<p>Great post on SAIC! I too now have hope. Although I never ran anything left-behind item to school (I work an hour away, so it would have been hard!), I’m accused of being a helicopter parent (“do you have your book - When does that ceramic piece need to be finished - Is your English homework done - Did you arrange to make up the test you missed?”) and after some serious raging at me that she’s old enough to handle it and “are you going to call me at college to make sure I’m awake and going to class?”, I am backing off. I read on another post that college is supposed to be the transition from adolescence to adulthood, and figured out that she’s going to learn as she goes. She liked the apartments vs a dorm room because she said it would give her the opportunity to learn to live on her own and that’s a good thing. Both my H and I went to a commuter college, so we never had that experience of being away from home. Always felt we missed out. Altho we didn’t need the small (3K) student loan offerred , we are taking it anyway, giving her some skin in the game. When I told her this, she said, then I’ll need to get a job when I graduate. She too can work hard when she needs to, but will need to learn that when the assignment calls for creating a 2 page comic, deciding to do a 10 page comic might take up more time than you anticipated!</p>
<p>artmajormom, that is a great story! My D1 is the looser, forgetting type (she is heading to nursing school) and I’ve finally stopped making her lunch. She was always supposed to do it herself, but would throw it together so late, that sometimes it didn’t happen. I told H this morning and he asked, “well, why did you do it for so long”? I answered, “I’m her mother and I have a biological urge to feed my child”. It’s hard to overcome those biological urges but it can be done!</p>
<p>Thanks again for the thoughtful responses. She said she’ll be in touch with the MICA counselor who is always available for her. Let’s see how she responds to her. She received MICA Presidential scholarship.</p>
<p>Hi,
I saw this thread and thought I’d share some thoughts on SAIC. My daughter has time-management issues and ADD, and I was a classic helicopter parent. She is now finishing her sophomore year at SAIC and loves it but it has been a bumpy ride. I had always imagined that she would be on a traditional tree-lined college campus with a quad and a cafeteria…it was not to be, but I think that SAIC has moved her towards a positive sense of independence that would have taken longer in my “preferred setting.” She and her friends shop at Trader Joe’s (they take the el which she now navigates expertly), cook their food, buy cleaning supplies, and keep their apartments relatively clean. This spacey suburban cowgirl has now become a street- savvy, fast-walking city girl who can get anywhere in the Loop, and knows how to negotiate sketchy areas vs. safe routes. </p>
<p>The first year was a real challenge…a lot of projects to be juggled and completed at the same time. But once a student survives that first year, things get MUCH saner. As far as structure goes, the quirkiest thing is the fact that you often have a class only once a week. It’s hard for a student to finish a class on Monday and keep plugging away at the work when the class won’t come around again for 7 days. Until they get that figured out, they end up pulling a lot of panicked all-nighters. The credit/no-credit thing is fine. My daughter doesn’t really care how hard the other kids are working. There is a real sense of “I’m here to grow as an artist, not to compete with or outshine my classmates.” This is refreshing, actually. The teachers she’s had have been exceptional…they encourage the students to contact them with questions, and have emailed her with concern when she has had to miss class due to sickness. There is great support available at the Learning Resource Center, the Writing Center, and the Academic Advising and Student Success Center. In short, We have been very pleased with the SAIC community. It may not look like a traditional college, but it offers many of the same support systems and has an engaged faculty. The only thing it’s missing is a cafeteria and an overnight imfirmary. (There is, however, a 24 hour hotline, a daytime nurse’s office, and they will get you a doctor’s appt. with a nearby Chicago practice 1 block away).
The course catalog can be accessed on the main website under “Depts,Degrees and Academic Resources” [Courses</a> : SAIC - School of the Art Institute of Chicago](<a href=“http://www.saic.edu/degrees_resources/courses/index.html]Courses”>http://www.saic.edu/degrees_resources/courses/index.html)</p>
<p>anyone out there has BOYS’ success / assuring / turned around tales, please?
would SAIC change lives of the boys?</p>
<p>As the time arrives, I am feeling less positive about daughter’s decision. I know I am not supposed to impose my opinions, but SAIC doesn’t seem like the best fit for a variety of reasons (many addressed.) MICA’s graphic department seems so alive and current, too. Take a deep breath. I’m sure it will be fine.</p>