<p>Actually, I have no ax to grind with SCAD.In fact, to my surprise, I have actually been recommending SCAD for their animation and VFX program after examining their offerings. As for this article, I just noticed this article and noted it on the thread. </p>
<p>It may actually interest you to know that my daughter wanted to get a masters in 3d animation. I hope you are sitting down, but I actually recommended SCAD! My only negative now about it, after visiting it in Savannah, was that I HATED the area. The 3d offerings were in a scary area of Savannah. I thought it was even worse than where Cincinnati was located, and that says a lot.
The bigger question is since you are no longer teaching at SCAD, why are you still promoting SCAD everywhere?</p>
<p>How am I promoting SCAD everywhere? I have not posted on this site for +/- 2 years, and I don’t recall posting on any site about SCAD during that time. </p>
<p>What were you afraid of, black people working in auto repair shops? Really? You might feel out of place walking around a black neighborhood if you are white, but why would you call it scary and why would you hate it? Does poverty scare you? I spent a considerable amount of time in that area - before Montgomery Hall was even purchased and renovated - taking pictures of the locals, and never experienced a problem even while carrying a $2000 camera. </p>
<p>Here’s a link to campus crime reports for 2012. I’m not going to claim Savannah is crime-free, but if students are worried they can take shuttle buses to and from the buildings. </p>
<p>RainingAgain notes, " What were you afraid of, black people working in auto repair shops?"</p>
<p>No, hanging around a lot of black, chinese, tuti-fruity etc.people don’t scare me, RainingAgain. Seeing a number of agressive homeless people approaching me for money near the school does bother me. Seeing several people in drug induced stupors does scare me. Seeing homes that looked bombed out and ill cared for, does bother me. Having buildings at the edge of a ghetto does bother me.</p>
<p>Let’s face it: I would MUCH rather be in a location similar to UCLA’s location in Beverly hills or in most parts of Manhattan than in a lower class, beat up, ghetto area like Savannah. Be real!</p>
<p>You’re being disingenuous describing Savannah as a lower class, beat-up, ghetto. The fringes around the downtown area, to the south and to the west are, but not the core. The core–the mass of the city–is breathtaking. </p>
<p>What were you doing wandering up and down Montgomery Street anyway? Montgomery Hall has a large parking area and if I recall, a security gate. Students can ride the shuttle buses. SCAD tours are also on the shuttles. </p>
<p>People can judge the neighborhood for themselves if they are curious.</p>
<p>You should have come to Savannah twenty-five years ago when the entire downtown area looked that way except for Bull, Gaston, Guyton, Jones and River streets. My guess is that 80% of all structures downtown were vacant and/or very dilapidated–from where you were at Montgomery all the way to the Savannah River and Bay Street. Broughton Street (the main street) on which SCAD’s Jen Library sits – was a ghost town. There was a wig shop, a couple of bars, a pawn shop, a used furniture store, and maybe a few others.</p>
<p>Be real? Unfortunately, poor people exist in the real world. What should we do with them, ignore them? Pretend they don’t exist? Run away from them?</p>
<p>By the way, where is your review of your trip to Savannah and SCAD? In which thread was it written and on what date? I would really like to read it.</p>
<p>//…So they compared the cost of attending each school (investment) against the actual income reported by graduates of each school over a 30 year period …//</p>
<p>Where would they get the incomes reported by graduates over a 30-year period? No one asked me!</p>
<p>Raining Again
Yes, that is a good question. For a newer school this study seems a little unfair. I can see where they might have a good pool of people from schools like Pratt or Parsons. But I’m also not sure that the priorities they use for a survey like this are that workable for art schools in general. I mean it really shouldn’t be big news to anyone that art students over all would tend to make less money than say business majors or medical professions. Not fair maybe but certainly not big news.</p>
<p>Re the SCAD ranking. I suspect SCAD’s ranking here also would reflect that most of the respondees were probably more recent grads who tend to have lower salaries/incomes than older people who have worked in the field longer. However as I said ranking art schools for graduate ROI along with all other schools would tend to give art schools a lower ranking anyway. If you pull out those who teach (which I’m sure wasn’t done in this survey) you would probably find an even lower ROI. But while interesting I don’t think that return on investment is a major criteria for most art school attendees except perhaps for those focusing on what we used to call “commercial” arts.</p>
<p>Now I’d like to comment on something taxguy posted:
“No, hanging around a lot of black, chinese, tuti-fruity etc.people don’t scare me”</p>
<p>First of all taxguy your use of “don’t” in this sentence says a lot about you as well as the tuti-fruity comment. Knowing how you usually write, this was an intentional slur. The tuti-fruity comment is beyond defense.</p>
<p>Your attempt at stating your openness with a sentence like this only points out just how closed-minded you really are and I would suspect that you aren’t all that comfortable being around people who are different than you. While we all want our kids in safe environments it’s hard to sort out how valid your concerns about a campus are when you respond in this manner. I agree with Raining Again that it certainly doesn’t do anyone’s child good by shielding them from poverty or people living in hardship. In fact for art students it’s not a bad idea to be exposed to those in poverty for a few reasons. But I digress…</p>
<p>This comment of yours is offensive and not helpful. Personally I would much rather my child see the real world as it exists poverty and all, than only be exposed to Beverly Hills campus settings and the “good” part of Manhattan. Why? Because I want my child to go out into the world armed with a good open heart and a realistic understanding of the world. Now there was one other point, hmmm what was that. Oh, yeah, and I don’t want to raise a bigot.</p>
<p>Artsmarts, no offense was intended. I was just trying to say ( perhaps badly) that I don’t care who is around or what background my friends and acquaintances may have. A person’s ethnicity, race, religion, background etc. never figures in the equation as to whom I see, meet, befriend or associate with. Hopefully , this post will clarify my position.</p>
