Questions about the Academy of Art University

**NON DAIRY MILK** · February 20th, 2009, 02:37 PM

okay so im a senior in high school and my whole life i have considered myself a decent artist(not superb) but i enjoy drawing from time to time.anyways ive been searching for schools because i would like to get in the artistic side of video games. So the academy of art seems like a great school but i seen on a website that there graduation rate is only 33%? is this school extremely difficult or is there a reason for the low graduation rate?also do i stand a chance of making it there because im not a superb artist? because i live in ohio and i dont want to go all the way to san francisco if I'm not gonna be able to make it.

thank you

Edit: also i would be going for animation and visual effects if that makes any difference

**aguilas990** · February 20th, 2009, 04:42 PM

here is a 100+ page thread about AAU. I'm sure your concerns were talked about somewhere in there.

**Kaiyton** · February 24th, 2009, 12:25 AM

I actually considered AAU for awhile until my mother said she wouldn't pay for anything that wasn't East Coast. However, I still can remember a ton of stuff about it soo yeaa, I'm going to try to answer this question to the best of my knowledge (:

Academy of Art University has a 100% acceptance rate, which I'm sure you already know about. However, by the sophomore year, there is already an 80% drop out rate. This is due to the fact than many students take advantage of the 100% acceptance. They think since they did poorly in high school, they'll just study art. Unfortunately, many of them aren't cut out for it seeing as they've never even picked up a pencil in their entire life. Hence the reason there is an 80% dropout rate. Not everyone is cut out to be an artist.

However, a few do stay, continuing to struggle through their classes and trying to keep up with the other kids. But by their senior year, they obviously aren't ready yet to graduate. So there's some of the 33% that don't.

Others continue their education by transferring out their last year because they either missed credits and don't feel like paying the tuition so they go to a community college instead OR they decide that they want to continue their education of art in other fields so they just keep going with their art education without graduating until they've completed all they've wanted to know.

Academy of Art University is a great school. There's a lot of bad reputation about it because the art teachers make you work harder than those of other schools. Also, they're not allowed to give students A's (well, at least not in the Illustration department) unless they actually believe the student truly deserves. Therefore, kids constantly bad mouth the teachers as well...but it isn't the teacher's fault. Simply doing the work isn't going to get you an A at this school. But putting your time and effort into is. Also, people don't believe in the open admission policy this school has and that gets them some more bad mouthing, but I think it's a great idea to give artists of all skill levels who are willing to work this chance at getting into art school.

Well anyways, good luck and I hope you make the right choice (:

**Raileyh** · February 25th, 2009, 09:24 PM

I studied at the Academy for a loooong time - and graduated. I completely understand the 33% graduation rate. There is no acceptance policy and no portfolio review - which is strange considering AAU just hosted National Portfolio Day. Anyone can attend if they can pay for it with loans or out of pocket. So, the result is 13,000 students.

Many of their facilities are very nice, their computer labs are amazing. It can be very difficult to get attention when there are so many students - class sizes are 20+ students and many of their teachers are ok - some are amazing - some are horrible.

The tuition is at around $1800/class - all classes are 3 units and a BFA is 132 units. There are no private AAU scholorships. They may offer 3 units toward a BFA for incoming HS students that take the summer art experience, but they do not out give cash except for the Annual Spring Show, where the top prizes are around $2000.

Housing in SF is like Manhattan and the AAU student housing is as expensive as splitting a flat with a couple roommates.

A BFA from AAU will cost about $100,000 if you graduate in 2012 - 2013 - NOT including housing and supplies.

AAU is a 4 year program, but it will take around 5 years. They have an 8 semester breakdown, but I've never met anyone to do it in 4 years without transferring in units - maybe international students who do not work a job. Taking 15 units is insane at the Academy - most students go 12 units per semester and 3-6 units over summer. I was there for 11 semesters for my BFA.

Hope this helps, going to art school is hard.

Finding a school that is nurturing, has a relative small student body, and has working professionals that instruct is crucial to getting a solid foundational education in your field.

-H

**sweetoblivion314** · February 28th, 2009, 03:35 PM

Originally Posted by Raileyh

I studied at the Academy for a loooong time - and graduated. I completely understand the 33% graduation rate. There is no acceptance policy and no portfolio review - which is strange considering AAU just hosted National Portfolio Day. Anyone can attend if they can pay for it with loans or out of pocket. So, the result is 13,000 students.

Many of their facilities are very nice, their computer labs are amazing. It can be very difficult to get attention when there are so many students - class sizes are 20+ students and many of their teachers are ok - some are amazing - some are horrible.

The tuition is at around $1800/class - all classes are 3 units and a BFA is 132 units. There are no scholorships - NONE. If they say they offer one - they're lying. They may offer 3 units toward a BFA for incoming HS students that take the summer art experience, but they do not out give cash except for the Annual Spring Show, where the top prizes are $1000.

Housing in SF is like Manhattan and the AAU student housing is more expensive than just splitting a flat with a couple roommates.

A BFA from AAU will cost about $100,000 if you graduate in 2012 - 2013 - NOT including housing and supplies.

Oh, and AAU is not a 4 year program. More like 5 1/2 year. They have an 8 semester breakdown, but I've never met anyone to do it in 4 years without transferring in units - maybe international students who do not work a job. Taking 15 units is insane at the Academy - most students go 12 units per semester and 3-6 units over summer. I was there for 11 semesters for my BFA.

Hope this helps, going to art school is hard.

Finding a school that is nurturing, has a relative small student body, and has working professionals that instruct is crucial to getting a solid foundational education in your field.

-H

nice post. I just wanted to update some info.
Tuition is now $2010 a class and will rise again next semester.
Also the monetary prizes for the spring show are only for the fine art department and are entirely based on the proceeds of the Faculty Alumni auction. Last year the first prizes for each catagory were $1500.