<p>Thanks so much. not sure about Richmond & Minneapolis (i mean, the S isn’t.) but still, I’m keeping these names in mind.</p>
<p>Second Drae27s suggestion for Califiornia College of the Arts.</p>
<p>I go there and it’s pretty good (totally biased, yes). Seriously though, good teachers and best of all the aid can be really good if portfolio is out of this world along with grades, extra-curriculars, college essay (they do look at it!), etc.</p>
<p>Of course, check out the website, talk to admissions and if you can go on a tour to see if you guys like it; pretty small campus that is split between san francisco and oakland.</p>
<p>I would also check out MCAD. Their admissions was awesome when I was applying and their aid was also pretty good. I’m not sure how their fine arts department is, but being in the mid part of the US, lots of fine artists (especially of the classical 19th century academic kind) reside there.</p>
<p>Good Luck!</p>
<p>Kendall in Grand Rapids Michigan also is a solid school at a decent price</p>
<p>leslier…would your son be applying next fall? If so, we are entering the same boat. S2 is in 11th grade now. After taking him up to Vassar and Bard he has flat out refused to attend an east coast LA college. He needs more grit and diversity. Yesterday he told me he wants to go to art school??? Well both my husband and I and his brother took that path but until a couple of months ago when he started taking pictures and making little videos he showed no self initiative towards the arts. We too have little $$ and he also has some learning issues which show up in his testing results. (very high reading comp/very low writing/grammar). After hearing so much about VCU we are going to take a trip down there. If you visit at all I’d love to hear a report. I’d love to hear the final list of schools you come up with as well.</p>
<p>Now I know Hampshire is not in a city, but do you think your son might consider it? It is very liberal and has a strong art department. </p>
<p>The other thought that comes to mind is Canada. There’s Ontario College of Art in Toronto, Novia Scotia Coll of Art and Design in Halifax and Emily Carr in Vancouver. All with much lower tuitions than US schools.</p>
<p>Hey! Check out VCU Arts. I’ll be applying to school next year and it’s one of my top choices. Also, Carnegie Mellon (another big choice of mine), being a private institution, will probably give a lot of aid. I would advise staying away from SCAD Atlanta.
Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Why stay away from SCAD Atlanta? Is it SCAD in general or mainly the Atlanta campus? </p>
<p>Just wondering… since I have a younger D who will be looking around all too soon.</p>
<p>I have heard the SCAD campus is in an iffy part of town, but I have never visited myself. And at one point they were not accredited. Has this changed? The non-accreditation would be a big deciding factor for me.</p>
<p>Right, they have accreditation in some areas, but in others they seem to be having trouble keeping it. Sometimes they have it and sometimes they don’t (my graphic design teacher tells me this, and I believe him. You could have someone check it out to be sure this is true). If you visit and feel strongly about the school, however, I would choose SCAD Savannah over Atlanta. The Savannah campus has been around a lot longer and has much stronger faculty, or so I hear.</p>
<p>While researching the 529K plans to see if we could buy a condo for D to live in junior and senior year, and have the mortgage payments qualify, I found a website that stated:</p>
<p>“If you decide to use a 529 savings program, the full value of your account can be used at any accredited college or university in the country (along with some foreign institutions).” and they had a link to the list. I did a search and found that SCAD was not on that list - so those of you parents with a 529K, make sure you keep this in mind!!</p>
<p>RIT is very good and gives decent scholarships. Mass College of Art is VERY reasonable even for out of state students. Moreover, with some planning, you can eventually get instate tuition.</p>
<p>Have you looked into SUNY Purchase? Not in a big city, but seems to have a very open minded student body and a top notch art program. Students have to submit a portfolio to get in. D has applied for film production there, but they have quite a variety of fine arts and performing arts as well. Too close to home?</p>
<p>Oh and, it’s not a state school but you may want to check Corcoran College of Art and design in Washington DC. It’s directly affiliated with the museum. They tend to be generous with scholarships and I’ve heard that they even make talented high school students who come to portfolio review days offers right there on the spot.</p>
<p>thanks everyone, have been back teaching and helping my S get his application off to MICA, where he hopes to go. he did a fine job (i didn’t agree with one or 2 portfolio choices, but . . . do artists listen to their moms about their work? he wrote an excellent essay). i have read the above and considered. So far he’s still applying to MICA, SMFA, and SAIC. we’ll know in a month if he is accepted at MICA but again, worried about the scholarship/aid.
Shakespearefan, I think Purchase is a good school and great value. but the physical environment is bleak. also, my S isn’t open thus far to a university rather than art school.
Corcoran i hear less strong things about–also, the catch-22 is, if a school is handing out scholarships, don’t you wonder why it has to do that?</p>
<p>Drae-no, my son’s applying now. i wish your son luck. at this point it seems less and less likely we’ll visit VCU . . . let us know if YOU go there though. (is it grit and diversity? not sure but it sounds appealing to me.)
Seems Vassar and Bard would be hard for a guy with learning issues. i don’t think my S would handle it. again, like your S, he isn’t into LA college. an art college can be a little rough for a kid with no prior experience but with all your family background you should be a good judge.
-Hampshire–again, my S is not open to LA colleges.
I’ve heard other people point out that Canada is a good place and value for education. a friend recommended Novia Scotia Coll of Art and Design. but again, we’re winding down.
thanks again. best of luck to your son.</p>
<p>to those discussing SCAD–well, i don’t speak from direct experience, but FWIW it has a low reputation among the artists/teachers/administrators i know. a sense that a for-profit/commercial/short-term-goal spirit pervades. SCAD pushed to grow so big so fast. It also hasn’t treated faculty at all well with respect to governance and hiring practices–that is more than hearsay. some massive layoffs at times.
But when you get there-- who knows? i’m sure nonetheless there are some good teachers there. the people who run it may be well-intentioned. i hope many of its students have good experiences. but i just can’t look at it.</p>
<p>taxguy, is RIT good for fine art/painting? </p>
<p>yes, i do wonder if he should apply to Mass art. i don’t think he saw them at portfolio day unfortunately.
time is getting on though. it takes so much time and work to get applications out, hard to have time for more visits. </p>
<p>I’m entering the financial aid application stage, not fun at all.</p>
<p>thanks for the update leslier…let us know where he ends up and I will post about VCU if/when we go.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Have you checked out Hartford Art School @ the University of Hartford, and what about SUNY New Paltz? We also looked @ RIT and I was impressed, although D is unsure if she would fit in with all those math/science types…</p>
<p>Leslier, I don’t know anything about RIT’s fine art offerings. I do know that they have strong design offerings such as ID, graphic design, new media etc.</p>
<p>Leslier, you are SO right about the campus at SUNY Purchase being bleak. That is the perfect word for it. What were they going for when they built that place? I really have to wonder. Such a huge contrast to the gorgeous modern buildings and handsomely landscaped grounds of the private schools D visited out in CA! Still, if you avert your eyes from all the concrete slabs at Purchase, the wooded area surrounding campus is lovely, and there it is plopped right in the middle of an affluent neighborhood near a golf course! Felt so much safer than the area you mentioned around Temple. That is a real yikes! Still, we know two wonderful students at Temple (game design at Tyler and film.) D was able to have long conversations with a handful of the film students at Purchase. I was surprised and even pleased that D applied to Purchase because at least it meant that she was looking beyond superficialities to the substance of the program and other things being offered on campus. (As a vegetarian, she was quite impressed with that veggie restaurant right in the center of the Purchase campus.) I guess it just shows there is a place for everyone!</p>
<p>It will sure be interesting so see where your son ends up going. Keep us posted, and best of luck to him!</p>