SVA vs Prat vs Parsons vs SCAD vs Ringling

MazeArtCrew
Tue, 24 Feb 2015 23:42:15 +0000

@magnetnh It is great that you are involved early.

My D and I will be visiting DePaul to really take a closer look at the program. It is new, and I have concerns over their industry connections - those are so important for an internship/building a portfolio for later.

I recommend:

Ringling - excellent program and connections. A great drive there to prepare you for your future as an artist/designer.

LCAD - Laguna College of Art & Design - great program, great connections. Small, but only a dorm for freshman.

RIT - Rochester Institute of Technology - they have great programs as well as are considered a Coop/Internship school - they combine design and technology to a high degree.

Otis, though I am not as familiar with their program.

My D had a very helpful month at the Ringling pre-college program. I can’t say enough good things about it. She went into it thinking she wanted to be a 3D animator, switched over to motion graphics/design along with stop-motion, and came away feeling as if she had found herself and her future.

You can tell a lot about the connections a program has based on their students’ success stories:

UConn Success Stories: http://dmd.uconn.edu/category/success-stories/
Ringling Success Stories: https://www.facebook.com/RinglingCollege (notice the multiple Academy Award nominations/at least one win.)
Read this about LCAD: http://californianewswire.com/2014/04/29/CNW19357_093611.php/ceo-bob-hurley-to-inspire-students-at-laguna-college-of-art-and-design-2014-commencement/
RIT Portfolios: http://creativity.cias.rit.edu/index.php?major=ALL

Hope this helps! (Also, it is really challenging to find programs which offer Motion Design/Graphics because they all call it something different. It is not easily searchable, and is certainly not to be found on the traditional College Board site. You need to look deeply on the college sites, even into their syllabi in order to really find out what the program is all about.) Also, encourage your S to keep his grades up, and practice SAT’s, as well as work on his portfolio. Scholarship at some of the schools is determined by a combination of all three - you can get in with a great portfolio, but if you want that golden scholarship, grades and SAT do count at quite a few art schools.

Best of luck!