College Help?

[DDar]

Hey guys, I'm new here.
I came here because you all look really experienced and knowledgeable, so I was hoping you could help me out. =(

I'm applying to college soon, but am really unsure what colleges will give me the experience I need. I want to become a concept artist, both for movies and games and a professional artist (digital painting would be nice), LIKE Bobby Chiu. I was originally thinking about going to SCAD, but Pratt sounds nice too and I have relatives in NY who can support me while I get my bearings. However, Pratt's digital program seems more geared towards programmers and CGI movie-makers than actual digital painters... So I was wondering if anyone could recommend any colleges to me, and specific programs/schools within them that could help me get where I want to be in life. I know it may sound like I'm saying "do my work for me", but I really am desperate. I've looked quite a bit, and no one around me at school can really seem to give me definite advice. (I go to a small school in Mexico. ._.)

So, can anyone help me? =(

Also, if anyone would like to take a look at my work (for whatever reason), it's here:
http://dragonicdarkness.deviantart.com/

(Forgive me using DA, but it's all I really had before today.<.<'')

[curt]

I agree about the not going to SCAD thing. I tried it out for a semester and unless they give you a huge scholarship I wouldn't go anywhere near that shithole of a "city".

[Grief]

try not to post the same thread in multiple areas.

the art school & education section which you originally posted has a great source of material and reference from various members of their education experience.

this thread in particular (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=102315) should be greatly beneficial.

call the schools you are interested in, they love giving you the sales pitch, and do not be shy about asking how strong their departments are. sometimes good schools have weak departments as faculty changes. it sounds like you know enough to what you want to pursue, and thats great, just have the confidence to follow through get in contact with the colleges you mentioned. im not going to phone them for you and say "hey this guy on a forum is interested in blah blah, i cant speak on his behalf so im guessing he's looking for blah blah"

[CUAND0]

You should check out CCA, SFAI, RISD and MCAD. They only accept something like 50 students a year, but look into Cooper Union too. It's free if you're accepted and it has a big foofey reputation for people with money to kiss your ass over. CCA and MCAD are attempting to erase the memories of their involvement with the arts and crafts movement. Their administrations are pretentious, money-grubbing phonies in comparison to their school history, however, there are some awesome teachers that have been around back when times were good. Don't let the strife of bureaucracy get you down, it's not worth it. SFAI is a school more focused on industry work (like concept design) but it can seem like an "artist" farm at times. We call it the evil empire. RISD would be your most balanced choice. East coast school (close to your family) with a very hard working environment very wide range of classes and some amazing teachers.
Good luck, and remember- no matter what anyone tells you, art school is a ripoff, debt/deathtrap that is barley worthwhile. You have to remember that happiness truly is a virtue. :blahblah:

[DDar]

try not to post the same thread in multiple areas.

the art school & education section which you originally posted has a great source of material and reference from various members of their education experience.

this thread in particular (http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=102315) should be greatly beneficial.

call the schools you are interested in, they love giving you the sales pitch, and do not be shy about asking how strong their departments are. sometimes good schools have weak departments as faculty changes. it sounds like you know enough to what you want to pursue, and thats great, just have the confidence to follow through get in contact with the colleges you mentioned. im not going to phone them for you and say "hey this guy on a forum is interested in blah blah, i cant speak on his behalf so im guessing he's looking for blah blah"

Yeah, see, I posted this BEFORE realizing there was an art school board... Soo yeah... I didn't see the delete button anywhere, so... Sorry. ^^''

You should check out CCA, SFAI, RISD and MCAD. They only accept something like 50 students a year, but look into Cooper Union too. It's free if you're accepted and it has a big foofey reputation for people with money to kiss your ass over. CCA and MCAD are attempting to erase the memories of their involvement with the arts and crafts movement. Their administrations are pretentious, money-grubbing phonies in comparison to their school history, however, there are some awesome teachers that have been around back when times were good. Don't let the strife of bureaucracy get you down, it's not worth it. SFAI is a school more focused on industry work (like concept design) but it can seem like an "artist" farm at times. We call it the evil empire. RISD would be your most balanced choice. East coast school (close to your family) with a very hard working environment very wide range of classes and some amazing teachers.
Good luck, and remember- no matter what anyone tells you, art school is a ripoff, debt/deathtrap that is barley worthwhile. You have to remember that happiness truly is a virtue. :blahblah:

But by that logic, wouldn't all colleges ripoffs and debt/death traps? :P

Anyways, thanks alot for those schools! I'm especially liking RSID and its Illustration department (closest thing to preparing you for concept art/digital painting, right?).

