# Good Art Colleges?



## TameraAli (Feb 17, 2012)

I'm just curious if any of you know of art colleges with a good animation program.  I got a list of some from my art teacher, namely:

Pacific NW College of Art

Minneapolis College of Art and Design

Art Institutes (multi-state campus)

Any others?  I'm looking to major in animation and minor in business.  Wanting to know what they require so I can take the right classes now.


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## Zydala (Feb 17, 2012)

SCAD and Sheridan? Maybe? I think they have animation programs. All I can say is stay away from the Art Institutes - they're for-pay, meaning as long as they get $$ they don't care how well you do. Probably can still get an education from them but the 'standard' won't be as high.

I'd usually say that the portfolio is more important than the diploma so art school isn't always necessary, but if you want to go into animation (which is an intense study) you'll probably want good faculty to back you up, and the connections you'll make in school will be helpful in actually finding a job in the industry.

ConceptArt's forums are a treasure trove of great info on schools:

http://conceptart.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=15

I always like linking this too: http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=102315 - it helps you figure out where you really want to apply and how to negotiate getting the best education no matter where you go

Go ahead and search something like 'animation' in that subforum over there and you'll probably find great answers.


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## Fenrari (Feb 17, 2012)

SCAD's really the only one that keeps coming to mind. A few acquaintances of my friends go to it and I've heard good news about it.


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## TameraAli (Feb 17, 2012)

Zydala said:


> SCAD and Sheridan? Maybe? I think they have animation programs. All I can say is stay away from the Art Institutes - they're for-pay, meaning as long as they get $$ they don't care how well you do. Probably can still get an education from them but the 'standard' won't be as high.
> 
> I'd usually say that the portfolio is more important than the diploma so art school isn't always necessary, but if you want to go into animation (which is an intense study) you'll probably want good faculty to back you up, and the connections you'll make in school will be helpful in actually finding a job in the industry.
> 
> ...



Thanks! That'll be really helpful.  I'll definitely check it out this weekend.


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## UnburntDaenerys (Feb 18, 2012)

Stay away from the Art Institutes.  They are being sued by the Federal Government for illegal practices like providing financial incentives for recruiters to bring in as many students as possible and pocketing financial aid money while churning out graduates with mountains of debt.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/08/justice-department-for-profit-college_n_921661.html


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## FireFeathers (Feb 19, 2012)

The Art Institute....isn't that the one that makes you draw a bear to get into the college?

All signs point to "no" don't do that one.


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## Wing (Feb 23, 2012)

Read somewhere that Calarts and Ringling have the best animation programs in the US. Calarts has a very good 2d and Ringling has a very good 3d, though they do over both at both colleges and also give you a good basis. When you try to apply you need a REALLY good portfolio to get into the animation program, especially for Ringling because there is a very limited about of spots.


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## Arshes Nei (Feb 23, 2012)

I'm sure if people read the "Reality" thread Zydala posted (which is one of my favorite threads about art schools) - don't put your eggs in one basket so to speak. You may like animation, but what if you end up finding illustration more suited to you? Go to a community college and get those foundational courses first. Then transfer the credits and you'll have better entry portfolios to work with too for better colleges. You've saved yourself money because community college art credits are transferable.

Then you have good foundations for any course you may end up taking.


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## Frroat (Mar 18, 2012)

I attended the Kansas City Art Institute for my first year of college, I think its a very decent school. But expensive.

From my own experience, I'm now attending a much cheaper state school and they offer basically the same education, which is a bunch of mean professors torturing the students to draw their arms off... same stuff really. I think that you'll have better networking at an art institution, a lot of the professors at the school I went to worked in the industry and know stuff, which is pretty cool. But yes, private art schools are very expensive, I would totally recommend going to a cheaper school if you want to save your money.


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## Captain Howdy (Mar 18, 2012)

Go to community colleges and get as high level of art experience there as you can (and take as many classes as high as level as you can that aren't related to art), because if you choose a place like the Art Institute (and pretty much all art 'colleges' I think), they are for-profit 'colleges' with the flimsy potential of getting to meet studio heads or other important people in whatever business you're going it to. They cost 1-2k every 11 weeks or so (or at least the one my friends go to is). So at least 10+ grand _a year _for 3-4 years if you haven't taken any college courses, or haven't taken high enough level courses elsewhere.

You'll learn very quickly that you aren't at one of those Art Institute-style for-profit colleges to _learn_, you're there to prove how much talent you already have, and fine tuning it for the mass media marketplace.


