MICA, CCA or VCUarts?

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
1

<p>Hi, I'm am international high school senior with 2 years of high school education in the US and I'm wondering where to go for colleges. My major of choice is Animation, yet I haven't done enough research on animation schools until it was too late. Now I'm left with these 3 choices at the moment, maybe RISD, don't know yet.</p>

<p>First of all is CCA. This school hasn't appeared much on the rankings, but there are Emmy winners teaching in its animation major, who are also employed by Pixar, I believe. In adddition,the geographical location, being very near Pixar's HQ, may play a role in finding an internship there (I assume), even though the future isn't looking good for Animators. The scholarship is 11$ a year, reducing the cost to 41k per year, which will still be a burden for my family. Then, should I go to CCA?</p>

<p>Then there's VCU Arts. I applied to it as a safe school and hasn't done much research about it. Can anyone tell me how the animation major is like here? I'm already accepted and the cost is 35k, i believe, no scholarships whatsoever.</p>

<p>And there's MICA. I don't know how it stands out on Animation though, especially 3D animation. I've visited the campus and it's nice. Still, what I care about is the education offered and would like to hear from whoever has studied at MICA, or has relatives studying there. I'm already accepted with 10k scholarship over 4 years. The full scholarships will be annouced April 7th.</p>

<p>Lastly, RISD, "the best art school out there". I'm waiting for their decision, and I think I might stand a chance of getting in. I have 3.8 GPA ( on the 4.0 scale), 2030 SAT, only 1 year of formal art education (which is Studio Art I) and the portfolio that had been accepted by the aforementioned school. If I get accepted overhere, chances that there will be no scholarships. Then, should I pay the whopping price of 56k per year to get the best education? How are my chances of getting a job upon graduation?</p>

<p>I don't really know which to choose nor do I have an idea of which school I prefer. Again, I don't care about the living conditions, social life, etc because right now, I'm confined in a military boarding school. All I need is a break down on the school's education quality in the field of animation and the chance of employment. I'd really like to see my parents' investment pay off...</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>CCA animation student here, yeah our teachers are awesome and not only are they Emmy award winners, but oscar award winners.</p>

<p>Honestly though, that means nothing to the student. Being a bit facetious here, but really, for the student/parent, it only functions as a guage to the caliber of talent and skill that the instructors have here- which is extrememly high.</p>

<p>That the teachers here work at Pixar, Dreamworks, Tippet, the now defunct Cinderbiter, etc. doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to get “hooked up” to any sort of internship. Sure you can schmooze up the teachers here, believe you me it happens a lot, but you still have to have the skills to do the work.</p>

<p>In otherwords, don’t come to this school believing you’re going to score that internship at Pixar just because your teacher is the director of a film there and you’ve been chatting him up about his diet- you’ll be disappoint. </p>

<p>Also, you wrote, 41k a year after scholarship? Last time I checked the tuition w/o scholarship was ~41k. I would also wait a couple of weeks to see what the final financial package is, you might get more- I know I did.</p>

<p>Overall CCA, is a good school, the teachers definitely know what they’re talking about since they’re the ones making those films you go to see opening weekends. It’s a very young program so it has no reputation and thus little to no connections. If you work hard though, soak in the knowledge you’ll get a lot of this small little school.</p>

<p>The program is getting larger every year though and the incoming classes I’ve seen come in with a stronger skill year after year- really can’t wait to see how it’ll be in just five years.</p>

<p>I’d visit the school if you can, despite its exponential growth, it’s still a very small school and program, everyone knows each other, and it’s very “art-schoolish” so make sure this is a flavor you can handle.</p>

<p>Here’s a short video form one of the beginning animation classes here at CCA:</p>

<p><a href=“https://vimeo.com/62513130[/url]”>https://vimeo.com/62513130&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Dude’s an excellent teacher :)</p>

<p>He and some other teachers at the school also run this website:</p>

<p>[Reel</a> Feedback | Professional Feedback on your Animation Reel](<a href=“http://www.reelfeedback.com/]Reel”>http://www.reelfeedback.com/)</p>

