Unsure about where to go/what to do

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
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<p>Lean back, this will be long. :(</p>

<p>Hi. So, for most of my high school career (I just started my senior year), I thought I was going to do theater for college/a career, but months ago, I realized I don't want to, or even should pursue it the more time I spent with it. The one thing(s) I love more than anything on this entire planet is animated movies. I've always been able to draw fairly well, and I was always the Disney-maniac-nazi (still am). But since I thought I was doing theater, I dropped art classes after 8th grade (I'm currently in a drawing an paining class now, though). It wasn't until I started drawing again for pleasure, teachers told me I should consider doing cartooning or art. And then saw How to Train Your Dragon the same weekend as a school musical I was in, in which I ended up loving that movie more than all my years of high school theater combined, and it hit me hard. I decided that I need to do this, or I have practically no purpose in life. I prefer computer animation; I have artistic ability, but not enough required for 2D animation, and 2D is becoming obscure. (oh and character animation, not special effects.)</p>

<p>BUT my family is struggling financially. My sister is in college, and it's killing us. My parents forbid me to go out of state, but all the good animation colleges are far away. In addition, my grades are regrettably not that remarkable. Not terrible, but not decent either, although I know for sure they will be very good this year. The only options I have ARE: </p>

<p>1) A Digital Arts major at a mediocre in-state college that has animation as part of it's course. I've looked at the student artwork, and I feel really bad saying it, but while some of it is cool, a lot of it is not good at all, especially the animation. Some of their students are animators, but at really obscure, questionable-quality companies. I didn't see any inspiration or personality in their work at all.
2) A big university in my state has a branch college (not sure if it's community or not??) that offers Animation as a one-year certificate. It's not that great either, the school is apparently "strong in the arts", but it's ranked 59th in the state. :(</p>

<p>Anyway, if life was perfect and I was able to go out of state, my dream college is Full Sail University. It's amazing, a 4-year education all in just 2 years, and I like their course of study more than other colleges. It's well respected while not appearing too out of my reach, and grads are pulled into top-quality companies. I don't know if I'm talented enough yet, AND it's really expensive. </p>

<p>So I thought hopefully I could go to crummy school number 2, save up every penny I have, and apply for Full Sail after my crummy one-year of animation school, which is better than what training I have now (not much). But I don't know if the crummy school is going to prepare me/ make me look good enough for Full Sail. Plus I don't know how transferring works, especially since Full Sail is a funky curriculum and not a regular 4-year thing. AND I don't know how my mediocre GPA fits into all this.
I really don't like school number 1, but unfortunately, it currently seems like I'll end up there...</p>

<p>So there you go. It's giving me an ulcer, I'm so depressed and terrified about this entire situation. I just know it will be bad. Sorry if this is a lot and I sound crazy, but I don't know who to talk to about this. My parents just want me to go somewhere cheap as Undecided. I need advice asap. Thank you.</p>

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<p>3D animation takes just as much drawing skill as 2D. I would go to community college for a year or two (since money is tight, I’m sure it’s even less than the in state school) and study drawing and painting. Jumping right into animation when you don’t have much of a foundation is not going to help you that much.</p>

<p>Edit: oh and go look at conceptart forums. There’s lots of useful advice there.</p>

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<p>^is that the same Full Sail in FL that everyone here tell not to go?
why do you like it so much?
I can not check it now since its website is not agreeing with my laptop (it’s me, not them) far as I know it is for profit, teach how to use software kind of school.
It helps if you can tell which state you are made to stay, which school’s animation programs you are not so keen about.
so people would know what you are looking for and where to find them.
I am a parent lurker and kids with no parental support are often not able to see what is doable or un-doable.
Does your parents have the budget ceiling, say, less than 10K, 20K that something they can pay for, or saying cheap state school only and that’s that?
The movie you liked is made by Dreamworks but my (dinosaur) computer won’t open its site either so here is Pixar’s instead. If you can open Dreamworks’ great, read up that one, too.
<a href=“http://www.pixar.com/companyinfo/jobs/index.html[/url]”>http://www.pixar.com/companyinfo/jobs/index.html&lt;/a&gt;
you can see what you need to do in order to apply for the job. then you would know what kind of education, experience is needed. then do the math. how could you pay for that? If you can’t right now, how can you make it possible?
Would you mind after all the trouble all you get to do is possibly moving one creature’s eyeball or fixing shade of the clothing of the one character day in and day out?
I hope more people actually working in the field or doing hiring would post here, but so far haven’t seen any. hope the site gabbyness pointed out would help</p>

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<p>anniebananny,</p>

<p>1.) What state do you live in?
2.) Have you thought about financial aid?
3.) What is your GPA?
4.) What is your SAT / ACT score?</p>

<p>Answering those questions will help those here to offer suggestions.</p>

<p>Best,
Wheaty</p>

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<p>Cheap as undecided is not the end of the world. Cheap as undecided has options. It could be worse…they want you to go cheap as dental hygiene (no disrespect to the wonderful people who do this, but OP wants to animate not clean plaque). It sounds like you are working hard on the grade front, getting back into art and feel that you have found your goal …but, as with theatre, you may undergo more changes/revelations as your senior year wears on. I found it amazing how my S and his friends changed so much in their goals and ideas just during senior year so there were some interesting stuff going on from when they first start applying to colleges and graduation in June. My S who was strongly considering a straight art degree at an art school realized that he wanted to be at a university to do a more complex course of study. A kid who had been adamantly premed suddenly was freaking as she realized she wanted to be a poet but being forced to do a summer of premed courses on scholarship made her come back, tentatively, to premed. Improving your GPA as a senior and potentially doing some basic studies in community college or local state U while you explore your artistic side and careers in animation may not be a bad thing…I know it is hard to postpone diving into full sail or whatever when you are so ready to get started on an animation career but you do have lots of time ahead of you and having to go slowly may be to your long term benefit. BTW, full sail has a very bad rep on CC but I can’t comment. Search the older posts.</p>

