http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/SFAI_comments.html Life at SFAI - Comments en http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/SFAI_comments.html I love SFAI. The student body is interesting and creative, and the teachers expect a lot from students. This is the school for students who push themselves. If you are lazy or unmotivated, this is NOT... Wed, 13 May 2009 10:53:09 GMT StudentsReview 186-60273 Copyright 2009 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 186-60273 186 60 Art & Design Department Female Undergraduate Class 2012 1st Year Positive I love SFAI. The student body is interesting and creative, and the teachers expect a lot from students. This is the school for students who push themselves. If you are lazy or unmotivated, this is NOT the school for you. It seems that most people who do not enjoy the school are people who either do not push themselves, or people who don't really know what they want. Foundations are pretty much non-existent, so take a lot of classes when you first enter the school so that you may learn. Wed, 13 May 2009 10:53:09 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/SFAI_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/SFAI_comments.html The San Francisco Art Institute is great if you are at least moderately self-motivated and looking to grow as an individual and an artist. Your goals should aim more towards working the gallery scene ... Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:24:41 GMT StudentsReview 186-45989 Copyright 2009 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 186-45989 186 60 Art & Design Department Male Undergraduate Alumnus Class 2000 Positive The San Francisco Art Institute is great if you are at least moderately self-motivated and looking to grow as an individual and an artist. Your goals should aim more towards working the gallery scene than landing some 9 to 5 with a professional title. It is a wonderful place to learn if you are interested in exploring multiple-mediums or working in cross-disciplinary areas. It's for those

If you're the kind who will just coast along if allowed to, you can probably get through most of your time at SFAI without doing much work. However, if you are interested in doing more, whether with-in a studio class (pushing an assignment, bringing in ideas from other classes), extra-curricularly (starting clubs, getting involved with the direction of the school/department), etc, you can do that here, and find support for it. Some of the other art school's I've had experience with are looking for students to follow the assignment to the letter, and are more concerned with generating aesthetically correct pieces than creating conceptually challenging works.

There are alot of interesting things happening and unique people at SFAI for a student to soak up knowledge from and create experiences with. But if you just want to hang out and do the minimum there is little that will get in your way (you'd be wasting a lot of time and money!) It is a great school for a bright and/or interested student who doesn't just want to learn how to get a job.

That said, if all you want to do is learn how to get a job (become a professional photographer, animator, videographer, etc.) there may be other school's that can provide more technical information. The education you get from this school is more far-reaching than industry knowledge. The growth a student can experience in critical thinking, the ability to articulate those insights, and then express them in new and unique ways is incredibly valuable, if not entirely marketable.

SFAI has a wonderful campus with good, if not great, facilities. The people in each department willing to help our more than make-up for any of the equipments' short-comings. San Francisco is an amazing city with so much happening culturally (art shows, theater, food, lgbt community, political groups, etc), geographically (beaches, hills, redwoods, mountains, etc), and nightlife (clubs, movies, music, bowling, bars, etc).

The school has an amazing history (over 135 years old - Ansel Adams founded the photo dept!) and strong reputation for being on the forefront of contemporary art. It might not be for everyone, but you should add SFAI to your list and come see it if your interest is in Fine Arts. Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:24:41 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/SFAI_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/SFAI_comments.html The San Francisco Art Institute is great if you are at least moderately self-motivated and looking to grow as an individual and an artist. Your goals should aim more towards working the gallery scene ... Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:24:13 GMT StudentsReview 186-45988 Copyright 2009 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 186-45988 186 60 Art & Design Department Male Undergraduate Alumnus Class 2000 Neutral The San Francisco Art Institute is great if you are at least moderately self-motivated and looking to grow as an individual and an artist. Your goals should aim more towards working the gallery scene than landing some 9 to 5 with a professional title. It is a wonderful place to learn if you are interested in exploring multiple-mediums or working in cross-disciplinary areas. It's for those

If you're the kind who will just coast along if allowed to, you can probably get through most of your time at SFAI without doing much work. However, if you are interested in doing more, whether with-in a studio class (pushing an assignment, bringing in ideas from other classes), extra-curricularly (starting clubs, getting involved with the direction of the school/department), etc, you can do that here, and find support for it. Some of the other art school's I've had experience with are looking for students to follow the assignment to the letter, and are more concerned with generating aesthetically correct pieces than creating conceptually challenging works.

There are alot of interesting things happening and unique people at SFAI for a student to soak up knowledge from and create experiences with. But if you just want to hang out and do the minimum there is little that will get in your way (you'd be wasting a lot of time and money!) It is a great school for a bright and/or interested student who doesn't just want to learn how to get a job.

That said, if all you want to do is learn how to get a job (become a professional photographer, animator, videographer, etc.) there may be other school's that can provide more technical information. The education you get from this school is more far-reaching than industry knowledge. The growth a student can experience in critical thinking, the ability to articulate those insights, and then express them in new and unique ways is incredibly valuable, if not entirely marketable.

SFAI has a wonderful campus with good, if not great, facilities. The people in each department willing to help our more than make-up for any of the equipments' short-comings. San Francisco is an amazing city with so much happening culturally (art shows, theater, food, lbgt community, political groups, etc), geographically (beaches, hills, redwoods, mountains, etc), and nightlife (clubs, movies, music, bowling, bars, etc).

The school has an amazing history (over 135 years old - Ansel Adams founded the photo dept!) and strong reputation for being on the forefront of contemporary art. It might not be for everyone, but you should add SFAI to your list and come see it if your interest is in Fine Arts. Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:24:13 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/SFAI_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/SFAI_comments.html The faculty here is absoloutely world-class. The administration is a mess, but that is true of almost every university, big or small. The amount of freedom granted to the students is superb, ad ther... Mon, 15 Oct 2007 04:31:39 GMT StudentsReview 186-41643 Copyright 2009 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 186-41643 186 18 Fine Arts - Painting/Sculpture/Photography/etc Male Undergraduate Class 2011 1st Year Positive The faculty here is absoloutely world-class. The administration is a mess, but that is true of almost every university, big or small. The amount of freedom granted to the students is superb, ad there is still a pretty strict emphasis on being exceptionally productive. The student body is not quite up to par with my expectations, but the faculty exceeds the level of competance I expected by leaps and bounds. Mon, 15 Oct 2007 04:31:39 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/SFAI_comments.html http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/SFAI_comments.html I attended the school for a year, because I heard about how "prestigious" it was. I got there and found the exact opposite to be true. They are an utter mess! They have no money and use every mechnism... Sun, 30 Sep 2007 01:44:38 GMT StudentsReview 186-41435 Copyright 2009 StudentsReview, Ecliptical Technologies, Inc. 186-41435 186 60 Art & Design Department Female Undergraduate Class 2009 1st Year Negative I attended the school for a year, because I heard about how "prestigious" it was. I got there and found the exact opposite to be true. They are an utter mess! They have no money and use every mechnism possible to try to extract more cash from the students. They send you running in circles over the most basic questions- no one gives a straight answer. The teachers are extremely lazy and unprofessional. It seems that many of them develop unhealthy sexual feelings toward the students. They have no money and are very lacking in art equipment. The list of the negative aspects of the school could fill a novel. Oh, they bounced my refund check. There is a tendency of students killing themselves or attempting suicide on campus. If you question the validity of the art theory they are trying to promote, the faculty will try to destroy you. Sun, 30 Sep 2007 01:44:38 GMT http://www.studentsreview.com/CA/SFAI_comments.html