Trying to get into art school...

[commiebuster]

First off, I'm a complete doofus.

I've heard it's difficult to gain entrance into an art school, and topping that concern is the nagging sensation that my work will barely make the margins, but won't grant me a scholarship to either Ringling or SCAD. Is it truly that difficult to get into said colleges, or am I going senile and confusing college entry with coastal invasion?

I'm not sure what those 2 colleges are specifically looking for when it comes to portfolios (I'm more of a traditional student who gets frustrated from an inability to work with photoshop or digital medium, so that merely compounds the situation). Is it really as simple as throwing in your best work into a blueprint for your field of study, or is there some sort of trick to it (you know, like a threshold you have to pass that's guarded by 2 ogres, and you have to smash them with your portfolio...)?

Finally, I'd like to do Sequential Art and pick up a little 3D CG skills to go along with the 2D; which college is better- SCAD or Ringling?

As most of you have already figured out- I didn't really think much of this out until it was too late and I found myself out in the middle of nowhere suckered into a cg program that never fully materialized into what it was advertised as... and I'm just looking for a better way to accomplish my long term goal...

I really appreciate any help that comes from replies to my desperate inquisition, and I'd like to know how those of you who made it into SCAD or Ringling did it.

[Mirana]

What specifically do you want to do? SCAD has a seqa program, Ringling does not. If you were going to Ringling, you'd be doing Illustration, Game Design or Animation major depending on what direction of Seqa art you were looking to focus on.

It is not hard to get into SCAD at all. It is hard to get a good scholarship (though they're pretty free with giving out smaller ones) and hard to stay. If you'd looked at the Scholarship sub-forum, or done a search for any of the numerous threads on the subject, you'd see that a majority of people adovcate a portfolio of nothing BUT traditional, from-observation works. I personally had a portfolio that was half tradional and half comic/illustration work to show my interests and I got a large scholarship. However, you won't know what's available to you until you try.

If you're uncomfortable with digital medium, don't bother with it and focus on what you're good at.

If you do Seqa at SCAD, there are no 3D classes within the major, but you have plenty of electives to explore.

[commiebuster]

What specifically do you want to do? SCAD has a seqa program, Ringling does not. If you were going to Ringling, you'd be doing Illustration, Game Design or Animation major depending on what direction of Seqa art you were looking to focus on.

It is not hard to get into SCAD at all. It is hard to get a good scholarship (though they're pretty free with giving out smaller ones) and hard to stay. If you'd looked at the Scholarship sub-forum, or done a search for any of the numerous threads on the subject, you'd see that a majority of people adovcate a portfolio of nothing BUT traditional, from-observation works. I personally had a portfolio that was half tradional and half comic/illustration work to show my interests and I got a large scholarship. However, you won't know what's available to you until you try.

If you're uncomfortable with digital medium, don't bother with it and focus on what you're good at.

If you do Seqa at SCAD, there are no 3D classes within the major, but you have plenty of electives to explore.


Thank you for that info!

Truth is, I didn't really read the earlier threads until after I posted, which means I completely missed the FAQ section and scholarship sub-forum -.-'

Of course, this has been substantially amended (rather embarrassing to be honest, heh).

Truth be told I'm really interested in manga and character design/storyboarding for video games (which had me leaning toward SCAD and the sequential art degree program), but then I heard that Ringling was a better art school on a couple of websites (with varying reasons for said superiority).

Again, thanks for the advice- and I'll try to lurk moar :)

[Mirana]

Truth be told I'm really interested in manga and character design/storyboarding for video games (which had me leaning toward SCAD and the sequential art degree program), but then I heard that Ringling was a better art school on a couple of websites (with varying reasons for said superiority).

*snerk* And I'm sure a whole bunch of Ringlingites will show up and tell you the same. Truth is, they wouldn't know. I wouldn't know. The only one who could say is someone that went to both, but even that is different for everyone. You should take a personal tour at both schools this summer and ask some of the questions you find in the other informative threads.

What I can tell you is that SCAD seems to fit your bill in terms of focus. Ever since the anime/manga boom, the Seqa department has grown both in diversity of interests and in diversity of gender and race. They aren't listed on the site, but there are at least two manga-specific electives (plus other style-specific courses, some listed). The Concept Art classes are also located in the Seqa department, which includes maquette design, character design, backgrounds, prop design, and storyboarding. There's even a class in which you create nothing but a complete concept package of your design (1 character, prop and enviro...with traditional 3D models to go with each. You know, maquettes and foamcore ;) ).

I would highly, highly recommend my profs and classroom experience to anyone (and frequently do if you read the other SCAD threads...haha).

[mbarq]

hahaa, art school hard to get into? you are senile. well...maybe the animation program at Ringling, even that is easy...as long as you weren't a complete idiot and blew off work throughout highschool.

ummm...as Mirana said, scad has that sequential art program. so if you really are interested in that, look at the program. try and see if you maybe speak with some of the students and look at their work, also try and see who's teaching it, and their curriculum.

As for scholarships, if your focus is art, it's going to be tough. From experience Ringling is not generous at all with scholarships (unless of course you get the presidential but they only give that to one person...), dunno about Scad.

