He is happy to do drawing. But a lot of the schools seem to have a first-year studio art class that involves learning all sorts of mediums. Maybe I’m misunderstanding what the foundational studies are supposed to be.
When you say it’s not a large field… Do you feel like a lot of animation graduates struggle to find work on animation projects? Like would you have told your daughter not to do it now that you’ve seen the market?
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Reopening at OP’s request
As an Art Parent with a kid currently applying for Fall 2026 admission my answer is - we are applying to 10 schools, but it feel like overkill.
My child’s portfolio has already been accepted at one of their top choice schools based on NPD. While that’s not the same thing as actually being admitted, it is almost like being admitted, since portfolio is the most important factor. They did give us suggestions to improve the portfolio and increase the potential for a higher scholarship. This is for a well-known stand-alone art school.
I’d prefer my child attend an art school that is part of a larger university. In most cases University-based art schools don’t seem to publish their admissions rate separately, so even though the university may have a very high or very low admission rate, the art school admission rate may be vastly different. For example, Tufts has an overall admission rate near 10 percent but SMFA admission rate (not for dual degree) is much higher. I was told this directly and unoficially by the Admissions staff. In contrast, VCU has an admission rate overall above 90 percent, but VCU Arts has a much lower admission rate, again per the admission staff and unofficially. So…we are applying to a 2 stand-alone art schools with a high admission rate, 1 with a low admission rate, and 7 art schools within universities where we really don’t know the art school admission rate.
Hi everyone.
I wanted to answer my own question now that we’re on the other side of things.
DS did NOT apply to the super competitive programs (CalArts / UCLA / USD / RISD). He got in everywhere he did apply with scholarships to all the private schools. He applied to a variety of places - CSU Long Beach, CSU Northridge, Emily Carr (in Canada), SVA, Pratt, SAIC, SCAD, RIT, Chapman, Otis, CCA, and LMU (in California) and even got in to SJSU despite not finishing the application :P.
So to answer the question, I would say that you should not worry about how many you apply to, but focus on finding the right places to apply to. Somehow, he ended up applying to schools with very small animation programs when he was looking for a larger cohort to network with. I don’t know how these ended up on the list, but in retrospect, they were never going to be the right option. (That said, it was fun to visit Chapman. It seemed like an awesome place to be for film production/studies, and we got to try out some local restaurants including Urth which is my new favorite coffeehouse to visit down there.)
So if you are reading this and applying to art schools, I wish you the best! Be sure to take advantage of the offers for 1 on 1 portfolio reviews. These were very useful, and the responses you get actually tell you a lot about the program. For example, the RIT reviewer seemed to care more about technical drawing details whereas some of the places like PNCA and SVA really liked the stories and the world behind the characters.
Also, if someone says you need to work more on your portfolio, and that you should wait for the regular deadline, it doesn’t mean you won’t get in Early Action. For example, with RIT, the reviewer had a lot of criticisms, and DS decided to throw the application in anyways and just be done with it, and he still got in. It depends on the school though. SAIC for example, will tell you when your portfolio is “ready” and I suspect that they’ll wait to admit you when they give you that thumbs up.
Which school did he choose? 
He chose SCAD in Savannah which is ironic because it’s the one place you don’t have to submit a portfolio to.
We really liked SVA in NYC, but I had concerns about NYC itself. The program would’ve been about 15-20K more/year if you include the housing and food and there’s no dining halls, and eating out is really expensive (though there are some cheap pizza places). And he was trying to wear a mask around because it smelled (I’m like “you can’t do this for 4 years” and he’s like “Yes I can!”). I also felt like sending him to NYC meant he would be more likely to settle there which seemed like a good way to just throw him under the bus given the high COL. I think SVA is a good choice for people who already live in NYC, because you can save on housing by living at home, eat at home with your family, and later live at home while you’re trying to start your career, but we don’t live in NYC.
What major? Illustration, fine art, animation? What is the ultimate career goal? This is the first step.
I ask because the admission rate to different majors within an art school can vary also. The published admission rate to RCAD is 68% but the admission rate for the animation major is around 10%. (my D attended for CA)
Most art schools are 24/7 art. So unless your kid LOVES art to the exclusion of most everything else then an university program would probably be a better fit.
Next question is what type of art?
The art schools themselves have very different vibes. RISD is very much fine art focus but CA isn’t great. SVA, SAIC are more experimental (discover yourself). RCAD is career focused with CA being the most competitive. SCAD doesn’t require portfolio–you basically develop a portfolio there and then apply to a program after two years.
Definitely look up each art school and peruse the student work for the major. What is most appealing? Look up the professors to see their backgrounds. Are they full time or only adjunct professors? Do companies come to the campus to recruit? Who? Where are alumni employed? Have the school students won awards for their work?
On a personal level–How does your kid react to criticism (or critiques in art lingo)? Are they open to learning? I’ve seen a lot of student work–some is night and day difference for the better and others remained unchanged. The unchanged is the student who just thought their way was “better” and refused to try new things to their detriment. It costs the same either way–just “doing their own thing” would’ve been a lot cheaper than art school tuition.
Do they want a traditional college experience (football isn’t a “thing” in art school..). Art schools are small. And like I said, 24/7 art. It’s not an easy schedule and requires a lot of dedication to succeed. You only get out what you’re willling to put in.
You can usually find the profiles of art faculty at universities also. Look up their backgrounds and specialties. University of Tenn comes to mind–they have a good website. Check the art department majors–many have art history or another major focus but it might not fit your child’s interest. Same as dedicated art schools the university department may have specialties that are highly regarded while others lack. This depends on you to do the research. Don’t be afraid to contact professors directly (they usually have emails listed) for your questions. Look for those with some claim to fame.
Going to suggest a pre-college program if it’s possible. It was invaluable to me–before I sunk a ton of money into tuition I needed to know if art school was truly something my kid wanted. Turned out the answer was yes. But I also learned of other kids who decided that the constant art focus was NOT their thing. My D’s program was 6 weeks and was definitely the college experience.
This is a good idea. We had the same with a 4-week architecture program for C26, where the intro talk included something like “knowing if this is not for you is as valuable as deciding this is what you want”.
Worth the money spent to figure it out sooner than later!
I’ll add that the longer the experience the better. My D had a six week program which was intensive–she could earn college credit for it (if you ultimately enrolled of course!). But it wasn’t just “summer camp” although it was fun with other activities built in. it was studio classes, projects, assignments. Everything that was to come if you signed up. Her art actually exploded over those few weeks and proved to me that art school could make a difference for her.
She wanted computer animation. And loved every second. Other students discovered that the “computer” part wasn’t really their thing. It really is valuable to know what you DON’T want!
Yep, this was also intensive - 9am-5pm in the studio 6 days a week for 4 weeks, and one evening a week went on to 9pm with guest lectures. Both individual and group projects/assignments. You learnt very quickly whether or not you were made for being in studio all day every day.