<p>How is life at an Art/Design College different from a traditional university? I’m a sophomore in high school and am weighing my options for college. I’m very interested in going to Savannah College of Art and Design, but would like to know how different it would be from a traditional university like UK</p>
<p>The University programs provide a student a wide liberal education by its requirements of math, English, language, and arts. It is over all a broader education than an art school. An art and design school offers a narrow division of only the arts. Your requirements are based in trying many different art classes. You will be required to take some liberal arts classes, but the focus is mainly on the art and design portion. Each art school is different in the requirements of the students and the number of class offering. Be aware of this as you choose a school. I think the better art schools require and want the student to be well read and have a broad range of education experiences. Unfortunately, many universities make the fine arts the stepchild of a university program. They don’t keep up the buildings; they don’t give the students studio space except in the senior year and the funding goes to the other departments. Also, be aware that many program don’t require a portfolio to get in the freshman and sophomore year, but you may be required to apply at the end of these years to remain in the program. So one may work in the program for 1 or 2 years and then not make the cut. Just something to think about. Do some searches on this site. You will see more information. Just do your homework.</p>
<p>Another major difference is that ALL of the students in an art/design school will be focused on art. (My son, who attends RISD, chose to go to an art school so he would be with “his kind of people” – funky, creative types who understood his passion, the kids who were often viewed as “odd” in high school.) At major universities, the art/design students are a small minority (which does tend to make them bond together), but there you will have the opportunity to meet a diverse group of people with majors in engineering, social sciences, business, etc.</p>
<p>Also, extracurricular activities will be more limited at an art school. Universities have a much broader array of sports, performing arts, and clubs in which to participate.</p>
<p>Some schools provide the best of both worlds. [url=<a href=“http://www.daap.uc.edu/]DAAP[/url”>http://www.daap.uc.edu/]DAAP[/url</a>], for example, provides highly-rated training in a number of art-related disciplines within a University in the Big East conference (very competitive basketball and football programs) along with access to a lot of academic diversity.</p>
<p>stitchintime, you beat me to the punch. I will make some generalizations,which are always dangerous to do here.</p>
<p>Art schools, with some exceptions such as RISD, MICA etc… tend to be VERY art focused. They do provide liberal arts courses and requirements because some accreditation ( namely NASAD) require them. However, in a number of cases, the liberal arts courses are very watered down.</p>
<p>In a university setting, there usually is no watering down of liberal arts courses since that is their “bread and butter.”</p>
<p>It has been said that art students tend to be a very small minority in a university setting. Perhaps this is somewhat true,but it is misleading. School like DAAP ( Design, Art, Architecture and Planning,which is part of the University of Cincinnati) might have more art and design student than found in most stand alone art schools.! DAAP for example has 453 graduate students and 2,037 undergrads for a total of about 2,500 kids. See [Report</a> Page, Office of Institutional Research, University of Cincinnati](<a href=“http://www.uc.edu/institutionalresearch/report.htm]Report”>http://www.uc.edu/institutionalresearch/report.htm)</p>
<p>Universities tend to have a few more liberal arts requirements than found in stand alone art schools,but this does vary from school to school.</p>
<p>Universities do usually have much better facilities such as computers, gyms, pools, tennis courts, eating facilities etc.</p>
<p>You can get a LOT of interdisciplinary work at major universities among departments. For example, it wouldn’t be unusual for industrial design students or digital design students to work with the anthropology or criminal science departments doing modeling. This is NOT usually found in stand alone art schools unless they have a very strong relationship with a university.</p>
<p>Generally, stand alone art schools offer more courses in majors and usually offer a lot more majors related to art and design. Again, this can be misleading since some major universities have a lot of offerings. Temple University, for example, just merged with Tyler School of Art several years ago.</p>
<p>Universities tend to have much higher endowments than found in stand alone art schools ,which tend to have very small endowments. Thus, facility maintenance tends to be better at universities. Check out my post regarding Pratt Institute found at the top of the Pratt forum and in the College Visit forum.</p>
<p>Universities, especially big ones, tend to have much strong school spirit and much better sports teams and more sporting facilities than that found at stand alone art schools. </p>
<p>In terms of rankings , most stand alone art schools tend to stand out among the top ranked programs for art and design. However, this isn’t always the case ,and some universities are very highly ranked for some art and design disciplines. Check out Yale, UCLA, University of Cincinnati, CMU, and many others. While RISD and MICA,Calarts, Parsons,Art Center,Pratt institute, tend to be highly ranked art and design schools, not many other art schools tend to stand out as much. I am sure I will get the SCAD folks chiming in here too.</p>
<p>Bottom line: you really need to check out each school of interest. You also need to check out the school’s graduation requirements, facilities, and liberal arts emphasis.</p>
<p>My two cents.</p>
<p>I honestly think if you have the opportunity to attend a traditional university with an extremely good art/design department, attend there, because I think most 18 year olds, or teens may think that art/design is what they want, no matter how much passionate they are about it. the problem that i wasn’t aware of until i was in my junior year, is that i was miserable and didn’t find fulfillment at art school. i don’t think it was a means of the school where i was at, it was a means of never having been exposed to anything else in life. I feel, and can understand why schools like Art Center, would prefer someone who has had an education before they come to art school. I feel art school should honestly be treated as a grad school. First get your education in something like a humanity and then apply to art school. Art school is extremely focused/specialized that if you ever find yourself having an interest outside of art, whether it may be gender studies, psychology, or even marketing, you won’t have the chance to explore those options unless you attend a traditional university.</p>
<p>PS why if you’re in Europe, would you want to attend art school in the US? I feel like there are better/cheaper alternatives in Europe than the fortune and a leg that you would have to pay just to attend art school in the US.</p>