The Art Institutes

[MrConterno]

Greetings

Personally I don't care for any AI (art institute). The products I have seen coming from these schools seem to be highly outdated and not even near industry standards. One of my acquaintance's went to an AI and dropped out because of the "laughable standards". Another thing to keep in mind is AIs accept almost everyone who applies. I like to compare them to McDonalds, they are all over the place and the quality of product they give is utter crap. They want to put out as many burgers as they can as cheap as they can (students being burgers). My advice is stay away.

I'm not sure where you are in skill level or financial ability but below you will find a list of great schools.

Ringling, Sarasota Florida. Arguably the best animation school in the world.

Gnomon, LA Cali. Personally I can't vouch for their animation program but others I trust have. Their other specializations are amazing so I'd bet animation would be too.

SCAD, you already mentioned them so I'll skip the details.

Animation Mentor, online. Generally I don't recommend online programs but this one seems to have their stuff together pretty well.

Vancouver Film School (VFS), Vancouver BC Canada. One of the best in the field.

Vancouver Media Arts (VanArts), Vancouver BC Canada. Another good option if cash is a bit tight.

California Arts (CalArts), not sure on the city. Some amazing animators have graduated from here. This place is much more experimental.


Any one of these school have the tools to get you into the industry.



As far as jobs go for both film and games:

(City, State) (Major Studios)
Orlando Florida: Universal Studios, Disney
Los Angeles California: Activision, EA, Rythm & Hues
San Francisco California: LucasFilm, ILM, Lucas Arts, Disney, Ubisoft
(California in general has LOADS of jobs)
Austin Texas: Activision, BioWare, Blizzard, Disney, Sony Online Entertainment (ruined SWG grr!)

Those are the major hubs

Also Canada and England both have some major studios.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions in the future.

[jesse92]

Gee, well.. thanks to my crappy put of effort in highschool, thats the only choice i have for now, but, what if i stay 1 year in TheAi, and then transfer to scad or something?
Do you think is worth it?
Also if i go for the Animation Mentor Online for one year, would that help me to get into a good college later? even though my final highschool trnascrip sucks.

[Lyr]

The Art Institutes are part of Education Management Corporation (http://www.edmc.edu/) a publicly traded company. Since they are publicly traded thier first loyalty and duty is to the share holders, and not students. In order to maximize share holder profits, EDMC (education management corporation) uses the students who attend thier "schools" to lock down government gauranteed student loans, which the students then use to pay for thier tuition, which over the course of the program will magically approach the borrowing cap for a BFA. EDMC gets thier money by you going into debt. Once you borrow that money, EDMC gets paid, they don't care how or even if you can pay that money back.

[Rebeccak]

Don't go to AI, go to SCAD.

[jesse92]

What is your opinions about AI Rebeccak?? and what could i do at this point to get into SCAD which already rejected me. u.u

[Rebeccak]

What is your opinions about AI Rebeccak?? and what could i do at this point to get into SCAD which already rejected me. u.uI'm biased, but I don't refer any of my high school or community college transfer students to AI. It's not to say that all of them are bad, but I've heard many first and second hand accounts of students over the years who felt that AI was a ripoff. Here in California, the local AI's are not regionally / WASC (Western Association of Schools Colleges) accredited, which means that if you attend AI in California or any AI that is part of the Western United States, your credits will not be accepted towards a graduate degree. So if you ever wanted to pursue your masters, you would have to repeat your 4 years of school at a WASC accredited or other regionally accredited school. AI is owned by Goldman Sachs, a bank, and you can imagine how much they care about your average art student. AI does not have acceptance criteria, which means that you will be going to school with students who probably couldn't get their act together to go to a better school, meaning that you might not be very challenged and therefore not very prepared for the wider world.

My suggestion is to get your grades up by attending a community college and just get your act together academically, if possible. If your grades are low then maybe you are not serious enough yet for college, or it's possible that you could have academic barriers, but either way it's better to mature on the cheap in a cc and then eventually transfer to a better school than waste $100 K in a school that doesn't care enough about its student population to screen them for competence, but will gladly accept your cash.

