Reccommend me a college to transfer into after 2 years.

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve decided that, although I like my classes, staying at my current college all four years is not an option.

Here are some of the things I’m mulling over.

I would like to go to an art school, but I’m also interested in English, creative writing, history and anthropology. Is there any college or institute that focuses on art but provides a background in everything else?

I would otherwise like to go to a larger college with a very strong English or writing program. Are there any?

I’ve learned my lesson - NO SMALL, ISOLATED SCHOOLS!

2

I transfered, but from a 2 year JC to UCLA, I’m not an art major. I’m a math/econ major but I know we have a good english department and the art department is for people who want to learn more than people who can already illustrate and just want a job, which is what most of the art schools seem to be like.

3

just a tip don’t try this in the UK , no other university will take you they want to earn 3 years of tuition fees from you so they always want you to start from year one

I went into University (first one) with very good programming skills and the course was geared to people who’d never seen computers before , and i complained , after getting to 2nd year the degree was crap so i wanted to transfere I did but ALL Uk universities would only let me start from year one , when asked they said it was policy but one said because the uni chancellors want to make as much money as possible from you , as universities are bussinesses you know

4

That’s unfortunate. I didn’t exactly transfer, but I did my CEGEP (college) in Quebec, then moved to Ontario for University. They gave me a lot of transfer credits, and I was pretty much exempted from all of first year. At least, I didn’t have to do Calc, Chem, Physics or Bio I (though they forced BIo II on me, stupidly enough). But then again, my bf goes to another university, and he would have had to apply separately to get transfer credits. Of course, they didn’t tell him this til November. :rolleyes:

5

A really good one, with high tuition fees - and even higher rates of funding.

Seriously.

Shoot high if you are creative and smart. Really. Nobody talks about it because it is not the ‘normal’ way to go. But it works.

Respected institutions get loads of money to help poor students- tons! If you have a good GPA, a hard-working, strong commitment to education and something that can set you apart- they want you. Colleges and Universities are communities- if they think that you can add something to their community, they will accept you. Don’t listen to the naysayers that want you to go to State U. Find a school that you think you will do well at, and apply. (The most important thing on your application is your essays- and if you are a writer, then you should be able to woo them.)

My story: Barely graduated from high school with a 1.9 GPA and average SAT’s and ACT’s. I then went to a community college for aviation training and received an Associates of Applied Science. After that I was mentored in the process of getting into a good school. I was eventually accepted to two: Reed in Oregeon, and The Colorado College. Average tuition: $20,000 a year. How did I afford it? Two full-ride scholarships. The Colorado College won out, and I earned a BA in Int’l Political Economics from one of the top 10 Liberal Arts schools in the States.

You see, top schools want interesting individuals that add something to their community- regardless of how much money they have. Harvard had over $3 million dollars to give out when I was applying. They get tons of donations and grants that they have a hard time giving out. That is where you come in.

Do this:

  1. Have your favorite professor write a letter of introduction: Daowajan is a yada yada student that I think you should get to know. This starts a file on you- good thing that.
  2. Write them asking for information and an application packet. Make it sound good with lots of “I think your school would be a great place for me to contribute my talents and energy yada yada.”
  3. Make the application PERFECT. Xerox copies of the application and write your essays so that they fill the given space up- every inch. Make them look neat and well thought out, and go off the deep-end when writing- this is where you shine. They get off on personal accounts and anecdotes. Show how you can contribute to the school’s student body, and dwell upon the activities that you would excel in. It is not “What the school can do for me” but “What I can do for the school” (key Kennedy’s speech right here). Once the copies print out PERFECTLY, then print on the originals and send them in.
  4. Request a meeting with a representative of the school. They have alumni all over the world, so go and talk to them. Show up and charm the hell out of them.
  5. Wait. See what happens. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

If you have written great essays, etc. then they will come back to you and offer you scholarships, grants and loans to pay for everything. The loans will probably be used to pay for living expenses, but they will normally offer you huge tuition breaks, if not outright full-rides.

It sounds like you want a Liberal Arts education. Well-rounded, but with a focus. Try these: The Colorado College, Reed, Wellesley, Georgetown, Rice, St. Johns and Lake Forest.

Shoot for the top, because most State U’s will accept you if you have a pulse. You can always go to them.

Good luck-
-Tcat

6

I forgot- the ‘optional’ essays are not optional. Do them. Spend the most time with those. They are the ones that the decision makers read. Think about it- how does a school sift through 1,000 applications? They hire students to go through the apps and ‘circular file’ the ones with mistakes, are late (meet all of the deadlines by at least a week) or are incomplete. Then a group of students and administrators sit around and read through the apps looking for grammatical mistakes and bad signals. THEN they focus on what is left- make sure yours is in that stack.

