<p>I took my daughter to visit SCAD. Beautiful city, school and swim prorgram.
Does anyone have an opinion (good/bad) about SCAD?</p>
<p>Perhaps we can get taxguy to chime in... but as I've stated it is not accredited which should give cause for concern.</p>
<p>Actually we looked at SCAD and decided strongly against it. My reasons are as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>There are two accreding bodies for art schools. There are the ones that accredit all colleges and universities, which did accredit SCAD; and there is one that accredits art programs. It is the NASAD (National Association of Schools of Art and Design). This latter body was formed to ensure quality minimum standards among all art schools. Most of the major, well-known programs have this accreditation. For example schools like Cincinnati, RISD, CMU, MICA, Univ of Indiana, Pratt etc are all NASAD accredited. SCAD is NOT! </p></li>
<li><p>SCAD, at least in Savanah, has lots of crime problems. If you do a search about SCAD, you will see the reports on this.</p></li>
<li><p>There is a very interesting web site formed by a former SCAD professor. The site is at:<a href="http://www.scad.info/%5B/url%5D">http://www.scad.info/</a></p></li>
</ol>
<p>The former professor through the above noted web site ostensibly accuses SCAD of academic fraud among other things. It also appears disturbingly accurate with a lot of documentation. You should check it out. It is full of disturbing information ostensibly about SCAD.</p>
<p>CAMA..thanks</p>
<p>taxguy....I can't believe all the info you have! </p>
<p>I have a daughter who is a junior and wanting to continue on with Art in college. She is an excellent student 3.9GPA will be taking the new SATs in May (best score was 2070 on her practice Kaplan test) and is a swimmer. So, we are searching for that perfect mix of good LAC with a great Art Program and a swim team she will fit into.</p>
<p>I have gotten some great feedback from others on a thread I posted on another Forum. I am new to this so just finding my way around.</p>
<p>The schools we have visited so far are:
Dartmouth
Bowdoin
Williams
Conn College
Keene State
SCAD
BC
UCONN</p>
<p>She nixed all univerisities (wants a small college).</p>
<p>We have added to our list:
Skidmore
Hamilton
Colby
Wesleyan
UMASS Dartmouth
UNH</p>
<p>I am looking for feedback from anyone who has an opinion (good/bad) about the Art programs at these schools. The swimming part we can manage. We actually meet with the swim coach at every school we visit. The Art part is a little tricker. Some schools will meet with you (e.g. Bowdoin) some will not (Williams). </p>
<p>WOW...just got off the scad.info website. Wished I had read this before I spent money on a visit!</p>
<p>All of those are good choices. Believe or not Cornell University has a very good art program,but it may have too many kids for your daughter.</p>
<p>Also, some lacs have strong fine arts but little else. Some have other stuff such as metalsmithing facilities, visual communication etc. You may want to check out how extensive the art facilities of the LACs are. Most of the LACs that I have seen were great in pure fine art such as painting or in art history but were not that good in other areas of art.</p>
<p>taxguy,
When my D was looking at art schools, SCAD was ruled out for the same reasons as you found (I had read all that info and found it alarming as well, two years ago).</p>
<p>My sister goes to SCAD and loves it. She's a sophomore there this year and is majoring in graphic design. I don't believe it has any more crime problems than any other large cities; just like any city you have to watch out for yourself.</p>
<p>I never ever said SCAD is a bad school because I haven't been there and don''t know people who have. I can only go by the reputation for crime, which is posted in a number of forums, and their lack of NASAD accreditation. I also don't like what the ex professor said.</p>
<p>I know someone whose son is just finishing up at SCAD. He's finding trouble in the job hunt because some companies believe the NASAD distinction to be important. Maybe it's not as important for some types of art as for others. When I was designing computer sytems for a large insurance company, I often raised eyebrows by hiring people from "lesser" schools but with great team spirit and good social skills. Obviously they had to be skilled in computer programming but I found my workplace very enjoyable because of the people I worked with. Task forces required a certain personality to be successful (beyond the standard training). On the other hand, the financial area wouldn't even give an interview unless the applicant had attended a school on the approved list.</p>
<p>My dd liked the SCAD booklet she was sent. Seemed professional. Lots of interesting programs. Don't think the academic standards are that high. The kid we know wasn't much of a student before college. Your daughter may prefer a more challenging environment. Skidmore is known to be good. My niece looked at Conn College - Didn't check into their program because my d wanted a bigger school (art school dropped into a college environment).</p>
<p>If you're new to this, try to define what type of art your dd is really interested in. Most LACs offer fine arts and art history. If you're looking for something a little more commercial (advertising design, graphic design, etc), you have to dig deeper. For instance, their are many types of advertising programs and only some involve the creative side. The more we looked, the easier it was for my dd to define her interests. Look at the student projects that are displayed at the schools and see what her reaction is. Do they interest her? Can she envision herself doing that work? Does it look like something she did in high school? I noted that my d would often come home inspired to work on some project. Those were the good trips.</p>
<p>My d has also begun asking lots of questions of working artists because she really didn't have a good idea of what an artist does. Taxguy, I should have asked you since you hire GDs. My d spent summers checking out the art galleries at Cape Cod and knew she didn't want to do fine art. She also became interested in this type of career after taking GD classes in HS. She had followed a more academic track all through school and never really took art classes. Her teachers suggested an art director as a goal, but she didn't know what that meant. She thought she liked advertising but didn't know enough about it. All I know is that when we're in Manhattan, she's the one gawking at the billboards and store windows, when everyone else is rushing to the event.</p>
