Art Institutes San Francisco or Academy of Art?

[booska]

Just recently I applied for the MFA program at Academy of Art. I have a Csci Degree and they told me if my drawings were good enough I could get in. I sent 10 of my best drawings but they told me that I needed more art education for the MFA.

Now I think it might be better if I just entered a bachelors program. They told me that if I wanted to, I could just start registering for classes at Academy of Art. The problem is, Art Institutes San Francsico seems to offer the same kind of program for a lot cheaper. 

Does anyone know how good Art Institutes San Francisco is? How does it compare to Academy of Arts? I have heard good things about the Art Institute in LA but bad things about some of the other Art Institutes. So far I have heard nothing about Art Institutes San Francisco. It sounds promising, but it would be nice to get an outside opinion of this school.

[rtdzign]

I go to the academy of art college and from what i've heard, from an instructor that worked at AI and moved to the Academy is that the curriculum at AI is in transition and are actually trying to hire someone to fix it.

Another friend of mine that transfered from AI to the Academy said that the computer labs are not up to par. They where running dual 1 Ghz xeon class pc's while our schools have Dual 1.7's and just recently got a lab with 3 Ghz Xeon machines. You get what you pay for as far as labs go. The Academy also seems more widely invested in other arts such as Fine art, Photography, Film and TV, Graphic Design, Industrial Design.

I have visited AI and was not impressed with the quality of the artwork of the cream of the crop students, since the AI apparently is not big on traditional academic art and their 3d work suffers in terms of anatomy,scale, proportion, color choice, camera layout, etc.

the Academy had me take a year and a half of traditional art before they let me dive into my 3d animation major. I agree though that im better for it.

As far as the quality of instructors though im sure they are just as competent, but the Academy is a 2000 ton gorrilla that can afford to hire ex ILM (LucasFilm) people to head the Visual Effects departments.

Academy = Expensive Cash Cow but you get what you pay for

AI = Cheaper yet questionalble

[booska]

I decided to go to AI but it wasnt because of the price. Since AI is on the quarter system its still about the same price as AAC without the lab fees at least. It was their game program that drew me. They offer classes in subjects that seem more specifically tailored to the games industry. They still make you take a lot of traditional art. This is something that im already pretty skilled in. I also like that its a small school, it seems more personal. As far as the work goes honestly I was more impressed with the sculpture at AI then I was with anything I saw at AAC. I guess I wont know if i made the right decision till I actually go their but from my experience I feel pretty confident.

[mikleing]

As far as I know, the second bachelor's program at AAC offers about the same courses as the MFA, so that shouldn't be a big difference to anyone. If you can get a chance to visit these places, you'd get impressions about the students and computer labs, and a chance to talk with the other students in person. My impression from seeing both was that AAC had far more students studying 3D, and that there weren't as many students doing advanced rendering work at AI, but that's just my opinion, a visit (after they've both ended their winter breaks) is the best way to make a good choice.

-jeremy

[rtdzign]

Well I was posting at the odd chance that you would come back to this board after such a long time. I was just wondering wheather or not you have started at AI? How are you liking it? What kind of machines are you working with? How big our your class sizes?

How are the game classes thus far?

Well good luck in your travels.

[artstudent]

I graduated from the Academy of Art with a 2nd degree, and thought the program allowed me a lot of flexibility. I went through their newly started visual effects emphasis which also allowed me to take courses in the film and new media departments.

Another factor of the Academy of Art is the location. The campus in which I spent most of my time was closer to major attractions than the AI- San Francisco.

[riotacting]

I just started my second term at AI in Portland, while I can't say much for Ai in SF I did attend AAC in 97-99 before I got swept up in the tech boom of Palo Alto. Anyways AAC was a decent school, WAY too expensive for a non-regionally acredited school though. Just nationally... I found that out the hard way when I moved to Portland and first applied to Portland State, they wouldnt even look at my ACC credits... good thing anyways since I ended up at Ai. Though Ai is only counting my ACC cerdits once I complete 23 credits here. Just something to thing about. Also the head of the 3D/Animation department at ACC, Dan Brick, recently left and is now heading the Game Art/Design program at Ai in Portland. Another thing to think about...
Peace
RiotActing

[trthing]

I've been going to AAC(now AAU) for 2-3 years now. My advice to anyone reading this post is:

Work hard and put the time in. Get a machine at home and a student version of Maya or Max or Lightwave and do the work from either school. There are plenty of people just lagging and partying and wasting their time at AAU, as well as AI. Save some cash by taking GE classes(US History,etc) at a junior college and spend the money on quality instruction in Art and 3D. And don't expect that your degree will be worth a damn, it's your reel that will get you a job, so just challenge yourself.

To: J Birn,

Hey, I'm surprised you are not singing the praises of AAU...I really enjoyed your class there.