California College of the Arts

Date: Oct 27 2005
Major: Fine Arts - Painting/Sculpture/Photography/etc (This Major's Salary over time)
I moved to California from Ohio. I first went to the Academy of Art College - HATED it - its a horrible school. . .especially for art no creativity, is FOR profit and NOT regionally accredited. I left after one semester and transferred to CCA(C). They make it clear from the start that you're there to be a well-rounded artist and thinker, not a draftsman; although you have lots of time to develop your technical skill, it's really up to you to learn your own type of aesthetic. I'm a Painting/ Drawing Major, but started out as illustration. you have a lot of opportunity to dabble in other majors, but during junior/ senior year you really wanna be focused on your major. there is definitly a lot of "style- borrowing" amongst CCA students, but it depends on who you ask , as to whether thats a bad thing. Its a big enough school to have lots of class options, but small enough to feel like you can carve out your own niche in your department… but you have to try hard to set yourself apart. the sucky part about cca is that there are two campuses; i've had to have classes both in Oakland and in San Francisco in the same semester, and though there is a school shuttle, the timing is set up to cater to the studenst who live in the dorms in Oakland.

Overall, a pretty challenging, creative, and supportive atmosphere.