Ringling questions :/

[RileyD]

I'm applying for the Ringling summer PreCollege thing, and I would love to go to Ringling. I love the location, the price is right for me because it seems worth it, but if I go I don't know what I would want to major in.
My ideal career would be a concept artist and maybe a partial writer for video games. I love the problem-solving aspect. But I also want to learn how to make the actual games so I can be more useful and maybe get paid a little more.
Is Ringling's GAD good for this?
Or should I look for other colleges?
Or should I just go into animation?
Is GAD considered a "lower" art form from CA?
Is the illustration department worth looking into?
Is anyone else going/ has gone to the precollege program?

I'm a junior, btw. I'm stressing so bad over this, I feel like I don'thave enough time to get good asdfghjkl. I'm trying to focus on just working my ass off to improve but these questions keep popping up.

[themegagod]

I personally want to become a GAD myself. I'm torn between studying CA and GAD but After having a discussion with my mother I'm more set on becoming a GAD than I was before.

It sounds like what you'd like to learn is all contained within the GAD program, though I'm not 100% sure on that. After looking over student and alumni blogs of GAD program they seem to have to cover many of those aspects.

I don't believe that GAD is lower than CA, but rather it is different. If you have an information booklet with a course outline, you should be able to see that the GAD and CA programs for about the first year and a half are literally taking the same classes. both programs are structured the same as well, and often the only difference is that CA will be taking computer animation I or computer animation II, and GADs will be taking game art I or game art II.

I think there is a bit of a stigma on the GAD program right now because it is a younger program. CA has been around for a long time, and in that time has won award after award after award. the GAD program is still an infant in terms of how long a college course has been around. It's only had I believe 2-3 graduating classes. yet from what I've read, many of the students from these classes have jobs in the industry. and as many, I mean an impressive amount.

From what I hear their illustration program is again one of the best (it had better be for the money), but i'm not positive how their illustration program ranks in regards to other schools.

Maybe this question would help you figure out what you would want to major in in.

If you were given an interning opportunity for a stage/ theater production to either design props and set, and set set-up along with some costume design, stand behind a camera and work out the choreography and direction, or create the fliers and ads for the show including but not limited to doing some of the production work, which would you choose? this is not based on what you know or think you can do, they will teach you what ever you need. What would you most prefer? which one speaks to you?

I know all of them sound great, but I imagine one may have jumped out at you. Now my definitions may be a bit biased, or a bit too simplistic, but if you think about it, your answer may be stating:

If you choose:

set design: you lean towards GAD.

choreography and camera work: lean towards CA.

Straight design and conceptual drawing: illustration.

there is so much more to each program than what i was able to give in my theoretical situation, yet maybe it will help you. my understanding has it as thus; Illustration is mostly about concept and design, creating 2-d images to best represent an idea; GAD is mostly creating interactive environments, that one wants to explore- studying fun and problem solving, and figuring out how to translate this to an audience through concept to development; and CA is learning how to tell a story, from everything to prop setups, story-boarding, acting, and film techniques all the way to character design, creation and lighting.

I'd say do some real soul searching in the time you have- you do seem to have over a year still- and maybe drop by this and previous years' hopefuls thread and just read through it- see why others are choosing the paths they are.