<p>A friend asked me about Academy of Art University in San Francisco and specifically about their animation major there. I don't know anything about this school. Anyone familiar with it? Is it any good, or is it one of the diploma mills?</p>
<p>All I know is that they accept everyone (100% acceptance rate, seriously) and I see their advertisements on TV all the time.</p>
<p>^ i don't think that's academy of art...</p>
<p>it's supposed to be really good. as much as that helps...</p>
<p>i heard the acceptance rate is close to 100%</p>
<p>My son called to request information and that ended up to be a huge mistake. Even after he told them that he was not interested and after I told them he had already made his decision, they continued to call at least once a week (even through the summer) and send endless brochures and letters. (As they knew nothing about my son, the endless calls/information left a poor impression.) I truly don't know much about the school, however, he was told they do admit almost all applicants and they are persistent!</p>
<p>The animation major is supposed to be quite good, and they have relationships with Pixar and Lucas Films so that a number of students go on to jobs there.</p>
<p>Here in the bay area, what AAU is most associated with is real estate. The school owns large numbers of residential buildings and is constantly buying up more. The school then rents the properties to students at the school. They keep adding majors, which means more students, which fills up more "dorms", which they keep buying more of. </p>
<p>My daughter has taken classes there, and found that while some students were talented, many are essentially bay area kids who didn't do well in school or at anything else and are being sent to "college" to get them out of the house. In fashion there were a lot of live-to-shop girls with credit cards and a lot of clothes. </p>
<p>Yes, they admit almost every applicant. Yes, they are very persistent in contacting you; my daughter gets mail, email, and calls on a weekly basis.</p>