[Jimmyjimjim]

Hi-

I am going to be applying to Art Center next year for the product design/entertainment design focus.

Does anyone have any suggestions about what will look best in my portfolio? I want to get started putting it together now so it will be the best it can be. My current art teachers say I could get into any art school I want, but I'm really interested in specific things a reviewer will look for.

Also, how easy is it to get scholarships and financial aid at Art Center? I have a 3.8 GPA. Will that help either of the above, or are they looking more for artistic talent when they award aid?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

-Eric

[Xyster21]

I have heard many responses by different people (teachers, councelors, and students alike). Well to start off, most teachers I had talked to say that if you have a strong portfolio and a 3.0 gpa (I am not sure if its the same for Art Center) then you have a good chance. Councelors suggested I have a 3.0 or close as possible to it (2.9 is fine) is a great start. Then following they suggest a porfolio with all of the best work done and most recent if possible (to see your current skill), and they also want to know about past experience in art or free lance or anything like that (as far as I know I only have asked 2 councelors from the college I want to attend and it is roughly around the same they say). Scholarships... you would have to ask THEM for that information because only they would really know about that. Contact a someone from admissions and they should get you rolling with info on scholorships (if you do or don't qualify) and same for financial aid.

Summing up as best as I can (yes I am very verbose at times)...

3.8 will definately help you out as well as a strong portfolio. If you have past experience/worked around with your talents (free-lance) it helps as far as impressing goes. But portfolio "I" think counts most of all.

Anyone want to correct me on some of these things go ahead. This again is just from what I heard about where I want to be attending college (also an art school... Art Institute of San Diego) and not for Art Center so I can't give you any 'definate' response for that particular school, but it appears to be the same case with friends of mine wanting to attend other colleges/institutions for art.

Blah blah and blah
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[spooge demon]

The AC admissions say are looking for creativity first, sketch technique second. Or so it would seem.

If it were up to me, I would suggest that you not look at movies or other concept art or design stuff. It all looks the same, so to be really creative, that is what you should do. Ideally. But the chances of something sucking goes up in proportion to being different.

ACCD has the bad rap, and it is justified to some extent, of being a "flash over substance school." Do a drawing of a car and put some bullets with arrows pointing out the revolutionary aspects of your design like "4 wheels", or "doors open" Nobody reads those things, and it looks cool. That is AC. I have seen bad misspellings on car drawings in the gallery. *hidraulik breaks, dude!!..*

I was product for 2 years there, and I thank them for teaching me to draw better. But I made the mistake of actually thinking about what I was designing and doing what was really interesting, solving problems in new and more efficient ways. It was not welcome. The flashy sketches, that have looked the same from 1970, is what got the scholarship money time and time again. I got C's or worse. But then I sucked (see above)

Pretty ironic now that I am an illustrator.

Creativity is ugly, expensive and painful and time consuming. I can understand why it is frowned upon in Industry. It is the least favorite method of distinguishing a product in the marketplace.

But how revolutionary does every hair dryer need to be? Maybe I expect too much.

So back to your problem. Practically, they look much more carefully at your credit score than your portfolio, so no worries(?) I would find out who is on the admissions committee and research their tastes. Are they flashy types? Or big forearms engineer types? Change your portfolio accordingly.

[Jimmyjimjim]

Wow, that was the most different opinion that I've ever heard about AC. I guess not every place is for everyone.

Thanks for your input, it gives me some other stuff to think about. If you read this, what places do you recommend looking into?

Thanks

[dr . bang]

You also need to have alot of $ too!
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[JustLikeGucci]

You have to look at the stats. The average Art Center Freshman is above the age of 22. This is because Art Center is looking for people who already know more than the basics of design. Most people will take a year or two at a different art school then transfer in. Art Center is the leading school in the contry for design along with College for Creative Studies (where I go). Your knowledge of design needs to be very advanced to get in there, and highschool art classes usually dont teach that, unless your coming from the design HS in Miami. Alot of people at CCS are from that school, and theyre all amazing because they basically took College classes throughout highschool. I actually found this post because Im writing a paper on the transportation design success rate: CCS vs. Art Center. Im doing this because Im deciding if I want to transfer into Art Center after my sophmore year. If you want more info on Trans design or have any other questions you can e-mail me.
-Dave

[olduttycruff]

Being a Center Creative Studies alum I admire the style you ART Center guys display on your Industrial Design stuff.

[Jimmyjimjim]

I cracked up that this two year old post somehow resurfaced.

Well, I'm at ACCD now and it rocks. Not quite as "glamorous" as the catalogue would have you believe (LOTS of late nights and homework like you wouldn't believe) but definitely worth it. It's amazing how talented people here are. It's at the same time intimidating and motivational. Intimidating because you can't help but look around and think "I suck" and motivational when someone who's art you admire says "wow, that's awesome".

They really teach you from the ground up. I feel like I'm learning to draw from scratch again. Anyway, I'll post some schoolwork if anyone's interested at the end of term.

And thanks, Oldutty

[olduttycruff]

Just like Gucci

I just read your line about the art magnate programs down in Miami translating over to art college. I have to agree with you on that point cause when i left Miami to come up to CCS I realize how far ahead of the curb I was compared to the other incoming students.

[balistic]

[Drunken Monkey]

Jimmyjimjim, how did the whole portfolio/credit/gpa review thing go? Did they bother much with HS gpa? Mine is awful (1.9) .. but 4.0 in all college classes, wonder if that will matter..

[spooge demon]

yes, jimmyjimjim, I want recent tales from the crypt.

[eyewoo]

interesting timeframe on this thread... eh...
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[Jimmyjimjim]

Just getting a chance to respond. Week 9, toolbox was due, Model 1, uuuuuugggggghhhhhh......... Must start speedform clay.

Drunken-

Dont sweat the HS GPA (mine was 2.3) and then I had a 3.9 cumulative from college, so I doubt you'll have a prob with that. Supposedly it matters more in the scholarship department.

As far as portfolio goes, I applied Product, so I gave them about 100 pages of prisma and marker sketches encompasing a broad range of ideas: 6 finished products, about 10 PSD renders, a couple prisma renders for fun. Our entering class was HUGE (which made me feel a little less enthusiastic about getting in (did they need $$$ to build a new wing or something?. I heard back pretty damned quick, about 3 weeks.

Spooge-

I hear mixed things about first termers this year. I've heard from a few upper termers that there is some resentment about how many students they let in, but I also heard that the overall quality of this term's entering class is quite good. My Viscom 1 teacher said he was surprised by the quality of work people are turning out (I don't have Bradley- according to him, everyone is still shit). Then again, my roomate (7th term) said that I've "had it easy". Don't know WTF he's talking about, I pull at least one all-nighter a week (usually two).

[Drunken Monkey]

Jimmyjimjim, good news. good to hear they didn't have a fit about PS renders. The lady i talked to in admissions almost told me to F off when i brought it up..

anyway thanks for finding time to post.