Looking for potential schools

[Noah Bradley]

I'll be transfering to a 4-year school in Fall 07 and plan to go in as an Illustration major. I had originally planned to go into Graphic Design, but have since learned that I really, really love to draw/paint and don't think I'd be doing enough of what I love in Graphic Design. So, an Illustration degree sounds right for me. Art with a focus in communicating. Pretty cool. :) (friendly advice there is appreciated). But now I've got to figure out what school I want to go to...

I live in central Virginia, but fully expect to move far away if the school is worth it. I'm already planning to apply to RISD as it seems to be high-caliber and a good experience for me.

Any other school reccomendations? Or other advice in general?

[rblitz7]

Theres Otis College of Art and Design in LA which has a really nice illustration department, theres Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, and Academy of Art in San Francisco. From what I hear they all seem to be pretty good at illustration. This guy graduated from AAU in illustration
http://www.jasonchanart.com/

[Storyboard Dave]

I've done this often but I'd suggest checking out the schools at this site...

http://www.aicad.org/

RISD's just one of them there. My suggestion is to get as much info as possible, go visit the campuses, see what's on the walls, see what the students are doing (you should be impressed- if not, move on), ask questions about where they're recent graduates are working (not the percentage), scope out the housing situation, parking, shopping, see about technology (accessibility to it as well), and ask as many questions as you need to. You need to know as much as possible.

More than likely it's going to come down to making a gut call as to what suits you right and where you think you're going to feel as though you can thrive for the next few years.

Good luck.

[ConCrete]

If you love it and you push yourself reall hard, thats what really will help you in college...I mean the school matters, as do the teachers and your fellow students, but you make your own progress...

Oh and ask to sit through a class...a mid level illustration class...if the atmosphere is good then you know atleast that teacher is decent, but more importantly the student body is driven....

[Storyboard Dave]

If you love it and you push yourself reall hard, thats what really will help you in college...I mean the school matters, as do the teachers and your fellow students, but you make your own progress...

Oh and ask to sit through a class...a mid level illustration class...if the atmosphere is good then you know atleast that teacher is decent, but more importantly the student body is driven....

I always open up my classes for prospective students. I even encourage visitors to sit in and participate if we're drawing that day. There's nothing like actually spending a few hours in a class to get the taste for what is going to be expected of you in a few years.

But be forewarned if you sit in on an upperclassmen class- some of the concepts and terms they float around might be a bit above you because you're just dropping in there mid-conversation. I'd highly recommend sitting in as well.