<p>Taxguy - much of what you have written about SCAD over the past 7+ years was “said badly”. You’ve posted accusations and inflammatory statements that often were baseless, misrepresentations of the truth, or misperceptions of reality.</p>
<p>For example, for a long time you were very critical of SCAD for not requiring portfolios, and it took a number of years for you to understand that: 1. prior academic performance (grades) provides excellent insight into future success, and 2. not all disciplines require artistic ability. Craftsmanship, design integrity, even vision can be learned or developed to professional standards in many many areas.</p>
<p>I’d love to read your review of SCAD and Savannah from your visit. After years of writing negatively about SCAD, I’m sure you could not wait to write a first-hand account and review. In which thread did you post a description of your visit?</p>
<p>Sorry taxguy but I can’t let you off the hook. Using the expression tuti-fruity to describe a group of people does not indicate someone who has an open and accepting mind. It’s a totally unacceptable expression to use in that manner and it IS offensive. While you may be friendly to people who are different obviously this expression is sitting in the back of your mind, dormant perhaps, but there to suddenly pop out when you’re frustrated or expressing yourself “badly.” You may see yourself as “open” but if that’s true these sorts of things wouldn’t just magically pop out during times of stress because they simply wouldn’t be in the back of your mind. Work on it, it is offensive. I’ll drop it now but work on it taxguy. You may want to be open minded which is highly commendable but you’re not quite there yet.</p>
<p>Rainingagain, yes, I will still stand by my opinion,and it is my opinion, that SCAD should have portfolio requirements or have better academic requirements. I am not thrilled that they in the past did not meet either criterion. I have the same problem with some other places too. This isn’t limited to SCAD.</p>
<p>In all fairness, I haven’t checked out SCAD’s admission policies recently. Thus, maybe they have upgraded their policies to include higher academics and/or portfolios. </p>
<p>However, I did see the animation work and animation offerings and facilities at SCAD. I have to say that I was blown away by it. Their offerings in both animation, sequential art ( which is primarily 2d) and VFX was FABULOUS. I will have to give them the credit that they deserve for this. I also liked the facilities that housed these majors. There were plenty of high end computers and a number of rendering farms.I certainly can’t complain about these.</p>
<p>Sadly, most majors were in other buildings. Thus, I didn’t see the work or check out the offerings of other majors and can’t comment on them. I also didn’t see any dorms; thus, I can’t comment on those either. </p>
<p>As I said above, I just didn’t like where they were located. I felt it was a bit too seedy for my taste. I don’t like a number of people begging me for money right by the school or look like they were in a drug induced trance. This becomes a particular problem , in my opinion, if a student wants to work late and night.
I also didn’t feel that Savannah was as good a location for internships and making connections as that of Manhattan or LA. Yes, SCAD does get studios to come check out their students and the students’ work. However, internships just doesn’t seem as easy to come by as that of some schools in better locations such as USC, SVA, Calarts etc.However, each person has their own perceptions of what is important.</p>
<p>Bottom line, which I am sure will shock you , is that I would certainly recommend SCAD for a student interested in animation or motion work with the understanding of the downsides mentioned by me.</p>
<p>Taxguy, I found it very odd that after years of slinging mud at SCAD, you did not post a review of the school when you visited Savannah. I’m calling shennanigans on you. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I decided to stop yesterday at Montgomery Hall and take some photos of the area, and let people decide for themselves if the area is as bad as you described.</p>
<p>Looking at Montgomery Hall from across the street
<p>Let me ask again…after years of slinging mud at SCAD on this site, you visited the school and posted no review of your visit at all? That seems very peculiar to me.
.</p>
<p>Rainingagain, I have never said that I wasn’t impressed with the facilities of SCAD. I just didn’t like the location as much as that of say SVA in Manhattan or LA. I did like their program VERY and course options VERY much to my honest surprise.</p>
<p>For graphic design, I’d say the ROI is not likely to be there unless the SCAD student is a complete rock star and catches some lucky breaks at a leading agency right out of school. We have a SCAD grad at the creative firm where I work. He’s very talented, but so are the numerous graphic designers who came from the local community college. His work does not stand out against anyone else’s. Of course, that is just a single observation. But he did love SCAD and says he would move back to Savannah in a heartbeat.</p>
<p>As a rule of thumb, I would encourage all HS graduates to explore local community and state college programs before enrolling at a private school. There’s just no reason to throw yourself into a mountain of debt. After a couple of years, students can always transfer credits if they wish - probably losing some of them - but they will still be ahead of the game of debt.</p>
<p>But rather than post your positive reactions after your visit, you posted nothing. However, when you came across an opportunity to post something negative about the school, you jumped on it. Interesting.</p>
<p>It’s almost impossible not to like Savannah. Ask anyone that has visited the city. As a parent, I understand concern about some parts or pockets of the city, but when you review SCAD’s safety procedures and security the school is very protective of its students, and the environment is really no different than any city.
.</p>
<p>RainingAgain, Here I cite something very positive about SCAD in post number 38 and you noted that I posted something negative about the school? Hello! At least acknowledge that I did change my opinion somewhat about SCAD. I would think you would greet me as a long lost brother!
You have to admit, for years, partly due to the disgruntled professor’s posting and partly due to the sanctions by the association of university professors against SCAD, SCAD DID have a questionable reputation. However, I think most of that was behind them and they have turned their reputation around to become known as a first rate art program. I am sure that you will still agree that their locations is still not as advantageous for students as Manattan or LA for either fun, experience or connections.</p>
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