I’m just a concerned father hoping to steer his daughter in the right direction. We live in Ohio, and she is a high school senior who is artistically-inclined, and wants to major in a related field that has a reasonable probability of gainful employment. She is not exactly sure of major, but has mentioned graphic design and visual effects as possibilities. I think she wants to attend a school with a variety of options, and choose after a year or two of exposure to different possibilities.
She has an ACT composite of 26, and a portfolio. She has not studied art intensively, although she has been told by her teachers that she has aptitude in that area, so my hunch is that the portfolio is decent but not exceptional or outstanding; I myself am a lawyer who is utterly bereft of the ability to judge.
She has had a campus visit at SCAD, and has determined that it is her dream school, but given the cost, it will really be an option only if she were to receive a generous merit scholarship. (Financially, our family is in the “no-man’s-land,” qualifying for little to no need-based aid, but not able to actually pay the cost of college.)
She has also had a campus visit at the University of Cincinnati DAAP. She liked SCAD better, but if she were to be admitted, the in-state tuition and co-op program would make it an attractive option.
Given that she may not gain admission to either of these, and my not receive an adequate financial aid offer at SCAD, what alternatives should we consider? What private (or public out-of-state) colleges are likely back-ups to SCAD? If limited to Ohio public universities, what is the obvious second-choice to DAAP? (My county in Ohio has tuition reciprocity with Eastern Michigan University and Ball State University, so those count as in-state for us.)
I GREATLY appreciate any help you all can offer. My wife and I are simply clueless about this. Thanks in advance.
I can’t recommend specific schools for graphic design, and it seems like National Portfolio Days have passed in locations near to you. But here’s a list of colleges that do participate in National Portfolio Days. It may be worth making an appointment with a school near you for a portfolio review: http://www.portfolioday.net/colleges.
Many schools on this list give merit aid, so you may not want to rule them out based on list price. In our own experience, my D received really great merit aid at SAIC (where she is now), Pratt, and Drexel.
SCAD has two kinds of merit aid for incoming freshmen: Academic scholarships, and achievement (portfolio and/or resume based) scholarships. SCAD admits solely based on stats - no portfolio, essay or rec. letter required. The fee is very reasonable so she should go ahead and apply. We found the decision turnaround to be very quick and I know they are handing out academic merit aid now because D2 was informed of hers yesterday.
One very good private school that is quite affordable (compared to other colleges of art and design) and has pretty generous merit aid is MCAD in Minneapolis. Here is their net price calculator: http://mcad.edu/admissions/net-price-calculator
I would definitely recommend taking a good look at MCAD for anyone wanting to do GD or animation-related work (such as visual effects). If she applies before the December 1st Early Action (non-binding) deadline she would be eligible for their laptop scholarship (both SAIC and MCAD require the purchase of a Macbook Pro for all incoming students). MCAD is small but a great campus community and the kids get a LOT of personal attention. It’s located in a very nice part of Minneapolis and the city itself has ample public transportation and all sorts of interesting things to see and do once you venture out of the immediate area. Safer than Savannah, too, if that’s an issue for you. The school is located right by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and the Children’s Theatre Co., just a mile south of the downtown area. Search CC for the MCAD thread and you’ll find good info. on it. MCAD was high on my D1’s list but as we live in Minneapolis she wanted to go out of state and is currently at Pratt for communication design.
@GrnMtnMom is correct many of the “expensive” four year art colleges will give merit aid so don’t rule them out. Plus they are four-year programs. DAAP is exceptional due to the co-op but the reality is that many public institutions don’t graduate their students in under five years anyway and that fact has to be accounted for in budgeting for college.
And then, @BasicOhioParent , in case you were not aware, there are two AICAD* schools in Ohio: Columbus College of Art and Design, and Art Academy of Cincinnati. I know nothing about these institutes but they are probably worth checking out as they are in OH. Also, don’t forget about state grant opportunities. In MN we didn’t qualify because those are strictly need-based but there might be other opportunities in your state.
*Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design.
Hi there @BasicOhioParent,
I am a current SCAD Student finishing up my third year as a senior in Photography. I saw your post and had to respond because my family and I were in your exact same situation a few years ago and we found a couple of things helpful.
First off, SCAD is my dream school too I see why your daughter loves it and the foundations program it has sounds like exactly what she is looking for to try and find the exact area she is interested in pursuing as a full career. SCAD is unlike any other school for design and they gear it towards getting jobs, so that Dad she will actually come out of school with a degree that can get her employed in a well paying job. I have three or four good friends that received multiple competitive offers before they even graduated.
However, I know that still doesn’t help cost up front which is exactly where my family was coming from too. So here is what we did to help as much as we could. First off we went to portfolio reviews to help improve my portfolio because that can significantly help with getting the artistic scholarship. We also were told that the more competitive I look to SCAD the higher my scholarships would be so I applied to similar art schools (Maryland Institute College of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Parsons New School for Design and Pratt as well as a few state schools with good art programs which for me in Virginia were Virginia Commonwealth University and Hollins University.) That seems like a lot up front but every time I got an acceptance letter and more importantly a scholarship letter from any other school we sent it straight to SCAD and they would raise my scholarship to stay competitive. We basically doubled/tripled my scholarship that way with something called the Student Incentive Scholarship.
