<p>I have applied to all of these schools and plan on getting into all of them based on my portfolio, grades, and SAT scores (sorry if I sound like I'm boasting). Each one of these schools is so different and each has so much to offer. I am looking for a career as a professional photographer and want a school that can help me reach my goals. I want to go to a school that is fun, exciting, innovative, and challenging. I just need some help deciding where to go! All input is very much appreciated!!</p>
<p>don’t we love kids like him/her? I do!!
I have some test posted in “Cooper” thread that is very useful.
Let’s do that same here so we can better advice you, no?
answer yes or no to the following (it does not count either way, no added or lost points like SAT)</p>
<ol>
<li>Do you like cities?</li>
<li>Do you like really big cities?</li>
<li>Are you from North East?</li>
<li>Are you from South?</li>
<li>Are you from Midwest?</li>
<li>Are you from South West?</li>
<li>Are you from California?</li>
<li>Is your parent full pay?</li>
<li>Could you get near full ride?</li>
<li>Is your HS class bigger than 200 kids?</li>
<li>Have you ever attended single sex school?</li>
<li>Do you want to make money right after under grad?</li>
<li>Do you care if you get BA (AB) BS or BFA?</li>
<li>Are you looking into steady relationships?</li>
<li>Are you looking into casual hook ups?</li>
<li>Are you looking into lots of parties?</li>
<li>Are you looking into easy access to street drugs?</li>
<li>Do you like dogs?</li>
<li>Do you have younger siblings?</li>
<li>Can you drive?</li>
<li>Do you like or would like driving?</li>
<li>Do you like real ethnic food?</li>
<li>Do you like fake ethnic food? -think, say, “Panda Wok” in the shopping mall food court</li>
<li>Is VCU safety?</li>
<li>Is RIT safety?</li>
<li>Do you like works of Richard Avedon?</li>
<li>Do you like works of Cindy Sherman?</li>
<li>Do you like works of Lewis Hine?</li>
<li>Do you like works of Dave LaCapelle?</li>
<li>Do you like works of William klein?</li>
<li>Do you like works of Annie Leibovitz?</li>
<li>Do you like works of Henri Cartier-Bresson?</li>
<li>Do you like works of Francesca Woodman?</li>
<li>Do you like works of Alfred Stieglitz?</li>
<li>Do you like works of Jeff Wall?</li>
<li>Do you like works of Robert Frank?</li>
<li>Do you like works of Diane Arbus?</li>
<li>Do you like works of Man Ray?</li>
<li>can’t think anyone else… photo people out there, anyone?</li>
</ol>
<p>I see I have two 32s how that happened?
mark as 32-H and 32-F for me?</p>
<p>Some of these questions I am unsure about so I may have an answer other than a simple yes or no.</p>
<p>1 yes
2 yes, but I also don’t mind small cities
3 no (I’m from virginia, right outside of DC)
4 no
5 no
6 no
7 no
8 yes
9 no
10 yes
11 no
12 yes
13 yes, BA or BFA
14 Doesn’t matter
15 Doesn’t matter
16 sure, but doesn’t really matter
17 sure, but doesn’t really matter
18 yes
19 no
20 yes
21 sure. doesnt matter too much
22 yes
23 yes
24 sort of
25 yes
26 yes
27 not really
28 yes
29 yes, a lot
30 yes
31 yes
32H sort of
32F sort of
33 yes
34 sort of
35 yes
36 sort of
37 not really</p>
<p>Thank you for taking the time to put this survey together, but I’d also really like to know more about the schools themselves. I believe that that would be the most valuable resource in helping me make a decision. Once again, thank you!</p>
<p>let’s see… you,
- like cities
- like really big cities but don’t mind small cities
3-7. from VA outside of DC - parents can foot full pay somewhere between 5K-55K
- not Ivy full ride poor
- HS class is bigger than 200 kids
- never attended single sex school- RISD might be eye opening
- want to make money right after under grad, no fooling around on parents’ money
- want to get BA or BFA but not BS
14-15. either steady relationships or casual hook ups are OK
16-17. do not bothered by lots of parties or drugs around - like dogs, maybe any animals, even?
- only child or last one off to college, parents are either apathetic by now or over enthusiastic
20-21. can drive and don’t mind having to drive to get midnight icecream.
