TAD as an alternative to university? Any students uner 19?

[extra-card]

Are there any full time TAD students straight out of high school? I'm considering applying for next fall however I'm curious as to what others who have done this think so far. If anyone who has already been through college (any college) and is a current TAD student has anything to say about the similarities/differences of the two, that would be great as well.

Thanks!

[Thyname]

I'd be glad to answer your questions, but I don't frequent these forums often. I am also very busy tonight, but if you would like to shoot me an email then I can get back to you then.

I have a degree in another discipline but TAD is my first Art education. We do have a student who came straight out of high school, but I would have to say that many of our students have a degree from a 4 year college.

The Austin POD demographic is 3 people have degrees (2 have art ones), 1 of those people was previous working in the field, 3 have incomplete degrees or associates. All in all, 2 have no previous art trainings and 4 do.

My email is thyname[at]gmail.com

-Evan Norman

[Craz]

Are there any full time TAD students straight out of high school? I'm considering applying for next fall however I'm curious as to what others who have done this think so far. If anyone who has already been through college (any college) and is a current TAD student has anything to say about the similarities/differences of the two, that would be great as well.

Thanks!

Hi.

Jon Neimeister and I are the only TAD students, as far as I'm aware, who are coming straight out of High School, or, in my case, the UK equivalent. We're both full time students.
Although I can probably approximate his opinion, I won't speak for him, so I'll see if I can get him to hit up this thread.
As for me, I wish I could have done this a year earlier. TAD has only been going for a couple of months, and my pre-TAD work already seems like a joke. Evan said in the above post that he was busy, and I know that must be true. TAD is a LOT of work, but that's because we're getting a LOT of information. If you're going into the full time program, be aware that it is appropriately named. The teachers are as interested in the students not being overloaded as the students are, and the internet-based nature of the classes means that schedules are flexible- while the classes are live, they get recorded, so they can be watched on demand. It's certainly manageable, but it's also intense.
It's important for me to say that every bit of effort you put into it comes back to you twofold. Like I said, it's been a lot of work, but I've improved so much that looking at my work before I started TAD is actually a painful experience.
Your housing situation is going to be something you'll have to consider. Obviously, you'll need a place to live, and if your parents won't put you up (translation: if you'll need to pay for housing), then I'm not the person to talk to. I've no experience of trying to keep a job while attending TAD, and neither does Jon. It's possible to do it, but you'll need talk to other students about how they manage that.

I've never heard TAD compared unfavourably to another college or university, including art schools. It certainly destroys the state art 'education' I'd had before it. I am NOT the kind of person who chalks up every good thing in their life to luck. It annoys me when people say they're so 'lucky' or 'blessed' to have bliss or success when clearly they got it by giving their best and by giving up rest to work. (I've been listening to Eminem and I couldn't help but rap that part.) I am not lucky that I got into TAD. While you don't have to have any particular level of skill to be accepted, I took the initiative and did the work to make a portfolio, apply and organise the funding of it. However, I am lucky that the first year of TAD started when I left school. The timing couldn't have been more perfect for me. It's a great feeling to be on the front lines of this new wave in art history, and I didn't have to mosey around for any period in between school and TAD. I was planning on making art professionally after leaving school, but, honestly, with my lack of talent and the time drain of a largely useless schooling, I wasn't quite good enough. Not to have any real success, anyway. TAD caught me, and there's no way I won't be at a good professional level by the end of the first year.
Being able to take class from home is awesome. It saves so much time- no commute, we can get in more class hours, and work doesn't have to be interrupted when class ends. That last one is a big deal. It feels like TAD has become a part of my home, which is in dramatic opposition to the transient feeling of moving from classroom to classroom. The folks at the PODs take class in the same way, but they get the advantage of a physical hub with other students and instructors.
There's so much to say, a lot of which has been said in the first impressions thread in this section. If you haven't already, check it out. In short, I've no regrets about doing this and it's only been good so far. Just be prepared to put the work in.

- Alex Johnston

[Andantonius]

I replied to this by e-mail, but for anyone else wondering about the same thing I'll drop it here as well. : )

I think if you're wanting to be a professional artist, going to TAD right out of high school is about the best thing you can do, as long as you're prepared to keep up with the workload. As Alex Johnston (Craz) mentioned, a ton of information is being given out here, and it requires a lot of work to be able to really process it all; but all that work comes back in the form of extremely fast improvement in a lot of different areas. We're studying stuff that I would've never even thought to study on my own, and I've heard other students who've already been through other art schools say they were never taught this information.

As for whether doing it straight out of high school is a good idea for you personally, it depends on how self-motivated you are and how you feel about working with an older age group. As Alex said, full-time students really are full-time; we've got about 30 hours of class time alone, and then a good amount of homework on top of it. Right now, I'm probably investing around 60 hours a week in to TAD; and it's tough, but my stuff is improving unbelievably fast. So if you're going to have to work a job while in school to pay for tuition or housing, it's gonna be really tough to keep up and you probably won't have much time for anything else, haha. It's certainly not impossible, a good number of students here are doing it and keeping up fairly well, but it seems like a big stretch. If you're family is willing to support you through the program, that's gonna be the best way to do it and focus on spending as much time as you possibly can working on your studies and not worrying about work until after you graduate. I think you'll get the most out of the program if you can do it that way.

But in the end, TAD is a great experience. I don't regret my decision to come here in any way, and I'm having a great time learning so much and working so hard. The instructors are great, the students are great, and the education is great. Nothing has come up so far that makes me wish I'd gone to a different school.

So in short, it's a big workload and takes a lot of dedication, but if you can manage it right out of high school you're gonna be way ahead of the pack.

[extra-card]

Thanks for replying - I know I already emailed but I wanted to say thanks on the actual forum too :)

[Jason Manley]

As said in the other thread, we are actually lightening up the homework load for the semester starting in Jan. I expect about one hour per week of homework on top of the work time spent in class. Students will spend more when they are gung ho and that is welcome.


JM