I have been accepted to SAIC and SCAD for BFA in fashion. I cannot decided which school to go even after my visit.
One of the biggest reasons that I am considering SAIC is the interdisplenary courses they offer. I feel like that I would learn a lot in that school. My current art teacher also says this course would be beneficial. SAIC also has the AIC museum as a resource which I like. However, compare to SCAD, SAIC is not ranked very high in any fashion rankings. And as I reserched, SCAD seems to have a stronger career development program as well as a more developed fashion program. Plus, I have received some scholarship from SCAD. In terms of location, I definitely like Chicago better that Savannah since it is a bigger city. But if I do go to SCAD, I would have the choices to go to any of its campuses including Atlanta or Hong Kong.
In general, I really like SAIC’s interdisplenary courses but SCAD’s high ranked fashion program must have its reason. So I just want to know how important each factor is for choosing school.
My D knows a few students who are either at SCAD or will attend there this fall for fashion. She says it is THE best art school for fashion. She did a summer workshop at SCAD last summer in animation, and her roommate was a prospective fashion major; she was admitted to several schools but chose SCAD. From what I have seen of SAIC (my D was admitted there too but will not attend) I would not go there for fashion. SCAD does have a very strong foundation program.
I also have a close friend whose son is at SCAD studying film; he loves it and the parents say the school does a very good job with student internships and job placement. He actually got an increase in his scholarship for his second year after an impressive first year. Not many art schools will do that.
So I would recommend SCAD.
You might also want to post in the Visual Art/Film Major forum here for additional advice.
Thank you. That’s very helpful!
My daughter is studying fashion at SAIC. She chose it over several other schools, for various reasons. She did not apply to SCAD, so I cannot comment on that. The fashion program at SAIC is rigorous. The faculty are great - they are all practicing designers. They’ve been both demanding and nurturing. In addition, her education is interdisciplinary. There is always room for another studio class in another discipline each semester. A few of the fashion sophomore students at SAIC took the top awards at the CFDA/Teen Vogue Scholarship competition last year. Chicago is a wonderful city for artists. The AIC is a great resource, and the students there use it all the time for research.