22-23. not snobby nor picky eater - not so hot on VCU
- not so hot on RIT
26-37. kind of photo work wise
love -Dave LaChapelle
like - Richard Avedon,Lewis Hine,William klein,Annie Leibovitz,Alfred Stieglitz,Robert Frank
so-so- Henri Cartier-Bresson,Francesca Woodman, Jeff Wall, Diane Arbus
maybe not -Cindy Sherman, Man Ray</p>
<p>I say, you are pretty well adjusted easy going kinda kid, will do fine anywhere.
did you visit those schools? how else did you pick which ones to apply?
why Columbia? just curious.</p>
<p>Ok, so if we make the huge assumption that all of these fine schools will say yes…</p>
<p>… Then the answer is Columbia. </p>
<p>Photography in NYC, Ivy, a fantastic art history dept, and a fantastic fine art dept. Did I mention the Ivy part?</p>
<p>Let me add that ALL of these schools are top notch and all would serve you well. </p>
<p>Good luck, I hope you get them all!
Wheaty</p>
<p>if you have the stats to get into Columbia and can afford it then go there. If money is an issue, and you have the chops to get into Columbia and RISD, then VCU will give you a nice scholarship.</p>
<p>For Columbia ask a few more questions - Do I love that Core Curriculum? Can I live in a high rise and go to the gym 6 stories underground? </p>
<p>The main thing is to visit each school if you can and make sure it’s on a day when you can visit the art department. Good luck!</p>
<p>Hahahaha I actually meant Columbia College Chicago, not Columbia in New York. Sorry for the confusion! Thanks for all the input though!</p>
<p>Ah! Well I hear it is known for photography…</p>
<p>It is FUNNY!!
I did not see that coming…
that sort of explains, OP cherry picked schools famous for good photo depts and RISD for being RISD.
let’s see… there were some mixed reviews on Columbia Chicago. I will try to dig it.</p>
<p>some old, some new, some funny
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/313925-columbia-college-chicago.html?highlight=columbia+college+chicago[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/313925-columbia-college-chicago.html?highlight=columbia+college+chicago</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/154656-photo-photo-journalism.html?highlight=columbia+college+chicago[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/154656-photo-photo-journalism.html?highlight=columbia+college+chicago</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/101948-columbia-college-chicago.html?highlight=columbia+college+chicago[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/101948-columbia-college-chicago.html?highlight=columbia+college+chicago</a></p>
<p>Thanks again bears and dogs! Does anyone have any more information about these schools or an idea of which school would suit me best?</p>
<p>Last night I spoke to a parent of a kid at RIT…he started in animation, moved to film but now is in camera design…like as in building cameras. Hates the weather, loves the school. I still think for someone that likes art/photo that is a bit techy this sounds to be a great place. They offered my S a very generous group of scholarships so I am still sadly sighing over RIT. </p>
<p>I am intrigued by how well they seem to integrate the hearing and non-hearing communities… I understand that it is good for hockey. Perhaps you should visit…</p>
<p>should added
38. can handle cold, long, snow-y shut-off winter?</p>
<p>I’ve had some experience with 3 out of 5 of your schools as my DD applied to them.</p>
<p>RISD is RISD. Top of the heap. Some people want to go to the “best” school with the “best” reputation. Don’t know RISD - my DD didn’t want to compete at that level.</p>
<p>RIT is a rather ugly campus. You have to like living in a stark setting without much character. But I know a recent Photography grad whose work was absolutely stellar. He concentrated his job search in Chicago, and didn’t find anything…joined up as a military photographer in the army. Don’t know why he couldn’t find work – it wasn’t the quality of his portfolio. I have some suspicions though…(see my thoughts on Columbia College of Chicago.)</p>
<p>SVA has instructors rather than professors. Industry professionals and the list is impressive. They send you the faculty listing when you’re accepted and it’s thick as a phone book. The campus location in Manhattan (around Gramercy Park) is unbeatable. And it’s NYC. My DD’s top choice thus far, but we’re waiting for scholarship/financial aid info – she’s been accepted.</p>
<p>Columbia College of Chicago (CCC) is one of those schools few seem to know about outside the Midwest. My other DD is there and absolutely loves loves loves it. The campus is non-existent – just buildings scattered across the South Loop. But the setting right by Grant Park is gorgeous, the city is your playground. Tuition includes a Chicago Transit Authority pass for the school year, so you can ride the subways, trains, and buses for free – a huge bonus as many students live off campus and in apts. throughout the city. As for the classes, you’re again learning from industry professionals, not professors. It’s the nation’s largest private arts and communications school, and the film dept. just built a new state of the art facility; several grads who’ve given the school a lot of money made it working on the Spielberg film “Schindler’s List.” I’ve seen the work of many photo majors who ask my DD to pose, and it’s top notch. I think the reason why the RIT grad didn’t find work in Chicago is because CCC floods the market with talented grads, and RIT’s reputation may not hold up in the Midwest as much as it does on the East Coast.</p>