<p>which might be of interest if you still want feedback on your reel, but can’t afford a full year at w/e art school.</p>

<p>As for the other schools, when I researched them a couple of years back, they seemed ok. To be honest though, I dunno art school, for the insane price you’re paying, I think you should either go “all the way” or bust. Meaning, try and go for Calarts or Ringling, and if you don’t get in try again next year.</p>

<p>I’m at CCA because not only do they have great teachers, but they’re much more generous with their scholarships. So, risk vs. reward ratio. Check out the other school’s teachers, student work, program, location, and see if it’s worth that loan to you.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>It’s not the first time I hear good reviews about CCA, but the problem here is that the information is highly subjective, while objective ones such as school rankings, is hard to find.
I’m currently having a hard time choosing here. I’ve just got accepted by RISD, and it’s widely known as the best art school out there.
However, CCA has the potential to raise amongst the ranks in animation, but not at the moment. I don’t know whether i should go to CCA in hopes that the program will gain more reputation during my study, or just go to RISD and enjoy the “top rank” privillege.</p>

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<p>I’m gonna be honest- if I could have gone anywhere three years ago (that is money was a non-issue) I would have gone to Ringling in a heartbeat (maybe SVA?). They actually (well…Dreamworks) gave me a good scholarship to attend, but it was still more expensive than what I got from CCA.</p>

<p>Like you said, CCA has NO REPUTATION at all. I’m not sure how important pedigree is in the real world- “pros” will tell you “it’s all about your work man, your portfolio is what really matters”, let’s be honest though, that’s just not the way humans work -networking, connections, and general schmoozing is, (un)forunately, very important. So, if you’re going to be paying the same at CCA as you are to RISD, then I might go with RISD.</p>

<p>Also, when I say “reputation” I don’t just mean the name. I mean everything that comes with it- the alumni at various studios, having reqruiters that know the school produces good crafts people, PR, and funding, etc.</p>

<p>I’m not totally acquainted with RISD’s animation program, it might be good, but…the only thing I know RISD most for is their illustration program- different beast than animation. </p>

<p>Again, CCA actually does have good teachers and the facilities aren’t the greatest, but you’ll learn. If you want to learn how to animate, you’ll learn, and you’ll learn from the best.</p>

<p>As far as school rankings go- those things really are highly subjective and I’d take them with a grain of salt. As I see things, Ringling and Calarts will always be the “ivy league” of animation, and as such smaller schools will always exist that may probably be better to actually “learn”, but won’t have the name brand.</p>

<p>So, try to talk to as many students as you can, visit the school, maybe shoot some e-mails off to current teachers, and even try to arrange to “sit-in” on a class to see if you like it. </p>

<p>As a side note, Animation is currently CCA’s fastest growing major and supposedly they’re planning on revamping the facilities. I don’t know how they’re going to do it because the CCA campus really is a small and cozy place and there really is no place for expansion, but sounds really cool. </p>

<p>good luck!</p>

5

<p>No sense in conjecturing until all the pieces are together. Did you get into RISD? Any money?</p>

<p>CORRECTION
I see you did get into RISD. RISD’s animation dept is small but powerful. CCA does have connections to the west coast animation studios so I give it a good rating. I would choose between those two. If you can afford RISD I would choose RISD for the intensity of the atmosphere, which usually produces a strong work ethic, which in turn will help you get and retain work.</p>

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VCUARTS is the #1 public design school in the united states. It is also #2 ranked design school overall as per USNWR behind only Yale (grad school). D attends. Its a tremendous facility with unbelievable resources . It is a separate design school withing the greater VCU (which is a large university). The list of alumni in many many fields is impressive. D has had everyone from Pixar animators to Marvel comic artist come to her classes for her foundation year. Also Richmond Va is a terrific artsy town and VCU pretty is a large part of the city. Suggest you research and visit. Animation is considered “kinetic imaging”