[jesse92]

Is there the possibility to take 1 year at AI and then transfer to another Art college?

[Lyr]

Is there the possibility to take 1 year at AI and then transfer to another Art college?

Usually that answer is no. That is part of what accredidation determines. You would have to do your research well ahead of time to insure that the classes you took at at AI would transfer.

If what you want to do is animation then try and get into animation mentor that will be a much better use of your money and time. If you want a solid foundation for a career in the visual arts consider more classically oriented training. You can find a list of classically oriented art schools here: http://www.artrenewal.org/pages/ateliers.php

[Rebeccak]

Is there the possibility to take 1 year at AI and then transfer to another Art college?Ironically, you're more likely to transfer much cheaper community college credits than AI credits. I've met several students who have run into the frustration of not being able to transfer any of their AI credits to another institution.

Lyr, my personal opinion is that I don't think Animation Mentor is the right path for someone straight out of high school - it's just an online program, much more suitable for a working adult or post-graduate student than a person needing a degree, time to mature, and an all around college experience. It's probably great for someone who has already received a degree from a brick and mortar school.

[Dare-o]

If they go through with getting rid of the 24hr access to the new vancouver campus, I doubt ill recommend this school to anyone.

[MrConterno]

I agree with Rebeccak, go to a CC and get your GPA up. Most schools won't care about how bad you did in HS if you went to a CC and got As and Bs. Even if just for a few months this will help. This also gives you a chance to meet new people, get your act together, and really get ready to work your ass off at your goal college. Also this gives you more time to make sure yes this is what I want to do. Two years ago I was dead set on going to Ringling for animation. My school screwed up and didn't send my transcripts on time so I didn't get accepted. I had to wait another year to apply (they only accept applications once a year) and in that year I learned, wow I can't stand animation! Now I am going to Gnomon for what I actually like.

A note on animation mentor, if I was you I would probably skip it. Online programs take a lot of dedication and focus. Think about it you are at home, do you want to work on school, or play your xbox. Hopefully you want to work on school more but that temptation can be dangerous. Most HS grads aren't mature enough to be that disciplined. You may be disciplined enough, just some thing to think about.

[jesse92]

Mmm well lets say that i do like CC for fall only.. like from august or october to december or jauary, just to get my GPA up, and then i apply for the summer semester or spring semester at a good college...that would be the best thing to do right? , so in the CC what classes should i take? only art and that stuff, or like everything, history, math, english...

[Lyr]

If someone isn't mature enough for animation mentor, they aren't mature enough for college. There are alot of students who use the "college experience" as an excuse to prolong thier adolesence.

[Lyr]

A note on animation mentor, if I was you I would probably skip it. Online programs take a lot of dedication and focus. Think about it you are at home, do you want to work on school, or play your xbox. Hopefully you want to work on school more but that temptation can be dangerous. Most HS grads aren't mature enough to be that disciplined. You may be disciplined enough, just some thing to think about.

Is there some place where all those temptations magically vanish? No there isn't. Regardless of what program a person chooses they will have to be very dedicated, focused and avoid temptation to succeed. These are hardly barriers unique to animation mentor.

[Lyr]

Mmm well lets say that i do like CC for fall only.. like from august or october to december or jauary, just to get my GPA up, and then i apply for the summer semester or spring semester at a good college...that would be the best thing to do right? , so in the CC what classes should i take? only art and that stuff, or like everything, history, math, english...

Do your liberal arts credits at a community college. The community college will probably have a higher standard of instruction on top of bieng cheaper for liberal arts. It would be wise to complete all liberal arts requirements at community college and then transfer to an art school. You don't want to be paying $450+/credit hour for history and english.

[MrConterno]

I'd agree go for the basic liberal arts stuff. You may want to take an art course or two depending on the school. Just make sure you get good grades, the whole purpose is to show you can handle the work load.

@Lyr, I'm not saying they go away, just stating they are much more problematic if you are sitting at home rather than in a class room.

"If someone isn't mature enough for animation mentor, they aren't mature enough for college."

I wouldn't agree with this part of the post. Maturity may have been a wrong choice of wording in my post, discipline would be better suited.

