<p>Hello, I would really appreciate some advice on my current situation. I'm wanting to study animation in hopes of working for Pixar (cliche I know) and i'm trying to make the right decision regarding art school. My goal would is to attend the BFA program at Cal Arts but it's a four year program that you cannot transfer into. I know that it's a very tough program to get into but I really think I have a shot if I could get together a portfolio. I was thinking that SCAD would be a great place to do this as I know they have an animation program. But at the same time i'm thinking it would be a waste to spend a year or two at SCAD and then start over at Cal Arts. So i'm thinking right now that the best plan would be to go to a regular four year college, get the GE classes done, and put together a portfolio and then try and go to Cal Arts. I'm into the U of Hawaii and the tuition is cheap because i'm in California. </p>
<p>Is it a waste to go to SCAD for a bit just to start over at Cal Arts? Or is the SCAD animation program acceptable and I should just forget about Cal Arts? Any advice is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>SCAD is an unaccredited school, you should keep this in mind when making your decision. Also SCAD offers great scholarships for your first year, and then takes them away for your second. The only good thing about SCAD is it’s location to the major studios.</p>
<p>I would suggest trying to go to Cal Arts straight off the bat. I would not suggest going to a college for a year or two and then heading to Cal Arts (6 years total) for a BFA (4 year degree). Instead go to a school for 4 years and spend the money you saved by not skirting around on your Masters.</p>
<p>That’s true. It is a four year program so it wouldn’t make sense financially. But the animation program is sooo competitive. I suppose I could stay at community college for another semester and apply with a really good portfolio</p>
<p>Why do folks make uninformed statements? Although I have never been a SCAD supporter in the past, I do want to note that they ARE ACCREDITED! In fact, they are accredited by the same organization that accredits southern schools such as University of Miami, Florida, etc. </p>
<p>What they don’t have is an additional, optional accreditation called NASAD,which most,but not all, of the better art and design schools have.</p>
<p>As for the scholarship issues raised in post number two, I can’t address that due to lack of knowledge on my part… </p>
<p>As for animation, they were rated in the top three programs by Animation World. Thus, they probably are pretty good in that area.</p>
<p>As for transferring from a community college, yes, it would at first seem the prudent thing to do. You could get your gen eds finished at a cut rate price. There is a catch to this: it is generally harder to get in as a transfer than as a freshmen. Some schools have very few transfer slots. You need to find out more about this particularly if you want to transfer to Calarts,which is very well known. Also, Calarts may not take any foundation art courses that you took at the community college,which could set you back a year.</p>
<p>// What they don’t have is an additional, optional accreditation called NASAD,which most, but not all, of the better art and design schools have. //</p>
<p>Many “lesser” art programs also have NASAD accreditation.</p>
<p>/// Why do folks make uninformed statements? Although I have never been a SCAD supporter in the past, I do want to note that they ARE ACCREDITED! ////</p>
<p>You were not a supporter because you were largely uninformed about SCAD, and seemingly believed only the negative rhetoric published by people with axes to grind. Hopefully, you have since read the many positive testimonials by students and their parents and are no longer so biased against the college.</p>
<p>Honestly, I probably don’t have any chance of getting into Cal Arts. SCAD is still sounding like a good plan to me. I suppose I would take Ringling over SCAD althought it’s a bit more expensive. But either way art school is going to cost me a fortune; I just have to accept that</p>
<p>seewhatimesdone notes,“at Cal Arts but it’s a four year program that you cannot transfer into”</p>
<p>Response: Who told you that Calarts doesn’t accept transfers? In fact, they do!</p>
<p>However, you might be better off trying to get into Ringling School of Art… Also consder Pratt Institute, SVA, RIT, RISD. Academy of Art Univeristy, in addition to SCAD. There are a number of good schools known to have animation programs.</p>
<p>I asked the admissions office about transfers and she said you can transfer but to enter their character animation program you have to start at year one. So it would be a waste of money to go to art school for a year then transfer for four more years. </p>
<p>I was really excited about Academy of Art until I found out that they just accepted everyone and it wasn’t an accomplishment at all. I went online and was overwhelmed by the negative reviews. I was crushed because I had been really excited. I don’t want to go there just to find out that they get me in and out as quickly as possible. I just don’t know what to think about the university…</p>
<p>You weren’t totally informed correctly. You won’t have to take some transferrable liberal arts courses and maybe can get out of a few foundation courses. Calarts frankly isn’t the best place to be a transfer student because of their rigid “guild like” approach to courses that have lots of prerequisites.</p>
<p>You should consider Ringlings, Pratt, RIT, SVA, AAU, SCAD, Leguna College of Art and others. Don’t believe all the “negative Press” about AAU. You should check out the place itself because they do have a very decent rating for animation by 3d World Magazine.</p>
<p>I guess I just don’t want to get to AAU and have it be a sham and I waste my time and money. I was thinking about going to U of Hawaii (they actually have a good art program) and trying to build a portfolio. It all depends on whether I get into SCAD or not</p>
<p>seewhatimesdone, from all that I have read for my daughter, animation is a very pecular major. You really need a program that has a strong animation program and NOT simply one that is good in art, despite it being a fine art discipline. I read many posts from folks who got a BFA in art and then had to get retrained in an animation program for another three years! Go to a school known for animation. </p>
<p>As for AAU,I can tell you that although there were a number of negative comments about AAU, most of the comments centered around majors other than animation. Most of the comments about the animation department were pretty good since many instructors were either from Pixar or from top studios in San Franscisco.</p>
<p>If you are concerned about AAU, check out other known schools for animation such as RISD, Ringling, Pratt, RIT, Laguna College of Art, SCAD, and Sheridan Institute up in Toronto, Canada. Don’t just major in fine art if you are passionate about animation. It will put you years behind in your skill set and training unless you have lots of money to spend on programs for many years.</p>
<p>Also, although SCAD might have a good program in animation, as noted above, there are many good schools that also offer animation. Don’t get mired down in thinking about one or two schools.</p>
<p>Unfortunately i’ve never had formal training and do not have a portfolio put together. The only way I could apply to Ringling is because they had exercises that people like me could do. Except if I get into Ringling it will be for illustration because their animation department is to the best of my knowledge strictly computer and incredibly difficult to get into. I’m really interested in story board art so illustration would be a suitable major for me but i’d like to learn some animation as well. All the top animation colleges require extensive portfolios and for the moment are quite out of my league.</p>
<p>Well…CalArts is actually ridiculously hard to get in.
The acceptance rate for Character Animation Program is about 8-10percent.
Moreover, the tuition is the highest in the nation, but there is no question that
CalArts is the place where the best animation students are.
Every Pixar and Disney Directors are from CalArts and
CalArts studetns won student academy awards 4times (03,04,07,08) in 2000s
If you can have a chance to study at CalArts, it will be wonderful opportunity for you.
I believe that the best way is to make your portfolio much stronger, and then
apply to CalArts after about 1-2year. </p>
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