<p>Lately, she's been doing some modeling and I noticed she asks everyone about their background. Some of the fashion and merchandizing editors have explained that they couldn't get a job after FIT, for instance, and fell into a job at the magazine. She learned that the main editor has a masters in communication, not an art degree. I think the editor said she had never been at a photo shoot before she took this job. I think the more kids are exposed to "art" jobs the luckier they are.</p>
<p>Yes, fashion jobs are hard to come by. That is why many fashion professionals have suggested that most kids get a double major or a strong minor in textiles as well. This opens up many more doors.</p>
<p>As far as GD goes, I think Pratt has the right approach. They have three different concentrations with GD: one that is solely GD, one with a writing concentration for advertising, and one with an illustration concentration. I think the one with illustration is the right idea. WE use GD folks for advertising brochures and book covers. WE need folks that can do both good lettering, good understanding of marketing and advertising and good drawing skills.</p>
<p>Taxguy,
Are you talking about the Com Design or the GD major at Pratt? My d is in Com design at Pratt and it seems that that is what you are refering to. In Com design after sophmore year she will have to choose out of three concentrations within that majar, GD, Illustration or Art director and advertisement . BTW her next year's schedule seems so interesting great classes.</p>
<p>Cama</p>
<p>Cama</p>
<p>Taxguy,
Are you talking about the Com Design or the GD major at Pratt? My d will be in Com design at Pratt and it seems that that is what you are refering to. In Com design after sophmore year she will have to choose out of three concentrations within that major, GD, Illustration or Art director and advertisement. Maybe the GD is a separate major and is also like Com Des with three concentrations, if so there is alot of overlap between the majors which is problably a good thing. BTW her next year's schedule seems so interesting, great classes.</p>
<p>Cama</p>
<p>Sorry, I am talking about Pratt's Comm Design. She will have 3 concentrations on Comm Design</p>
<p>I am realizing very quickly I am in over my head with art!
Can't imagine what I am going to do with my other daughter who is a singer. My husband and I have neither talent.</p>
<p>My daughter is interested in Fine Arts Major (not Art History).
She seems most interested in Interior Design. But, I am also thinking architecure may be a good fit (this is why we like Bowdoin and Conn Coll as they have an Architectural Studies major). But, as I may have mentioned before I just don't think she has had enough exposure to the Art World and all that if may offer. She has taken courses at the MFA and a summer course at Suffolk. We live in New England and love going to galleries when we can. But, this is not her favorite thing to do. She mostly loves home renovation and building construction.</p>
<p>We went to National Portfolio Day last December and she got great reviews of her work. We met with a Bowdoin Art Professor who also said her work was very good. So, I believe the talent is there.</p>
<p>I did explain to her yesterday that she may need to reconsider the small college decision if she wants more Art class choices.</p>
<p>In addition to Art she wants to swim at the varsity level in college so this adds another layer to the college selection process.</p>
<p>If your daughter wants art, architecture, and possibly interior Design, and want swimming at a varsity level,you should seriously consider Syracuse University. They seem to have of these needs. However, as I posted above, they will be busing all architecture and many art kids to classes held in their downtown facility. I have posted a whole thread on this with letters from Syracuse on the pros and cons of this situation.</p>
<p>Don't worry Alice we will help you through the process. Interestingly enough myyounger D is also a singer.
We will see how that all pans out, she is only 10 but already taking lessons.</p>
<p>I did find your postings about Syracuse....thanks again
I am thinking Cornell may be another choice. She has a clasmate/swimmmate who is a freshman there now in the Art program. So we may take a visit. They are also accredited by FIDER.</p>
<p>Cornell would be a great choice.
Cama</p>
<p>cama....thanks for the pat on the back.
This website is awesome. I wished I had found it sooner!</p>
<p>My younger daughter is 13 and just started taking singing lessons this year. At 10+ she would constantly sing around the house and we would usually tell her to stop. She then decided at 11 to sing at an Arts Festival at school. My husband and I thought "oh no". So, I go with my video camera to do the mother thing and was shocked at how well she sang. The National Anthem was her song of choice. </p>
<p>I did nothing for 2 years and finaly had an interview with a professor at Berklee College of Music. I needed to know if she really did have talent or was I just being a typical mother. She said she absolutely does and so now we are in vioce lessons. I have no idea how this will pan out but would be glad to share.</p>
<p>13 is the perfect age, especially with the physical development needed for voice instruction. My 10 yr old really goes for "pre voice" as developmentally the teacher will not force or push the voice because she is just not physically ready. She focuses alot on technique, breathing and voice placement. Will not let her belt or sing glottal stops, feels it will be detremental to her young voice. D is singing in Italian and has sung some short arias in her voice recitals. She also sings show tunes so she is exposed to both classical and broadway. Teacher stresses that the classical training is necessary for whatever type of singing she decides on in the future. Since your D is older you can guide me through that process if my D goes that route. Does your D participate in any summer performance programs?</p>