Mica

[kitehiGh]

Anyone go there? Or know about their illustration department?

I've heard from several different art teachers that it is supposed to be very good for illustration and I'm just short of falling in love with the whole idea from looking at the website.

They seem to give WAY more scholarships then any other school I've looked at. And their student art work is far better then what I've seen at other schools (in illustration).

[Meloncov]

I have a number of friends their, and attended pre-college their, so I may be able to answer your questions.

Their illustration program is pretty prestigious, but tends to push you towards stylization rather than the realism more common in concept art. I've heard people complain they do not spend long enough on drawing fundamentals.

[Maxine Schacker]

There: Referring to a place: I went to school there.
Their: Possessive (It's their idea.)
They're: Contraction of "they are."

I hope this helps.

[emifinan]

MICA is my top choice!!

I'm applying as a transfer for their combined BFA/MAT program, with a studio major of illustration.

It is definitely a top illustration school, although illustration departments can vary (for example, Pratt's illustration is more digital/design/experimental based rather than representational based with traditional media.)

If you like the student work, that's great, next step would be talking to some students.

Their program is very interdisciplinary meaning you don't have to stick to a specific curriculum. That's a major plus to me.

But in terms of concept art and what most people do on *this* website MICA is pretty different. But I'm not interested in concept art/digital art, I only hang out here for the info on art schools haha.

[kitehiGh]

There: Referring to a place: I went to school there.
Their: Possessive (It's their idea.)
They're: Contraction of "they are."

I hope this helps.

"their illustration department"--The illustration department belongs to them
"their student art"-- The art work belonging to the students

EDIT: ahhhh, you weren't making referance to me. ops. I was terribly confused because I reread it a bunch of times after reading that to be sure and I couldn't find any thing wrong.

MICA is my top choice!!

I'm applying as a transfer for their combined BFA/MAT program, with a studio major of illustration.

It is definitely a top illustration school, although illustration departments can vary (for example, Pratt's illustration is more digital/design/experimental based rather than representational based with traditional media.)

If you like the student work, that's great, next step would be talking to some students.

Their program is very interdisciplinary meaning you don't have to stick to a specific curriculum. That's a major plus to me.

But in terms of concept art and what most people do on *this* website MICA is pretty different. But I'm not interested in concept art/digital art, I only hang out here for the info on art schools haha.

Yeah, I think I might end up doing a 5th year there for a MAT as well. Sounds like a grand plan.

I am not interested in concept or digital either. I like more traditional work.

I am definitely going to apply.

I feel like their program offers just the right ammount of structure and freedom simultaniously. Makes me happpy. It ties together all the things I want to learn.

Major: Illustration
Minor: perhaps creative writing
Concentration: Book Arts

[emifinan]

awesome! hopefully I'll see you there :D


Are you a freshman or transfer applicant?


I just got accepted to SAIC (not hard to get into, just hard to stay in lol) so if I don't end up at MICA I'll probably go there, although Otis has been tempting me with the idea of a huge scholarship.

[amoolie]

Ew @ the last post.

EDIT: I said "ew @ the last post" because there used to be a post full of advertising smut...but it's gone now. So yeah :) .

I'm looking into MICA, too. The student work looked really strong, but I've heard terrible things about the safety of the area. I've also seen some accepted portfolios that looked less than stellar. I've come across a few anime doodles and pretty-pony-esque drawings.

They offer a lot of scholarship opportunities and the illustration work I saw in their catalog was amazing, though. However, it IS a catalog...

I wonder if anybody here has first hand information on MICA?

[Jasper_]

I was just up at MICA for a visit and I liked what I saw. The city around the campus area seemed very clean and safe, however I'm not to sure about the area where I stayed in a hotel. I had my portfolio reviewed at the time, where I had some quick figure drawings (to show gestural observation skills i guess) and most of my best finished digital work (mostly self portraits). I was told that i should forget about the figures and put in more finished digital stuff if I wanted to be more competetive for scholarships, but what I had was enough to be accepted. She said that a full portfolio of just digital work would be completely acceptable.

So i hoped that helped someone, I may post the portfolio I showed them in the "Accepted Portfolios" thread.

The student work that I saw looked pretty good, however there were some pieces that were similar in quality to artwork I've seen at state schools. Most of these were freshman works, but there were still some stellar peices. Best work was obviously done by seniors, and included on their introductory slideshow. I think the main reason I may be considering them is the availability of internships at BigHuge Games and Firaxis.

[WickedEdges]

Wow, it's spam-a-licious in here...

[Meloncov]

I was just up at MICA for a visit and I liked what I saw. The city around the campus area seemed very clean and safe, however I'm not to sure about the area where I stayed in a hotel.

I wouldn't overestimate how safe the MICA campus is. While MICA itself is in a nice part of town, it's surrounded on three sides by decidedly not nice parts of town, which contain people who realize that MICA's district is filled with naive and often wealthy students.