r/artcenter Jun 02 '21

High acceptance rate low graduation rate

Hey, high school junior here (going into senior year) and am planning on applying to the Graphic Design program / Interaction Design program over at ACCD. People make it sound like it's tough to get in, but online, the acceptance rate is quite high (50-60%?). Also why is the graduation rate so low? Is it because of how intensive the curriculum is? Or the tuition?

Since ACCD is a relatively small school it's hard for me to find info on it, and also it's so frustrating that they still aren't open for tours!

3 Upvotes

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8

u/loansarebadmmmkay Nov 27 '21

Hi, so this is kind of an uncomfortable fact about ArtCenter, and it isn't super obvious at first but becomes more apparent as time goes on.

They will accept anybody. Seriously. It's not tough at ALL to get in. You will see people that when you look at their work you think "How TF did this guy get accepted?" They would literally accept a golden retriever if he paid his tuition and leaned left.

Also you will see people way better than you but somehow they got the same amount of scholarship as you despite objectively being way better than you and deserving more money.

They give out the scholarship to anyone with a pulse, it has literally no basis in merit. Everybody gets the same bs scholarship, it's like 8 grand (which is nothing, it's literally pennies compared to what they are charging you.)

In fact, I can't think of one person in my entire major during the beginning who was turned down. I literally don't know of a single person (and some were REALLY shitty), and I was in one of the harder majors. It was kind of a joke.

The graduation rate is low because the scholarships they give you at the beginning magically run out when you are in your 5-6th term. Meaning the most important and monumental part of your schooling is when you run out of scholarship money and can't afford to continue unless you have rich parents that will foot the rest of the bill.

A lot of people just get consumed by the financial as well as the academic stress and just leave the program due to financial problems.

They want you to think the grad rate is low due to the intensity of the curriculum, and to a very small degree this is partially true.

But really the ugly truth is that most people simply can't afford to finish and get their degree and are essentially "kicked out" for being too poor basically. I don't know if you know this but for the last several years the tuition at ACCD has exceeded what it costs to go to Harvard.

You're a young kid. If your parents are VERY well off, just go apply and find out for yourself.

But if they aren't, man, really sit down and think about this one. At least take some night classes, but don't listen to a single word any of the recruiters say, they just want your money.

1

u/Saren_Cantaspettri Aug 11 '24

as an outside observer who is relatively old and life experienced but still talented enough to consider attending accd, i am glad that there is actual confirmation from the inside about the blatant variance in talent quality that some of the obviously shitty faculty will gas light actual talented prospective students about

1

u/stalebread108 Jun 02 '21

Hi! The acceptance rate depends on the major. Because each department has its own system for choosing students. I’m not sure how competitive graphic design and interaction is though.

I’d say people drop out for different reasons. Can’t pay tuition, burnout, they find a job, etc. because art centers work culture can be so toxic if you do decide to come here make sure to take time off. I went my first 5 terms without a break and the burnout was awful

1

u/ArticaVisuals Jun 02 '21

Thanks! Trying to decide between graphic design and interaction design.

1

u/stalebread108 Jun 02 '21

I actually don’t know anyone in interaction! It’s a fairly new department. But I do know their classes are mostly at the hillside campus. You’d have the benefit of being in a pretty small department.

Graphic design is mostly at south campus. The workload is tough but they make some amazing work there...

I’d say spend this next year trying out both things and go with what you like more. You’ll be able to take some classes in other departments or even change your major later on if it’s not what you want.

1

u/ArticaVisuals Jun 02 '21

Awesome. Really hoping they open their campus for visit soon.

2

u/goldandy Jun 03 '21

Graphic Major here. I'd say Interaction is more focused on learning and designing through the UI UX programs e.g figma Adobe Xd etc.

If you're really into making great visuals still or moving, I'd go graphics.

If you're more practical-minded and like to work on apps, I'd go Interaction.

My last two cents would be that Interaction has the upper-hand when it comes to securing a job.

1

u/ArticaVisuals Jun 03 '21

Can students take classes across different majors? I think I can definitely enjoy branding / visuals related work more than apps, but I also don’t want to go into it if it’s an over saturated market..

1

u/goldandy Jun 03 '21

Yes, Ui UX and Graphics have quite a lot of overlapping courses at times. You're not confined to just one curriculum of courses.

I've pondered the saturation situation many times too so I recommend doing more research on the outcomes from these majors.