<p>Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is a private, for-profit art school located in the historic district of Savannah, Georgia. The college doesn't have a campus, per se, but uses buildings scattered all over the historic district. Most of them are old buildings that have been retrofitted to serve their new purpose -- as SCAD offers a degree in historic architural preservation, the "campus" is a wonderful lab.</p>
<p>Savannah is a beautiful city, dripping with atmosphere, Spanish moss, and humidity. As we languidly strolled the streets before noon, everyone, <em>everyone</em> we passed said, "Good morning", Southern politeness personified. We stayed in a well-appointed condo decorated with antiques in an old house we found through <a href="http://www.savannahgetaways.net/%5B/url%5D">http://www.savannahgetaways.net/</a>, and were located very handily in the middle of things, about 3 blocks from the SCAD Visitor Center. </p>
<p>The tour began with collecting a packet of printed material and watching a couple of videos, then we boarded a small air conditioned bus. SCAD is on the quarter system, starting mid-September though Thanksgiving, taking a break until after the New Year, then winter quarter goes until mid-March, having a one week break around St, Patrick's Day, the local equivalent of Mardi Gras, complete with a parade, and I presume a lot of green beer. Spring quarter ends in mid-May, and while they do have a summer quarter, the majority of full-time students go home for the summer. Classes meet for 2 1/2 hours, twice a week, either Mon/Wed or Tues/Thur, and the typical class load is three per quarter. Fridays are used as studio time or for field trips, it's not a party day. Classes in your major are capped at 20 students, and general education classes top out at 30. There is a minimum of 4 students in a class, if they don't get enough sign-ups the class is cancelled for that quarter.</p>
<p>The tour guide, a recent graduate, explained that freshman come early and have about a week of orientation and activities (with some things planned for parents as well), and also all take a class (called something like Freshman Experience) that meets for 1 hour weekly for the first quarter. The orientation gives lots of practical information about living away from home and the realities of living in an urban environment, i.e. how not to be a crime victim.</p>
<p>Our first stop was Norris Hall, home of the sequential art department, my daughter's area of interest. We saw some quite good art posted on the walls, and a classroom filled with computers and some Wacom drawing tablets, the state-of-the art for digital graphic input. They use Macs in most departments, and have a leasing arrangement with Apple that gives them new computers every three years.</p>
<p>The library is located in a former department store, has frontage on a whole (small) city block and goes up three stories. The old dressing rooms have been converted into individual study rooms, and they also have larger spaces for group study, projects, etc. They say they have one of the top art libraries in the east coast, and also participate in an interlibrary loan system. It also houses a computer center, and classroom spaces. Printing is free, a nice touch.</p>
<p>The student center, Club SCAD, has only been open about a year. Since there isn't a compact campus, the idea is to have it a be fun place for students to hang out with a lot of options for activities. There's a coffee shop, pool tables, TVs with directed speakers so you don't have to hear what the next group of folks is watching or listening to on XM radio, lots of plugs for laptops, meeting spaces for clubs, etc etc. They have dances, movies,special events, etc. The guide said it was used a lot, although at 10am on a summer Monday it was pretty empty. It's in a former synagogue that's been imaginatively repurposed.</p>
<p>Next stop was a dorm, Turner House, which is new construction. Dorms at SCAD are either hotel-style or apartment-style. Hotel-style is two or three people in a larger than standard dorm size room, and a single bathroom. Apartment-style is (usually) 4 individual bedrooms opening onto a common area, and a single bathroom. Students do the bathroom cleaning themselves.</p>
<p>Turner House and several other dorms are located past the old railyard, and it has about as much ambience as you'd expect from that setting. No trees to speak of, and a landscape with a lot of empty space around it, just on the edge of the historic district. that cluster of residences has a large cafeteria in it, as well as a SCAD operated convenience store. The room we saw was a triple, but really quite spacious, well-lit, and clean. Beds are loftable, and each student also has a dresser, drawing table, and stool provided. No microwaves or hotplates are allowed in the rooms, but a fridge is okay. There are microwaves in common areas in the dorms. Freshman are put in Turner, Turner Annex (a former Howard Johnsons, just across the way) or Dyson. There is housing preference by credit hours earned, so upperclassmen usually grab all the apartment-style dorm rooms. Hotel-style rooms require a meal plan, the choice is either a two or three meals a day plan: "Decide whether you want to get up for breakfast" is how the guide put it. There are several places around town that you can eat at on the meal plan, so you don't necessarily have to go back to your dorm for lunch.</p>
<p>The student ID, known as the SCAD card is used for everything -- it's your pass to get into buildings, library card, meal plan, debit card, laundry card, etc.</p>
<p>We passed the Civic Center, very near that group of dorms, which is where orientation and graduation both take place. We also passed by Oglethorpe House and Pulaski House, smaller dorms in the historic district. Pulaski is a former convent that is now a female-only hall, with a lovely view of one the shady squares Savannah is famous for.</p>
<p>Next stop was Eckburg, home of the fashion department. The classrooms had fabulous light from tall windows, spacious cutting tables, Juki commercial sewing machines, and commercial dressforms. There was also a library well stocked with current specialty fashion magazines, many from Europe, and bolts of fabric. Another classroom had easels set up in a circle for life drawing, except that in fashion, it's not drawing The Nude, but drawing a model clothed in various garments. The skills to be learned are drawing the stylized and elongated fashion body and depicting different fabrics and how they behave under various conditions of pleats, gathers, etc. Lots of drawings on the walls, as well as photos from the spring fashion show.</p>
