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need info on masters in animation!!

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need info on masters in animation!!

hello everybody i am ryan from INDIA doing my bachelors in computer science and engineering ( btech cse) . i am in 3rd year now,1 and half year to go before i complete my btech. i have a burning desire for animation and movies that because i have been a hardcore gamer from last 6-7 years and a v.big movie buff with a collection of over 500 movies ! :) :) well i want to ask few questions:

1) since am doing bacherlors in computer sci.and engg i am eligible for doing masters in animation ? if yes what is it called masters in animation or is it called MFA in animation

2) could you guys tell me the gud universites or schools that offer this degree at a cheaper cost ? and hw much does it cost to get the masters degree in animation

3) since i dont come frm arts side do i need to have basic drawing skills to get masters degree in animation ? secondly do i need to have v.gud acadmeic score in various fields
well my 10 th class percentage is 70 %
11 th class percentage is 65%
12 th class percentage is 65 %
and bachelors percentage in computer sci and engg is close to 55 %
am i eligible with this score?? and v.shortly i wud be appearing for the GRE exam.

thanks to everyone in advance!!!

1) since am doing bacherlors in computer sci.and engg i am eligible for doing masters in animation ? if yes what is it called masters in animation or is it called MFA in animation

2) could you guys tell me the gud universites or schools that offer this degree at a cheaper cost ? and hw much does it cost to get the masters degree in animation

3) since i dont come frm arts side do i need to have basic drawing skills to get masters degree in animation?

Regarding question #2: I don't know any of the universities in India, so what I would do if I were in your shoes is contact every animation studio/game studio that you want to work for and find out where their people went to school, then once you've got a good list, evaluate the schools themselves.

Regarding question #1 and 3: I don't think that it's a barrier. Some schools may require it, you'll just have to review their entrance requirements. I graduated college with a B.A. in English Writing and a minor in Computer Science. I was accepted to grad school because I had enough animation and writing examples I could show the review board that they were willing to take a chance on me. Make no mistake though, I went in with NO art classes since the basic art classes I took in high school. Grad School was a rude awakening in that regard--I had a lot of catching up to do. But, never underestimate the power of hard work and discipline. :) I graduated with a 3.61 GPA and am now working in my field. I'll leave you with words from one of my two mentors from R.I.T.:

"Graduate school is not about how little you can do, but about how much you can do."

If you want it bad enough, and you're willing to make both the effort and the sacrifices to get it, sooner or later, you'll succeed.

Best of luck to you! :D

thanks a lot smudge and i am lookin for universites in US not india for my masters programme . and i did happen to contact the RIT admission dept through email and i was in contact with a guy called neal dhand who is studyin at RIT nw he did tell me a lot abt RIT and the fees and the various courses they offer there . well u meant RIT right? rochester institute of technology??
am gud at doing flash animations and gud at adobe fotoshop and other softwares used for animations!

secondly do i need to have a strong academic performance or percentage in my undergraduation course? since my academic performance is not up to the mark in undergraduation am i still eligible to apply for RIT ??? well for enrolling a student does do they look for strong academic background or do they look for the creativity inside a student esp applyin for a course like animation???

well u meant RIT right? rochester institute of technology??

Yep. Rochester Institute of Technology. Graduated in '97 with my M.F.A. in Computer Animation.

am gud at doing flash animations and gud at adobe fotoshop and other softwares used for animations!

You'll definitely want to include examples of those in your portfolio. Pick your best work (as well as a couple of step-by-step examples). They should have the portfolio guidelines available at the Film/Video department though.

secondly do i need to have a strong academic performance or percentage in my undergraduation course?

I didn't. But then, I almost didn't get it because of it. If memory serves, I had a 3.5 in my English Writing major and a 2.1 overall. I think that it was my portfolio (such as it was) that tipped the balance in my favor.

since my academic performance is not up to the mark in undergraduation am i still eligible to apply for RIT ???

I don't see why not, y'know, you can always try. I did and I got in. I do have to ask the question though, do you think that you can handle a full-load of classes, the homework, and hold down a job if necessary?

