From CalArts anyone?

hi!
yeap! calarts is good^^. actually last year I sent email to Maureen FUnnis, I think he is the president or director in that uni. and I just copy and paste it from my email. at that time I also asked about getting scholarship, so I hope this will help you guys:

Maurren says:
"There are two animation programs at Cal Arts. One is Character
Animation, which is an undergraduate degree program (4 years) that
stresses classical skills. The other is Experimental Animation (both
BFA and MFA), which is very broad based. Students do installations,
stop-motion, direct film, and drawing/painting. Some shoot on film. To
get into the program, a student needs specific skills. Character wants
life drawing, while Experimental wants a mature sensibility in terms of
a personal aesthetic -- a portfolio of paintings, drawings, and so on
that indicate artistic potential, not just an understanding of human
form, perspective, and so forth.

(about portfolio):
Scholarships are offered based on the portfolio. Cal Arts is very
competitive and only very focused artists are selected for its
programs. Before you apply, I suggest that you go through your
portfolio very carefully with a faculty advisor. Avoid anything that
looks like popular drawings, such as anime, or classroom exercises.
Students who include such things are not accepted. We are looking for
artists who already have an advanced understanding of their personal
styles, which can be developed further within a lab-like atmosphere,
driven by the student with the aid of faculty mentors[/I][/I]."

finally, I asked whether the students that applied for the scholarship are selected differently with the students who are not applying for the scholarship, then he said:
"[I]All the same. Students are ranked by the faculty when the portfolios
are viewed and automatically offered scholarships if they qualify[/I].

hope this will help you guys!

Did you email them? In my exeperience when I was applying to Calarts is that the Film/Video admissions staff were surprisingly quick to respond to any questions you have about the program if you communicate through email.

As far as what I've observed from the program so far as a first year is that you really have to be dedicated individually, because you are definitely not going to be held by the hand here, like in some other schools. Everyone here is so amazing, that you have to work very hard in order to keep up with everyone, which makes the learning curve extremely high. Everyone is very cool, but that's not to say there isn't competition within the department.

Do you have any specific questions about applying? I think that the admissions rate for Character Animation is around 10 percent. The school as a whole is something like 30 percent. Portfolios should consist almost exclusively of drawings from observation. Be very creative, and you'll be looked kindly upon. No one draws the same here, so if you show a unique portfolio, you will be doing yourself a favor.

The school (as far as I know) doesn't discriminate admission based on your nationality, so international students are encouraged to apply. In fact, more than a third of the freshman class this year is from South Korea. We also have a few from Europe. If you are international, I think you have to take the TOEFL exam (test as english as a foreign language). I think that's the biggest diffference between international applicants and domestic. You also have to submit transcripts, but they don't care much about the grades you got, or your standardized test scores. It's ALL on your portfolio. The only financial aid foreign students can get is scholarships, grants, and/or fellowships offered by the school, and there is high competition for this within the Character Animation department. Foreign students are not eligible for federal aid.

It's a great school, but yes, very expensive. I've heard that the first year is the time when you take the biggest bite in loans. After that, the school typically offers more money to you, incrementally by year. You'll also have more of an opportunity after your first year to apply for Calarts scholarships (they do scholarship reviews yearly in february).

Hope some of this helps.

-moot

are you studying in calarts? how is it?
do you have some examples of some students' works? it is interesting when you say that eahc person has their own style, none are the same. im curious about that, becasue nowadays it seems that all of animation styles are similar. do they demand you to have a flexibel style in drawings?

Hello everyone,

I've been doing some research on animation schools lately and right now I'm very interested in getting some information about CalArts. I have read and heard that it is the best (and, sadly, the most expensive) school of animation in the world and that's enough for making me curious about it. I was wondering if around here there's anyone related to CalArts in any way that could tell me how everything works in there and perhaps give me some information about the process for foreign students and if it's really possible for a foreign student to get in there. I know you will say I should write directly to the school; I've done that already -I did it like three weeks ago- but I haven't received any answer, so this is my plan B.

I'll appreciate any answer.

David Metzen :)

Hi,
Amen my friend! I'm in the exact same boat, pursuing going Calarts as an international student (just moved to US from UK), so am really interested on how to fund such an education as this type of student (the yearly cost is around $35,000 for tuition and living expense). Is there any help/scholaships/international student loans/grants out there for an animation student (who is also from abroad)? The Calarts international student advisor was about as much help as a slap to the face (perhaps she was finishing a particarly long day?), and i've waded thru the net for many an hour, so thought i'd ask for some hands-on advice as its always the best and most honest.

Thanks very much for any help at all,
Rich