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This school was highly recommended by U.S. News and World Report. If you go here, how do you like it? What are its strengths and drawbacks?

By Cama (Cama) on Tuesday, May 18, 2004 - 08:52 am: Edit

Hi This is Cama's Mom. D told me I should communicate with you as you remind her of me and the time we put into exploring options. D went to SVA summer program when she was 16. If you want a parent's perspective let me know. If not good luck with the process

By Taxguy (Taxguy) on Wednesday, May 19, 2004 - 05:26 pm: Edit

Cama's Mom, I would like any perspective whether it be a student or Parent's perspective.

By Cama (Cama) on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 12:23 pm: Edit

In order to make sure D wanted art and design has her take pre college classes and live at SVA when she was 16. Helped her to decide that this is what she wanted... taking 3-6 hr studio classes is alot different then art classes in HS. Also helped her decide that even thoug she loved the city she wanted a campus. The dorm she stayed at,at SVA was about 4-5 city blocks away from some of her classes. Everything was pretty spread out. She also took alot of private art lessons at home. Figure drawings from this class really helped her portfolio. She attended National Portfolio Day and showed her portfolio there and got alot of feed back. At that point she didn't have time to show her portfolio at Parsons but did at FIT, RISD and Cooper. In the Fall of senior year showed portfolio and toured at Pratt and Parsons. She didn't like the atmosphere at Parsons but did at Pratt, You never know what's going to click for a 17 yr old. Anyway I also insisted she show at Cooper so we attended one of their open houses and presented her portfolio as well. I really had to let her guide the way at some point. She absolutely did not want to apply to RISD or SAIC because they weren't in NYC. Even though I would have liked her to I respected her decision. So in the end she applied to Pratt, Suny Purchase, Suny Buffalo, FIT, SVA and Cooper. I insisted that she apply to some SUNY schools for safey purposes and tried to norrow down the ones that were either FIDER accredited or well ranked for fine art. Anyway got into all but Cooper even though they really liked her Por. and she received a faculty referral for early decision. I guess it was the intense home test or maybe SATs (though they tell you SATs are not really important for the art admits there). Anyway the one that she initially loved (Pratt) was the one she is going to. This was determined by 1.national ranking and FIDER accredidation for Interior Design. 2. Campus 3. Proximity to NYC 4. Internship opportunities and 5. awarded a small scholarship.

By Taxguy (Taxguy) on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 03:56 pm: Edit

Thanks a lot for your input. What, however, did she like/dislike about SVA? It seems that the only thing she disliked were the fact that classes were a distance from the dorms? How about the educational quality?

By Taxguy (Taxguy) on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 05:22 pm: Edit

By the way Cama and Cama's mom, I wish Cama well at Pratt. It certainly has a wonderful reputation.

By Cama (Cama) on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 07:42 pm: Edit

She was only there as a pre college student. Drawing prof she liked painting she didn't but it does have a great rep for photography, computer graphics, and cartooning. Felt the facilities were "so...so". The dorm she was in ..Washington was under construction and filthy. Alot of bugs and I think some rodents due to construction. When we spoke to the coordinator she said "well this is the city and that is part of city life," It bothered me more then her. But I did hear from a friend whose D graduated from there that the women's dorm by Gramercy Park is pretty nice. I know an all womens dorm would not be for my D. The main thing she didn't like was lack of campus.
What are your Ds summer plans does it include any art pre -college courses? If she is interested in SVA maybe she should consider the summer program to see for herself. I also heard that alot of the part time prof teach at Parson's, Pratt and SVA

By Cama (Cama) on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 07:55 pm: Edit

Also SVA didn't have a general foundation year for Interior Design. As with FIT you had to enter and immediately be declared in that major. I wanted to give her a year to explore before she definately decided on a major. You might want to check that out for the program your D is interested in at SVA, if it is important to you.

By Taxguy (Taxguy) on Thursday, May 20, 2004 - 09:05 pm: Edit

My daughter, Allie, will be going to Syracuse's Pre-college summer program. They have a good art program there. She wanted a "campus life" as part of her summer. She only just finished 10th grade, and I didn't want her alone in NY at that age.