Again, from what I've seen the only thing "really" good at Ringling is the animation program and maybe the illustration. It is getting better since it seems as their reputation grows the more "better" students apply, but...it's nothing you can't get anywhere else. Well...from what I've read >.>

[Justin.]

Last time I went to a portfolio day at Ringling, let's just say they weren't picky about who they told 'yeah you can get in!!'

[Homeless Foxman]

Pretty much every single college is going to look for foundations, not fancy finished painting, drawings, or whatever. Although those could be nice for portfolio too. What colleges look for in a portfolio is variety, and foundations. Usually art colleges aren't very picky about who gets let in because it IS a school... So you're there for learning. What you do have to be good for is a scholarship. Good luck, but those, along with other art colleges are pretty freaking expensive.

[Maxine Schacker]

I am the director of Max the Mutt (Toronto), so by the rules I believe all I can say (without "spamming") is: check our website and/or thread.

[Homeless Foxman]

I am the director of Max the Mutt (Toronto), so by the rules I believe all I can say (without "spamming") is: check our website and/or thread.

If you gave some insight as to what you look for in a portfolio other than what's on your website that might help and not be "spamming". I'm sure if this question is being asked, what is being looked for is not what's going to be found on the website for any art school.

[commiebuster]

I appreciate all of the helpful input and advice!

I'll see what I can do from here on out.

[thesinfulsaint]

Even the presidential at Ringling is not very generous. It's for 10k a year to one student in each major, and that only covers about a quarter of your yearly costs. There is also a smaller Dean's Scholarship that goes to one person in each major who has demonstrated financial need. Last year it was 7k a year. I don't know if that's a set number or if it fluctuates.

I would say that if you are more interested in 2D with a bit of 3D, you would realistically be better off at SCAD. The Illustration major at Ringling is just now starting to get a bit of ZBrush--still no Maya. In the animation department we do get quite a bit of 2D training, but the focus of the program is definitely 3D character animation. Don't get me wrong--I love it at Ringling. However, if you don't see yourself sitting at a computer 16+ hours a day, it's not the school for you.

BUT... I will say that nearly everyone who is successful in 3D has great 2D skills. I know of one person in particular who is an aspiring Visual Development artist. As has been said numerous times on this forum, your education is what you make of it. If you work hard, you will thrive in any environment, no matter what your goals are.

[VBall4Life]

I would love to go to Ringling but to far away for me(CA). So, does anyone go to art school in california that are any good???

[Maxine Schacker]

Homeless Foxman, I wasn't answering you. I was answering the original query on this thread. Your hostility is undeserved.

"I've heard it's difficult to gain entrance into an art school, and topping that concern is the nagging sensation that my work will barely make the margins, but won't grant me a scholarship to either Ringling or SCAD. Is it truly that difficult to get into said colleges, or am I going senile and confusing college entry with coastal invasion?"

The comments following this speak about the difficulty of getting enough scholarship aid, and commiebuster's fear that his work will not be good enough to get him that aid.

Different programs provide different levels of basic art training. I gather that
Ringling has summer pre-college training (which i imagine is costly) for high school students.

Some curicculums include art skill training. many expect the applicant to already have these skills. This gentleman needs to find a program he can afford that includes this training, or he needs to find local classes that will give him this skill base.

I've started a thread asking people to share what they know about programs and/or classes in their area that are affordable and good. Why don't you share and add some information to that thread?

The quality of the work in your portfolio is dependent on your knowledge of basic representational visual language, which, by the way, is something one can learn. You can draw and draw and draw, and just the act of drawing should improve your work, but in the end the drawing is the result of process, and if you aren't clued in to the process - what to think about, how to approach solving the problem- your end result will show your lack of awareness.


Can you teach yourself? Some people can, and some can't. I can't speak to how good you have to be to get a large scholarship, because I don't know what goes on in other schools. I don't know what local classes exist in commiebuster's area. I can't tell him anything about how Max the Mutt might
be able to help get the skills to put togehter a portfolio, because that's "spam."

I did what I could.

North America will hopefully find itself ( we've lost ourselves, in my opinion) and the general culture, and our values, will change for the better.

Your assumption that everyone is "saying anything" is probably based on bad experiences, and the mistrust of "recruiters" which I assume is based on real experience. I admit I've heard horror stories myself.

Nonetheless, not everyone is motivated by profit alone. Some people do
have integrity. I am not a recruiter. I direct the school and I teach life drawing and painting. I came of age in a different world. I trusted the integrity of the colleges I applied to and never felt they were only after my money. I received an excellent education. Education wasn't considered "business" at that time and it shouldn't be now. Schools need endowments so that they can give scholarship assistance and keep tuition down. They certainly have to pay the bills. However, something has gotten completely out of whack in the last 30 years and it needs to be fixed NOW.

Even Jason Manley doesn't qualify his statement when he says recruiters will say anything and lie about employment rates. I just wish he's said "many." We are a school founded by artists and animators, not business people.
At Max the Mutt we can verify any statements we make. Your hostility is better aimed elsewhere.