-Tcat

7

You may want to check out the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. According to their webpage, they have an exchange program with Macalester College for any liberal arts disciplines they do not carry. For the BFA degree, one-third of your coursework is in the liberal arts and two-thirds is in the studio arts. I believe that you are expected to submit a portfolio along with your application.

I’ve heard that MCAD is good and very expensive. It’s right next to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts and in the middle of the city–certainly not isolated. I don’t really know much more about it than that, though.

You can’t resist a college that has a “School Girls and Mobilesuits” workshop, can you? :smiley: Hmmm…I may want to check that out myself…

8

I’m in a liberal arts college right now, and I hate it. It’s basically a holding tank for people who don’t know what they want to do with their lives. And you’ve all heard me complain about the school’s culture. I did check out most of the schools Tomcat listed, and most of the things I hate about my current college are magnified there. No thanks.

I’ll check out the MCAD, but I’ve heard a lot of bad things about it… hey, I applied to Macalester.

Does anyone know anything about Cal Arts? It’s an art school that requires students to take at least one course in another discipline every semester. This would be the kind of thing I’m looking for, but it’s rare. Dammit.

The problem is that I don’t want to get locked into a specific career, but I’m not interested in a lot of liberal arts disciplines. And many art schools are commercially focused. Is there any college out there that’s writing-based (preferably not in journalism only?) I went to my current college because a lot of its classes were focused around writing.

9

Wish I could tell you more about Cal Arts, Daowajan. My family used to have a house in the town. It’s tiny and it’s on a hill near the freeway. It seems pretty diversified, but I don’t know of any writers who’ve emerged from there.

One thing to question when you look into four year colleges is whether the program focuses on writing or criticism. Joint degree programs and cross registration arrangements might help. Be sure to check out both schools’ resources before you sign on.

Tomcat’s advice is fantastic.

Liberal arts colleges definitely aren’t for everyone, but do check them out because now is a very good time to apply to them. More Americans are opting for public institutions and international students who intend to return to their home countries usually need a diploma with the word university. The best liberal arts schools still have superb faculty and facilities and they need students.

10

Welll…
That’s funny, because I went to a Liberal Arts college because I wanted to learn how to think, not what to think. I did a technical school, and got only that- technical stuff. The Colorado College got me interested in the learning process in and of itself. How to use my mind for any problem, how to get whatever needs done, done.

And if you want to focus on writing- all sides of it, be it journalism, creative or technical, then the advanced schools are where it is at. I had to write 25 page papers every 3 weeks on every subject that I was in- economics, dance, ecology, accounting- everything. Plus the students who focused on that area had much more to do, and got the help and resources they needed.

The culture of the school might be too liberal for some, but that doesn’t mean that the school is wrong for you. You can always find a niche.

But then again, it isn’t for everyone.

Good luck-
-Thomas
ps- the advice on the applications still stands. Make yourself stand out from the crowd.

11

What sort of bad things have you heard about MCAD? I was thinking of applying there for grad school next year…

Not that you’re probably interested, but right now I am an Art major, Writing minor at Northland College and I love it here. We’ve got a good Writing program, and the college is currently working on [buzzword] building momentum [/buzzword] in its Art department. I think I’m getting an excellent education. But it is a Small Isolated Liberal Arts School[sup]TM[/sup]. ::shrug::

12

Virginia Commonwealth University. Very reputable fine arts program. (I’m a grad of their music dept.)
Large school (20,000+) in lovely downtown Richmond, VA.
Reasonable costs. Only 2 hours from DC or the beaches.

Also, in addition to the Arts program, the English dept has an excellent turnout of writers. (I took several classes with the poet Gary Sangee.)

Good luck!

13

I’m sort of curious as to what you’ve heard myself–the only thing bad I’ve heard about the school is the price, and as Tomcat says, there are usually ways to get around that. My mother-in-law is a high school art teacher and she has known quite a few students who’ve gone there.

I went to the University of Minnesota because I was not into that small, isolated college atmosphere. (Full disclosure: I have not graduated, but that is my fault, not the school’s.) I liked it a lot. I was in the College of Liberal Arts Honors Program, which got me more exposure to the actual professors than most people there get because the professors often taught the recitation sessions for the honors students. Lectures are sometimes huge, but recitation sessions are of a much more manageable size.

One great advantage to a university for me was that I met a wider range of people than I might have at a liberal arts college. Apparently, I am a geekophile–many of my friends there (including the now-Mr. Tamex) were engineering students. My husband, who did graduate, highly recommends their mechanical engineering program, and he really enjoyed all the liberal arts classes he was able to squeeze into his schedule.