Did you receive scholarship info yet? Do you know how long it took? It’s been 2 weeks since accepted.
No we have not. I am also surprised it is taking so long.
My D received an acceptance about 2 weeks after she applied and she received a $12k per year merit scholarship yesterday.
Not sure if it is a serious choice for her (Bus/Advertising Major) for she wants to be in California and the city. It looks like an amazing school.
Has anyone visited the campus, the dorms, met students? Any overall thoughts on living in Savannah for 4 years? She’s afraid it might feel small after a while.
We visited last April and our feeling was that it would be a great environment in the freshman dorms because they would get to know a lot of kids and then seemed to be more of a professional environment after that. Many kids live off campus in downtown area. I don’t think it would seem small at all. I would not recommend it for a kid who wanted a real college experience, but for a kid like mine who has been in a boarding school environment and wants to live in an apartment with friends, her dog and a car, in many ways it seems ideal.
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why do you think not a “real college experience” can you explain that a little more?
I apologize I didn’t express myself very well. I mean for a kid who wants a big university experience with football games, fraternity parties and the like, it may not be a good fit. It seemed to us to be more of a professional environment where kids are working more in the field and less focused on the classroom. I think the fact that there is no real “campus” maybe added to that feeling. That was just our impression when we visited. It’s worth researching the experience of students who actually go there. We loved the school because that is the type of environment my D wants, but may not suit everyone.
It is not a traditional college experience.
There are many great things about a SCAD. And Savannah is unique and beautiful with many public parks.
The Courses are fast paced in the quarters they do. I do not think there is anyone with time to be bored. It is intense and grading is tougher than most expect. There is a push for adapting a professional level work ethic immediately upon arrival.
They also have other campuses that students can rotate to in France (they bought a town) and Hong Kong and there are students in Atlanta for all 4 years if they want).
The area where the freshman live is very nice within the SCAD areas. They should not walk alone at night a few blocks over, similar to other urban areas.
The campus is spread out over much of the city. The SCAD buildings stand out and many are part of successful historic preservation efforts. There is no SCAD space that does not have a SCAD designers touch. There are SCAD shuttles that run all day and night, but there is no one central campus. Some buildings are miles apart - not exaggerating. It is unclear why they could not have the couple classes most freshmen have to take in classrooms close to the freshman dorms. They are all shlepping $1000 of art supplies and giant portfolios onto the shuttles to all go to the same place.
There are some sports teams, but not a ton of sports fans. Soccer and equestrian are across the river in South Carolina, so transportation is needed. They have shuttles.
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thanks for sharing. This is very helpful since I can’t visit (I’m in CA).Do film kids do the France semester?? (seems pretty awesome). The program seems really great and I wish there was more of a real campus but the impression I get is that there is a campus culture it’s just throughout Savannah? I like the school and the film program just hard to imagine going so far from home and not knowing anyone and not having a campus.
There are kids from all over, so you would not be alone in that. Most arrive not knowing anyone else.
Yes, you would have time to cycle through for a semester in France. You just need to work with your advisor to plan out the classes.
Most classes are small and you get to know peers. There are lots of activities and things to do, but you need to plan on pushing yourself to do them as it is easy to get caught up in your class work.
There is a positive vibe among the students and Savannah in general is a happy place.
Prepare for the humidity - there is nothing like it in California. Move in days in August are well organized but steamy.
It is very much an art school created by artists and those that love the arts. It is creating pathways to professional careers - it is not a laid back quintessential, traditional liberal arts college nor a big state flagship university with lots of choices.
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Your daughter will suffer severe SLEEP DEPRIVATION issues attending SCAD. All of the SLEEP DEPRIVATION at SCAD hurts you during your degree studies and long after you graduate. DO NOT GO TO SCAD, if you are a good student who wants to learn.
The SCAD College experience is that you will be extremely sleep deprived for the duration of your studies. I still suffer from the sleep deprivation years after graduating from SCAD.
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Have you received any scholarship info from SCAD? We have not.
Yes we have. We are so excited. She got a distinguished scholarship for 20,000. Still nervous on the remaining price tag, but excited for her nontheless!