Grad School at R.I.T. was a 60-80 hour work week for me between classes, assistantship, homework, thesis film, and the extra job I worked off-campus so I could afford school. I don't want to scare you off. Those were the best three years of my life before or since. But if you aren't ready to work your ass off, don't waste your time or money on R.I.T. Half of my class washed out in the first year because they couldn't handle the workload even though their artistic skills were vastly superior to mine. And all but one of the others fell behind and graduated a year or two after me. You can't "coast" through R.I.T. on past successes or past knowledge.

In my case, during undergrad, I wasn't happy where I was, I didn't like the people, and was continually discouraged by the fact that I couldn't study what I wanted to at that school--my grades suffered because, after a while, I just didn't care anymore. I just wanted to graduate and get the hell out of Indiana.

But when I went to R.I.T., I was doing exactly what I wanted to do with my life. I enjoyed the classes, I loved the professors, I enjoyed the classwork (no matter how much I struggled to keep up and catch up), and the depression lifted so I excelled in that high stress environment.

That may be your case. It may not. I don't know. But I can't stress highly enough: honestly evaluate yourself before committing the time and money to going to grad school (overseas or otherwise). Can you work on multiple unrelated projects with tight deadlines? Can you do the work even if you're not good at it but are willing to try? Can you take charge of your education and hound your professors for answers? R.I.T. is on the trimester system. Each trimester is about two-thirds the time of a regular semester. There's no time to fool around. You either keep up with the work and plan ahead for the next two weeks or you're screwed.

well for enrolling a student does do they look for strong academic background or do they look for the creativity inside a student esp applyin for a course like animation???

I would say both, but It's been ten years since I've been there, so I'm not sure how much things have changed. Marla Schweppe is one of the admins on this board and she still works there (as well as being my second mentor at R.I.T.). I'd drop her a PM and ask her to point you in the right direction (the Film/Video department). Last I heard, Howard Lester is still on sabbatical, but someone in the Film/Video department should be able to answer your questions for you.

Please don't get me wrong, I don't want to scare you away from R.I.T., I'd go back there again if I had the chance. But if you can't set goals and manage your time wisely, then it won't matter how much money you have or what your grades are--no matter where you go, you'll wash out. I say again:

"Grad school isn't about how little you can do, it's about how much you can do."

thanks a lot smudge for ur reply

let me tell you what i exactly meant by not doing well in my undergraduation course. i couldnt do well due the college and the faculty and 2ndly due to few family prblms

as i said am doing my bachelors which consists of 4 yrs i have to write total of 60 papers in 4 years which include english, maths.electronics ,computers and electrical .
each yer i ahve to appear for 16 papers , that is 8 per semester.

1st year -12
2nd year -16
3rdyear -16
4th year-16
and i couldnt manage to clear 15\60 papers in my first attempt (cleared in 2nd) and these papers mostly are frm 1st year and and 2nd year 1st semester . but i been working hard and doing well frm my 3rd year and clearing nearly all the papers in my first attempt . as a result my total undergraduation is % is now 55 % i hope which shouldnt be a problm.

secondly,it would be nice if u can pm Marla Schweppe and find out abt the addmisson procedure for international students and the undergraduation score which has been worryin me a lot !!! and it would be very greatful to her if she could manage to point me out in write direction.

thirdly what is the exact tution fee at RIT ??
as i have been in contact with another student of RIT who told me a lot abt RIT i wud definately consider joining RIT for my masters program as i exactly know what i need to do and sacrifice for 2 yrs! and right now am preparing for my GRE Exam which i wud be writing in 2 mnths time .

thanks a lot again smude i hope am not asking 2 many questions its just that i want to gather as much as info i can since i dont have any one living in US. is there any way i can contact u through yahoo messenger??

Everything you need to know should be right here including portfolio guidelines and the admissions process:

http://cias.rit.edu/~sofa/admissions/faq/index.html.

I've been out of the program for ten years, so you're far better off contacting them directly:

Mary Barnard (sofa@rit.edu) should be able to answer questions about the program itself.

Jack, Skip and Stephanie should be able to answer questions about the classes and MFA thesis requirements (jabpph@rit.edu, skipb@frontier.net & sampph@rit.edu, respectively).

And the main RIT admissions site can give you costs and college admission requirements: http://www.rit.edu/admission.php3.

Again, I graduated from RIT ten years ago, so I'm not the person that you want to ask about specifics regarding admission and costs. You're better off going directly to the source.

thanks a lot smudge i'll surely be contacting them v.soon :)