a little bit of input

[KendraJ.K.]

I just want a little bit of input/suggestions on colleges.
I plan on majoring in Photography and minoring in advertising.

I've been looking at the Art Institue of Boston at Lesley University for a few years and im really interested in it. Has anyone gone there or know someone who went there? what are your experiances with it, etc? (i plan on going on a college visit there later this year)

I was also looking at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. I first found out about it at a college fair about a month ago and met with someone from administration also when i went to a National Portfolio Day, she was really nice and really interested me in the school and it seems like it has a really good program. But most everyone in my family thinks i really shouldn't go there. Because while ive heard the campus itself is safe, i will still want to explore the city and i really dont think its that safe a city. what are your thoughts?

so if i dont go to CCS, or even apply to it because of that. i need one more school! but i don't know what. I looked at the Academy of Art in San Fransico for a while, but at the National Portfolio day, the woman i met with really turned me off because she looked through 20 of my photos for maybe 2 mintues in really poor lighting, and it just really turned me off.

I also saw someone from teh College of Visual Arts at the college fair. it's in minnesota but i think they only have like 200 students so it would be really hard to get into i think lol.

my backup school is the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I live about 2 hours from the city right now and really want to get out of illinois and the midwest if possible, but im pretty sure its a good school and i think its a good back up if i dont get in anywhere else. thoughts on this school?


so any suggestions or input on anything is very much appreciated!!!:)

[Storyboard Dave]

Regardless of how the counselors treated you, if you have any inclination to go to a particular school for whatever reason, I would make the recommendation for you and your family to visit the place. See the actual surroundings. See the facilities and talk to the people attending and teach there. Are the faculty working professionals or are they professional academic sort of teachers? Look at the stuff on the walls- does the student work look impressive? It should because that speaks volumes of what's going to be expected of you in the next few years if you decide to attend there. Also ask about where their graduates are working (don't settle for the percentages of "placement in the field" crap either).

As strange as this may sound now, you're ultimately going to want to gradaute from that place and start looking at the next step in your career. If the place you choose now can't help facilitate you to that next level, then it might not be the place for you. Simply put- why go to a place where you're going to earn a degree, get some skills and they're not even relevant to what it is you want to do for a living?

Note to your parents- it's ultimately your life and where you're going to have to feel right about your education. It's your life to lead. If they've done their parenting right (and I can only hope so), they're eventually going to have to trust you in making some decisions on your own. It's also ultimately what they wanted to do in the first place... they raised you to be self sufficient, independent and to make something of yourself.

Grab the bull by the horns now. Fight for what it is you want and take a stab at it. Worst case scenario is you go to a school for a semester, find out you hate it and change schools. You won't be the first person who's ever done that and you, more than likely won't be the last. Make an educated choice as to your life. No risk, no glory either. Have a little faith in yourself to make the right choices as well.

Good luck.

[KendraJ.K.]

thanks for the tips.
and i will visit the colleges im really interested in, i probably will still visit CCS, but i value the opinions of the people in my family as well.

anyone have any other input for me on the schools i listed above or suggestions on a school that would fit what i want?
thanks

[Storyboard Dave]

thanks for the tips.
and i will visit the colleges im really interested in, i probably will still visit CCS, but i value the opinions of the people in my family as well.

Not meaning to sound like a Detroit slappie or homer but has anyone in your family actually visited Detroit & CCS to base their opinions? And it's not to cast doubt to their veracity either because I do know Detroit's national media image is a huge hurdle that CCS has to face everytime someone thinks about attending, but we've got over 1300 people as well as the 32,000+ that attend Wayne State University a block away. There are still nearly three million people who live & work in this metropolitan area.

That being said, I would still highly encourage you to make the best decision for yourself based upon the information that you've gathered.

[KendraJ.K.]

I know the campus is safe and when i talked a few months ago with the woman from administration (i beleive. Her name is Katie Lees), she praised the city highly.
And my dad travels there a lot for work, im not sure how much of the city he's seen exactly.
ANd that's why im not completely ruling CCS out yet, like I said, I plan to go visit it and see what I think before I decide, but I still would like maybe one more school that im really interested in if CCS doesn't pan out.

[TASmith]

I went to AIB for a few classes but not for photography. All I can suggest is Anthony Apesos for art history, The man's a genius and very personable to talk to. He's excellent for painting too, but I guess that won't help.

[•Lindsay•]

I visited the art institute. Their art is not good. Lesley college is a special needs school.
I looked at the Academy of Art in San Fransico for a while, but at the National Portfolio day, the woman i met with really turned me off because she looked through 20 of my photos for maybe 2 mintues in really poor lighting, and it just really turned me off. It's possible that this woman was being lazy. It's also possible that she spent so little time looking at your photos because she is really good at looking at photographs. Some people who have been looking at art their whole lives can describe an entire painting in detail after having only seen it for a couple seconds.

[KendraJ.K.]

I went to AIB for a few classes but not for photography. All I can suggest is Anthony Apesos for art history, The man's a genius and very personable to talk to. He's excellent for painting too, but I guess that won't help.


I meet with him at the National Portfolio day! He was really nice. :) THanks for the input. Did you like the school overall? If you did why? If you didn't why not?



I visited the art institute. Their art is not good. Lesley college is a special needs school.
It's possible that this woman was being lazy. It's also possible that she spent so little time looking at your photos because she is really good at looking at photographs. Some people who have been looking at art their whole lives can describe an entire painting in detail after having only seen it for a couple seconds.

AIB?
what do you mean special needs?? I've never seen that on any of the websites or anything?

i suppose that it could be that she was good at looking at them, but then why did the other 6 people i went to after her all said completely the opposite of what she said?? it was just odd to me and didn't make me feel good. but i've also heard that it's a really hard school to get into? i dunno if thats true or not tho.

[•Lindsay•]

AIB?
what do you mean special needs?? I've never seen that on any of the websites or anything?

i suppose that it could be that she was good at looking at them, but then why did the other 6 people i went to after her all said completely the opposite of what she said?? it was just odd to me and didn't make me feel good. but i've also heard that it's a really hard school to get into? i dunno if thats true or not tho.Well, I don't know much about west coast schools, but if she treated you worse than everybody else, that's pretty rude.

Lesley college is a special needs school because it's one of the schools that kids with ADD and stuff look at. Just be aware that it has that reputation. It also has a reputation for doing a lot of community service, which is cool.

Of course many schools don't loudly advertise their special needs programs. But it is on their website. http://www.lesley.edu/threshold/threshold_home.htm

[KendraJ.K.]

yeah. i thought so too. but it appears to be cheaper than the other two, but then again its in san francisco lol

are you saying its a bad reputation? or somehow would impact me in the future by being associated with that school?

[•Lindsay•]

I don't really know how it would impact you. I'm sure a joint degree from lesley and the art institute is not the same as a degree from lesley. I didn't really look into it that much, partly because I grew up around boston and I wanted something new. Also, the dorms are no where near the rest of the campus.

[KendraJ.K.]

i thought AIB was phyiscally seperate from lesley. i think its in a different town?
hmm...

[KendraJ.K.]

i've also been looking at OCAD (ontario college of art and design)
does anyone know anything about it? if it's any good/photo program good etc?

[KendraJ.K.]

well if no one else here has anymore info/opinions on(AIB,CCS or CVA) does anyone have any suggestions on how I could get into contact with students that are currently studying at those schools? or went there in the past 3 or 4 years?
thanks!

[KendraJ.K.]

no one has any ideas?