My Animation schools...LCAD?

[meowmeow22]

Hi I am a senior in high school and I am going to apply to schools for animation.

CalArts is my top choice, but thats a long shot as far as skills, and it is really expensive.

SCAD - I would need something like $15k+ in scholarship a year to convince my parents to go. Does anyone know what this would translate to in GPA + portfolio?

San Jose State is next. From my research, this seems like one of the best non-private (non-expensive) animation schools. I live in CA, so its cheap enough for me.

Until recently, I thought these would be my only 3 schools. But I heard something about Laguna College of art and design. How would you compare this with the other schools? Do they give out as many scholarships as SCAD?

Thanks for the help

[meowmeow22]

Also I forgot to mention, if you know of any good animation schools, to please put those down. Especially public and/or cheaper schools.

[lokkita]

hey there, I'm currently a freshman at LCAD, going to major in animation. I LOVE it here, it seems like the perfect fit! I'm still just in my foundations year, so I can't tell you how the animation classes are yet.

It seems like they give a lot of scholarships, I have yet to meet a freshman that hasn't gotten one. Definitely give Laguna a shot :)

[Meloncov]

I don't hear about Laguna in the context of animation much. I've heard good things about their illustration and entertainment design programs, but not ani. That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad, but it's not a good sign.

You should look at CCA. Great, if very new and small, program. Tuition is high, but getting 10-15k+ in scholarships is relatively easy.

There is also Ringling. It's a very good program, but it's expensive and it's very hard to get any substantial amount of financial aid.

[meowmeow22]

hey there, I'm currently a freshman at LCAD, going to major in animation. I LOVE it here, it seems like the perfect fit! I'm still just in my foundations year, so I can't tell you how the animation classes are yet.

It seems like they give a lot of scholarships, I have yet to meet a freshman that hasn't gotten one. Definitely give Laguna a shot :)

Thanks for the help. How much of a scholarship is common? Do grades factor in to getting a scholarship? Could I get 10-15 k?
And is it hard to get in?

I don't hear about Laguna in the context of animation much. I've heard good things about their illustration and entertainment design programs, but not ani. That doesn't necessarily mean it's bad, but it's not a good sign.

You should look at CCA. Great, if very new and small, program. Tuition is high, but getting 10-15k+ in scholarships is relatively easy.

There is also Ringling. It's a very good program, but it's expensive and it's very hard to get any substantial amount of financial aid.

I've never looked at CCA, I'll look into it. Thanks!
And as for Ringling.. it would be ideal, but for the reasons you said, it is out of the picture. :(

[Kismet]

Well, you're VERY concerned about price, correct? LCAD and San Jose really do sound like your best bets. CalArts is very hard to get into regardless of price (you have to draw like a god) and... well, honestly, I don't find SCAD that expensive. I think it's average (you could even cal it cheap if you live off-campus, it's the dorms/meal plan that tends to make SCAD a lil pricey). But they DO give out scholarships like a mofo. Just apply early as hell.

But I really used to want to go to San Jose. It's a GREAT college town, loads of things to do, and the price is great. If you don't like it, or don't feel you're getting the right amount of artistic experience, you could always stay there for 2 years then transfer elsewhere (either that or just go there to get all your liberal arts out of the way, then transfer to LCAD maybe).

[xeus20]

I would recommend you to join Digital Academy.They have courses designed for animation.They have good infrastructure and faculty.In addition there fees are affordable too. Visit www.dafilmschool.com for more information.

[kariisbored]

meowmeow22 brought up a good point.

Although I want to major in Game Art/Illustration and not Animation, I too want to know if LCAD offers at least $15,000 scholarship.

I'm currently a third year in college if that affects anything.

[JesArt]

Iam really looking at LCAD too, I really want to go to Ringling, but its so expensive, my friend Kate goes to the school and says, "Hey man! I'm doing very well, how have you been? I would recommend Laguna to everyone. I am very pleased with the education i am getting there. Be warned though, it is expensive and the cost of living is high. However, the financial guy ( micheal pearlman) is really helpful. also, the school is really though. Studio classes are usually 6 hours long, and I believe that they have all majors take foundation courses. They want everyone to be well rounded, but if you've seen any student portfolios, it really shows. But at any rate, going to Laguna has definitely been the right choice for me and I love it. I'm also not too worried about finding a job when I graduate :) and also
"You can definitely do a hybrid :) Living in Laguna Beach is expensive, but the school has some housing resources; they set me up with my first roommate and it turned out to be a great match. You should definitely visit any school before deciding to attend. But I love it here, I feel it's worth the cost :)

So Iam really thinking about applying to the school. I trust her, but I still need to visit before I make my decision.

[kariisbored]

Thanks for that JesArt :)!
Your friend's reply really help to my decision! =D
I also have a friend who took only one class there at LCAD [as a trial thing] and she really recommends it, too! One class starts for me, I'm going to visit Laguna with her and I hope I will like what I see. :)

[JesArt]

Iam going to visit it also, even though I live in Texas, I will probadly go up there around Spring Break.

[hijaktaffairs]

Hello,

My name is Christian and I am an admissions counselor at LCAD. I thought I'd just add my two cents, first by stating the differences between a school like SCAD vs. LCAD. SCAD is significantly larger with almost 10,000 students. LCAD is far smaller with just under 400 students. SCAD's tuition runs at almost $30,000 per full-time year. LCAD is $22,600. For us to give out 15,000 would be about a 2/3rds your tuition cost. I wouldn't count on this. We do offer merit based scholarships though, and these are calculated based on your academic history, your GPA and your portfolio. Those students who work directly with a counselor (such as myself) usually get a little more.

I also wanted to state that LCAD offers majors in Fine Art: Drawing and Painting, Graphic Design, Illustration, Feature Animation and Game Art. Illustration majors may Hybrid with any other major besides Game Art. LCAD takes strong drawing and painting foundation skills very seriously. As a student majoring in any entertainment art program you are expected to take life-drawing classes throughout your 4 years here. The animation program was founded by Chuck Jones. There is a focus on 2D animation before moving into 3D. In addition to technical skills, there's a huge emphasis on storytelling. For your senior project you are expected to work on several animated features from the initial concept stages, to the final post production work.

We also offer a very strong Game-Art program. We have access to many major game companies, and most of our instructors in the program work for these companies. Blizzard is located in our back yard (Irvine) and is present on the board of advisers as are other major game companies. A very unique component to the Game Major is its focus on team work through hands-on real experience through the actual creation of a playable game mod. Our students work with game programming students from UCI to create this playable game.

LCAD can provide you the skill sets, the right kind of experience, exposure to major game companies and their employees, a small intimate learning environment, and at much less the cost.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. I always encourage students to take a tour of our campus and learn more about what our program can offer you. Each school is different and we each have our strengths and weaknesses. It's important you find the right place for you.

I will be starting another Official LCAD thread.

[JesArt]

Thank Christian, I was wondering about the 10,300 tuition, it sounded a little to good to be true, but the tuition above is still alot better than going to SCAD or Ringling, I was planning on going to Ringling last year, I gotten accepted and got a small scholarship, but I would had still pay almost 38,000 dollars a year, I didnt have credit and the rest of my family didnt really have any good credit to apply for me any loans, I tried for almost 4 months to get a loan. So Iam trying to apply for a credit card to build up some credit, so that if I have to apply for loans I will be set. I will be calling tommorow to get tips on preventing disaster this time around.