School for 3D Animation & Visual Effects

[SenseofTouch]

Hello,

I just graduated from high school and starting college this year. Originally, I was planning to acquire my General Education at City College of San Francisco and then transfer into Academy of Art University, but my brother suddenly told me that the price of the school might be too much for my widowed low-income mother to afford, so now I'm in search for other schools. This means, I will be attending City College and will transfer to another school to complete my Bachelors Degree.

I want to major in 3D Modeling/Animation. Which schools in California(including CSU, UC) are especially good in their 3D Animation and Visual Effects department(if they even have one) and is affordable? If possible, can you guys give me a list, because the only school that I know that has a 3D Animation and Visual Effects Department is Academy of Art University...

School starts in two weeks and I still haven't registered for any classes yet(OMG!), so this is really urgent!

[SenseofTouch]

Urgent

*bumping thread*

[Meloncov]

I'd recommend going somewhere cheap to try and knock your freshman year out of the way. I think AAU is pretty generous with taking transfer credits, so talk to an adviser there and figure out what classes to take at a local community college. Than search for loans to fund yourself through three years of AAU; 45k in school debt (assuming your mother can cover living expenses for you) isn't that bad.

The only other schools in California with decent 3d programs are more expensive than AAU and/or very hard to get into. USC might be worth a look, but most of what I've heard about them is negative.

[thesinfulsaint]

Panchosimpson goes to USC... You could ask him if you're looking for some more advice about the school. However, I second Meloncov's recommendation.

[SenseofTouch]

I'd recommend going somewhere cheap to try and knock your freshman year out of the way. I think AAU is pretty generous with taking transfer credits, so talk to an adviser there and figure out what classes to take at a local community college. Than search for loans to fund yourself through three years of AAU; 45k in school debt (assuming your mother can cover living expenses for you) isn't that bad.

The only other schools in California with decent 3d programs are more expensive than AAU and/or very hard to get into. USC might be worth a look, but most of what I've heard about them is negative.

I'm a local here in San Francisco, so I do not need housing, but isn't AAU like 35k per year? I am confused. According to my Financial Aid Award Notification Letter, it's a grand total of $34,746 for one year: See Below...

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/8756/picture1yr7.jpg
http://img48.imageshack.us/img48/2025/picture2lt5.jpg

After my brother saw that, he told me that the chances of me transferring into AAU is very slim, so he told me to just look for another school. For the past year my plan was to go to City College and then transfer into AAU to get my Bachelors Degree. Is there something we've missed because you're saying that three years is just 45k?

If I have mistaken something, please tell me fast so I can act immediately because school is closing in extremely fast and I have to register for my classes as soon as possible at City College. Because I suddenly lost all hope last night, I was thinking of just fulfilling the GE requirements at City College and graduate, but if I really can afford to go to AAU, let me know and I will follow the AAU's GE requirements instead.

[SenseofTouch]

URGENT

*Bumping Thread*

[SenseofTouch]

bumping thread again...

[SenseofTouch]

Okay guys,

I was confused earlier; I thought that in order to get a Bachelors Degree, you MUST go through with an AA Degree, but I just realized that was not true after talking to a friend, so I was concentrating on getting an AA Degree at first. Now that I understand a bit more, I just want to get my Bachelors Degree at AAU.

But I thought in the beginning that the cost of tuition at AAU was only about $17k per year? I'm a local here at San Francisco, so I do not need housing. Exactly how much does it cost to go to this school per year without having to pay for housing??

EDIT: Wait a minute, does this answer my question?

http://www.academyart.edu/admissions/tuition_rates.html

[SenseofTouch]

Okay, I think I got it now.

I'm going to CCSF first to complete 10 courses in the GE Requirements list for AAU, but I will be doing more than that because there are prerequisites I have to take for some of those 10 courses. This will probably take 1.5-2 years.

After that, I'll transfer into AAU as a sophomore and take 5 more Liberal Arts courses there because AAU requires 15 courses. That means; 10 at CCSF, 5 at AAU. From there I'll begin my major.

The cost of AAU per year without housing or meals is roughly $20,000 I think. While at CCSF, I will find a small part-time job for maybe 2-3 hours a day and save a little money for AAU. Also, if I transfer into AAU with 10 courses, I might be eligible for a free $1000 grant per year at AAU(I think).

So this is what I plan to do now. It's much more clear to me now.

[angy400]

SENSE,
Are you aware that Chico State, San Jose State and I believe Long Beach State all have some kind of animation program? The one in San Jose is quite good too I hear.

[SenseofTouch]

SENSE,
Are you aware that Chico State, San Jose State and I believe Long Beach State all have some kind of animation program? The one in San Jose is quite good too I hear.

But I'm going specifically into 3D modeling-animation

[VBall4Life]

I've been looking into going to San Jose State and there animation program seems really promising. I know they teach traditional animation and 3D.