[Lyr]

College isn't like high school. They don't call your parents if you don't show up to class. They aren't going to ride you. Change the word to discipline if you like, I don't think it changes anything. Both online and brick and mortar schools require you to show up on time and do your work on time. I really don't see one requiring more discipline over another.

The way I see it the choice comes down to a preference of enviroment and routine. Online letting you keep your current enviroment and working around your established routine, and brick and mortar requiring you alter your routine around the program and maybe move.

[Rebeccak]

I agree with MrConterno about most of what was said. I don't think that Animation Mentor is the right solution, but it entirely depends on the person. I think only in the RARE instance is a high school student better served by an online program than a brick and mortar one. I actually usually think that unless a person has severe behavioral issues that prevents them from interacting in a live classroom, they are better off in a real one than a virtual one (for basic high school and undergraduate education) because of the richness of the education and the networking / friendships, etc. that happen much more seamlessly in a real classroom. I can say this with some authority because I have taught both live and online workshops, and believe me, an online workshop is not the same as a live one.

I think the real issue though here is cc vs. AI, and I would go with a good cc any day. What I would do is talk to a high school counselor as well about what courses you should take at a cc to get your grades up - you don't want to overload yourself and set yourself up for failure, but you also don't want to be wasting time with taking too few classes to really affect your GPA. Only someone attached to a high school or college to which you will be applying can address these questions definitively, certainly random people from the internet (like myself) won't know your full situation. My advice is to take matters into your own hands and really research (eg, call the schools you're interested in) to find out what you will need to do to get your grades up / be accepted to your dream school. Also talk to counselors at a cc - either before going there, and/or during your time there - because they will certainly know what you will need to do to achieve a better GPA.

The thing that most students don't realize is that getting into school is all a game - SCAD wants good students, and they are willing to help you get there if you are persistent - that's what the counselors are there for. All schools want your $, but good schools like SCAD also want their student body to be strong. Places like AI don't care whether or not you are a good student, they just want your $. You may not be as strong as you want now academically but it does not mean that you cannot get there. My advice is to address the things that are holding you back academically and work on them, go to a cc and work hard, and then reapply to a number of different schools once your grades are stronger. In the meantime, while you are at a cc, stay in touch with counselors from the schools you are interested in, and show them that you are really serious about getting into those schools.

Communication and being positive is everything, if there's one thing I've learned over time, it's that you can't get what you haven't asked for. You have to be persistent to get what you want.

[MrConterno]

Good post Rebeccak

[Rebeccak]

Good post RebeccakThanks - to the OP, there are several people in the same boat as you. Check out this post (http://forums.cgsociety.org/showpost.php?p=6543140&postcount=18) in response to another person's thread that may also be of use to you.

[jesse92]

Thanks for everyones posts, it was really helpful.

[smalone3d]

Can't speak for all of the Art Institutes, but I attended the one in Sacramento, California for 2 quarters. The traditional artwork teachers aren't really that bad, but the digital teachers are teaching outdated material, on outdated software.

Most of the students there could not get into any other art school with their current portfolio. It was just kind of depressing being there. I won pretty much a half-ride scholarship there, but all things considered, I would still walk away with 50k in debt. A B.S. in Media Arts & Animation is $110,000. Not including books, living expensives, supplies, etc.

So I left, and now I'm going to start school at Gnomon in September.

I guess my advice to the OP is pretty much what everyone's been saying: Going to community college and building up your GPA is probably the best idea.

[fig]

I'm a bit familiar with AI Houston and I haven't been impressed. I'll leave it at that :)

Rebecca, very much agree with you on community college and Animation Mentor. AM is fantastic if you really know what you want to do, but it's not great as an initial liberal/fine arts education.

Lyr, I totally get where you're coming from but I think there's some truth on the other side as well. I'm just finishing up the Maya Springboard course with AM (their intro to Maya course before starting the full program) and even as a working professional with a college degree it's tough to come home and be disciplined enough to sit down and focus on classes and homework with everything else going on. Yes, college does require a lot of personal responsibility, but college is also where you learn a lot of that responsbility and experience a lot of growth into the adult you're becoming. I also don't know that online courses are really great for your formative art studies, a traditional college program would seem much better suited for that.