Even then SCAD was still not our cheapest option but out of the schools I applied (7 if I counted right) it was the second cheapest after one of the state schools so we chose to go here. I also am working through school at SCAD’s newspaper and there are plenty of opportunities for students to work either through the school or around Savannah. I also came in with quite a few AP credits so found it easier to graduate in 3 years by taking a few extra classes and save a year of living expenses. Honestly, any college is going to be expensive but if your daughter really wants to come and is willing to put in the effort it is, so worth it. There are employers that exclusively higher SCAD students (case in point the summer job I got through SCAD making over $4,000 a summer) and opportunities that other college just can’t offer. I would consider really looking into SCAD and if it doesn’t work there are always opportunities to transfer with credits and save a bit.
If there is anything I can do to help though I love talking to prospective students because I just genuinely love SCAD and being a part of it so if you or your daughter want to talk my email is editor@scaddistrict.com.
I have a S who is a junior Painting major at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. It is located in a vibrant area of down town Cincinnati called Over the Rhine (from its German heritage), which is rapidly becoming the hippest of hip urban neighborhoods. The tuition is a bargain compared to some other private art schools and they have generous talent/merit aid. Students can major in many different aspects of Art and can tweak almost any major to meet their own interests. Students can also seek out internships with many local Arts organizations as well as with large companies - like Proctor and Gamble - which are headquartered in Cincinnati. Students can also participate in semesters in NYC. Definitely worth checking out.
Thanks to all of you for these responses. I have thoughts about several of the schools mentioned.
SAIC: D’s art teacher recommended she look at this, but we don’t know much about it yet.
OSU: It appears that one is admitted to pre-Graphic Design, with no guarantee that one will be permitted to continue on to a degree in that major. I find that to be rather off-putting.
MCAD: A very helpful suggestion; we hadn’t even heard of that school, but will definitely check it out.
CCAD: That was another one on D’s art teacher’s short list, and we have been planning to visit. My cousin graduated from there about 8-10 years ago, and he had trouble getting a job afterwards. However, that might have been a function of his major (photography), rather than any deficiency of the institution’s prowess in job placement. He doesn’t recommend it, though.
AAC: My D attended a summer portfolio prep program there, and had a positive experience, but she feels that it is just too small (tiny, just 201 undergraduates).
SCAD: The buzz on this place is just 100% positive. I know that RISD is supposed to be “the best,” but I hear and read a lot more positive feedback about SCAD.
I don’t mean to foreclose further responses; I love to hear more from anyone who has anything more to add!
Looks like you’ve got a lot of great suggestions! One thing to add… my D also was accepted at RISD, but RISD does not give merit aid. They do give need-based aid if you qualify.
I would definitely recommend visiting some of the schools your daughter is interested in, either before or after acceptance. They are all fairly different in size, setting, and culture.
ok. My daughter attended University of Cincinnati as a digital design major, which is the predecessor to their communication design. At UC, you can major in Communication Design,which is primarily graphic design,but have several concentration options that you may not have elsewhere:
Pure graphic design or
Interactive: which is more akin to web design with graphic design in motion and some animation
Some combination of the above plus some animation courses
They don’t offer animation per se; however, you can take them at various UC campuses plus at other nearby schools.
The internship, however, is quite sterling. She can make some very good connections. Many of the kids that graduate and do well get in with great companies such as Microsoft, Google etc.
If money is an issue, you can’t go wrong with UC. However, if she wants animation, she would need further training after she graduates.
Another alternative would be RIT,which has graphic design, new media design ( which is akin to interactive design), 2d animation and 3d animation. Thus,she would have options to switch majors if she wishes.RIT is also known for giving decent scholarships.
Pratt institute has several concentrations in graphic design too and offers animation.
The same can be said for SCAD, School of Visual Arts and many others.
Def look into New Media Design @ RIT. It’s a program that combines technology with design. Students learn development to programming in Java and C#, and then take what they know about development and apply it into their designs. Student end up as User Experience Designers or Interaction Designers. It is a career oriented major that have hot in the tech industry right now.
Heres a look at student portfolios and what they do:
My daughter goes to SCAD and I just kept asking them for more aid until we could afford it. She moved off campus Sophomore year and it became even more affordable.
My son received a generous merit scholarship from University of the Arts in Philly - he has ok grades and test scores, (3.0 GPA and 24 ACT) and a decent portfolio. They offered him $19,000. May be worth checking out
My son graduated from Ohio University (Media Arts) and is a very successful vfx artist. Samples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47dtFZ8CFo8 (won the 2013 MTV VMA award for Vest Visual Effects and was nominated for a 2014 Grammy for Best Music Video) and https://vimeo.com/123982157 (Some of “his scenes” in some movies you may know). Just sayin’
But, to be fair, he was a computer whiz and was extremely self-driven. For example, when OU did not offer a course in one of the premier vfx programs, he convinced the school to send him to take a course that was being offered (through an outside group) at Stanford.
OU gave him the “film-school environment” to learn, but the vfx education was pretty much self-taught.
The key, as I’ve said many times, is to work on as many student films as possible and gain experience that way.
My son is a freshman at MCAD and loved his first semester! All students are required to do a foundation year in which they experience all art areas. He attended a residential arts high school, so had a good deal of experience, but has still found the classes to be engaging and challenging. It is a very small school which he likes. And he absolutely loves being right next door to MIA…he goes there at least once a week to sketch and just enjoy the exhibits!
My son is a soph graphic design major at Tyler (Temple Univ.) in Philadelphia. He loves it. He had ok grades in high school & 26 ACT so he did qualify for some merit aid from the university. We are also in that middle - too much income to qualify for need-based aid but not enough to pay full freight. He also got a scholarship from the art school for his portfolio. I should add that we live in MA and he is not the only out-of-state student there. He was also offered $$ from U of Arts (Philly) & VCU in Richmond.
