My dd is a HS senior and wants to major in illustration. We’ve been to tour Pratt, SCAD, MICA, SAIC, RISD and Ringling, so she has been around. Ringling she thought was too structured, SAIC she thought was not structured enough, RISD intimidated her (?), MICA she loved, Pratt was her favorite before she saw MICA and MICA was the favorite before she saw SCAD. She applied to all of them plus VCU Arts which we haven’t visited but have a friend there and know its good too.
Today she got her first acceptance, SCAD. It’s her favorite really, so it may be the one. She has a 33 ACT so hopefully she will get money from these places (we also have a kid at George Washington Univ. $$$). I’ve read the negative press about SCAD but she really had a good feeling there.
Does anyone have any feedback about SCAD from experience? I’m anxious to see if she gets $$. Any feedback will be appreciated.
Id like to hear more, as well. We’ve also been accepted, but her attendace will strictly depend on scholarship money. Curious to know what others have received as far as scholarship money.
My D will be graduating from SCAD in the spring with a major in animation and a minor in storyboarding. She received good scholarship money and SCAD was able to match her 2nd choice school’s offer which allowed her to attend SCAD (her first choice). I as the parent just laid out the financial situation with her admissions counselor and let them know she would immediately commit if they could meet us part way. They did more than that! My daughter had decent grades and test score so that really helped. And she held up her end and enrolled as soon as the money came through.
Overall, as a parent I’ve been pleased with SCAD. They are very serious about graduating kids who are employable creatives. But it’s not for everyone. You need to be earning a B average overall to keep your scholarship, and you need to be earning a B average in your major in order to graduate. Those are not easy thresholds for some. They grade strictly: A, B, C etc. No plusses or minuses. Therefore, every C must be matched with an A. The school washes out quite a few; I think my D told me that a good number of her first year classmates didn’t make it through. I’ve computed the attrition to be approximately a third of the class but some majors (such as animation) might be higher (and others lower).
You can do a search on CC for my prior comments about SCAD - I’ve posted several. While I can’t really speak directly to the complaints from ex-faculty, I am very familiar with the academic “industry” and really have no problem with SCAD’s insistence that faculty use their time to instruct (which is what they are paid to do), rather than other, less productive activities. Art school is expensive and instruction time is money.
Anyone have perspective on the level of talent the Performing Arts majors have (acting, singing, dancing) relative to other BFA theater programs? On one or two ranking lists, they are highly rated, but aren’t mentioned on most of them, whereas the same name keep showing up on virtually all of them. I realize that’s not a major deciding factor but Playbill and others base there’s on working on Broadway (which is kind of important if that’s the goal).
SCAD is very tempting because of its impressive campus and programs. We met with an admissions person from there who said that they accept most applicants from GED to A students and don’t focus too much on liberal arts education - that they are primarily technically focused. This is not bad but it looks like your child is really smart with her 33 ACT so she might be selling herself short . If she started there and doesn’t like it or decides not to major jn Art , it might be tough to transfer her credits . I think having a liberal arts education enhances their practice and breeds more creativity for them - ex - a student can take chemistry of paint where they learn the chemical processing of formulating different paints or fragrances -
With the other schools where she was accepted , she can have credits that go towards liberal arts if she wanted to switch .
Additionally, read up on the family who owns the school . I fell in love with the school as did my daughter, but after reading some stories about the family and speaking with the admissions counselor, my daughter decided not to apply .
PS . My daughter applied to same schools as yours and was intimidated by RISD for whatever reason as well !