[Apoclypse]

I wen to ILIA (Illinois Institute of Art) and frankly it was the worst mistake of my life. It was pricey, I never finished because I couldn't afford it and I was still in debt at the end of the day. I really wish I had done what I wanted to do in the first place which was go to a CC and work on my grades for a better school like NYU, or some of the better schools in the industry. Until this day I regret ever going to that school.

[jabuhrer]

I can offer a bit of a different perspective. I went straight from high school to AI Colorado, went through the entire program, never took college classes anywhere else, and immediately was working in the industry upon graduation. My story isn't the typical AI story, but it's my personal experience so I think I have the right to share it.

I'm definitely not "pro-AI," nor would I necessarily recommend them above other schools. However, based on my experience of successfully getting a lot of work in the film and game industries and subsequently moving up to being in the position of hiring people and evaluating new-grads and job seekers myself, I have come to think that what matters most is the individual...and I'm not convinced that any one school is significantly better or worse than any other school.

We hear a lot of "I went to AI for x months and it was such a joke" stories. While most of the negative comments are based in truth, I usually take them with a grain of salt too. First of all, I'm not real keen on taking advice from people that don't finish what they start - which is 90% of the AI bashers out there. Learning from the experience of others is great, but you also have to consider whether or not the advice giver has their own shit together. The vast majority of the AI bashing that I hear comes from the type of person that makes a habit of making excuses and blaming others for their own failures. I was able to make my experience at AI very successful, and I have yet to meet a serious, hard working artist that was seriously held back by an AI education.

Most of the negative comments that people have made here are true...but they aren't nearly enough to keep a good artist from succeeding. For instance, the worst thing about AI is that (as others have mentioned) they are a private, for-profit enterprise whose main motivation is their shareholders' profits. This also contributes to the astronomical cost and the shady sub-prime style student loan racket that they have going on. But again, even that you have to take with a grain of salt. For one thing, personally, I was able to get a good job and pay back 100% of my $60,000 loan within a couple of years after graduation. Granted, you won't talk to a lot of former AI students that have a similar story, but if you're dedicated and have your shit together, the price tag and student loan racket won't hold you back. In fact, I look at the AI tuition/student loan racket the same way I look at their 100% open registration "we'll take anyone!" policy...it's kind of a double edged sword. Yes, it's a scam that is in place for the sole purpose of making money. However...it also allows access to a lot of students that wouldn't otherwise be able to get a similar education elsewhere. Yes it's predatory and yes it sucks...but with diligence you can make it work to your advantage. I did.

As for the comments about people that "aren't impressed" with AI schools and their grads...well, I agree and disagree. For several years I've been in the position of hiring new artists for the game studio that I work for. I see a lot of grads from different schools around the country. Yeah, I see a lot of shitty AI portfolios...but I also see a lot of shitty Ringling portfolios and a lot of shitty SCAD portfolios. The different schools seems to have different strengths. The AI schools tend to have more generalized programs, so you don't see a lot of rock star modelers or hot shot animators from AI. But I have hired more well rounded, dependable people from AI than from any other school, and that happens to be what I'm looking for most of the time. I've hired a few Ringling grads and have only had 1 guy that has worked out long term. Usually what happens with those guys is that they will have a killer portfolio that is 100% focused either modeling or animation, but then they shit their pants when they're asked to learn a new software package or do something that is out of their comfort zone. AI programs are more jack-of-all-trades, which usually means that they aren't as well suited for, say, a straight up character animation job. But at a small studio like where I work, I know that an AI grad will usually be a quick learner with good overall design skills that is used to learning new techniques/packages/etc. I remember when I first graduated and went to LA, a lot of interviewers were blown away that I'd learned so many packages in school. I didn't have the hot shot character animation reel, but I had the depth and breadth in my portfolio to demonstrate that I could handle just about anything, and that got me a lot of job offers.

