URGENT - art schools for fine arts?

[silly lily]

hi everyone, i'm currently a senior in HS and preparing to go to art school near to my house. i'm gonna apply to SVA and Tyler to study fine arts and Parsons for possibly fashion. i've been researching on all these schools but most of the reviews and information that i found were outdated. so, i'm hoping that you guys could help me.

Parsons is my 1st choice b/c i originally wanted to study fashion design. but then i started having doubts and now i'm torn between fine arts and fashion design. i know that Parsons' fashion dept. is very strong but what other dept. are good in Parsons?

my 2nd choice is SVA b/c it offers fine arts program and it's at a desirable location for me. but i started questioning myself if SVA is the right school to study fine arts when i found out that SVA is mainly known for commercial art like graphic design and illustration. also i've read some negative reviews on SVA that their foundation year course is bad and that you don't get much experience. so i'd like to know current reviews on SVA, and please, how strong is their fine arts dept?

lastly, i'm not even sure if i wanna apply to Tyler b/c i don't wanna live in PA. (no offense to PA people) i only considered going there b/c the representative from Tyler visited my school and it seemed like a good art school. (their student work were very impressive, brand new facility, etc.) i'm wondering if anyone could tell me more about this school and what it's like to live in Philly, and most importantly, how strong is Tyler's fine arts dept.?

the deadlines are getting closer and i really need to be sure if i'm making the right choice for college ASAP. please, any recommendation/advice will be greatly appreciated! thanks in advance.

[Maxine Schacker]

First, what kind of 'fine arts" are you interested in? If you want traditional representational skills, that limits your short list.

Second, have you visited the schools and seen their year end shows? I always like to see the work of average students. I feel that says more about the program than the work of a few top students who probably would excel wherever they studied. The only work you speak about seeing, is from he Tyler program and you say it was impressive, so why are you questioning Tyler's fine art dept.? For more information, perhaps you can ask for contact with recent grads- or search out an archived thread on this site.

If you really aren't sure which direction you want to go, why not start in the strongest traditional program you can find? if you change your mind, it sounds a if you'll end up with a portfolio that would get you into Parsons.

In many schools the first year doesn't seem to be given enough thought or respect, and yet basic visual arts literacy is critical to your development! If Tyler can offer you this and the other schools can't, in my opinion the decision is self evident. Those skills will be yours to take with you wherever you go after that.