Hi, I’m primarily a digital artist from the U.S. and I’m really interested in animation, however my home state has no art schools at all, and the art schools that do catch my eye here in the U.S. are so wildly expensive that even with financial aid and scholarships it will be a daunting struggle to pay for my education. As much as I’ve dreamed of attending these schools when I was younger, the burden of a nearly $200k debt upon graduating is so disheartening and terrifying to me. You might say, “a degree isn’t REQUIRED for a career in art” which I’ve heard as well, but I think animation is a much more complex subject that I would love the guidance of a teacher for. Not only that but I truly want the experience of attending college and the connections that form from it. Anyway, the more I began to research U.S. art schools, the more I felt that studying in another country may be more beneficial and cost much less, and I relocated my search to our northern neighbor. I’ve read of several schools like Sheridan, Emily Karr, and OCAD, but I’m having trouble finding solid info and especially opinions on them from students/alumni. Please help! I don’t want to waste time looking into this if the Canadian schools aren’t worth it, but I’m also very concerned with the financial strain of U.S. schools and would love to know if they’re a good option for me.
Concordia University in Montreal and York University in Toronto are good for studio art.
I wish I could tell you more about OCA as far as animation is concerned. My sister graduated from there many years ago in something completely different…it is a very urban, arty, hip school, just south of University of Toronto and near the Ontario Art gallery. My somewhat sheltered sister found it a bit much socially, but the training can be very good. Sheridan is more suburban, and can be good for some things such as music. I think you mean Emily Carr?
Does the state you live in have any reciprocity agreements with states that do have an art program like you want? Do any states that offer quick instate residency (Utah, Missouri)?
I currently attend Sheridan College as a design major and I would really recommend it! The animation and illustration programs here are amazing, and places like Disney come to the animation industry days to recruit students. The programs also have a strong digital art component that schools like OCAD are a bit behind on. In many animation and art rankings, Sheridan is ranked in the top three in the world! It is difficult to get into animation, so many people will apply to illustration or another program as well. There are many US students in all of the programs and the tuition is still pretty cheap compared to US art schools, even when factoring in the international tuition rate.
I would say that Emily Carr and Sheridan are more competitive to get into than OCAD. OCAD and Emily Carr also lean towards more conceptual art, whereas Sheridan is much more commercial art focused. Sheridan is also NASAD accredited and OCAD and Emily Carr are not, so Sheridan might be more recognized in the US.
Good luck with your applications and maybe I’ll see you around campus someday!
Have you looked at MCAD in Minneapolis? They are 1) fairly decent in animation - I was impressed with some of the reels I saw a few years ago; 2) fairly inexpensive for a private school. My D15 qualified for a $15,000 presidential scholarship and a free laptop (the latter because she applied by their EA deadline). She received no need-based aid; however her NCOA was less than $30,000 which is darn good for art college! Her friend from high school got nearly a full ride with a combination of merit and need-based aid. So it’s possible to attend even private school and not go $200,000 into debt (you wouldn’t qualify to take out that much in loans anyway, most likely).
Good luck to you!