I remember a kid that I went to school with that got about halfway through the program, and then started talking to people online and got all worked up about how the AI animation degree doesn't focus enough on 3D character animation. He went on and on about how much AI sucks and the teachers are incompetent and he was going to quit and start Animation Mentor, where he could take classes from real industry animators and focus on character animation. We all wished him well...and then a year or so later we heard him bitching about how Animation Mentor sucks and their curriculum is out of whack and he was going to quit and go to Gnomon. All I know now is that he's still not working and I don't know if he's actually completed an animation program anywhere. Meanwhile, as I said, I went through the oh-so-terrible AI program, found work, paid off my loans and moved on with my life. The grass is always greener, ya know? I know a lot of people that went to AI and half assed their way through their classes and had a crap portfolio and didn't try too hard to look for a job and are now working at Best Buy or whatever. But I also know a lot of people that went to AI and busted their ass and are now working at top studios. Between myself and my friends, I know AI grads that are working for Blue Sky, Pixar, Disney, Blur, EA, Sony...on and on. I don't know a single AI grad that really worked hard yet got stuck with no job, a worthless degree and piles of student loans...which is what most people say you'll get out of AI. Different things work for different people too. AI worked for me, but it doesn't work out for a lot of people. A few of those people move on to find something that works better for them. Most of them are happy to just pile up complaints and excuses, and will hand out advice to others even though they don't have their own shit together.

But like I say, I think it has more to do with the individual than the school. That's why I don't particularly recommend AI, either. I think Rebeccak is onto something when she talks about community college. (And yes, she's right, AI credits are worth less than cc credits...though supposedly the accreditation is getting better). If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn't go to AI. I'd probably look into cc's for most of my credits, do A LOT of private study with online tutorials, books, etc. (which is mostly what you'll be doing at any school anyway), then maybe finish up at a good state school (yay in state tuition!) or a flashy VFX school if I really wanted a degree. Actually, that's not true, if I had it all to do over again I'd run for the ****ing hills and leave this bullshit sweatshop industry behind me, take my college money and set up a surf shop in Mexico. But that's another story.

For the record, I do have one friend that quit AI "cause it sucks," then spent a couple of years in his basement studying, then got a job at a game studio...without a degree. Not a bad idea if you don't care about the degree part.

To sum up: try to get some credits on the cheap if you can. I'd recommend some cc classes (gen eds and art) even if you had a 4.0 in high school. And remember that a school can only help or hurt you so much...art study is a solitary endeavor and no one really has the ability to hold you down or hold you up. If you work hard you'll succeed. Any talk of "making industry connections" is mostly bullshit...when the cards are on the table, your work will speak for itself and get you more jobs than having the best brand name VFX school on your resume will. And like I said, I'm not real keen on taking advice from people that don't actually have much experience, or don't have anything to say other than that everything sucks. I tend to listen to people that actually have their shit together. I can't tell you how many times I meet people out there that say "Oh I went to AI for a few months and then quit cause it sucks, that school is such bullshit, I tell everyone to steer clear of it..." and then I ask them what they are doing now and they mumble and say "Uh, well, uh, I'm uh, looking into Gnomon, I think I'm gonna go there this year..." No industry experience, no real world knowledge, no alternative that has actually worked for them, just a bunch of talking shit and making excuses for their own failures.

(BTW - these comments aren't directed at anyone here - just based on the countless, inevitable comments that always come up whenever AI is brought up, online or in person. I apologize if this comes off nasty, I've just heard that whole AI bashing bit so many times and it gets a bit old, even if there is some truth to it)

[jesse92]

Thanks for the comment.. Really helpful jabuhrer.

[smalone3d]

Very nice post jabuhrer. I pretty much agree. It's not the school that decides the future of the artist, it's the artist themselves. Ai may not have the best reputation around these parts but really, it's about what you do with the education. It's a commitment, and motivation is key.

[JYoung]

Joseph made some really good points. Definitely go with a cc to start if you're going with a bachelor's, regardless of the school you decide on. I ended up with about a quarter of the debt that my friends had going to an Ai because I had a bunch of transfer credits. One surprising thing, was how many credits Ai gave me. I had a far worse time trying to get credits going to a state university.

[fig]

jabuhrer, great post. You're very right in that it all comes down to the individual, I have two friends who went to AI and ended up in very "name" CG jobs (though they both admit they went to AI simply to have some kind of degree and did pretty much all their learning on their own).

