The Ringling College of Art and Design

Date: Aug 18 2017
Major: Art & Design Department (This Major's Salary over time)
Ringling's mismanaged animation department desperately tries to play catch-up to modern industry standards, but is crippled by the lack of qualified professors. The professors with real experience are not qualified as a whole because they either only know one part of the computer graphics pipeline—and have to teach the whole package—or their resume is so dated that their knowledge base is no longer relevant. Despite their ignorance on many topics, they insist on a restrictive approach to learning focused on eliminating extra variables (i.e. students exploring new techniques). This is perhaps because they prioritize smoother operations over better learning. They cannot lay out a clear road map to success and refuse to learn from their mistakes, preferring to lay the blame on the student body rather than on themselves or their curriculum. Most successful students seem to do well in spite of the program, not because of it. As the years go on, expect the gradual decline in the technical quality of the work to continue.

Ringling is very academically rigorous on the surface level, but because in most areas they lack knowledge about what they are attempting to judge, it's dubious whether or not you can say it is truly rigorous.

It's worth mentioning that they like to dock your grades/fail you if you get too many absences (around four), even if you get sick. They are not that understanding, and if you are prone to illness you should watch out.

You're paying about sixty grand a year when you don't even need a degree to get work. Nothing you learn here cannot be learned for a cheaper price or for free.

Ringling does very well in the marketing department. I would advise you to do very thorough research on all your available options. Do not get into deep debt because you think you need to go to a reputable school to do well in animation, film, games, etc, where the degree hardly matters (or at most, where you got the degree from doesn't). There are plenty of online options that you can learn from while getting another degree. If you can afford it, consider Gnomon.

Ringling is good for you if you:

Are willing to take emotional abuse in some sick notion that learning animation is some sort of boot camp process. Are willing to sleep 0-5 hours a night if you actually want to finish your work and make it look good (unless you work especially fast, or are willing to sacrifice parts of your assignments). Have an abnormally high respect for authority figures even when they lack respect for you.

The things you are learning are not that important in the grand scheme of things. Don't sacrifice your health.