<p>How are these two affiliated and more importantly, why? I'd like to know the history, if available.</p>
<p>Where on the list of prominent art schools does SMFA, Boston rank? What are its strengths and weaknesses (every school has them!)?</p>
<p>Since I appreciate the importance of a strong overall education, I am intrigued by the possibility of having a Tufts education alongside a (hopefully) strong art education. It seems the School might offer this, but I am still a bit incredulous. Can anyone offer more insight?</p>
<p>WE looked into SFMA. It isn't bad at all,but not of the level of a RISD or Pratt. They themselves will tell you that especailly for design work.</p>
<p>If I remember, there were some peculiar problems.One problem with them is that if you want to live in tufts dorms and take Tufts courses, you must be also admitted to Tufts, which is easier said than done. If I remember ( and it's been a while), you can take some Tuft's courses without living in Tuft's dorms. It certanly is an interesting option but wasn't right for my daughter. She might have been much more interested if she could live in the Tuft's dorms. However, I doubt she would have been admitted separately to Tufts.</p>
<p>From their website, it seems as everything is rosy rosy as far as classes with Tufts. They keep emphasizing that you will get both full enrollment at Tufts and the School. But they do say that there are different degrees (diplomas). You can get a diploma from the School, but no liberal arts courses are involved or you can get a BFA, BFA in art education, or a Combined degree (BA/BS + BFA) from Tufts. They say only for the Combined degree and the BFA in art education degree do you have to be admitted to both the School and Tufts. I dunno.</p>
<p>College-ish, Yes, it is confusing. You need to call them up, and speak to the admission's office for clarification. I do know that if you want to be part of Tufts and live in Tufts dorms, you have to be admitted to Tufts. I can't remember what happens if you aren't admitted to Tufts.</p>
<p>Thanks, taxguy. Currently, I have emailed them and I hope they reply with some sort of answer. Still, I am a bit weirded out by this. I seriously doubt I would attend there. It's obvious to me that I'd get a much better art education elsewhere--even if the liberal arts courses are not as good as what Tufts can provide. :T</p>
<p>My son wanted both a general liberal arts education with an emphasis on both art history and studio arts. He looked at the Tufts/SMFA program but felt that it was too complicated and unwieldy. The Boston MFA is one of the best museums in the country, but it is a commute from Tufts so youd end up not really belonging to either campus. Tufts doesnt make getting information on this program easy, which, I think is an indication of the lack of coordination between the two schools.</p>
<p>My son ended up at Williams which offers an excellent (albeit small) fine arts department, an outstanding art history department (with 3 worldclass museums on or near campus) in the context of a solid liberal arts education. Other East Coast LACs that have good studio departments are Skidmore, Hamilton, Conn College and Wesleyan (plus Kenyon which is in the mid-west). In the Ivy League Brown and Yale stand out. There are others that he didnt visit: Vassar, Smith (if female), Bard come to mind.</p>
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My son wanted both a general liberal arts education with an emphasis on both art history and studio arts. He looked at the Tufts/SMFA program but felt that it was too complicated and unwieldy. The Boston MFA is one of the best museums in the country, but it is a commute from Tufts so youd end up not really belonging to either campus. Tufts doesnt make getting information on this program easy, which, I think is an indication of the lack of coordination between the two schools.
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<p>Apparently, SMFA also does not make getting information about this program easy. I emailed them during the weekend and I also emailed a couple of other places. Everyone replied but the SMFA. :/</p>
<p>I don't know how difficult it is to get into Tufts, but at this point, I am not interested in dealing with the impossible. If SMFA offers this program, then they should provide guidelines explaining what one has to do to be accepted into the program.</p>
<p>Because I don't expect much of a response, I am thinking of applying to Wash. U's School of Art. They at least can guarantee a decent education outside of the arts. </p>
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My son ended up at Williams which offers an excellent (albeit small) fine arts department, an outstanding art history department (with 3 worldclass museums on or near campus) in the context of a solid liberal arts education. Other East Coast LACs that have good studio departments are Skidmore, Hamilton, Conn College and Wesleyan (plus Kenyon which is in the mid-west). In the Ivy League Brown and Yale stand out. There are others that he didnt visit: Vassar, Smith (if female), Bard come to mind.
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<p>A lot of these schools sound great, but I am unfamiliar with their locations and I doubt getting in would be easy. But I do appreciate your thoughtful reply, momrath. :)</p>
<p>College-ish, Washington U is a wonderful school and you will get a fine education there. I don't anything about their art department, though.</p>
<p>The difference between Washington and the colleges I listed is mainly that Washington is a big research university and the ones on my list are small liberal arts colleges. If you are interested in considering an LAC you should visit one or two and see if you like the atmosphere and teaching style. There are also several good LACs in the Mid-Atlantic and South; I just don't have personal experience with them so they're not on "my" list.</p>
<p>Tufts is kind of in the middle. It's a university with a liberal arts feel. Carnegie Mellon is another medium sized academically strong university with an excellent fine arts program.</p>
<p>If you have the grades/scores/etc to get in to Washington you'll be a contender for all of these LACs plus Tufts, although Williams is a reach for just about everyone. Just make sure you include some safeties that you'd like to attend. If you decide that you don't want to go to art school, then art school isn't a very good safety.</p>
<p>(You'd probably get more responses if you'd post your question on the Parents or Search & Selection board as few venture over here. :) )</p>
<p>Momrath makes a good point. Both Wash U and Carnegie Melon have strong fine arts and design programs. However, having a good portfolio isn't enough. You need very good grades and SATs to get into both schools. They may allow for lower SATs and grades than average for the school if you have a good portfolio,but you would still need higher SATs and grades than that found in any other stand alone art school.</p>
<p>Hey, this is not true at all. You do not need to be admitted to Tufts to live in the dorms or take classes. As a student in the combined degree with numerous friends at SMFA I am completely positive of this. One of my friends is a full time SMFA student (did not even apply to Tufts) and is doing both. I hope this helped clear things up.</p>
<p>Woah. Not true either. I find that I belong to both campuses. I am in clubs in both schools, one of which I am co-president at Tufts. The commute is 45 minutes, during which you meet a TON of people in addition to being able to do work if you wish. I have yet to hear anyone complain about it. Not only have I received an incredible art education at SMFA but I am graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in ADDITION TO my Bachelor of Arts from Tufts. I know that none of these other schools can boast the same. While Vassar and Penn have great art programs, I ultimately chose not attend either school because when it comes down to it neither of them are art schools.</p>
<p>restArtlater,
Thanks for the inside view. My has been accepted to the BFA program SMFA and AIB and is trying to decide between the two. I am interested in the option of living on campus at Tufts. I was led to understand that student housing was only available at the “Artists’ Residence” at MassArt. How does a BFA student go about getting housing at Tufts? Also, are you on your own for transportation between Tufts and SMFA, or is there some kind of shuttle service?
