<p>I was visiting with my daughter’s tutor who showed me some work from two pre-college programs. One was from RISD, and the other was from the Corcoran. Both kids had a number of pieces, but all pieces were very unfinished. These programs seem to give a lot of ideas but don’t provide enough time to finish off the pieces in order to be of portfolio quality. </p>
<p>Maybe these kids are exceptionally slow at drawing,but I doubt it. Frankly, I was very underwhelmed at what I saw. </p>
<p>If most pre-college programs produce these types of unfinished work due to severe time limitation,I would strongly urge all future art applicants to get professional tutoring instead of attending pre-college programs. I wish I could show what a huge difference professional tutoring produces over what I have seen at some of the pre-college portfolio development programs.</p>
<p>Since I haven’t examined all precollege programs, I would strongly investigate whether my observations are indeed true for the program that you are investigating.</p>
<p>I should note that the work that I was shown came from summer intensive programs whose length varied from two to six weeks in duration.</p>
<p>I completely disagree with this post. Last summer I participated in MICA’s pre-college summer residency program, and it was one of the most valuable experiences I have ever had in my short art life.</p>
<p>Sure, only one piece I produced was of portfolio quality, but these programs arent directed and producing portfolios necessarily. They are there for the intensive college experience, which is indeed intense. It provided me with accellerated technical practice that I wanted so that I could further my conceptual drive thereafter. </p>
<p>Pre-college programs are wonderful, but you need to take them for what they are worth. If one puts a lot of effort into it, you CAN produce portfolio work – but many kids do not push themselves enough and treat it as ‘camp’. I would definetly reccommend doing these types of programs. They provide great skill and practice in a variety of disciplines, plus you make wonderful lifelong friends. I am still in contact with most of my precollege buddies. Also, seeing what other kids around the country are doing is valuable to the feeling of community a young artist needs to know and appreciate. So sorry taxguy, I think you’re wrong. And I speak from experience. </p>
<p>Portfolio pieces come from the drive to make them portfolio pieces, not just because you’re attending the program.</p>
<p>Based on D’s portfolio feedback at MICA, SAIC and Cooper Union I stand by the pre-college program at CMU. </p>
<p>The program is half day every Saturday for the school year. </p>
<p>Of the ten students selected for PA’s Governor’s school program for painting, based on portfolio and interview, five were from the CMU precollege program.</p>
<p>This is the same pre-college program Andy Worhol attended.</p>
<p>I just wish that you saw what I witnessed. There were a lot of good but unfinished work due to the time limitation compared to what I have seen with private tutoring.
Again, this was observed for intensive summer programs only and NOT every week or every Saturday. Also, these courses are supposedly designed for portfolio preparation! I will agree with the above poster in that it does give a sampling of college life in an art program. However, that was not the main stated purpose of most of the pre-college programs that I have seen! It is portfolio preparation. Simply getting one quality piece is NOT what I call portfolio preparation.</p>
<p>As you know from a previous post, my son had a very positive experience with RISD’s pre-college program. During those six weeks in the summer, my son produced several excellent pieces that ended up in his portfolio.</p>
<p>I’m sure that you would agree that ultimately, it is talent – as evidenced by the work in your portfolio – that gets you that job. Obviously different people have different levels of talent, just as they have different levels of commitment to their art, different work ethics, etc. It’s a very unfair to judge the RISD and Corcoran programs on the basis of the one student’s work the tutor showed you. On the other hand, my husband and I saw probably 200+ works (produced by dozens of students) at an exhibit held at the end of the RISD program; we were absolutely astounded by the overall quality and variety of the art.</p>
<p>By the way, portfolio preparation is NOT the focus of the RISD program. It is not “designed to be for portfolio preparation”, although the students attending do produce work that can be used in their portfolio, if they wish.). Yes, a private tutor may be a good option in certain cases, but an intense six-week program like RISD’s can also be an excellent choice. And certainly the quality of tutors varies as much as – if not more – than the quality of pre-college programs!</p>
<p>I agree that pre-college programs are not “portfolio programs.” They are not even generally promoted that way. They are learning, skill development programs. The ones my daughter attended at SAIC, though short (2-3 weeks each) were very valuable for skill development, confidence development, and general learning about art-making. In summer 2 my daughter did get a couple of items out that went into her portfolio but that really wasn’t the purpose.</p>
<p>I agree with the others, as well. When my daughter did the pre-college program at RISD, it was never with the intention of completing her portfolio and I never felt RISD marketed the program that way.</p>
<p>Saying one wants to go to art school is one thing, but actually spending all day long “doing” it, is another which was the purprose of sending our daughter to an intensive pre-college program.</p>
<p>As others have pointed out, it really comes down to talent. A private tutor? geesh</p>
<p>I attended a pre-college program at CMU. I produced nothing of consequence in tangible form, yet found a love and passion for a particular field in an emotional form. </p>
<p>I did Pratt PreCollege two summers ago and I don’t feel it was promoted as a place to complete a portfolio at all. In fact a lot of us had no intention of going to art school before the program. It all depends on the teachers you get and how much you put in. PreCollege was the first actual art class I ever took and I had amazing professors, did homework from 6pm-3am most days and ended up getting into several selective programs including Pratt, RISD and SAIC (that said, I’m now I’m pre-med-- go figure). Also, finished work is kind of overrated, schools love gestures and sketchbooks and even WIP. I agree with jkolko, money well spent.</p>
