Oh
SCAD... where do I start? I am a photography major
and also a transfer student from New Hampshire, and this
upcoming quarter will be my third and last quarter at
scad. First I will tell you about some of the
foundation courses. So I guess I'm starting with the cons
of scad.
Last spring I was required to take Art
History: Survey of Western Art 1, which wasn't an entire
waste of my time or money, but it was for
several of my classmates. I had professor Hamilton, and he
was the worst professor I have had at scad thus
far. There were 26 students in my class, and 15
of us passed, most with a C at best (I
earned a B). Several of my classmates (including myself) complained
to the head of the department about him, and the
department head gave us her promise that something would be
done about him. Guess what they did? They offered him
an extra art history class to teach.
The first thing
you need to know about scad, is that they do
not give a crap about you. You are a number,
a wallet.
The 2D design class you are required to
take is a total waste of money and time, along
with drawing 1. Scad requires you to take endless foundation
courses that are totally unrelated to your major. And for
what? I still have no idea.
Each class is $3000,
and I can most definitely say that only one out
of six classes I have taken so far was worth
even half of that, and that was intro to ballet.
But that class wasn't even worth 3 grand.
Two, Paula
Wallace is totally evil. She makes over $2 million dollars
a year and only owns the school because she stole
it from her husband via their divorce.
Scad may be
the largest and 'most comprehensive' art school in the world,
but it is most definitely not the best.
Three, the
students. I have found a great group of friends here,
but it took me two quarters to find them. I
would say about 40% of the students here are arrogant,
self centered rich kids who were only accepted because they
could pay full tuition out of pocket. I would say
only about 20% of the students here are chill, or,
'normal', and the other 40% are either totally socially inept
or so broken spirited they just gave up on everything
and everyone all together.
And if you live in the
dorms, do not expect anyone in your hall to talk
to you. No one EVER comes out of their rooms.
Four, the professors. I have had six teachers so far,
and only two I felt really knew what they were
doing. My photo 2 professor was a total joke, along
with my black and white film professor. I learned absolutely
nothing in either of those classes, and photography is my
major. I am so disappointed with this school. On critique
days in my photography classes, we would hang our projects
on a wall and the whole class would critique them,
and some of the work that was displayed looked like
it took 20 minutes to make. Most of the students
I have met here are not very dedicated or interested
in being the best. I am not saying my work
is awesome, I was just expecting to be a little
more impressed, or at least challenged. My poetry teacher and
ballet teacher were the only good professors I have had
here. I am very disappointed with the professors in my
major and also the curriculum for my major classes. I
expected the classes to be much more challenging, but they
feel like high school work.
And both of my photo
classes consisted of nothing but conceptual work, which I did
not enjoy.
Pros:
There are things I like about
my school. MOST (not all) of the photo printers in
the photography building work and are very up to date,
and the library is pretty cool. The schools biggest club
as far as I know is swing club, which is
a lot of fun and this past quarter I went
sky diving for only $120 with the outdoor adventure club.
The student activities council also hosts a yearly Halloween (Masquerade)
dance, which almost all of the freshman attend.
Diversity!
I love scad for it's diversity, and that's about it.
I have no American friends at my school, all of
my friends are either from Korea, China, Africa, the Caribbean,
India, Dubai, Hawaii, Switzerland, Afghanistan or Turkmenistan. Once I transfer
this will probably be the one thing I will miss
most about scad, the diversity and my awesome friends.
Savannah/Danger
Factor:
Savannah as a city is beautiful, although the
tourists can get annoying after awhile.
And I would say
it's a relatively safe city, as long as you don't
venture out at night by yourself. Three of my friends
have been mugged on their way back from the library
at night.
Last spring a seventeen year old boys body
showed up in the disgusting river near the Weston dorms/Cafe
scad, and last month a woman's body showed up in
the river down on river st.
And three weeks
ago there was a huge drug bust outside of Arnold
hall, which is where all of the english/art history courses
are held, and two scad students were killed during the
burst.
I read online that there are 25 homicides a
year in Savannah.
I walk around at night by myself
only when I absolutely have to, but I'm from a
town with a population of 4000, and I have never
felt threatened or scared when venturing about Savannah.
