The Ringling College of Art and Design

Date: Feb 05 2006
Major: Unknown (This Major's Salary over time)
i'm a first year CA student from out of state and although Ringling looks and seems really great from what they show you and tell you there are a few things you should know before considering this school. Yes i will admit that Ringling is one of the top schools for computer animation, they seem negect other majors. Unless you are interested in Computer Animation or Graphic Design, don't waste your money and go else where. the nice weather doesnt help much when theres never anything to do and your school is placed in the middle of the ghetto. Yes the school is in the ghetto, sarasota looks really nice until you travel down MLK(the road that runs through the school) and 301. Ringling is fortune enough to be placed in what most people would call the projects. At any point in time whether its during the day or at night you will have an opportunity to see crack-heads, prostitutes, and bums. one of my first weeks i had an opportunity to see some prostitutes get picked up maybe 20 or 30 ft. from the dorms. But it's not so much the crackheads or the prostitutes at will bother you, sure youll be asked by them for money and cigarettes atleast twice a day. It's the rest of the neighborhood that you need to worry about, there's been instances of students getting mugged walking back from the gas station to their dorms(on school property), or students getting shot at or somethings as innocent as being yelled at and occasionally spit at while walking or crossing MLK.rd. But my favorite part about this school is that we or maybe even you will get a chance to pay almost 40K to go here and not feel safe or comfortable. The school is very busy spending money on trying to expand and make a better name for themselves but seem to hide a lot from the public. For instance not too many people know about this but yes a Graphic Design teacher was arrested and charged with possession of Cocaine. The student body found out because she was in the news paper for it, but the schools seemed to inform anyone about it where the faculty wasn't informed and she was considered out on a medical leave(yeah good medical leave). Safety is an important i must say, and there is security driving around on their golf carts but they're mainly around to give you the sense of security but their only job and purpose on this campus is to provide a false sense of security, drive teachers from their class rooms to their cars(because the teachers don't even feel comfortable walking to their mercedes and bmw's) and locking up the gates(to keep the crackheads and bums out). To top all that there was also an instance where along greensboro ln. right near the fishbowl(mailroom) where students that live in the dorms park their cars had their cars vandalized. A group of between 10-12 african americans decided that it'd be a lot of fun to jump and run across every single roof and hood along that road. Along greensboro ln. there were about 15 or 16 cars parked and every single one of them were trashed, people's hood were smashed enough to make the paint chip and the roofs were smashed in enough to be very well visible from the inside of the car. After that incident happened, the police were called in imediately but somehow it took them about 20 min. or more to come. While the students stood outside security drove past a number of times on their golf carts but didn't seem to care or make any effort to help, but aren't they employeed to protect us and OUR property while on Ringling School of Art and Design property. Greensboro Ln. is a road that runs along ringling and on the other side are students housing which is owned by ringling, so wouldn't that mean that it is still their responsibility? This school is only good for one major, computer animation. The school seems to neglect all other majors and is too busy jacking up the cost of admission to pay off their new buildings and buying out the property around the school and the city of sarasota. Unless you are dedicated to succeed at computer animation and can afford ringling's outragous tuition should you consider this school.. If you are truely considering this school, don't do it unless you are interested in computer animation and also take the time to ask some serious questions when you get your tour and take the opportunity to see the MLK and the beautiful community surrounding this school.