I've checked out cooper union before, but to be honest I was rather unimpressed with them. =(
So I sorta axed it from my list... =(

[Mirana]

I agree about the not going to SCAD thing. I tried it out for a semester and unless they give you a huge scholarship I wouldn't go anywhere near that shithole of a "city".

Pfft. Bitter much? New students should really look into the city's different areas before signing up for apartments that are in the ghetto. And then they wonder why they get hassled. Scholarships are also not that hard to get (the academic ones alone are a complete cake-walk if you just study a bit before your SAT/ACT and retake as needed).

The city is fantastic. Not a huge, expensive real city, and not a tiny town with no stimulus either. Middle of the road from which kids from rural and urban can feel somewhat comfortable before they springboard into whatever artistic centers they want to. Oh, and then there's the Atlanta branch if you're really hard-up for the full city experience.

[Mirana]

SCAD offers a few majors that have concept art within them, such as Animation, Sequential Art and Game Design. They also just started offering a concept art minor (which I've heard is mostly made up of the awesome Seqa concept courses and some Animation ones). It depends on what focus you'd like to have (though I can vouch for Seqa giving a great workload, emphasis on storytelling, freedom of medium in the higher levels and exploration of many concept art staples).

You should be aware that "Digital" programs are most likely always geared to 3D work. The schools figure that's big business (a la Graphic Design). If you want to be a 2D concept artist, any programs in line with that with probably be chiefly traditional. Digital is just a medium and anything you learn in traditional will carry over in the end.

Looking at your work, you need to inject some fully realized pieces, and definitely some observational stuff. Right now it looks like a lot of personal sketches of similiar content. Take a look at the "accepted portfolios" thread to get an idea of what you should be presenting to these schools.

[Junck]

Having lived in Savannah myself for some time, it's not as bad as people like to think. Sure, there are bad areas, but EVERY city does. Like Mirana said, research the place before making the move. Dorms aren't a bad idea either.

I forget of the name of that big midwest school... Chicago somewhere?

Check out http://www.artschools.com/ Just for a general listing of the different locations and branches. Maybe place some orders for brochures and catalogues or get someone on the phone for some Q & A :P

[Elwell]

moved/merged/cleaned up

[DDar]

Okay, well I've spent some time reading that "Truth about Art School" thread... And I must say, it's quite depressing.

I've been pretty much self-taught for most of my life, and I was hoping Art School would give me the boost I needed, and the essentials I needed to excel... But now I'm not so sure... =(

[Elwell]

It can. It depends on the school, and you.

[rpace]

3-4 years where you're life is entirely about making yourself a better artist isn't something to be too greatly worried about. Choice of school and you attitude and work ethic plays into this significantly, as Elwell says, but the experience itself is largely a positive one.

The best thing you can do is realise that when you visit schools they often have the initial relationship backwards; it's you who are interviewing the school to determine whether they're best for you even though they often present it as if it's always up to them if you're good enough to attend their institution.

All but the most popular arts programs are hungry for students with good portfolios, strong work ethics and friendly personalities.

If you do your research, visit the schools you're interested in, talk to current and graduate students you greatly increase your chances of choosing the right school for you.
Don't make the mistake of falling in love with a particular program while attending either, remain critical (not negative, critical) of course content while studying. Ask "why" a great deal and know that you can take your skills and dollars to another school if your first choice isn't working out in your best interests.

Good luck,

~R

[DDar]

^Well that makes me feel quite a bit better. I was worried I might be worrying about all this for naught. ^^''

Anyways, as far as visiting goes that's probably not going to happen until I'm actually accepted into some schools. =(
My family doesn't really have alot of money, and while I'm sure they'd do their best to put me through any school they really can't afford a plane ticket to the U.S. unless it's absolutely necessary, you know? =(

Anyways, this is my list of colleges I'm going to apply to so far:

SCAD
Pratt
RISD
FIT
SVA
Ringling


All of them, from what I gather, are extremely difficult to get into. =(
So I was wondering if anyone could recommend any that are good, but easier to get into?

It would e nice if they could be in NY, Boston or around the East coast... But I'll go anywhere really if it'll greatly benefit my art. =)

The whole "community college" thing doesn't sound too bad either in a worst case scenario... But I'm a bit apprehensive about that for the moment...

[Mirana]

SCAD is not hard to get into--it's hard to stay in (at least in my major it was, haha). They also are fairly known for being easy to get at least small scholarships for (usually about $10k a yr). You don't need a portfolio for acceptance (though definitely for a scholarship), just the right grades and test scores.