Next year, I would like her to try an art school pre-college program. I will check out the NY Schools. My daughter has a "thing" about going to an art school. She wants to meet other people ( I guess this means guys) who are not necessarily artsy. However, I am going to push for an art school next year.

I will need to check out whether Pratt has a pre-college summer program. I will also be checking on RISD etc.

By Cama (Cama) on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 09:03 am: Edit

They all have pre-college programs. If there is a school she is leaning towards it might be good to go to that one since instructors will know what that particular school is looking for in a portfolio. Also there is a really good website. Google Industrial Design discussions or do a search for "core 77" . Even though it is for Industrial Design the student thread has loads of imput from students that go to design schools. Specifically what the teaching philosphy is for different design schools i.e. form, technical skills etc. I found it most informative and I did see some info on graphic design.

By Cama (Cama) on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 09:13 am: Edit

Yes I understand about not just being only with artsy kids. Though it didnt't matter to D it mattered more to me. Pratt also has a good Architecture program, Engineering program, Library Science Program and a relatively new creative writng program. I think RISD has Architecture, Parsons has Architecture, SVA does not. I really liked Syracuse as well but D wanted an art school. Wanted to be taking liberal arts classes with art students. I think she was nervous about the competitve nature of the liberal arts classes in a school like Syracuse, as the kids from other majors would be in her liberal arts classes. She was concerned that she might not be able to keep up with them academically.

By Taxguy (Taxguy) on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 10:57 am: Edit

Thanks Cama and Cama's mom. I will do a search for core 77. Good idea. Allie is interested in graphic design,but your suggestion might contain some good threads.

You are right. I should have had her go to an art summer program in a school that she would have wanted to go to such as Carnegie Melon ,but Syracuse seemed to have a very good program and who knows where she will want to go in the long run. Besides I didn't know about other summer programs other than Syracuse until recently.
OH well.

Next summer, I will encourage her to try an art school like Pratt or RISD.

As for as academics, this isn't a problem for Allie since she is in a gifted and talented program for humanities. She is very talented in writing,art and music,but not necessarily extraordinary in any one of these disciplines.

If she goes to Pratt during a summer, if possible, I would like my daughter to meet your daughter and maybe get the "low down" on how she like Pratt, what teachers to take etc.

By Cama (Cama) on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 12:26 pm: Edit

Allie sounds like an all together well rounded young lady. I'm sure whatever she chooses she will be successful, especially with a well informed Dad like yourself. Will keep you informed when D gets her "feet wet" at Pratt. Hope we made the correct decision.

By Taxguy (Taxguy) on Friday, May 21, 2004 - 01:08 pm: Edit

Thannks Cama's mom. I would like to hear about your daughter's experience at Pratt.

By Vulcano (Vulcano) on Sunday, May 30, 2004 - 10:10 pm: Edit

A friend of mine has been accepted to Ringling, Pratt, SVA (School of Visual Arts), and Savannah College of Art and Design. Voiding location, which is better for computer animation studies? Which has a better reputation and prestige? Job placement and internships

By Taxguy (Taxguy) on Monday, May 31, 2004 - 08:59 am: Edit

I would place the order of program quality from a ranking point of view as:

1.SVA
2. Pratt (tied with SVA)
3. Savannah
4.Ringling

Please note that Savanannah College of Design is NOT approved by National Assocation of schools of design (NASAD). Not sure about Ringling either. the first two are approved

By Taxguy (Taxguy) on Monday, May 31, 2004 - 09:36 am: Edit

I just looked. Savannah is NOT accredited by NASAD but Ringling is. Thus, I would put the schools that you mentioned in the following order:

1. SVA
2. Pratt (tied with SVA)
3. Ringling
4. Sacannah School of Art and Design (not accredited by NASAD)

You shouild also check out Parsons college of Design in NY,which is reputed to be very good as is Carnegie Melon for digital arts. Check out Maryland Institute and College of Arts (MICA) is also reputed to be top notch.