“It has been instrumental in our D success. Could she have been just as successful elsewhere is really irrelevant and nonsensical.”
@Stones3 - most parents can tell whether a school is the right fit for their own kid. How much is due to initiative vs. the school’s doing can be hard to figure out - and rightly so! - due to synergistic effects of being the right kid at the right school. The challenge is to convince OTHERS about the school’s merits. That can best be done with things like placement statistics and other outcomes data along with standard stuff like retention rate and four-year graduation rate for VCUArts. If other readers had that information, then your daughter’s positive experience can be put into better context: she’ll either be an example of, or an exception to, the rule.
Placement and retention stats aren’t everything, and they don’t speak to how an individual student might or might not succeed. But they describe general measures of quality that most on the college market can relate to. And they are all correlated; for instance, the schools that track better w/r/t retention and grad rates also tend to have more success placing their graduates. Unfortunately, this information doesn’t seem to be on the VCUArts website, although I noticed that at least some of VCU’s other colleges and schools (engineering and business, for instance) readily provide at least career placement stats. Since you are very hooked into VCUArts, it would be beneficial if you could provide some of these statistics.
Further on the subject of statistics, I noticed that VCUArts doesn’t publish its admit rate. What it discloses is the number of applicants (2,663) and the class size (742); admission rate and yield are notably absent. Playing with the figures a bit suggests that VCUArts has a relatively high admission rate - not at all unusual for a school of art - and a respectable yield - not at all unusual for a state school with a good number of in-state matriculants. Specifically, if we apply the admission rate and yield for VCU as a whole - 86% and 32%, respectively - we arrive at pretty much the same number of enrollees as last year’s class size. So while VCUArts surely has some OOS and international students, a sizable majority simply must be from within the state of VA. That makes sense - it’s a nationally-ranked art school and VA has about 8.5 million inhabitants. Not all are going to be interested in art and design, but those who are will tend to have a definite tuition-advantage by attending VCUArts over, say, nearby MICA. Not all CC art forum readers are going to want a school with a sizable majority from the same state. So if you have enrollment stats that show otherwise, it would be beneficial if you could provide those.
Finally, I noticed - and I think you’ve alluded to this on other threads - that VCUArts weeds out their GD majors over time. It’s no surprise that you need a portfolio review to be admitted to foundation year, and then you need to apply to GD with another portfolio review. Not so unusual, especially for a large public art school. What IS unusual is that you are again reviewed at the end of sophomore year, and then again at the end of junior year. Therefore, it’s possible to get all the way to end of junior year but not be allowed to advance in the program or graduate. This process is disclosed in the latest university catalog (http://bulletin.vcu.edu/pdf/2018-2019-undergraduate.pdf page 350). Without knowing more about this weed-out process, it’s very hard to understand the path for anyone wishing to pursue a specialty in graphic design. Suppose someone makes it to end of junior year and then is asked to leave. That individual needs either to start over in another major (thus increasing their years to graduation) or quit VCU altogether. Neither is a particularly favorable outcome. Another university noted for doing the same thing - SCAD - is highly criticized on this board for such and, admittedly, isn’t for everyone (I say that as a parent of a SCAD senior animation major who has watched many of her classmates leave). It’s hard to make a convincing case that VCUArts is much different - at least in graphic design. College is expensive; many would prefer a bit more certainty (either a more selective admissions process or a direct admission to a major - or both). Others simply don’t want to be surrounded with students who are here-today, gone-tomorrow and perceive that kind of environment to be at odds with a serious pursuit of art and design. To be sure, many art schools are known for having a higher attrition rate but still graduate students who go on to have successful careers. It’s just not necessarily for everyone and it helps if someone familiar with the school could provide some insight on that point. For instance, how many who start in graphic design make it to graduation in four years? What alternatives exist for those who are asked to leave the program after sophomore or junior year?