North Carolina State University - Raleigh

Date: Jul 07 2017
Major: Art & Design Department (This Major's Salary over time)
Overall, NC State University is not a bad school. The campus was beautiful, there were a lot of things to do, the food was good, and I met a lot of nice people. However, my problem lies with the Art + Design department. I majored in Art + Design with a concentration in animation, and I felt that the year that I spent was completely wasted. Design majors consist of a long studio that one takes every semester and this class is where you do the majority of your work for you major… except for if you're in animation. The first two studios involve nothing to do with animation or even basics and principles. The first semester was entirely based on architecture and industrial design with a little bit of fibers (the other main art + design concentration) thrown in. The class was graded on one's ability to be able to design and build constructions, something I certainly never learned how to do and certainly did not sign up to do, yet I was being graded for it. The second semester's studio was degrading to me as an artist. As someone who wants to peruse character animation, a field that is largely focused on creating works that mimic real life, I was forced to work only in abstract and representative art was taught to be less superior. The class seemed to be teaching for an entirely different major, teaching for as if I was going to go on and design chairs or sculptures. The only class I took that could somewhat contribute to my major was basic drawing, however it turned out awful. The professor was completely incompetent, proving time and time again that he had no idea what he was trying to teach, and I'm not exaggerating. He taught perspective wrong multiple times, made up words to try to explain his own made up ideas, and made us do assignments not because they would help us, but just because he thought about it and wanted us to try it out. I learned more in elementary school art class than I did in that drawing class. In conclusion, NC State is a great school if you want to be an engineer or an architect, but if you want to do art + design, specifically animation, beware.