<p>Okay...so I got a really great scholarship to SCAD....but I've heard some pretty bad things about the school. So I'm wondering if its worth it. </p>
<p>I'm a 20 year-old professional gallery artist. I've been to liberal arts school and studied classical painting abroad and I really want a really really fantastic art education.<br>
The problem is this: I applied to RISD SAIC and Pratt once before and they didn't give me much aid. There is a chance that when I reapply I might get bigger scholarships this go-around....but I'm not counting on it.
So....should I hold my breath and squeeze my eyes shut and hand over the 40,000 a year to RISD? Or should I go to SCAD?
I want to be the creative director for Vogue and show in top NYC galleries and design sets for broadway and costumes for cirque de soliel and, and .....ahhhh....sigh.....I am such a dreamer!<br>
Will SCAD help get me there?</p>
<p>I wouldn't count on a lot of aid from RISD unless it is need based. I can't speak for the other two schools. I do know that Pratt does give out a lot of both merit and need based aid.</p>
<p>I know:( I applied to RISD in highschool and they gave me zero aid.
I don't know how generous they are going to be w/ transfers but I'm not counting on much.</p>
<p>You portfolio is what is respected. SCAD will not have the reputation of a RISD or even a PRATT or MICA ,but I am sure that you can get a job if you are good.</p>
<p>honestly i don't even think risd, or pratt, or mica can get you to the places you want to be.</p>
<p>if anything i think parsons would be a better choice because of its fashion connections. </p>
<p>otis(in la) had the costume designer of cirque de soliel be one of the school's mentors for the fashion dept, fashion students designed costumes for cirque de soliel, under the guidance of the costume designer, for the school's annual fashion show</p>
<p>Can't tell you much about the Fashion department, but reittrating what others have said...a school can open some doors, but ultimately your portfolio will get you through the door. SCAD probably does not have the reptation in Fashion Design that other schools have, but this does not mean it isn't presently an excellent choice.</p>
<p>If SCAD is an option, I suggest visiting the college for the Spring Fashion show. Here is the listing from the school calendarr:</p>
<p>May 27
SCAD Fashion Show 2006
Trustees Theater, 216 E. Broughton St., Savannah, Ga.
4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
The fashion elite will gather in Savannah as SCAD presents its annual fashion show of graduating students work. This year's show will feature the designs of more than 50 undergraduate and graduate students. At the 8 p.m. show, Vogue editor-at-large Andre Leon Talley and SCAD President Paula S. Wallace will honor fashion legend Vera Wang with the Andre Leon Talley Lifetime Achievement Award. Tickets to this event are sold out, but there will be a live webcast of the 8 p.m. show.</p>
<p>Or maybe you can watch the webcast. And perhaps you will discover whether these things you have heard are true or baloney.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice.<br>
taxguy: I guess that you're right. I just need to figure out if SCAD is going to help me at all. I mean, I guess I could move to NYC right now and show off my portfolio and just forget about art school, right? But I'd like to believe that art school will help me get a dream job. I guess What I need are connections.... </p>
<p>liek0806, I'll have to consider applying to Parsons. It's too bad that it doesn't have much of a campus....and I'm not sure if it offers much aid. But I know that it is a fantastic fashion school. Unless I get a full scholarship, there is no way that I can study in LA...but Otis sounds great. The students design costumes for cirque! Thats awesome. </p>
<p>RainingAgain: I'd love to go to that fashion show sometime. Thanks for the info about the webcast. You seem to know a lot about SCAD. Are you a student there? Do you know anything about SCADs production design department?</p>
<p>I attended SCAD and worked at SCAD and have a relation at SCAD. About the Industrial Design department, it seems to have done some high profile projects; cars, boats, motorcycles, etc that they roll out frequently for publicity, and they got a new building a few years back sponsored by Gulfstream and there is a professor from that department who may respond to your question that posts here sometimes.</p>
<p>Hazelrah, Pratt doesn't have a bad program in fashion. It may not get the publicity that other schools such as Parsons and FIt get, but it is my understanding that it isn't bad.</p>
<p>Another school that you might want to consider is Otis in California, which has a great reputation for costume design.</p>
<p>Finally, you might want to look into University of Cincinnati School of Design, Art, Architecture and Planning. They have a surprisingly strong design program that has a fabulous paid 1.5 year coop as part of the education. Every person that I have met, including a SCAD professor who attended Cincinnati for industrial design, has raved about Cincinnati's coop program.</p>
<p>No no - I really do mean production design. It's a program I found on the SCAD website and I think it focuses on theater and includes set design and costume design:</p>
<p>SCAD website says:
"About Production Design:
From Busby Berkeley's dazzling sets and production numbers for movies of the 1930s to Julie Taymors innovative designs for the theater in recent years, the entertainment industry benefits from the involvement of creative, qualified and talented designers who support productions for film, theater and television...Opportunities for individuals who study production design may range from art directors to scenic designers and lighting designers to costume designers."
I don't know....It sounds like it could be a great program...</p>
<p>thanks taxguy. I'll be sure to take a look at Cincinnati and Otis.</p>
<p>//No no - I really do mean production design. It's a program I found on the SCAD website and I think it focuses on theater and includes set design and costume design://</p>
<p>The school has two beautiul historic theaters; the Lucas, and anotherI don't know the name.</p>
<p>This is a little off-topic but...
Do any art schools give full tuition merit scholarships? To transfers?
I think I heard of a girl once who got a full ride to RISD...but I'm not sure.</p>
<p>Hazelrah-
Contact SCAD and talk with them directly about your questions. I am getting more impressed with them all the time, they seem to be very "student's goal oriented." What I mean by that is they ask the student what their goals are and seem to devote themselves to helping the student achieve it. I keep meeting SCAD grads and they are very excited about the opportunities that are coming open to them and how SCAD helped them.</p>
<p>scad has both good and bad reputations, and the good can be very good and the bad can be very bad. for what you seem to want to do in the future i think that scad could get you there. first off....i am a scad alum, read alum, not soapbox preacher or employee, with my degrees in painting. scad is big on the business end of art, and the contacts that they have and could offer in the media end of things are phenominal. since i left a few years ago, the performing arts department as well as fashion departments have grown leaps and bounds. i now teach at a university in the north, but scad helped me to get where i am. like i said, i am just a person, but if you can, go there and look at the facilities and talk with people before you make your decision. i hope this helps</p>