<p>Montogomery Hall is about a mile away from the picturesque part of town, in an industrial area, fitting as the building is a former casket factory and carriage factory. It's the home of digital media arts, including all aspects of game design and amimation, sound design, web design, etc, etc. We saw a motion capture studio and a green screen filming area, as well as more classrooms filled with computers, and also 2-D animation tables. They use HP PCs here, for Maya and other animation and rendering programs, and Macs for Photoshop. Again, the hardware was plentiful and upgraded often. The lobby had large flat-screen TVs running clips of student work, some fabulous stuff.</p>
<p>That ended the "go-into-buildings" part of the tour, but as we drove back to the visitor center, the guide explained a bit about the busses they operate between buildings every 15 minutes during class times. They also provide free transportation as needed 24 hours a day within a reasonably generous zone that includes the campus buildings and beyond a ways, so if you're in an off-campus apartment that is reasonably close in, you don't have to get home late at night on your own. They've also recently started a bike escort system, so if you took your bike you can get an escort home as well. Someone (not me, honest) brought up the Crime Question. The guide had clearly had that before, and knew the college line: Make wise choices, use the SCAD bus system, walk in groups at night, avoid darkened alleys, use common sense, etc. etc. No one can get into any SCAD building without showing current student or staff ID. I have to say that while the squares would sometimes have a few obviously unemployed guys hanging out, we never saw a homeless person or had any obnoxious remarks made to us, or felt threatened. There are plenty of street lights, and we did see the occasional patrol car, as well as SCAD security cars. Yes, the areas surrounding the historic district are pretty low-income, and many of the apartment listings in the SCAD paper said things like "Safe neighborhood", or "Secure Building". But a little common sense, like not walking around at night with your iPod on, or getting too drunk to think clearly, will work wonders. He also explained that SCAD has a bus evacuation plan to Macon in case of extreme hurricane danger. Looking at the lush old oaks in the squares makes it clear that hurricanes haven't done much damage there, though.</p>
<p>Following the tour, each student and his/her family met individually with admissions counselors. The counselor went over the application process, and if the application was started that day, the fee was reduced from $50. to $25. One useful piece of information from that session was that interviews are very rarely done, mostly if the applicant looks weak academically on paper and they want to get a better feel for them. Another was that a resume should be included, listing activities, honors, ECs, etc. My daughter got her application started, and got a bonus gift of a SCAD t-shirt.</p>
<p>Another tip the admission officer gave about the application process was that the statement of purpose which everyone needs to submit should always be two pages typed separately, rather than hand writing it on the two lined pages in the paper application form. Make it personal, so they can get a feel for the applicant as an individual, but don't forget that it's also a writing sample, as there are no essays to be submitted.</p>
<p>Portfolios are not required for admission, but most people submit them. She said that they can be mixed, including whatever areas of the arts you excel in, so it could be a few pieces of art, some writing, and a video of dance or drama. The art portion of the portfolio should go for quality not quantity, and show a variety of skills, not just all drawings or paintings. The total number of pages should be 10 to 20, so if there are 10 pages of writing, then not more than 10 pieces of art. Art should be a mix of work from direct observation, imagination, and if any are from a photo, from a photo that the student took. Portfolios for undergrad admission are looked at by a portfolio review board of professionals, but not SCAD teachers, as they get so many portfolios to look at there would be no time left for teaching. Graduate portfolios are looked at by teachers in the major in question.</p>
<p>The portfolio needs to include an inventory sheet, and she said it was best to not use the form in the admission booklet, but again type it separately. In addition to the usual information of name, medium, size, and date, the listing can also include a few notes on the technique if it is not apparent, two or three sentances about the inspiration for it, and whether it was for an assignment or just done for its own sake.</p>
<p>We had arranged for my daughter to sit in on a sequential art class that afternoon, so we went back to Norris after lunch. The class was Materials and Techniques, which this day involved working with brushes and India ink to shade drawings. There were only 4 students, and the teacher was very good and perfectly happy to have her there. Somehow she managed to spend two hours working with ink and not get any on her, something I'm not sure I would have managed!</p>
<p>I think all the buildings have open lobbies during class times, but there is always a guard checking IDs, and although I could have gone upstairs with her (not to sit in, but just to peek in the halls at student artwork some more before leaving) the guard explained I'd have to sign in, show ID, etc., so she went upstairs by herself. She just loved the class, and I think it sealed the deal in her mind that this was the right place for her.</p>
… i was planning on doing the app first then turning in the portfolio ( im gonna take a class next term and my animation teacher is gonna be a HUGE help hopefully i get a nice scholarship XD ) and i wanted to know did the person who was helping you say that there was a time limit or something from when the app. was turned in till when you had to turn in portfolio? cause if there is OR if you think i should just wait till i have everything in order… XD guess ill have to call them lol</p>