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## UnburntDaenerys (Mar 18, 2012)

Lastdirewolf said:


> So at least 10+ grand _a year _for 3-4 years if you haven't taken any college courses, or haven't taken high enough level courses elsewhere.



I wanted to point out to anyone who has been looking at private colleges and is thinking that this price doesn't sound too bad (private college I went to was $35k a year, on the cheaper end), these for-profit colleges almost never give scholarships or aid money.  So that horribly expensive private college could actually end up being cheaper than that for-profit art school.


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## Captain Howdy (Mar 19, 2012)

UnburntDaenerys said:


> I wanted to point out to anyone who has been looking at private colleges and is thinking that this price doesn't sound too bad (private college I went to was $35k a year, on the cheaper end), these for-profit colleges almost never give scholarships or aid money.  So that horribly expensive private college could actually end up being cheaper than that for-profit art school.



But you're paying 10k+ a year for pretty much nothing. If you don't have talent, they won't really help you that much. If you do, all they do is tune your style to fit a mega market thing.


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## iciewolf (May 13, 2012)

STAY AWAY FROM THE ART INSTITUTES! Especially for animation. This crack down they are experiencing from the government is serious business. And if they close the schools you will not get your credit even after spending all of that money( loans, scholarships, etc).Also there is no guaranteed you will be freed from your debt. I had loans, scholarships and grants. I was only in school for a year and a half in college and already 40k in the hole.  I learned a good bit yes, but the will leave you in severe debt. And most likely you will not pay it off in your life time. On top of that I won  two scholarships that came directly from AI. But as soon as the news broke about them being sued, they magically disappeared before my next quarter. I didn't fail, I didn't skip a semester, and there was no reason for it to be gone. I had scholarships that were to pay for half my tuition up until junior year. I just became a sophmore. I asked every person I could that handled my money and nobody seems to be able to answer me. Without the extra $25,000 I couldn't afford school. I worked hard to get that money and it just strangely vanished. They haven't called me with an explanation nor have they attempted to help get me back in school. I really loved going there but they pull some really sneaky bullshit.


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## MythRat (May 22, 2012)

Geez, good thing I listened to my wallet when I was checking out the AI near me. Seriously, the community college up the road from my house offers the exact same courses as the AI for a crapload less. I got quoted $85k for a 4-year plan at the AI that would only be %20 covered by grants and scholarships and after doing some comparison work, I found out that i could take the same bloody courses at the campus half a mile away from me for $10k-$15k total and have 80% of my expenses covered by _grants_ so I don't have to pay the money back later. It's going to take me an extra year or so to complete all my courses but the money I'm saving is more than worth that small inconvenience.
Seriously, community colleges rock. They're everywhere, they're cheap, they're pretty relaxed and generally have cool people going there. Just make sure that you're taking courses that are transferable so if you need to move to another campus to complete your degree, it won't be a big hassle (that's what I'm having to do).


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## Arshes Nei (May 22, 2012)

Normally I'd lock the thread for the Necro, but this is an informative thread for artists, especially those going to art school. 

http://www.nonprofitquarterly.org/p...-problems-for-nonprofits-ows-on-the-case.html

http://www.salon.com/2012/04/23/protesters_furious_new_front/

So yes, really check out your options and don't go to art school thinking "Well I got to go to an expensive one to be a good artist"

You become a good artist by working hard on your artwork. The schools are the boost to guide you in the right direction. So don't spend money on a career you're not prepared to work in.


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## traficalshours (May 27, 2012)

I go to SCAD, and I like it a lot. I do know that if you go for a community college to get your foundations some collages might not take the credits.

The thing about CalArts is that while it is a very good school for animation I believe about 22-26% only get accepted.

As informed by others stay away from the AI


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## Zydala (May 27, 2012)

traficalshours said:


> I do know that if you go for a community college to get your foundations some collages might not take the credits.



Yeah that's a good point - you should either a) know your schools you want to transfer to before hand and know if/how they transfer outside credits, or b) check out what schools will transfer your credits, a good place to start might be https://www.transfer.org/uselect/ :] there's lots of programs to help find equivalents in college programs though. For example, one of my credits didn't transfer over to replace a requirement for my school, but the school helped me find a way to make it count towards my total gen-eds as a general english class. Do your research!


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## karkajou (May 27, 2012)

I was actually talking about grad school options with my college advisor  and when I brought up SCAD she flipped and called it "the puppy mill of  artists" and then swore that if I wanted to go there she would never  write me a recommendation letter. ._. From what I've gathered many people  in the art education community feel that it's way too expensive for  what is offered and that they spend more money on promoting their image  than on funding quality education.


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