[Elwell]

All of them, from what I gather, are extremely difficult to get into. =(
So I was wondering if anyone could recommend any that are good, but easier to get into?
All of those schools are good (at least in some departments), and none of them are extremely hard to get into. Art schools in general aren't hard to get into, but they are hard to pay for. This is where having a strong portfolio is important, since it can get you scholarships that can cut down the cost considerably.

[jackpot_anjr90]

All of them, from what I gather, are extremely difficult to get into. =(
So I was wondering if anyone could recommend any that are good, but easier to get into?

As Mirana said, SCAD is not hard to get into.
Another easy one to get into is the Academy of Art University. From what I gather though, like SCAD, it's hard to stay in there. Their student drop-out rate is pretty high because they accept so many people, many of whom don't last long. Good school though. It's in San Francisco, California though.

[DDar]

^Like I said, I'll go pretty much anywhere as long as I know I'm gonna improve.

However, I still need a few cheap, but good, safeties... Anybody know of maybe a good community college in New York (community colleges don't have dorms, right? I'd need to stay with my grandparents)?

[Elwell]

FIT is your cheapest option in NY (it's a public school, part of the State University of New York system).

[Noah Bradley]

Just thought I'd put in a good word for going the community college route. A lot of people seem to have a stigma about going to one, but it'll save you a bunch of money, and you'll probably get a pretty much equal education in the liberal arts. Art schools aren't exactly known for great liberal arts courses (except for possibly art history), so you won't be missing much.

And if you don't mind heading north a little bit, there's always RISD up here. ;)

Best of luck.

[smily3t85]

^Well that makes me feel quite a bit better. I was worried I might be worrying about all this for naught. ^^''

Anyways, as far as visiting goes that's probably not going to happen until I'm actually accepted into some schools. =(
My family doesn't really have alot of money, and while I'm sure they'd do their best to put me through any school they really can't afford a plane ticket to the U.S. unless it's absolutely necessary, you know? =(

Anyways, this is my list of colleges I'm going to apply to so far:

SCAD
Pratt
RISD
FIT
SVA
Ringling


All of them, from what I gather, are extremely difficult to get into. =(
So I was wondering if anyone could recommend any that are good, but easier to get into?

It would e nice if they could be in NY, Boston or around the East coast... But I'll go anywhere really if it'll greatly benefit my art. =)

The whole "community college" thing doesn't sound too bad either in a worst case scenario... But I'm a bit apprehensive about that for the moment...

I think you would fit in great with Ringling. Take a look at their student work for illustration and you'll know what I mean. I took a precollege class there and the illustration, sculpture, and design professors are all pretty amazing, helpful, and really cool. They are honest about critiquing and down to earth people. The area is the only reason why Ringling isn't my first choice. But if you can put the ghetto that is right next to the school behind you and chill out at the beach, you'll have no problem there. An acquantaince I know who went to New College just down the street said alot of his Ringling friends got jobs pretty quickly and were well trained technically. And if you live in Mexico, you'll get adapt well to the weather.

[Maxine Schacker]

Take a look at the 4 year diploma program in Concept Art for Animation & Video Games at Max the Mutt in Toronto. I'm the school's director and protocol on this site is that if you are interested and have questions, you should either contact the school directly, or post on the Max the Mutt thread on this forum.

Richard is right in stating that every school is looking for talented, committed students. He's also giving you good advice in suggesting that you speak with current students and recent graduates. This is especially important if you can't visit! We also try to put potential international students
in touch with current students from their country. You might ask the schools you are applying to if this is possible.

Good luck! I hope you find a school that is a good fit for you.

[catb]

The schools you stated aren't hard to get into accept for RISD. If you get well polished enough and show you have observational skills as well as creativity you'll probably get scholarships. Try for MICA because if they think you are applying to RISD they'll up their scholarship :D I had a friend who got a full ride that way by sneakily including their RISD home test pieces in their MICA portfolio.

[MCM]

There are a lot of bitter people out there who went to SCAD eh? I never see any links to their work or anything. It would probably spotlight why they are bitter. I am actually very excited to go to SCAD. I am going to the campus in Atlanta though. 5 million people sounds pretty awesome to me. The Savannah campus sounds like it has a lot of good professors but the Atlanta campus is right next to Cartoon Network, High Museum, plus there are tons of art galleries and opportunities to make yourself known there. I am not to big on having some professor hold my hand anyways. Plus the Atlanta campus just opened up right? So that means they are going to have some new equipment, buildings, new everything... I like that new smell. I am not really big into hype either.. I mean wherever you go it will work out for ya. I just think that being dropped in the middle of total chaos is good sometimes. It promotes creativity and desensitizes some people to harsh critique.