The Maine College of Art
StudentsReview ::
The Maine College of Art - Extra Detail about the Comment | |||||||||||||||||||
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Educational Quality | B- | Faculty Accessibility | B+ |
Useful Schoolwork | B- | Excess Competition | C+ |
Academic Success | C+ | Creativity/ Innovation | C+ |
Individual Value | A | University Resource Use | B |
Campus Aesthetics/ Beauty | B | Friendliness | A- |
Campus Maintenance | C+ | Social Life | C+ |
Surrounding City | A | Extra Curriculars | B- |
Safety | B+ | ||
Describes the student body as: Friendly, Arrogant, Approachable, Broken Spirit, SnootyDescribes the faculty as: Friendly, Helpful |
Lowest Rating Excess Competition | C+ |
Highest Rating Individual Value | A |
Major: Design Arts - Industrial Design/Graphic Design/etc (This Major's Salary over time)
I transferred to this school as a sophomore and have gone through both phases of loving and hating it. The school itself provides a pretty high quality education, but the atmosphere created by the small, cliquey student body tends to be uninspiring. You have to be really dedicated to art in order to crank out the amount of work that will be expected of you, starting with your Foundation courses. Luckily, the faculty is helpful, available, and—dare I say—"chill." They are a diverse group of people experienced in their fields; never condescending or narrow-minded. The fact that MECA is in one giant building makes faculty and resources even more available. If you plan on living in the Res Halls, the dorms are only a short walk away. They tell you on the tour that Portland is safe—for the most part this is true, but don't walk alone at night. Most students start off in the dorms and quickly realize an apartment is the more enjoyable and affordable way to go. The RAs in the Res Halls are constantly on the warpath to try and "catch" kids, so if you party, I advise against living there. Most of the MECA social life occurs off-campus. There are a lot of great shows that come to Portland, and if you are 21+, lots of great bars. Avoiding the "MECA bubble" (your 400 or so fellow students) can be hard at times, and dating is lame because of the severely unbalanced boy to girl ratio. Girls, look off campus. Portland has many opportunities. This applies to both meeting new people and finding work. Overall, MECA is what you make it. I guarantee you a unique experience.