standard” for character animation. The question is not whether it’s worth the wait because if you were assured of getting in the answer would be yes. So you’ll need to figure out if you have a good shot at it. The admit rate is very, very low and the average age higher than normal college simply because there are so many lined up waiting for years to get in (and most don’t).
John Lassiter’s kid graduated from SCAD in 2016 (animation, I believe). This might be simplistic thinking but if it’s good enough for Lassiter’s kid . . … My D16 attends now for animation and really loves it. While SCAD is spread throughout the historic district of Savannah (and Monty - the animation building - is about 2 miles away from everything else), SCAD has kind of taken over the city. Have you visited yet? If so, you’ll know what that means.
SVA also has an excellent program - Rebecca Sugar graduated from there.
You should definitely visit all three before making any decisions on whether to wait or go ahead an enroll. In the meantime, if you take any college-level studios, just make sure the number of credits accumulated don’t kick you into “transfer student” status unless you are comfortable with that happening. Some scholarships are open to transfer students, but most are for first-time-in-college.
@agmart, dual enrollment typically doesn’t count toward transfer status if it was a designated program that is offered to the high school. You should be safe there. The issue is taking college courses after you graduate from high school.
I don’t give this statistic to be mean or scare you off but we toured CalArts this summer and were told that about 1,000 students apply for the animation program…and 70 get selected. Whereas there are plenty of other GREAT schools where you can pursue 2D animation and be considered a strong applicant.
Also, while CalArts is obviously well positioned in the industry for networking etc, plenty of these other schools offer these opportunities as well. Maybe not as frequently or with people as well placed in California/Disney entertainment as CalArts, but they’ve all got great alumuni and profs and you need to be the kind of student who GOES to these kind of events regularly and takes full advantage of all your school has to offer.
Calarts has lots of older students – many kids who have applied several times. My daughter’s theatre class has people in their mid 20s and even a 30 year old. Same for music and animation. The animation program is amazing.