<p>It would be easier to give you some tips if we knew what state you currently live in and what type of school you are going to.</p>

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<p>I would urge you to investigate Full Sail University before enrolling. It is a for-profit “trade school” and is NOT the equivalent of a 4-year program at an accredited university or art school. There have been complaints about the school, and you can read them on old CC threads like:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/790800-grants-somebody-w-bachelors-degree-no-other-school-recognizes.html?highlight=full+sail+university[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/790800-grants-somebody-w-bachelors-degree-no-other-school-recognizes.html?highlight=full+sail+university&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/801659-honest-advise-about-art-institute.html?highlight=full+sail+university[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visual-arts-film-majors/801659-honest-advise-about-art-institute.html?highlight=full+sail+university&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Full Sail may be appropriate for some students, but you need to know exactly what you are getting before paying all that money.</p>

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<p>Full Sail could end up costing the same or more than 2 yrs at a CC and 2 yrs at a reputable art school. Are you in Florida? If not, you will have to have housing and housing in the Orlando area can be expensive. You might check into Ringling in Sarasota, and what their transfer policy is.</p>

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<p>No. Not Fullsail under any circumstances.</p>

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<p>Oh! If you are in florida Ringling really is the best for computer animation. The program is very difficult to get into however. They accept transfers, but you still have to start as a freshman since there course sequences are so strict.</p>

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<p>Hahaha okay this is the OP, I’ve researched more on Full Sail… you’re right, maybe not the best choice. I apologize for praising the school so much when you all obviously hate it. The lady was very nice to me on the phone, the catalog is fantastic, and a lot of their students go on to amazing things right after graduation. But since everyone is telling me no, I’ll believe you. Plus it’s just beyond expensive. Thanks.</p>

<p>Here’s more info about myself somebody requested:</p>

<p>I live in Ohio.
I know about financial aid since my sister is in college (in-state), but even with in-state tuition, it still seems to be really expensive and stressful for my parents. I have 2 younger siblings, too.
My GPA last year, since the school year only started, was a 2.6. Before that, it was bobbling around 3.0-3.4.
My ACT score was a 24, and I’m retaking it soon, aiming for a 27 or higher.
I go to a big, public high school in suburbia. </p>

<p>I’ve looked into Ringling and I really like it, it just looks really competitive to get into. But yes, I’d love to go there (unless you all have dirt on that place too). I’ve also poked around at SCAD. I don’t mind too much restarting as a freshman if I go to community college first, as long as I’m not spending like 10 years in college.</p>

<p>A few questions about community college - WHAT exactly do I do there and why? Everyone talks about going there, but I never know what they teach you. I always thought they were for people who failed in high school, and they were fake colleges where you could get a fake diploma and go about on your way. I’m really sorry, I’m bad with everything. Also, does going to community college first then applying to another college/art college make me a Graduate? Some colleges don’t offer animation to Grads, just Undergrads. Would studying art while doing community college truly help me more than jumping right into the college world? I’m interested, just under-informed.</p>

<p>As far as what I’m looking for in a college, I’ve done my research (trust me) on Pixar, Dreamworks & Disney through their websites: They don’t care how cool your work looks, they care about character, personality, and heart, since they teach you the technology once they hire you. I agree 100%, and I’ve got theater training under my belt, so I know/love character. I ignore the colleges that have no/minimal classes about character development and storytelling, and only focus making your stuff look cool or professional. I’d prefer somewhere that offers a solid teaching in character and art, and less in ‘awesome computer skills’… Isn’t that what animation is supposed to be??</p>

<p>Also, I should probably stay on the eastern side of the country, so Academy of Art University and CalArts are out of the question.</p>

<p>Thanks a lot, everyone.</p>

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<p>In most cases, attending a community college is the equivalent of the first 2 years at a 4-year university. Most State schools have agreements with the community colleges in that state to automatically transfer most of the class credits, so students attend a CC for 2 years and then transfer to the university for the final 2 years. Since tuition at a CC is usually much lower than at a university, many students do this in order to reduce college costs. (Also, if there is a CC within commuting distance, students can save even more by living at home.)</p>

<p>Attending a CC by itself will not get you a bachelor’s degree. (Depending upon the specific program, you may get an associate degree from the CC.) But you will NOT be a “graduate” since that term refers only to a bachelor’s degree (BA, BS, or BFA), which normally takes 4 years to complete. So when you apply to the university from the CC, you are applying as an undergraduate transfer student.</p>

<p>At the CC, you would study what you would normally study as a freshman/sophomore at the university (although your class choices will likely be more limited at the CC). Usually, students take most of their distribution requirements (also known as core, or general education, requirements) at the CC to get them out of the way; these are classes like writing, math, science, history, etc. Then they take the higher level and specialized classes in their major at the university. </p>

<p>If you are planning to go to an art school like Ringling, however, you will have to check with them to see what specific classes they would accept for credit from your CC. It may turn out that most of your classes will transfer over and you won’t really need to spend many extra semesters in school. On the other hand, you may need to start over as a freshman, especially if the art school has a Foundation Year program. Each college has its own rules about accepting transfer students and giving credit for classes taken at other schools, so you’ll have to ask each school you are interested in as to what its specific policies are.</p>

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<p>Thank you, this clears so much up.</p>