<p>Pre college art program for the summer. Thinking about Parsons in NYC for my 11th grade son who is considering art school. Sounds intense-9-4 every day. Any opinions out there?</p>
<p>There have been numerous threads on this topic, with a ton of useful information, in the Visual Arts forum. If you go to this thread, you’ll find links to many others as well: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1100455-pre-college-risd-vs-sva-vs-mica.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/1100455-pre-college-risd-vs-sva-vs-mica.html</a></p>
<p>Just a comment on the intensity of the program. That’s the kind of experience you want! Because art programs esp. BFA programs at art schools, are very very intensive. (My daughter went to precollege program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and then earned her BFA at RISD. Pre-college programs are worth it, in my opinion.)</p>
<p>I was looking around at some summer programs, I think they all tend to be 9-4 ish and some also have mandatory evening studios, too. Especially if they are letting your son earn some college credits…then they really have to cram it in in a short time.</p>
<p>As Mackinaw said–it’s good prep–and actually may help your son decide if he’s committed enough to go for a BFA program. If he does, he’ll be in studio long hours (30+ hours a week, often) and will have lots of outside work on top of those studio hours.</p>
<p>^though I wouldn’t mind hearing about some less-intense, more exploratory programs that don’t offer college credits.</p>
<p>My D did the pre-college program at SAIC and loved it. It IS 6 hours a day in one discipline (and an additional 2 hours at night for two nights) – but any of those types of programs will really allow your son to experience art college. Other schools do a mini-foundation year (the first year program at many art colleges) – offering drawing, 3-D, etc. plus a “major.” The SAIC program was 2 or 3 weeks, RISD is 6 weeks, many others are 4 weeks. Look into MICA, University of the Arts, Corcoran College of Art and Design, New Hampshire Institute of Art, School of Visual Arts. Pretty much all of the art colleges offer pre-college in the summer. Good luck!</p>
<p>My D went to Ringling College of Art and Design for a pre-college program. It was a fabulous experience for her. Very intensive, long days and she ate up every minute of it. It really helped her decide for SURE that art college was definitely for her. She majored in Computer Animation and loves it!</p>
<p>I agree that it is best to know NOW before going off to art school. Just want to get a beat on Parsons…anyone???</p>
<p>WUSTL has a great program too.</p>
<p>STEER CLEAR!!! I attended just a presumably simple six week intensive for Children’s Book Illustration and the Rhode Island School of Design last summer. No exaggeration present or necessary, it was hands down the “WORST” class I have ever attended in my educational career. Not only did the less than 2 month course cost 3 times as much as what I had been paying for a full semester (4 classes for 4 months) at my local state college but they didn’t supply one pencil, scrap of paper, or crayon required for the class. Everything was to be bought out of pocket downstairs in the overpriced on campus art supply store. A 300$ + expense in addition to the already overpriced tuition fees. Not having the proper supplies present on time would only result in a significantly lowered grade. No parking was ever available on the overcrowded Providence streets for miles near the classroom, so a mandatory 20$ for parking each class is a MUST as well. The teacher may have been an accomplished children’s book illustrator, however doubts were constantly arising on her ability as an educator. She never really taught anything conducive to childrens book illustrations at all. The course was only full of busy work for accomplished artists. I left the class having learned nothing that the children the books are geared for could have learned (and probably taught better) at their single digit ages by simply looking at the pictures themselves. The only thing I obtained from that course was a good sense of how to judge others work in accordance with my own and how it feels to be part of a “money grab”. An ENORMOUS WASTE of not only money, but more importantly time. I send this message as a stern warning. I only hope it reaches you before concrete decisions are made.</p>
<p>LifeStudent, I’m sorry you had a bad experience at RISD but this thread is about summer art programs at the pre-college (i.e., high school) level.</p>
<p>My D’s friend went to Parsons last summer and didn’t want it to end 
All of the art college pre-college summer programs are intense – but it’s better to find out now, if that sort of experience is what your S is comfortable with. Good luck!</p>
<p>Believe me worried_mom I am sorry as well, very sorry. My high hopes for this well established institution could possibly be the major attributor to the extreme disappointment I experienced. However, the pre-college program RISD offers is also a six week intensive program which runs almost concurrently with the program I had enrolled in. The only differences between them are that the pre-college program is more than just a single class and students are to live on campus to become acclimated to the college lifestyle (i.e., even MORE PAYMENTS required for housing/meal plans) instead of taking the commuting route. Perhaps, and hopefully, my experience was a random and uncommon occurrence and my warnings were overly shrouded by my expression of disillusion. My intent was only to inform from the standpoint of one who has attended a program that is similar to one that riverhouse is interested in. If riverhouse’s pockets run deep then my post can be taken with several grains of salt and/or utterly ignored as inconsequential. I wish the best of luck to riverhouse and her son in all their higher education endeavors.</p>
<p>LifeStudent, I am well acquainted with the pre-college program at RISD as I sent my eldest son there a few years ago. There are several significant differences between it and the program that you enrolled in, so they are not that similar. For one thing, my son’s instructors were great TEACHERS (he had a couple of regular RISD professors, but also a couple of adjuncts) and the program was definitely geared to INSTRUCTION. My son learned a lot and finished several pieces for his art portfolio. Because they are only high school students, they are required to live on campus and are well-supervised, with curfews and organized social activities. (Something that I, as a mother, was quite pleased to hear!)</p>
<p>NO ONE – not even full-time RISD faculty – gets parking on campus. There just isn’t any parking there and no place to build it; space is at a premium since the campus is sandwiched between downtown Providence, Brown University, and the historic residential district. That’s why RISD provides free bus passes to students, faculty, and staff.</p>
<p>I do agree that art supplies are very expensive if you buy them at the RISD store. Since you had a car, though, you could have gone to Utrecht or Jerry’s Art Supply to get them and saved a lot of money. My son – who was in Industrial Design – also bought many of his required materials and tools from Home Depot and Target; they are located in Seekonk, but he and his friends took the bus there.</p>
<p>Again, I’m sorry you did not get what you had hoped out of your program, but your experience is not indicative of the pre-college program at RISD and I don’t want others to get the wrong impression.</p>
<p>Any information about AIB/Lesley College pre college summer program? Sounds intense, 6 courses and 6 credits. Any info would be much appreciated.</p>