<p>My D applied to SUNY Purchase, SUNY New Paltz, School of Visual Arts (SVA) and St. John's University for a BFA in PHOTOGRAPHY. D is currently a freshman at Univ. of Denver. She is a CO native, so wanting to go East is a big step, but she fell in love with photography at DU with one class. These were the schools she had time to apply to in March, so please no further suggestions of schools. She's been accepted into all BFA programs, now just waiting on the details from each school, mainly credit transfer (she already has 50 credits). We've heard she might have to start as a freshman at SVA which would be too bad. MAIN QUESTIONS - which of these programs are the strongest? And, which of these are other students happy with - costudents, instructors, classes offered (St. John's does a year at the Center for Photography in NYC), and overall program? D's favorite is SVA, being in NYC, her least is Purchase due to the blandness of the campus. Any feedback? Thanks in advance!</p>
<p>While I have no experience with St. John’s or Purchase…my son is a graphic design major at SUNY New Paltz. He has taken a few of the photography courses there. He has also taken summer classes at SVA. He would tell you that the instruction at SVA is much better than NP. He felt the instructors were very strong at SVA. The photography professor he had hoped to get at NP was on sabatical in Africa, he was supposed to be amazing but unfortunately the professor he had instead was dissapointing. However, he has enjoyed the overall college experience at NP. Going to school in NYC is very different than a campus school. Having gone to NYU myself, I am familiar with it.
I’d be happy to answer any specific questions you might have.</p>
<p>SVA has a top photography program, but little by way of academics. It is in the heart of the city and a great location, but no campus or community. As the only stand alone art school on your list, does your D want to do photography all the time? If so, SVA is definitely the place. The facilities are great, professors are tops, great connections to the art world in NYC and young, fun location. The other 3 are all good schools, but for all means and purposes, in suburbia (St. John’s is technically in Queens, but it is the suburbs compared to Manhattan). All good choices, but it depends on your D’s goals.</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback, shesleavinghome and LilyMoon. Yes, my D wants to concentrate on photography exclusively, but willing to do the normal college curriculum requirements if she has to. She loves NYC, the bustle/the opportunities, and has her heart set on SVA, but it has to work for us financially. We visited New Paltz and photo dept. looked more serious than Purchase or St. John’s with cage for equipment rental, etc. But, we weren’t able to really explore who the professors are. Looked liked the graphic majors shared studio space w/photo majors. I wonder if your son heard feedback from the photo majors as to their level of satisfaction? We visited St. John’s too and the instructor who went over D’s portfolio spent a lot of quality time with her. Pluses for St. John’s are proximity to NYC, year at Int’l Center of Photography and living at their Manhattan campus. Goal for D is to get the best photography education that she can.</p>
<p>I didn’t know that St Johns had a connection with the Int’l Center for Photography (ICP)!?! That’s a really interesting mix to me and I’d encourage you to look at that closely. Bard has an MFA program with ICP and it’s very highly regarded. St Johns / ICP… that’s really interesting, I wonder how you could learn more about that?</p>
<p>SVA is very strong in photo and it’s well located for internships and connections.</p>
<p>Best,
Wheaty</p>
<p>Thanks, Wheaty. Yes, a good opportunity. Look on ICP’s website under Affiliate Programs and it tells you more about it. Hopefully, St. John’s students feel apart of the ICP community while participating in this program. Supposedly, many of the students come back to St. John’s to print because it’s free for them.</p>
<p>She might have to start as a freshman, but might be able to do it in 3 yrs with lib arts credits transferred. Also, did she apply for honors program? She will be immersed in photo @ SVA --best facilities and connections.</p>