<p>VCU - unfamiliar with it.</p>
<p>Of the three that I know…</p>
<p>If you want a more traditional college experience, fraternities and sororities, a concentrated campus and students and a quad and all that jazz, then opt for RIT.</p>
<p>If you want an urban lifestyle and can forgo “college life” for living just like a city dweller, don’t need grass and quads and frats, and want a more seamless transition between college life and post-college life, then choose SVA or CCC. Both will put you in great cities and half your education will have to do with acclimating to an independent adult life. And you probably won’t have to relocate to find work.</p>
<p>I have a cousin doing her mfa in film and video at columbia and i remember asking her a while back to do some research on their undergrad art programs for me. Her response was that they didn’t seem to be that great. She said the curriculum there was fairly rigid which was probably not the best for an art/media student. And although the MFA programs are quite good, the undergrad students had virtually no access to MFA students or their resources, as opposed to yale where undergrad art majors can take grad courses in the school of art. Plus she’d been told that a lot of the undergrad work was surprisingly conservative. Though everyone had great things to say about the general academics and art history department. In general universities with art departments tend not to offer too much preprofessional training compared to art schools. The campus is on the edge of the manhattan proper and right next to harlem. I visited the campus with a friend of mine and several of the students seemed to be wary about crime.</p>
<p>RIT is known to be quite good for preprofessional things but you might have to sacrifice some of your academic inclinations there. People say the area isn’t so nice though. SVA is smack in the middle of manhattan and also has good professional connections/training but again not too much on the academic side, even less so than RIT. If professional training is your primary interest and don’t mind a lack of academic emphasis you should also definitely think about parsons.</p>
<p>Don’t know much about VCU or of any major artist/commercial photographer that came out of there.</p>
<p>I don’t know much either about how professionally oriented RISD’s photo program since i was interested in doing the painting program there. I’m willing to bet though that it’s probably more oriented than columbia’s since 1 it’s an art school and 2 RISD is known generally for having a strong preprofessional disposition where design and media are concerned. It would also seem to be the best balance of art school rigour and general academics.</p>
<p>Personal Advice.
Go somewhere that allows you to be flexible with your interests and whose general atmosphere is suited to you while paying attention to the course offerings and curricula. Because in all honesty, unless you’ve had some kind of experience working in the field you’re interested in, your professional interest is extremely likely to change. I myself was quite seriously interested in fashion photography and later, graphic design until i actually interned with/ worked for people in those fields at which point i realised that i had no such professional aspirations. I’m currently studying fine art in germany. Likewise I have a friend who initially went to yale planning on majoring in law and environmental policy and after two years decided he wanted to be a photographer/artist. His work has recently been published in vice, interview, the new yorker etc.</p>
<p>oops my comments were about columbia university in new york</p>
<p>breaking news!! (or not)
jetblue fly in/out to Rochester.
I met some toy museum folks from there today at my job and they are the most agreeable, nice, clever, reasonable and confident people ( total opposite of regular NYer)
I don’t know if being in Rochester does anything to do with it, but just a thought.
imagine, an airport with jetblue just 10 min away from the center of the city and ready for snow. no snowdays for school. snow is the norm. people just shove them aside and go on their business.
“what happens to that mound of snow?”
“go into the river, eventually. we got lots of room”</p>
<p>I just got accepted to RIT! It feels great getting that acceptance letter. I think I may have narrowed my choices down to RIT and SVA, however I don’t want to rule out the other schools all together. The biggest reason I would possibly like to attend VCU is because I know TONS of people going there, and would already have many close friends on my first day. It is a very good arts school, but I have heard that the photography department isn’t great. I’m not sure how true this is. Any more information would be highly appreciated!</p>
<p>And thank you all very much for your help so far!</p>