@mrfj18 The community at CalArts is super creative. There’s always something going on around campus and there are amaaaaazing people to collaborate with. I’m sorry my previous post was such a downer, I just think the school sells an idea that is not what they are actually giving to the students. And that is why I am very disappointed with this program (which is not to say that it’s not a good program! It’s just completely different than what I was told I was gonna get) @astute12 @Jkellynh17
That being said, you most definitely can do writing at CalArts. There is a strong MFA Creative Writing program in the School of Critical Studies and most of their teachers also teach the general eduaction classes (or as we call them, critical studies classes). After your first year you can also take graduate-level classes as well as choose a mentor for an independent study (I am writing a full-length play this semester for credit as an independent study).
And for those of you asking, I am doing just fine! I learned how to navigate through the bureaucracy and get what I want, despite the difficulties. Every school has their problems and I feel like we don’t hear about them in depth around CC, just thought it would be important to bring up some of CalArts problems.
And @mfrj18 you sound to me like a good fit for CalArts. I like saying to people that our program works like this: if you only do your requirements, you will get about 20% of what the school has to offer. That’s what most people are going to tell you to do: “just do your requirements, just focus on that”. And that is because a lot of incompetent students from previous years weren’t even able to do even that. CalArts chose lazy people for their program and now the new students (who are very dedicated) are paying the price. But if you break the wall and fight for your rights to study writing and whatever else you want to do, you will get so much more out of it and then it will be worth it.
CalArts is a school originally designed for mature-minded people. None of your teachers are going to say “oh poor thing, you didn’t do your homework”. Most are not even going to care. They hold you accountable for everything you are asked to do and if you don’t do it…they’ll probably never want to work with you again. That’s why we don’t have grades and they really don’t matter. What matters the most is your professional preparedness and attitude.
If nothing else, you know the training you’re getting is good. Most of our 2015 graduates are working and/or have agents and/or have joined theater companies. Most of our teachers are brilliant. The problem is that most of the administrators are also artists, and artists are not usually good at handling business stuff.