is Academy of Arts a good school to go to

#1741

Hi

I am applying for 3D Character Animation and VFX in AAU for this year Fall. I am ready to give my best and put extra effort to best utilize the university and get placed in high end studios. I almost applied after being impressed by the feed backs found in the internet, but then applying to AAU was to put to an temporary holdw as I was disturbed by few of the posts in few discussion forums. I would like to summarize those negative comments and my inference to the comments as follows

[ul]
[li]
[/li]It is said reportedly that AAU is expensive - Am curious to know how expensive it isā€¦ Can any one give me an approximate expense in number for a year

[li]It is said reportedly that Drop Out Rate is high - Am curious to know, what could be the reason?
[/li]
[li] No proper staff/faculty as they will always be busy - Am curious to know how far are they busy
[/li]
[/ul]

I would like to hear from some body who is a student of AAU at present

Naren Naidoo request to share your email id / mobile no. I would like to ask more specific queries in detail

Also, Since I have to support my tuition fees on my own, I would like to know, how easy to seek financial aid like stipend to get in this university

please reply as soon as possible. All your opinions will help me in making my decision

Thanks a lot in Advance

#1742

-Yep, itā€™s expensive ($2500 a class)
-Iā€™m not sure about the drop out rate, but they seem to admit almost anyone, so itā€™s no surprise people are dropping out after seeing how much work needs to be done.
-Many of the teachers work in the industry, so they are pretty busy. Other times they are just busy from being a teacher. This is pretty normal in any good schoolā€¦people are busyā€¦
Iā€™m not sure if youā€™re asking about something else.
-I didnā€™t have any problems getting loans.
-Overall I really like the school, teachers are knowledgeable and experienced and a lot of the students are very talented, so itā€™s cool to feed off each other. There are exceptions to both statements, but thatā€™s life.

#1743

Hi Thanks for the information.

I am @ 25 years seeking BFA as my second degree with a Bachelors In Computer Science but due to the deep passion towards animation, am taking a huge step out of a well secured straight forward simple life of a software engineer with a salary of 60k dollars to a student in Animation Industry which is filled with job insecurityā€¦ butā€¦I like doing animation, so am gonna take this risk for sureā€¦

Since, I already have a bachelors in computer science, AAU agreed to waive of the first two years like, I may have to take some 67 units. I need to know how much it is going to cost me for two years in SFO along with the living costā€¦

Assuming that, I gonna put everything that the university demands, what could be my initial salaryā€¦

Life is once and am gonna take a big riskā€¦but that is what I wantā€¦animationā€¦hollywoodā€¦is deep in my veinsā€¦

I am just trying to calculate the risk from you guys and mitigate it

#1744

Hi
Iā€™m new here and saw the thread about the AAUā€¦ so I decided to register.
wellā€¦Iā€™m from a foreign country, soā€¦Iā€™m pretty confused about the AAUā€¦
its kind of a newbie questionsā€¦ but hope you could help me.
Firstā€¦ How long the animation and visual effects course takes? 3 years? 4?
And itā€™s focused in 3d animation only? I want to apply but I prefer the classical/2d animation.
Besidesā€¦ I donā€™t have any knowledge in animation fieldā€¦ but I do have some experience in drawing, can I advance some classes with this?

#1745

Im a Animation student at AAU, and its usually 5 years, but you can make it 4 with some extra work, in the animation n vissual effects program, you can choose something to specialize on, you get to choose from 3d animation, 2d animation, 3d modeling, or VFX.
I am not sure, but if your portfolio is good enough you might be able to waive some of the foundation courses

#1746

Thank you so much for the information, jesse92

Btw, I have another question. I saw the online aplication and I have some options in the ā€œarea of specific interestā€. I canā€™t find any classical or 2D animation option in there.
The only thing I saw was the Visual Developmentā€¦but Iā€™m not sure what Visual Development means, and wich professional areas we could reach after finishing this specific course. Could you help me?
(Sorry Iā€™m totally new in this animation world.)

#1747

Well, i dont think that actually really matters at all, just apply to the major you want, and when you start classes you will get the basic stuff everyone gets in their first semester, and by the second semester if you know what path you want to take for example 2d animation, your advisor will then focus your schedule in 2d classes instead of 3d.

#1748

Hey guys, I have a quick question about the Pixar courses that are apparently being offered at AAU again.

Iā€™m considering starting the MFA Animation program for the next spring semester, and while Iā€™m not basing my choice solely on these classes, Iā€™m wondering if you can still take the classes as a graduate. I know that I donā€™t have all the facts about them, but from what Iā€™ve pieced together from the random forums Iā€™ve scoured in search of info, Iā€™ve gathered that they are listed as undergraduate. Iā€™ve looked through the course catalog and have found what Iā€™m about 80% sure are the Pixar classes (they arenā€™t actually called ā€œPixar classā€ in the catalog) and they are indeed undergraduate, technically. As a graduate, can I still attempt to enter these classes and can they count as acceptable electives?

Any help is greatly appreciated. Like I said, Iā€™m not trying to build my education around these classes, but I want to have all the info I can possibly have about the subject just becauseā€¦ who wouldnā€™t?

#1749

At the Academy of Art any graduate student can take any undergraduate class after their midpoint review, as part of the mandatory 18 credits in Directed Studies. So I can assure you that, even if those classes are only offered as undergrad classes, you can still take them as part of your MFA.

#1750

Okay thanks, I wasnā€™t sure how the school managed having the undergrad and grad classes completely separate. When I was doing my undergrad, there were only maybe 5 or 6 grad students in our department, and they were usually mixed into classes with undergrads, doing their own projects or something.

#1751

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