SCAD Film and Television Program (Atlanta, Savannah: apartment, credit, loans)

[Daniel L.]

Hello

I am interested in going to SCAD; Savannah College or Art and Design. I am specifically interested in the Film Production and Television program offered at this school.

Let me tell you a little about myself. I am going to be a Senior this coming school year, and I will be graduating in 2009! I am from Rhode Island, and my class will be the second to complete the "Graduation By Proficiency" program set by the state, which requires each student to build a portfolio of tasks completed throughout the 4 years of high School.
My SAT score was not as high as I would have liked it to be. I plan on retaking the test after preparation, with hopes that my score will improve. I am also planning on taking the ACT. I have no idea what my High School GPA is at the moment. I do know it is greater than a 3.0, but not as high as a 4.0, unweighted. I have been taking a mixture of Honors classes and College Prep classes. My extra curricular activities include Band, Tri-M, SADD, Yearbook, newspaper, and Drama (Set Design).

Any information of advice you can provide about this school, the program, admissions, and housing would be gratefully appreciated!

Daniel L.

[ellie]

From what I understand, SCAD is not as concerned about test scores and GPA as it is about your artistic drive. However, it is very expensive.

I have friends who teach and work there who tell me that their typical student is not the typical student.

Contact them and ask directly. Savannah College of Art and Design > Admission

Also, don't sell yourself short. Look into other schools, especially if you can get into a good state school in RI. You might be glad you did.

[Daniel L.]

Thank you for the response! I appreciate your advice! I have a friend that is going there as well, for Visual Effects and Animation. From what she told me from her tour, it sounds like a fantastic school.

I do sell myself short all the time. Ideally, I would love to get into RISD here in RI. LOL

[Padgett2]

If you are not real sure about going to SCAD right now, why not think about going somewhere in RI for the basic beginning courses and then transferring to SCAD at a later date? That would give you a little more time to switch from the high school life style to a more college level style of living in an apartment, etc.

[bolinha]

Hi Daniel,
Do a search on facebook &/or MySpace for SCAD & Film and see what you find. I bet you can find plenty of students on there who would be very willing to speak w/ you about their experiences. I also bet you'll find some alums as well.

Good luck!

-- dave

[Daniel L.]

Thank you very much Dave. That is a great idea!

Padgett - I was thinking of going to the community college here to get my gen eds out of the way, but half of my crowd tells me NO it's not worth it! Go away! and the other half tells me YES! Do it! It's cheaper for you!! So, it's a tough decision.

[bgnzsavnh]

If you do make shure that the credits will transfer to your future school
I wasted a semester...............

[seba]

Based on my experience, if you have a pulse and a checkbook, SCAD will accept you.

Actually, forget the bit about the pulse.

That said, they may have gotten more critical about who they accept in recent years given their current inability to house all the students they bring in, but I doubt it. Be prepared to experience living on your own in a city environment very quickly because there is no "campus" and their dorms are terrible and overfilled. Also, no matter what they tell you, you need to bring a car.

In terms of acceptance, I'm 100% positive that you will be fine.

That said, if you're really serious about getting into Film & TV professionally, you might be better off going to a school that is surrounded by the actual industry, as in, going somewhere in California or New York...it will also make moving much easier once you graduate as you'll already be where you need to be to find a job...as is, Savannah is in a complete vacuum and there is ZERO industry that relates to a single major offered by SCAD (outside of maybe historic preservation), which can be an issue when trying to do internships and such...there is maybe one recording studio, a couple graphic design firms and of course the local TV stations, but we don't have any direct relationships with them and they don't hire anyone from SCAD. Ultimately, SCAD ended up having to create their own student sweatshop to churn out expensive crap for tourists to buy in order for students to have an "internship" on their resumes ( see http://www.workingclassstudio.com ).

Alternately, you could forget about the degree for now and just go intern at a production studio somewhere and learn on the job, because there's really no need for a degree in any of the industries that SCAD trains for...just talent and experience, and professionally, college coursework doesn't really count as experience in the art & design world...you'll have to intern and learn on the job anyway.

Unless your family is loaded, I would honestly tell you that if you really want a degree, get a BA or BS in something practical like Engineering or Computer Science or Business or Finance...chances are you'll be able to get one of those much cheaper than a degree from SCAD and your job prospects will be many times what you'd expect upon leaving SCAD. Taking out the $130,000 or so that you would likely need to complete your B.F.A. in loans is honestly not a very good idea with the economy the way it is, especially for an "art degree". Again, if your family is loaded, then I suppose its a different story...if you're on your own, I'd encourage you to think long and hard about what you want to do.

I got my B.F.A. from SCAD last year as did my fiancee. She's got $100,000+ in debt and is working at a coffee shop and I've been working at a grocery store. We're hoping to move to Atlanta soon so we can hopefully find some sort of decent work, but we can't afford to move there yet.

Good luck.

[seba]

Originally Posted by bgnzsavnh

If you do make shure that the credits will transfer to your future school
I wasted a semester...............

I emphasize this by about 500 times. SCAD is notorious for not accepting transfer credits. They want you to spend as much as possible at their school.

[seba]

Also, you definitely do not need to take the ACT if if you want to go to SCAD.