<p>i did the otis summer program when i was in highschool and i actually got a lot out of it. i did advanced drawing & photography [ i wanted to do graphic design but the program had filled up. ] both professors were good and i learned a lot. it sort of scares me how well my drawings came out, because i can’t draw like that anymore at all.</p>
<p>[ i got advanced standing because my highschool sent me to do figure drawing there the spring semester before for free… otis has a thing with LA high schools that the high schools can pick one student to send to a scholarship lifedrawing class thats once a week. and it was the same professor. ]</p>
<p>I want to revive this thread since I am new to the board.</p>
<p>My D is interested in architecture. She is looking at pre-college or Career Discovery programs at different schools for this summer. Some are first-come first served, others are competitive application. Is it the “experience” of going to architecture school for 2-6 weeks that is valuable, or is it the opportunity to get creative direction and feedback from college level instructors? Portfolio help is good too.</p>
<p>Summer programs being considered: WashU, School of Art Inst of Chicago, Notre Dame, U of Illinois, RISD, Syracuse, Miami of Ohio. All very good, I’m told. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any experience with any of those, or other good options to consider in Midwest?</p>
<p>My daughter attended the precollege program at Chicago Art Institute but with a focus on drawing one year and sculpture the next. From her perspective, these were very valuable, if short, sessions. She eventually went on to study industrial design at RISD. Whether your daughter considers architecture specifically or just fundamentals in art/design, in my opinion these sessions can be useful. She might consider also the programs at Carnegie Mellon (CMU), Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), and Pratt Insitute.</p>
<p>daaaad, I was the original poster whose daughter attended the pre-college program at Syracuse. I wasn’t that impressed. The problem at that time was that they didn’t have enough time to complete any single project. There were just too much information thrown at them. Maybe that is good. It’s hard to tell. I can honestly say that my daughter got a LOT more quality work out of her personal tutoring then she did from the pre college program.</p>
<p>My D attended the PA Governor’s School of the Arts for Painting. She got a lot out of it, not all related to art. In addition to the art, it was like a mini tryout of college: 6 weeks in a dorm, dealing with roomates, suitemates, etc.</p>
<p>If your child is thinking about an art school for college, it’s also a good gauge for how they feel about being surrounded by other artists.</p>
<p>I have a friend who attended the RISD program last summer, and she said it was a good experience for students interested in going to art school. She eventually decided that going to art school was too limiting, and that she’d be better off pursuing a liberal arts degree that would allow her to study a wider range of subjects. The course definitely helped her make that decision.</p>
<p>Yes, going to pre-college program MIGHT help in giving a feel for the school and for art programs in general. However, if preparing a quality portfolio is your goal, you have to check out these programs carefully.Both Syracuse and Corcoran didn’t give a lot of time on any one project, which made preparation for a portfolio more questionable.</p>
<p>If the goal you have for your kids’ experience at pre-college is for them to prepare a portfolio piece, save your money: nurture their skills at home and give them a studio in which they can create works of art and design. </p>
<p>Pre-college - and college itself - is not intended as vehicle for “portfolio preparation”. Instead, these forms of experiential learning allow students to build skills, formulate their process, and become aware of new and different things. The portfolio simply illustrates skills, a way of thinking and a form of problem solving or process. </p>
<p>Taxguy, based on your posts, it seems that you have quite the problem with “ill-structured” situations. Can you not see the value in an experience as an end rather than a means?</p>
<p>I realize some of your posts are old, so I hope you still monitor these boards. Sounds like you’ve gone to the pre-college program at CMU for design as well has have an undergrad degree from the industrial design program. </p>
<p>Our daughter has always been interested in product design, usability, and making sure products meet user’s needs. She’s got a strong technical background (straight A’s with classes in her sophmore year like pre-calc, advanced physics, AP Human Geography, Spanish 3, etc). </p>
<p>While exploring schools and majors she’s realized that Industrial Design, especially a program like CMU with the very cool electives they offer might be a great fit for her. My main question though is how strong she needs to be in her art/creative skills. She has not had many art/design classes. Her focus thus far has been in math/science. She’ll have to do the design exercises to create her portfolio, but I fear that her skills and work will nto be to the level that CMU will need.</p>
<p>I’d love to get your take on if there is room in the program for diversity in background like hers. She also brings incredible leadership and organizational skills to the table.</p>
<p>Do you have any suggestions on how to go about preparing for CMU application and her portfolio? I’ve seen people suggest personal tutors. How would I go about finding a good one?</p>
<p>I think programs like this can be helpful more along the lines of giving students an idea of work that could be submitted to a portfolio, and giving them an environment to learn and work. Sometimes good projects take time, and maybe they didn’t have the time to finish it in the program.</p>
<p>I think it’s silly if someone expects to go into a portfolio program and to come out of it will a fully stocked, ready to go portfolio. Thats really not how those things work. I don’t think I’d ever want to put together a portfolio of work only done over the course of 6 weeks to a month, because I’m not sure if it would fully reflect me. Work should be fresh, maybe a year old at the latest, but work in a portfolio should also express a creative process, which Im not sure can be shown when all the work is done in the same time period.</p>
<p>Im not sure I’m saying what I mean correctly.</p>