[Hoff]

Use this thread to talk about your experiences, thoughts and musings if you attended Ringling. Be sure to list as much information as you can, such as your major, years in attendance, graduating class, and any other pertinent information. Any information that you provide will be invaluable to future students and people who are thinking about attending this college.

Ringling's website

[threecharles]

Currently, a Freshman at Ringling for Illustration. I am in my second semester and I like it here a lot. Some of the Core classes are dumb, but after first year those disappear. Additionally here at Ringling we have FEWs-Figure Enhancement WorkShop. Which occurs every weekday, and is great for people dedicated to come out on top. The advantage of going to an art college is you get to pull off of professional minds and self teach yourself on your free time. I couldn't imagine going anywhere else for Illustration.

[Livhat]

I used to go to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia for Illustration, but transferred at the end of my sophomore year to Ringling. Unfortunately and fortunately, colleges like to knock you back a year when you transfer so I can pretty accurately talk about Ringling from the perspective of a more average school.

Put frankly, it rocks. There are a few things here and there, one professor that I feel I wasted tuition on, but the upsides are enormous. I cannot sing high enough praise for some of the faculty, and even though I'll be in school one year longer over semantics in course names (literally "figure" versus "Anatomy" and other analogs, though painting and media are two I didnt have before in exchange for a photo for illustrators class and a stained glass elective) Ringling is totally worth your time, effort and money for illustration.

[shellypants]

*waves to Livhat*

I went to Ringling, also as a transfer student into the Illustration program. The three years I spent there I improved by leaps and bounds, and the classes I took were really wonderful. There were a few duds among the faculty (particularly in sophomore/junior year), but for the most part I loved my professors, and feel like I learned a lot from them.

That being said, everything that I needed to get my first video game job I learned in 2-3 months from my (then) boyfriend. So I don't really know what to say as far as that's concerned. Ha!

[Volkertron]

I attended RCAD from 2004-2008 I was there before they changed the name. I graduated from the Illustration program in the spring of 2008.

I can't speak highly enough of the faculty there. A diverse group of individuals with a long working history of traditional illustration under their belts. Although digital and game art are still relatively new to these guys I think they teach you what you need to know to make good pictures and traditional techniques that inform newer digital ones.

I was also fortunate enough to find a group of dedicated artists to work alongside. We created things like 'Illest of Ill' at Ringling which is a totally student run show. I'm SO PROUD to say that it is still continuing even after we have left. 'Illest' has brought artists like Andrew Hem, El Coro, and Sam Weber to the school to be judges, do demos and meet students.

I've been looking for an environment like the one I left at Ringling ever since I graduated.


-Volkertron

[wash-away]

I went to the Art Institute of Salt Lake city....

-i almost failed my photography class because the school didn't have enough camera's,
-the majority of my teachers had barely artistic jobs to qualify them for AI
-they say you can test out of classes but there is only one and thats 'basic computer literacy'
-90,000+ for a graphic design degree.
-90k.... really?
-the teachers used the textbooks for 1 assignment that was worth a lot and you never had to open them again.
-the textbooks where low quality and with the exception of a few, had lower quality results the a google search of the subject.
-little to no instruction on actual skill or building of a portfolio. I can't stress this enough i went into a anatomy class and he showed us a few tubes and said k here's the model
-bad bad bad models.... ew
-most students aren't 'artists' their bored with rich parents.

good things,
-library had a lot of reference and amazing art books/movies (for the film people)
-community, i connected with a lot of artists i still talk to
-free printers, high quality big poster printers. they where talking about getting rid of that though i don't know if they did.

over all the university of utah seams like a better choice, but utah seams very sparce in good art education. I'm trying to get more involved in the community here and learn from them.

[GordonPinkerton]

Hey! I'm a senior Computer Animation student right now at Ringling and I honestly could not ask for more from a school. Sure the faculty are great and the facilities are the best ever, but I think what really separates it from the pack is the dedication of the students. We all motivate, inspire, and help each other all of the time, you can always find someone to sit next to in the labs, and everyone is more than willing to lend their advise/critique/or expertise. Just a really great environment to be learning in. Two thumbs way up!

If anyone has any questions about the school, program, or anything, feel free to message me!

[vajmeri]

Originally Posted by GordonPinkerton

Hey! I'm a senior Computer Animation student right now at Ringling and I honestly could not ask for more from a school. Sure the faculty are great and the facilities are the best ever, but I think what really separates it from the pack is the dedication of the students. We all motivate, inspire, and help each other all of the time, you can always find someone to sit next to in the labs, and everyone is more than willing to lend their advise/critique/or expertise. Just a really great environment to be learning in. Two thumbs way up!

If anyone has any questions about the school, program, or anything, feel free to message me!

I understand the great opportunity this school offers and the experience. but is it worth the $120,000 debt I'll be in for a Motion Design degree?? please help meeeee