<p>I like the hard sciences and math, as well as art, and I have no idea whether or not I might want to go to an art school. Luckily, I'm a junior, so I have one year to decide. I was thinking of perhaps applying to an art summer program at an art school to see what it's like (if I get in, of course). However, I also want to continue with my summer community college courses. Should I just take an art course there to see what it's like, or is that nothing like what real art schools are like?</p>
<p>poftd, you really don't have to choose. there are many colleges and universities that have strong art studio departments and strong academics, including science and math Double majoring is quite common. There are also several universities that have joint programs with art schools so that you can attend both simultaneously.</p>
<p>Ah yes, I've heard of the Brown-RISD combo. However, I would like to stay on the west coast if possible. Eheh.</p>
<p>Continuing on that thought, however, are there any schools with good art programs other than UCLA (which I heard has a smashing animation program, correct me if I'm wrong) on the west coast?</p>
<p>Three letters POFTD: USC</p>
<p>You also have Cal Arts too.</p>
<p>Oh, really? Heehee, I just attending an admissions rep visit for USC last month. They didn't mention anything about arts department though.</p>
<p>Anyway, thanks for the tip! :]</p>
<p>MIT has a great art program.</p>
<p>You probably already know this, but there are plenty of science people in art schools. They're usually architecture and industrial design majors.</p>
<p>I've watched lectures from risd alumni, and two of them are math people. One of them builds robots. The other one graduated from risd and then went on to mit. Now he builds surgery simulations.</p>
<p>I've never been to a summer art program, but I've heard it's very similar to what real art school is like. They try to make it similar on purpose, so they don't get accused of false advertising.</p>
<p>Poftd, check out the film and animation department at USC. Spielberg gave them 200 million.</p>
<p>as far as summer programs, i've done RISD Pre-college for the last two summer as a drawing major in 06 and architecture in 07. its an amazing experience artistically, intellectually, socially, personally....i really cant speak enough praise of it.</p>
<p>if you're at all considering art school...summer programs are an excellent experience. i've also heard great things about pratt and parsons summers.</p>
<p>//MIT has a great art program.//</p>
<p>Are you referring to The Media Lab at MIT? John Maeda is very relevant and influential, but I wouldn't call it an "art program." However, you may be right on as a recommendation per the student's interests, but I think they only offer MA and PhDs. But I could be wrong.</p>
<p>MIT offers OpenCourseWare in which anyone has access to course resources and materials.</p>
<p>Free</a> Online Course Materials | MIT OpenCourseWare</p>
<p>The undergraduate Comparative Media Studies program is mainly a theoretical and cultural study of media and visual arts rather than an art program.</p>
<p>Hi,
My daughter is applying to art schools for fall of 2008. She plans to study illustration. We know a good bit about MICA, RISD, Pratt, SAIC, Corcoran, KCAI...she is applying to these and has met with reps. But we would love to hear some feedback on VCUARTS and Ringling.</p>
<p>artistmom, I can answer some of your questions regarding VCUARTS and Ringling. I am currently a high school senior, but I went to Ringling for Precollege and my cousin who I am very close to is currently a freshman in VCU's BFA program. From what I know she loves it there but has a LOT of work. She tells me she hardly goes to any public events, which is rough because at a school like VCU where not everyone is in arts, you can't always go out and party with your non-art friends. She also chose not to room in the mostly art-student dorm which I think makes that aspect a little more difficult. But overall I think she really likes it and actually doesn't want to go home during the breaks! And her work has improved a lot since she started.</p>
<p>Ringling is a great school. In precollege we all took basic "foundation" courses - figure drawing, 2D design and 3D design, as well as having 2 specialized courses - mine were acrylic painting and dry media drawing. (I signed up for the illustration concentration as my 1st choice, but it was the most popular and got filled too quickly.) Although I believe Ringling's Computer Animation is its most competitive major, illustration is its largest.</p>
<p>My teachers were great, especially Jeff Schwartz for acrylic and 2D (he is brutally honest, but great and a really witty, fun teacher) and Aaron Board for dry media (he was by far my favorite! Even though he is pretty young and hasn't been teaching very long I learned a LOT from him). Also Don Brandis, who I believe is the illustration chair, was excellent for figure study. He was very passionate about art and teaching. The only teachers I didn't like much was my 3D design teacher and Art History teacher. But then again, I am horrible at sculpture and the art history guy was a drone...</p>
<p>The only bad things I can say about Ringling is that the campus is RIGHT on the edge of a bad area of town, in fact we weren't even allowed to go outside the campus gate to the school bookstore (right across the street!) without RA accompaniment. I got honked at/hassled a couple of times going to class too. Also there are not many public galleries or companies IN or around Sarasota to hire graduates, but hopefully Ringling's name can get you somewhere.</p>
<p>artistmom, I don't have direct experience with VCU, but I do know two longtime faculty members in the art department. They and the entire department put an enormous amount of energy into mentoring and teaching, not just in theory but in real process oriented skills. Highly recommended.</p>
<p>Granted that VCU has a very well-regarded art department;HOWEVER,you really need to check it out. The area where the school is located, in my opinion, is very undesireable.</p>
<p>Yes taxguy is right. My cousin has mentioned feeling unsafe in and around campus, but she is smart and always walks with large groups of people so hasn't had any trouble.</p>