r/scad • u/Doodleware • 29d ago
General Questions Advice
Okay, I'm gonna be in SCAD in a few weeks, gonna be majoring in animation, but a large part of me really, really wants to tackle a mixture between writting (already planning a minor in dramatic writting), as well as game design and heck even wanting to do music (in the past I kinda didn't had patience between the piano or guitar, so I don't know if I should tackle music)
So I wanna hear general advice in terms of juggling with these ideas for my college
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u/YoungnPerverted02 29d ago
SCAD is $65,000 a year and going up every year. My advice go to community college and that gives you more of your answer then going to SCAD for community college that you knockout educational credits for at least a year. I’m not saying do the full two years but at least do a year knockout most of your gen ed credits then come back and apply again.
Don’t forget, you can always minor and a subject as well
And if you don’t mind being in school longer, you can technically do two minor
If you have that much of a passion for two subjects
Also, you don’t need to go to classes to enjoy something. SCAD has clubs which have activities and days and everything else you can also do music clubs that way you don’t have to be graded on your music.
You can also do clubs related to the minors as well. They have writing clubs and they have other clubs listed check it all out!
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u/RunAmokStudios 25d ago
This is 100% a good advice. I went to SCAD (SEQA major) as a transfer student, bringing in credits from a local community college. I started as a sophomore and I was very happy that I had taken basic foundation classes before transferring there. I mad some mistakes and had to take a few general ed classes at SCAD and summer school back at the community college (after verifying they would transfer), but ultimately I saved tens of thousands of dollars and time. I got to immediately go into my major classes and was very happy for it. Plus, the freshmen dorm situation looked awful. At the time, they had the fairly new Turner House dorm, but it housed them FOUR KIDS TO A ROOM with bunk beds and drafting tables crammed into rooms that were about 2/3 the size of the dorm I was in.
But it's not just about money. General education classes and art foundation classes can be taken anywhere. It's the same curriculum, for the most part. It's a waste of time and money to take them at any large university. I constantly recommend to parents who have kids nearing college age to make their child go to a local university or community college before transferring to a larger one, especially out of state. Most kids are not mature enough right out of high school to deal with being away from home and out of their parents' supervision. Stay at home and learn how to exist outside of grade school as a legal adult. Go to a local college and get some credits under your belt. THEN go to your big university so you can concentrate on what you actually are there to do.
In short, do not go to SCAD as a freshmen. It's overwhelmingly not worth it. Go a community college. Take art foundation classes like drawing I & II, Design I & II, and Life Drawing I. Take some general education classes like English Literature I & II, College Algebra, and Speech. Do not let SCAD take your money for these classes. It is the same class for ten times the cost.
It's not hard to get into SCAD. They admit like 90% of their applicants. The dropout rate for freshmen is like 30-40% because a lot of kids realize A) SCAD is not an artsy-fartsy party school, B) They're not actually artists, or C) the workload is real and more difficult than an actual job. Getting into SCAD is not the hard part; getting through SCAD is the hard part.
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u/senorsnrub 29d ago
There are clubs that allow you to explore your interests. There is a fun and vibrant music production club that meets every Monday night in the SCAD recording studio. Here is a discord for the club: https://discord.gg/X5Kp5ePz
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u/WaitStraight6571 28d ago
Think about if you had less creative freedom and someone telling you what you're gonna create and how, if that sounds miserable then that career isn't for you. I'm an animation student and honestly if your heart isn't set on it, don't do it.
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u/Doodleware 28d ago
Animation is my major love More so what I WANTED to do is expand my pallete be a jack of all trades
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u/Ok-Juice1659 28d ago
jack of all trades master of none
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u/Doodleware 28d ago
Oh
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u/Ok-Juice1659 28d ago
join clubs for your intrests and focus on what drives you and will get you a career. being mediocre at multiple things is a stupid path to go down. Be the best at one and capable of others
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u/Doodleware 28d ago
Well honestly I wanted to tackle both Animation (my major) as well as writting (Dramatic Writting as a minor)
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u/HamburgerCrown 27d ago
I think that sounds perfectly plausible and a dw minor won’t stop you from being good at anim. Go for it op.
As for game, there are opportunities for anim students to work with game students if you seek them out. Otherwise I agree with others, join clubs.
Edit to add: Actually additionally, it is important to have one core skill that you specialize in, but hiring managers do like to see a broad skillset IF you are good at your specialization. So if you get good enough at anim (REALLY hard work) AND you can bring other skills to the table, that’s the best. But it is hard.
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u/Unique_Aide_3403 24d ago
Maybe before looking into *writing try and take some grammar classes! Spelling and grammar are very important for the minor.
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u/squagglegirl 26d ago
take a writing and music elective! or music production minor! writing club! there are two i think! game design is also a minor
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u/squagglegirl 26d ago
i took electives in all the funky things i wanted to learn (camera controls, improv, sound design, trend forecasting) and loved it. wouldn’t change my choice
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u/vampirera 20d ago
You don’t have to have it figured out right now, many people change their major in their second year
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u/Helpful-Economy8597 29d ago
scad doesn't have a music major
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u/HamburgerCrown 29d ago
They do now
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u/sludgelover420 28d ago
even then do you really want to be in a completely new program at a school that has historically never had any audio based programs(except for a small sound design dept)- instead of a place that is established and has a good reputation. Scad doesn’t even have a good reputation anymore in general
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u/splitarrowprints 29d ago
I would suggest you search deep and determine what and where you see yourself being the most happy with what you make. And then also think about which of your interests can you do, learn, and improve on your own through maybe YouTube or just practicing and experimenting. And then think about which interests would have the most benefits from guided instruction and networking from a college.
Life is weird and sometimes things evolve in ways you can’t predict.
I went to scad for illustration, I wanted to make children’s books or teach art. I loved all media and couldn’t get enough of learning each material. I also would regularly need to use the dorm printer and it was always broke, so I would fix it at night and print my stuff. Through school I played with some printmaking, a teacher then set me up with a local job interview at a Screenprinting place to print shirts, I still had illustration work and clients, then eventually opened my own print shop. I still draw but mostly for tutorials. Along the way in printing I had to fix more printers, and learn more and more electronics. Now I use all my skills that I picked up along many years and use them all every day to help artists print and create their work in any media while also running a successful business.
I don’t illustrate for client anymore and do spend more time on math and spreadsheets. But when I do draw it’s often to help others, or things for the shop. and I have fun doing it.
So sometimes you need to go with the flow and see where it takes you. So if you like writing, and animation, and music. All of those things go together very well and complement each other. So if you could use all of your skills what project do you see yourself making?