I think what often makes AI come off looking really bad is exactly what you mentioned, they admit everyone and then there doesn't seem to be much weeding out from there. You then end up with students graduating with work that isn't very good because they've never been told it wasn't any good. There are folks with real talent and ability mixed in there but they often get missed in the masses of mediocrity.

[MechanicalSiren]

Jabuhrer, that was an awesome post. I'm not at an AI school, but I am at Full Sail, which shares some similar traits. Jesse92, you might consider Full Sail as it also accepts anyone who is willing to pay and they don't care about your past grades. But it isn't an easy school. My first year here, so many of my class mates dropped out or failed out. And as Jabuhrer talked about, they complain and blame the school, which is very annoying to listen too as it's mostly just bitterness. The admissions people warn you before you apply that its very hard. They straight up tell you that many people fail out. They also tell you that even though Full Sail has a couple of art classes, its assumed that you're coming there with fairly strong art skills. They advise you to take at least a drawing class before starting school here. I did that and I found it very helpful. They cram as much information and as much work as is humanly possible every month into a full college level class, or even two college level classes some months. And it really is the same as a full college course. I went to a regular college before this, and these classes cram more info and more work into them then I got in most of my regular college classes. I took physics at my old college and then I took physics here and physics here was unbelievably harder. One of the biggest differences between here and an AI school is that here the school, despite their open admissions policy, and wanting to get as much of our money as humanly possible, they really do only want to graduate the best possible people; Full Sail is all about expanding and they are very concerned with constantly improving their reputation within the industry; and to do that, they need to make sure that only students who will help them improve their image graduate. But they're willing to accept students with lower grades so that if they flunk out, full sail gets to keep their money and they don't get a degree from full sail, so full sail's reputation stays in tact. I'm close to graduating now, and looking at how many loans I have to pay back really depresses me, but there's no way that I could have learned all of this stuff on my own. Sure, I could have learned the modeling part, the part I came here for, but the rest of it, the scripting, rigging, and even animating, I doubt I would have put much effort into those if I had gone to a different school that allowed me to specialize, or if I had tried to teach myself. As Jabuhrer pointed out about the AI schools, Full Sail is also big on us learning everything and being very well versed in all aspects of the cg process. Yes, I'm going to be in a lot of debt after this, but I think I did get something good for my money. But to Jesse92, if you do look at Full Sail, keep in mind that it's a very hard environment and a high percentage of people don't make it in the CA program. If you make it though, I think its worth it. It's kind of a double edged sword... with an open admisions policy, it gives people an opportunity that they can't get at a normal school if their grades weren't so great in the past. But taking that opportunity can leave you in a lot of debt with no degree if you're not careful.

[jesse92]

Thanks for the advicee MechanicalSiren .. :P

[AJSALL]

I too go to Full Sail, and I agree with everything MechanicalSiren (http://forums.cgsociety.org/member.php?u=356526) just said. A lot of people give it a bad rep just because they were lazy and undetermined. But Full Sail has a very powerful curriculum, and if your dedicated, you will achieve a lot at that school.

[AtomAndBrad]

Hey all. Another ILIC (Illinois Institute of Art Chicago) student here. I'm pretty much 98% done with my program (only have 2 gen ed's left). I've been at the school for coming up on 4 years now. The main reason for that duration was I was taking a lighter course load than normal. Now, I can find things that I absolutely agree with all over this thread, and I've certainly seen my fair share of AI-bashing around this forum in general. However, even though I haven't graduated I can definitely share a lot of thoughts with jabuhrer's post.

My main reasoning for coming to this school wasn't really because I couldn't get in anywhere else. It was because I didn't really look anywhere else. I knew that I wanted to move to Chicago because I had a lot of friends up here, so I began looking into schools. My original idea was to go into 3D animation, and literally the first place I found that seemed to have the kind of program I was looking for was AI. So I visited the school, took the tour, and got more information. After visiting, I ended up deciding to go into the Visual Effects & Motion Graphics (VEMG) program. It seemed like a much more well-rounded major since it not only encompassed 3D animation (though to a lesser extent), but traditional design, film, special effects, and motion graphics.

