Hi, so, after posting on this forum a week ago with what I thought were the last of my acceptances, I got into Cornell for art, which was entirely unexpected. Initially, my parents and I figured I would go there, since I’m getting pretty good aid and name recognition and all that. Now, though, we’re having some second thoughts. I’m having trouble finding information on Cornell’s art program online, but from what I’m seeing, it’s very much focused on gallery/conceptual work, and that there’s not much for someone looking to go into commercial art. I’m currently weighing it against Boston University (Graphic Design), Parsons (Illustration), and CalPoly SLO (Graphic Design). I really want to go into illustration after college, and I’ve heard that BU and SLO’s GD programs don’t offer many courses in that vein either, but my parents are saying that they’re worth looking into, since illustration’s sort of a more unstable career path than UI/UX design or branding. Any advice, or even just more info on Cornell’s art program?
I have a relative who always wanted a career as a commercial artist, but who attended an Ivy+ school as a recruited athlete instead. Because of their sports schedule, they couldn’t even take more than a couple of art classes (and this school doesn’t have strong art in the first place) and so majored in a random humanities field instead. After graduation, they did about 3 semesters of classes at the art college in the town where they were living, and moved into commercial art. They are now a successful commercial artist/art director, and are glad they attended the Ivy+ despite not being able to study what they wanted at the time, because the Ivy+ name has opened doors for them in their career (looks impressive on a resume + alumni network) plus all the papers they wrote for their humanities major helped their communications skills which has also furthered their career.
On the other hand, I have a different relative who also always wanted to work in a commercial art field (a slightly different one than relative #1) and who went to art school right from the start. Attended an art school that isn’t a big name (due to financial reasons) but worked his butt off. In particular, worked his butt off in entry level jobs related to his eventual career goals while simultaneously going to school. He has been very successful in his career (even more so than relative #1) but I would say he is more devoted to his career and works harder.
As an aside, both of them met their (wonderful) spouses in college, and both are happily married, with some nice kids and nice lives.
tl;dr–you probably can’t go wrong either way
Have you visited any of these schools? We visited Cornell with D24, who was interested in doing a BA/BS and BFA dual degree program (which Cornell offers). Ideally, she would like to focus on animation / motion design. She was completely underwhelmed by Cornell’s art program. We participated in an AAP info session, and the art program felt very much like an after thought, compared to architecture. There are not many art students, there isn’t much flexibility in course selection, and as you said, the focus was on gallery/conceptual art, not commercial art. D24 was so disinterested that we left without taking the regular Cornell tour, and she crossed Cornell off her list.
Parsons has the best rep for art of the ones you listed.
If you want illustration and you have “heard” some don’t offer as many classes - why not find out for yourself.
Look at course schedules. Many schools offer classes in a catalogue but not in reality - and “I heard” isn’t a substitute for doing the research to see.
You might ask to speak out to a professor at each school - to get further info on your interests.
And finally - is there a cost issue because you don’t want to choose any school you cannot afford.
Good luck.