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We have. She got awarded 20k as a distinguished scholar.
It took about a month and a half to hear back about scholarships. So you’ve got a bit of time to wait.
Congratulations. Thank you
Congratulations on your daughter’s acceptance to SCAD! I was wondering if the scholarship she received is yearly?
My experience with the quarter class scheduling system at SCAD.
I attended SCAD in the early 2000’s studying architecture in the Master of Architecture program. Since I was a student with an undergraduate degree in a related discipline, I needed to go for 3 years to meet the requirements. For anyone considering to go to SCAD I can provide some first hand experience that can help anyone make their own decisions of where to go to college. I am going to list the major things that someone should consider before going to SCAD.
- SCAD has the quarter scheduling system. A quarter system class scheduling system is a lot different than a semester system class schedule. A quarter system academic year is three quarters: fall, winter, spring. A full time class schedule is 3 classes. This sounds reasonable but each class is 2.5 hours long. Studio classes are 5.5 hours long. If you schedule a studio class and a regular class back to back you are in class all day. In architecture studio classes. we spent a lot of time discussing our own projects or other students projects with the class which limits your own time of getting your own projects completed.
To make up the time, students have to spend long hours into the night to get their projects complete. Eichberg Hall where the architecture department is located at SCAD was open 24/7 when I was there. Students had to do a lot of all nighters because the quarter system class periods are too long.
I personally did at least 100 all nighters in 3 years while attending SCAD. I look back and consider that torture. I would never go to a quarter system college again. All nighters become a very painful experience after a while. I still suffer from all of the sleep deprivation. I did not waste time going to parties. I worked on my projects as much as I needed to do to do my best considering the time constraints of the quarter system. I managed to get straight 'A’s my last year and my GPA was over 3.7.
Adding to the severe SLEEP DEPRIVATION issues at SCAD, studio classes sometimes pair you with other students. Unfortunately, you can be paired with a group partner or two who never show up to do their share of the project. I remember one studio, my assigned group partner did not show up until after midterms. I did all of the project up to the midterm presentation by myself. The professor asked me, where is your partner. I said, I do not know, I never see the partner after class hours. All of the SLEEP DEPRIVATION at SCAD hurts you after you graduate. DO NOT GO TO SCAD, if you are a good student who wants to learn.
- Another downfall of the quarter system is that professors have difficulty maintaining a class for 2.5 hours. I had some professors at SCAD cancel class after about 1 hour of teaching. But I paid for 2.5 hours of class time. SCAD is very expensive.
I also think the quarter system is not flexible. You cannot take extra classes over full time like you can a semester system.
I went to a semester system college for my undergraduate degree. Class periods are only 50 minutes long 3 times a week or 1.5 hours long 2 times a week. Since the class times are shorter I had much more time after class to do my work. I only needed to do 1 all nighter and that was because I was taking extra classes over full time. I was able to take 1 or 2 classes over full time each semester in order to study business classes outside of my major and complete the required elective classes for my major.
- Quarter systems are designed to prevent you from taking free classes like at a semester system. At a semester system, you pay for a full class load of 12 credits. Since the class times are shorter, you can easily take an extra class a semester. Since you only pay for 12 credits, that extra class is free. The quarter system at SCAD is virtually impossibly to take an extra class. So, no free classes. I paid for my own college education. I greatly appreciate being able to take an extra class a semester like at the semester system college.
- The scope of classes at SCAD is limited compared to a college such as Penn State University. Do your research on what classes a college offers before choosing a college.
To any student considering going to college, I highly recommend going to a semester system college.
I think the quarter system at SCAD is a fundamentally flawed educational system. Don’t go to a quarter system. I regret going to SCAD for that reason.
Since I graduated from SCAD, I have finished the Architecture Registration Exams and became registered. I passed all of the exams one the first attempt. Most importantly, I have not experienced an all nighter since 2004. I do not miss the all nighter life at all. I would never ever consider going to a quarter system college again. If I take any college courses in the future, I will certainly go to a semester system college.
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Yes, her scholarship is received yearly for all 4 years.
Thank you!