Deciding between a College of Art and Design or a University?
If you are considering a BFA you may be wondering which is best, a stand alone College of Art and Design or an art school within a University. Trying to decide? Here are a few questions to consider:
Do you want to be surrounded by students totally dedicated to being artists?
Do you want to study another subject along with your art?
Do you want to have cultural, athletic, social options outside of the arts?
At an art college, for any art, visual, performing, film, dance, music, you will be living and breathing your art almost 24/7. You must want to be surrounded by people, in your classes, when you eat, and where you sleep, who are as devoted and interested in art as much as you are. If you attend a high school where as an artist you are in the minority, at an art college you will be with others just like you. After high school that might be quite wonderful and inspiring. Incidentally, this is why we highly recommend that students attend a pre-college summer art program, to see if you want to be with other artists 24/7. Some students have finished these summer programs more convinced than ever that they do, others have decided that it is more insular and familiar than they'd like and they prefer a more academically diverse student body. It's a bit like the extrovert/introvert question, "Where do you get your energy from?" If the answer is other creative people than art school is probably for you, if it is a wide range of people and ideas then perhaps a school with other types of students is better. There is no right answer here, only your answer.
An art school within a university (like UMichigan/Stamps, WashU/Sam Fox, Syracuse/VPA, VCU/VCUArts, etc) widens many of your options allowing you to take coursework outside the arts, and in some cases minor, or even major, outside the arts. If you aren't fully convinced that you want to pursue art, you'd have the option of a non-art major or minor. We've worked with students who want to combine architecture or animation with a math minor, or their illustration major with an english minor. Some students also want wider friend groups that includes non arts students, a university offers that too. Other students want tailgating, greek life, and a wide array of lectures and other events, if this is you, then a university will have this and more for you.
You might be under the impression that all art schools start with a foundation year and non art schools don't. That is not necessarily true. The distinction lies more in whether it is a BFA program, or not, as many BFA programs begin with a foundation program in freshman year. (If you have questions about BFA programs and how they differ from BA programs we've outlined the differences in this blog post.) When you are researching and visiting schools you definitely want to learn about the foundation program and when you actually begin to do your art... pick up a camera, direct a short film, focus on animation, act in a play, etc.
You might also assume that art school is more expensive than a university. This is also not always true. This year students we worked with have received almost $14,000,000 in merit aid from art schools across the country, making their tuitions competitive with in-state university tuitions. For those fortunate to live in a state with a great public art school (UMichigan/Stamps, VCU/VCUArts, UWisconsin/Stout, UCLA/UCLA Arts, MassArt, etc.) you are even luckier as you will benefit from in-state tuition for some of the country's best art schools.