Good programs in Fine Arts? - painting?

[Alisa]

Hiiiii everyone. I am now a High School senior (In Massachusetts) and I have a laundry list of schools.

I guess conceptart isn't the best place to be asking about fine arts programs... but I figured I'd try anyway. I am so clueless at the moment.

I guess you could say I want to learn 'classical' painting techniques. I'm not all that interested in abstract expressionism, pop art, etc... I think I want to learn to paint. What I really like is oil painting.

But I don't want a school that makes you chose your major in your first year. I want to be open to the possibilities of doing something other than fine art such as: Illustration, Motion Graphic design (animation), Video editing/special effects, digital painting. I've been curious about Medical Illustration but it seems like a very long and complicated process in which only a select few are accepted...

Also, a school with some basic business classes would probably be helpful. I was interested in schools where I could cross register at a nearby university so I could continue studying German. but I'm unsure.

I guess what I'm asking is, if anyone has any knowledge of it, what schools have the best Fine Arts programs? ... and it can be out of state or out of the country. I'm kind of ignoring my current financial situation... I figure I'll see what options/schools are really the best, and then figure out if it's plausible with grant/loan/scholarship/etc money...

[Meloncov]

How important is getting a degree? The painting programs at almost all BFA programs are uninterested in clasasical realism. If a degree isn't important to you, you should look at an atelier program. If it is, you should consider majoring in illustration, even if your long term goal is to be a fine artist; you'll get far better training in realistic art.

[Alisa]

How important is getting a degree? The painting programs at almost all BFA programs are uninterested in clasasical realism. If a degree isn't important to you, you should look at an atelier program. If it is, you should consider majoring in illustration, even if your long term goal is to be a fine artist; you'll get far better training in realistic art.

Thanks for the replyyy!
I feel like the degree is important to my parents mostly..... the atelier programs I've looked at all look amazing, I don't know if I'd be proficient enough to enter one of them though.
argg figuring these things out is so confusing because on one hand you want a "college experience" where you're exposed to lots and lots of medias... (a school with everything from photo, to printing, to metalsmithing, to digital works...) but then it's like: but I want to actually learn to paint things with a high technical skill from life... and then there's the whole factor of how people say that they "thought they wanted to go into .....[major here]" until they took that "one class" that made them change their mind and find their love for something else. People say that all the time and it irks me because I think, "I haven't done everything, a lot yet! So there's no way I can be clear that this is what I'm meant to do!"

Blah this is long.
I guess I should stop worrying about these things and just make works.... then figure it out in January, February when most app deadlines are.

I'm interested about your suggestion to major in illustration... I've always thought of it as something where your work is meant to be stylized


ps. i've been looking at the 'Lyme college' website. do you know much about that school?