The Academy of Art University

Date: Feb 14 2005
Major: Unknown (This Major's Salary over time)
Okay, this is the first time articulating my "Academy Experience" since dropping out way back in 1998. I was originally enrolled in the program where when you have a Bachelor's Degree in non-arts but you spend a year beefing up your portfolio (which of course I didn't have one) and are admitted into the Graduate program.

Anyways, I had graduated w/ a bachelor's in english (1994) and virtually no art training. I used to draw my own comics and stuff at school (anything to avoid writing papers). Unfortunately, the academy managed to quash what natural creativity I had for years.

My first phone interview with a "counsellor" (i.e. salesperson) promised so much that would never be delivered. He said that with a year's study in the accelerated program I would be able to get into the graduate program, eventhough he had never seen my portfolio…

Flash forward to my first year at the academy. It was clear right off the bat that my personal style was "wrong" (C- grades). When it was time for my "review" my portfolio was filled with pitiful attempts to mimic the "academy style" (and of course I took everything they said as gospel without thinking they could be wrong). Because there was no way to get into the graduate program I decided to go for a second bachelor's degree.

I did manage to make some marked improvement in giving them the style they wanted. My grades improved a bit (C+/B-) in spite of some terrible teachers (I was in a section of Design and Color that EVERY STUDENT withdrew from because the teacher was so bad. They reluctantly gave us all a refund.). Of course there were some great teachers (like Shannon Abbey) but they were few and far between.

I was ino my full second year of classes when I discovered that I couldn't transfer to another schools because they weren't accredited (are they now?).

Going into my third year I'd had enough. It was too much of a struggle between bad teachers, the adminstration, and having to work full-time that I finally said f*** it and I dropped out. About two weeks after dropping out, I painted a self-portrait. It was the first time I actually ENJOYED painting! I was finally free of the Academy's drudgery. After being laid-off from my job in 2001 I took a couple of refresher courses at City College. I was finally able to synthesize what I had actually learned at the Academy (the tuition being 1/40th of the academy's certainly didn't hurt). I'm now doing animation, Flash, and game design. I have no regrets attending the Academy, I just wish it hadn't cost me $60,000 in loans.