Oberlin doesn’t even appear to have a fine arts department, but yes it is too far away and WAY too expensive. I’d be in my 50s before I could afford to go there.
I have already been looking at the CSU site and their art department, it seems similar to where I am now.
One other thing you should check with regarding CSU is if all the classes you want to take are taught at the main campus. Since it is an urban campus they have had problems when it comes to expanding and upgrading their facilities - there just isn’t that much room there. A lot of their buildings started off being other things - like factories - and have been converted. They have two satellite locations that are in Solon and Westlake, which aren’t close to the main campus.
If your only option is a Cleveland-based campus, it’s pretty much your only reasonably-priced choice. I grew up in Cleveland, but I don’t know anyone who went to CSU for art; if you could swing a visit on a weekend sometime maybe you could talk to some of the current students and see what they think about the program and see the facilities, or maybe someone from the department will put you in contact with some students.
Argh. I posted what I thought would be helpful information, but get taken to task about one sentence where I stated that -my- preference would be Oberlin - even though I added that it was very expensive. Sorry for the slight hijack, but that is a bit aggravating.
I still think that -maybe- you can find a good art department at a Cleveland area school and wish you good luck as you check out the college art department websites.
you were “taken to task”?
WTF?!? :rolleyes:
I’m sorry, but you’re reading a whole hell of a lot into my saying that Oberlin isn’t an option.
Although it appears to likely also be out of your range, nobody on this board has mentioned Case Western Reserve University , which is a terrific school in the University Circle area on Cleveland’s border with Cleveland Heights.
Also, if you are bringing a child with you, have you looked into the different school districts around there? Since you didn’t mention it I would assume that this issue is already settled.
ooooh! My 1000th post! It only took 7 1/2 years!
Since everyone’s already given you the most obvious answers, let me just say how much more fun our CleveDopeFests are going to be if you move here! Plus I won’t be almost the only female there aside from the GrizzWife and GrizzMiss! Why was Westlake mentioned…is that where you are planning on living? Cuz that’s where I am. LillithFair’s daughter is going to Kent for art, but it is too long a drive for a daily thing if you’re going to be living in the Cleveland burbs. But CSU is very accessible, as is Case.
What’s aggravating is that I thought that I had provided some helpful, useful information. Instead of a thank you for the information, I get the “oberlin is out of my range.” Why point out a negative instead of focusing on the positives that were in my post? That is aggravating to me.
Case was actually the only Cleveland school I knew about, and I’d already looked into it… they don’t appear to have an art department.
What you got was “Oberlin doesn’t even have an art department, besides being out of my range” but it wasn’t meant as a negative, just as a statement of fact. As for the other, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a thread where the OP spends every post individually thanking everyone for every tidbit of information they offer. I’d already given a general thanks to everyone responding, and probably will do so again, but I think it’s a bit silly to get huffy because you didn’t get a personalized, engraved thank-you for your suggestion that I follow tomndebb’s advice, and pointing out the website of the main school I’ve been talking about in the thread (which since I’d already discussed that college’s art program, it is to be assumed that I’d already seen their art department’s website), or for informing me that I would have to pay out-of-state tuition until I became a resident, which is completely obvious. I am not saying that your post had no value or that the points you made weren’t valid, just that they weren’t anything that hadn’t been said already, and I’d already given a general thank-you. I think it’s petty and silly to get offended.
I have no idea what/where Westlake is. The school my boyfriend goes to is in Cleveland Heights, but it’s moving to a new campus in Independence. Where we live will depend on a lot of things, including what the schools are like (for my son) which I haven’t really started researching yet, but it would be best if it was close to my boyfriend’s school since he likes to ride his bike to school when possible.
It isn’t actually guaranteed that I’m moving at all, but it’s looking likely. How often do CleveDopeFests happen? I miss the MidAtlantic ones, which happened all the time. The Atlanta dopers don’t get together very often 
It would be great to go to more dopefests!
Westlake is directly West of Cleveland (well, Lakewood is inbetween). Like the western edge of Cuyahoga County and up near the lake. Cleveland Heights is at the southeast corner of Cleveland. Independence is just south of Cleveland.
CSU isn’t a joke, it’s a good school and is growing and getting better. Not sure about if their art department is a joke tho.
Have you considered community college? Tri-C? Everyone I know that has gone there loves it, because all of the profs are professionals in their fields. It has several campuses around.
There’s also Lakeland CC (which is pretty much at the opposite end of Cleveland, eastwards, from Westlake) and I think there’s another CC out on the west side but I can’t think of it.
If nothing else you can use that as a starting ground to get some classes under your belt, build your portfolio, and move on to another school once OpalKid is older.
Now THAT would be a commute. 
There actually is a Lakeland CC (that I erroneously called Lake County CC–It IS the Lake County CC, but the name is Lakeland). And while i don’t think of Kirtland as being very far, I suspect that it would still be too far for Opal’s driving constraints.
Interesting idea, but a community college is not an option, either. I’m taking 300/400 level classes at this point (I’ve already got 55 credit hours “under my belt”). Also Opalkid is already 11, there is no reason to “wait until he is older” to get my degree. I have put off finishing this degree for 14 years, it’s time to get on with it! No more delays! Hehe.
The sad thing is that I’ve already been to two community colleges and I’m at my second university. If I move to Cleveland it will be my 5th school in the pursuit of a college degree! :o
Well then I guess the answer to your question is either CSU or Ursuline. They’re affordable, closest to/in downtown and have art departments.
Oh and thanks for the fix on Lakeland, tom. I wondered why the site I linked to lacked the bell tower 
::checking out Ursuline::
danke
Ursuline is tiny - less than 2,000 students. And more expensive than CSU.
I’m there too, thinking of going back to college to finish my degree. One thing I would recommend, is stay where you are now if you’re already going to a school and are happy there, since you have a child. My cousin moved around to two or three places because of her husband’s job and her 14-year-old boy ran into a lot of problems at his schools with teasing and bullying. Kids need stability. Where do you live now?
P.S. I don’t mean to pry, it’s OK to tell me this is none of my business. I’m still new here and don’t want to ruffle any feathers.
The loving are the daring. Dare to love and be loved! :o
If you look in the upper-right corner of OpalCat’s posts, you’ll see she lives in Atlanta, and she also mentions that fact in one of her messages:
She reveals earlier in the thread that
.
This school’s site informs us that
It’s not prying if you just glean the information from the thread! 
And since this is the first time I’ve seen you post, welcome to the SDMB!