My son has been accepted to 4 top end animation schools. Ringing and SCAD come with great scholarship offers. Ringing $11,500 for the first year, and SCAD $15,000 per year for four years. Both schools are a plane ride. SVA offered him a position in their honors program, but no scholarships what so ever. I would love to have him close to home, but not thrilled about the idea of downtown Manhattan and not having a food program which is what SVA offers. My son has over a 100 GPA (weighted) with a ton of extra curricular activities. I can’t understand why SVA could offer him a position in their honors program, but no scholarship. NYU believes it is an honor just to be accepted, and it is, but no more an honor than Ringling, SCAD,or SVA. A degree from NYU seems to carry a lot of weight, but not sure about their animation program. What is the best path for a young animator who would like to focus on 2D at this time?
Calarts for animation.
Well that isn’t helpful since he never applied to Calarts. It’s rather rude to not comment on the schools in question. I believe the question was obvious, but I’ll phrase it more clearly “Which of the four mentioned schools is the best path for a young animator?”
@Roxy47 congrats to your son! My D2 was also offered $15,000 at SCAD and has committed. She chose the school specifically due to the strong animation program and is also interested in 2D.
She did not apply to Ringling due to what she perceived as a heavy 3D emphasis. In all fairness I’m pretty sure one will learn both techniques at either school but she just felt that SCAD clicked with her better. We toured the school in general and Montgomery (where the animation dept. is located) and she loved both. What I noticed from an outsider’s viewpoint is the amazing amount of technological equipment at SCAD. Didn’t see Ringling so can’t compare those two in terms of facilities.
SCAD’s food is supposed to be quite good and, of course, they have all those new freshman dorms opening up in fall 2016. We thoroughly enjoyed quirky Savannah and of course the school is all over the place there.
Every question I’ve asked them has been promptly answered by her admissions advisor who remains her primary source of contact during this transitional period.
SVA is also, of course, a top-ranked animation program. Not sure if this advice applies to them directly but of course it’s much easier for a school to offer honors than scholarships because the former just means a few smaller class sizes and perhaps hiring an extra instructor or two. The latter means hard $$$$$'s 
I teach art and one of my former students graduated from SCAD 3 years ago. She had a great experience there. They provided her with great internship opportunities and SCAD id known for a high employment rate after graduation. She is currently a graphic designer for a large firm. I have another former student attending there now. Both students absolutely loved SCAD.
I would pick Ringling or SCAD. A lot of students leave Ringling and go to Pixar. You should ask on the art school forum too.
Ringling. Ringling is the top animation school and while known best for 3D animation (Cal Arts has a rep for 2D which is why it was mentioned) a student will learn the entire gamut of the animation pipeline including 2D. Why limit yourself? Excellent career services and networking. Unless the money differential is great I’d go with Ringling.
It’s funny that everyone picked either SCAD or Ringling and no one thought SVA which is the school my son is leaning towards. It is the more expensive of the three given that they don’t offer a food program and you have to figure that expense into the mix. It would be cheaper if the others had not offered scholarships. I also like SCAD because of the campus, food program and most of all the facilities. My son likes SVA because it is in NYC close to where he would like to live and work in the future. NYU is just an all around great school, but maybe not a cutting edge animation program. Ringing is very heavy into 3D and has no qualms telling us that 3D is more marketable and they are all about placing their students. I spoke to a dean at Ringling for some time and he was wonderfully helpful. He asked my son which other schools he applied to and gave SVA and SCAD a thumbs up, but wasn’t as enthusiastic about NYU. I don’t think he can lose at any of the schools. I do worry that it is so fast paced and time consuming an industry that the students can burn out quickly. I’m sure there is a high drop out rate to these fields of study.
@Roxy47 SVA has a great rep for animation so if it’s still in the game for your son that’s fantastic. We know a family who sent their daughter there for animation and she seemed to love it. My daughter didn’t apply though she was considering it. She figured she would not get a scholarship and it would be very difficult to afford it otherwise. She’s a big fan of SVA alum Rebecca Sugar.
All four animation programs- assuming you are referring to Tisch specifically when you mention NYU- are ranked top 15 by Animation Career Review. Scad and ringling are up near Cal Arts, Tisch is about 12th or so and SVA is about 14 or 15 all per current ranking. So any of those choices is technically a great choice.
Roxy–nobody can tell you what school best suits your kid. Only you know your kid!
My D has had an amazing career track in the past few years by going to Ringling. Her classmates have also.
They are at top studios (and also smaller, some totally new) doing amazing work.
Ringling is not easy. The industry knows it. Top spot for interviews. But you have to earn it.
You don’t compete against other students within your class. It’s not high school. It’s a country.
. Your talent is what will shine. The faculty and school is there to help make that happen.
As a student…
How hard are you willing to work? Deadlines are a part of life. And the industry.
How much criticism can you take (or learn to take) ? Get over it! LOL.
How focused are you?
(Willing to sleep under the desk for a deadline?)
My D would say that the industry knows a Ringling grad already knows the ropes. The workplace will seem easy after Ringling. .
Going to a top school does NOT guarantee success. It will always be dependent on talent . A top school helps networking and development of talent