Kid1 says oil painting was part of required coursework for Illustration major (sophomore year) and says there’s a lot of crossover between the painting and illustration depts at RISD. She knew folks who switched majors from painting to illustration (or vice versa) and it was easy for their credits to transfer. That’s NOT always the case for other majors. There’s also professors who went to RISD as a painting major but teach in the Illustration dept.
RISD has a very modern/contemporary style, but the mediums they use are traditional (ie oil)…she said it’s a toss up foundation year based on what profs you get. Kid1 had experiences in both. Sophomore year it depends on the department. Painting classes in the Illustration dept were more ‘classical training’ - how to use the paint correctly, get the lighting right etc.
Not sure re other schools - for example Parsons is very commercial arts oriented and kid2 hasn’t had ANY oil painting, color mixing experience. I’d first check to see if there even is a painting major / fine arts dept at the other schools you’re looking at.
You might want to start a new thread asking about this, and then folks with other school experiences can chime in.