Although I
do carry mace with me!
Food/Dorms:
Never eat
at Cafe scad, I had food poisoning for three weeks
because of that place. I can't say JO's is much
better either, but I live in Oglethorpe house so I
have no choice but to eat there. I actually like
living in O-house, with the exception of the huge price
tag that comes with living on campus. The rooms in
o-house are a decent size and the dorm is in
a really good location, everything is within walking distance from
o-house; CVS, Forsyth Park, awesome restaurants, etc
Oh and Health
services is a total joke. I went there with a
bad cold and the “doctor” told me I was pregnant!
She didn't give me a urine test or anything, she
felt my stomach and sent me on my way. And
I was most definitely not pregnant! Crazy crazy crazy!!!!
I
think I have said it all. Obviously I am very
bias and anti-scad, but if you are still interested in
attending, my advice to you is this...
visit the school
more than once, talk to the students there about their
classes and their feelings about scad, and sit in on
as many classes in your major as you possibly can.
There are many students here that are totally in love
with scad, it just isn't the right school for me.
It is too expensive and the financial aid they offer
is total crap, the social scene is lacking (I don't
mean parties, although there aren't any of those either), and
most of the students/professors here suck.
And I also know
several alumni who graduated within the last three years that
are still unemployed or are working in minimum wage retail
jobs.
Scad is just not worth the money. Spend your
money on a school that deserves it, on a school
that actually cares about you and whether or not you
succeed.
Articles
This summary sounded extremely biased. I just started my 3rd quarter at scad and have loved every single aspect about the school so far. Not one of this person's points is even remotely as bad as what she described them as being. When it comes to professors, you have to do some research first to find out which teacher would be the best match for you, and for that there are a number of "rate-my-professor" websites pertaining to scad teachers. They let you filter through the bad teachers and allow you to get some extremely good ones. That's just some common sense practice...you don't sign up for a $3000 class without doing some research first. Going in blindly is just stupid...And another thing...This school is amazing at giving students individual attention! I can't believe this person wrote that scad only thinks of you as another wallet. That's complete bullshit...if you were to go to a normal college (with 300 people per class) the professor wouldn't give a fuck who you were...but at scad, they remember you're names and they honestly try to help you develop into a full-fledged artist. SCAD is awesome, pure and simple, so please do some more research for yourself about this college then just listening to reviews of people who had bad experiences. You'll thank yourself for it in the end. :)
I am beginning my Junior year here at scad and have to say, though there have been ups and downs to the experience - this review does not really do justice to the resources the school makes available to the students.
College is all about educating yourself, not having someone else program your brain. Scad lives up to that, especially for an art school, exceptionally well.
Granted - I am a film student, not a photography student - but my experience has been that, like most colleges - there are good, friendly, hard working people who are worth being friends with, and plenty of people not worth being friends with - finding your group is certainly your own responsibility.
The same can be said about the professors. There are many who are excellent, some are not so excellent. One of the great things about scad is the administration's active refusal to give tenure to professors. On the surface this may seem like a bad thing, but in reality, at a highly technically and business oriented art school it is an important resource for students and the administration to be able to remove and refine the faculty instructing the students.
I have felt that with most of my professors, they will work outside class with me to help me reach my full potential. Savannah is a beauitful town, and sure there is crime, but I have never personally felt any more at risk then the times when I've lived in Paris or New York. It is a beautiful town with a thriving artistic community that once discovered is extremely rewarding.
Overall - education at the university level is what you make of it. All you can really expect is the maximum resources and mentorship possible from your school - and scad CERTAINLY meets that criteria. I have never felt that as a film student, there was a resource that I did not have access to, or a question that I could not have fielded by my teachers. I look forward to the next two years of my undergraduate degree here, and greatly encourage any film students out their who are considering the school to consider the following - I could have chosen to attend UCLA, NYU, or USC, but I chose SCAD, and two years in I would gladly make the same choice. Don't spend your formative years studying your craft, developing your style, and philosophy in the same city you'll spend most of your career (new york, los angeles) venture somewhere outside those bubbles and form your opinions and skill set here - where it is safe from the norm. You'll thank yourself for that decision later! Best wishes.