Thanks for any info.</p>
<p>SMFA is not usually considered among the top art schools. That said however, they do a lot better in fine art than design. Notable alumni include Philip Lorca diCorcia, Ellen Gallagher, Nan Goldin etc. The school is known for their very free form curriculum. Outside of the basic BFA credit requirements (84 studio - 14 academic) undergrads students do not have any curricular requirements. They are not required to major or concentrate in any particular field and if my memory serves me correctly, bfa students aren’t even required to do a general foundation; it is a school for self motivated and independent students. As you might imagine, the freedom SMFA offers is invaluable for an aspiring contemporary artist but might not be so good for a graphic design student just looking to get a decent job. They encourage interdisciplinary and experimental work as well as having a contemporary disposition.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about Tufts other than repeatedly hearing the complaint that it is largely populated by wealthy white east coasters who couldn’t get into the ivy league. Tufts also seems to be a somewhat more traditional school with popular programs in engineering, international relations, economics, political science etc.</p>
<p>All of SMFA’s BFA candidates can take their academic courses at Tufts regardless of whether they are enrolled in the dual degree program or not. To enroll in the dual degree program however, students must first be accepted by both SMFA and Tufts. It is possible to only be accepted at one school then transfer into the dual degree program and students supposedly have done it in the past but according to the admissions lady from SMFA it is neither the most common nor the easiest thing to do. SMFA share facilities but I don’t much about the logistics of this. There have been complaints about the commute between campuses being too long and students feeling alienated by the respective student bodies but you’d have to find out more about those from someone who goes there. And, even if the complaints valid its still not a high price to pay for the advantage of a dual degree education.</p>
<p>we visited Tufts and SMFA and S decided not to apply. He wanted a bit more structure than SMFA offered and he was extremely put off (sorry don’t want to insult) by the visiting prospective freshmen and parents at Tufts – all questions seemed to be about minimum test scores/grades/etc. Everyone felt so tense! It was quite the opposite at SMFA–perhaps too much so. The biggest positive was the arrangements that SMFA had with colleges and art programs throughout the boston area so if you needed/wanted to take a course at Northeaster/BU/BC you could probably swing it…not just Tufts. We did get on the shuttle and commute between campuses…it was very late and very crowded so yes. you will meet a ton of people.perhaps more than you wanted to…</p>
<p>My D has been accepted in the Northeastern/SMFA program which is pretty new. SMFA does mention it on their website but barely and not surprised that they didn’t offer it to you. The joint program is pretty small (like a dozen or two kids) and is in their 2nd/3rd yr. The students live at NEU and take their core courses and art history courses there but their studio classes across at SMFA. Liked the proximity of the two campuses, the dorm availability, and the idea of being in a larger community. Am concerned about some integration aspects of the program but haven’t visited the campuses yet – so am withholding judgement. She is fortunate that she has other choices.</p>
<p>It was not clear since if you do design, even though it is a joint program, everything is done at NU. my impression was that, NU is pushing this for whatever the reason, not so much SMFA’s doing. I hear NU itself has studio art and everything within, suppose they wanted to upgrade a notch?
Then again if MFA Boston is what you want to utilize, I did see NU kids have more edge since what’s in the museum is so so far away from what typical SMFA kids wants to do.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman at Northeastern University as a BA in Art major. The school is growing the connection for BFA/MFA students to take classes at SMFA, and I believe is looking to expand it further. The Boston MFA is literally across the street from the NU campus, walking distance of course for any NU student. NU’s Dept of Art+Design looks pretty good, and BA students get rigorous undergrad liberal arts education including foreign language. When you combine it with NU’s world-class co-op program and overseas study/art semesters (Photography in the Vatican, anyone? Painting at the Louvre?), NU and NU/SMFA look like win-win programs for BA students like my daughter or BFA/MFA students looking for a great experience.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the program, but it is on my D’s list to consider. The joint program between Northeastern and SMFA. I was pleased to read your posts regarding the courses offered at NU and the quality of the art department. If your D is interested in an art degree, possibly she would consider the BFA program, which I understand in general the BFA degree is more marketable when looking for a job than a BA in art. I could be wrong, but that is what I have been hearing.</p>
<p>Thanks, mdmomfromli. We will definitely chat about all this when she comes home for Christmas. Next semester she will take her first class in her major, ARTF 1000 Art at Northeastern. I think they go through all that then, to help the kids figure out where they best fit.</p>
<p>One of the strongest factors to consider about NU is their co-op program, where they get to work in their major for a semester without paying tuition. It’s great to build work experience and a possible future job, as well as to help the kids figure out if it’s really what they want to do for a living.</p>