Within about a year, I began to notice what many of you have noticed. The quality of the student-base in terms of artistic talent and dedication was fairly sub-par. I quickly realized what I had gotten myself into and began to have buyer's remorse. But then I took my first motion graphics course. I excelled above the rest of the class, primarily because going into it I already had a solid foundation within After Effects, so I didn't have to spend as much time learning as I could DOING. This trend repeated itself throughout the rest of my time here. What people say about ending up teaching yourself most of the time is certainly true, IF you want to excel amongst the pack.

This isn't to say that the teachers at my school are bad. In fact, they've been one of my most valuable assets. While I can't honestly say that they've taught me a great deal in terms of technical skills, they HAVE pushed me in terms of my own abilities and have always expected more from me. They're wonderful people who I will remain personal and professional colleagues with for a long time.

Another major plus to my AI experience is the Career Services department. Now, a lot of this is second-hand knowledge, but from what I've been told by people directly related to these schools, the career placement at Columbia, SAIC, IDT, and Flashpoint is relatively lacking compared to AI (at least at my school). My personal career advisor seriously goes to town for her students and is out there talking to companies every day, getting us internships and jobs as best she can. Whereas (again, from what I've heard) at other schools, the career services department is just kinda there if you care to talk to them.

So, tl,dr; I would definitely say that my personal experience at AI has been a positive one, and several of my friends that have already graduated in my program are working at places like Digital Kitchen, Foundation, Radar, Daily Planet, Bridges, and more. And I do realize that this is a somewhat focused point-of-view since it's only really applying to VEMG and not animation in general, but, I can only tell it from how I see it.

Now all that being said. I WILL say that I certainly don't believe that my experience is going to be everybody's. I do know what's bad about the schools on a whole and that it won't work for all students and they'll simply end up in debt. So it's certainly important to heavily research other alternatives. And definitely go the community college route for as many general education courses as possible. That is my biggest regret, that I didn't even think of that as an option. But, live and learn! Best of luck to you.

[cutieturtle07]

Jesse92

I wouldn't go to AI. I was going to go to the Art Institute of Houston when I was 17 after graduating from high school. There are much better schools than that, that also don't get you into extreme debt. Plus transferring credits is a nightmare.

Right now I'm going to Sam Houston State in Huntsville, Texas. It's about an hour north of Houston. They have a BFA in Computer Animation Program here that is pretty decent. Plus many more majors or minors say if you wanted to minor in Computer Science, Graphic Design, Art History etc. It's a public University and a very recognized one as well. You don't need to go to a fancy school to get what you need. As they say you don't even need a degree, but I'm the type who needs a classroom setting plus I want a masters.

Here is the link: http://www.shsu.edu/~art_www/programs/computeranimation/statement.html

They give you an internship as well. You take a shit load of art class (mostly drawing). You do 2D and 3D. You take specific classes to animate, model, rig, textures, lighting, etc. When you are a senior, they make you build a website for yourself and make you build a demo reel to a specif specialization that you choose after completing most of your 3D courses.

Texas has plenty of jobs in animation. Houston, Austin, and Dallas are all great cities for that. But definitely if you want to be surrounded by LOTS of jobs, California is the place to be. Right now I am 20 years old and currently have about 2 years left from this University. If I don't land a job in 3D within my first year of graduating, I will more than likely apply to graduate school for Art History so that I can teach at a community college while I am perfecting my skills in 3D. <===(I don't know why this is underlined. The system wont let me undo it. Underline is not meant for intensity. Just ignore it) That way since most studios are project based anyway, I will at least have a decent part time job teaching to fill in the gaps. This of course is my own personal plan. I want to teach just as much as I want to do 3D.

Anyway, even if you go to AI for a year, most likely your credits won't transfer so you would have wasted your time and money. If you don't plan of completing your program there, Do Not Start. Trust me. You will waste too much money. If you need more info from me about Sam Houston let me know! Good luck.

[jesse92]

thanks for the reply cutieturtle07. i think i have a lot to think and plan.

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