I forget where I was when I took this, but it might’ve been in the Mission. If not, sorry. In any case, is anyone taken aback by the notion that a diploma from the Academy of “Art” “University” might not be good for shit? Fuck.
Previously on Mission Mission:
Some Art Student Spent Forevs Drawing Cartoon Woman in Dalva Bathroom
More Boing Boing in Mission Bathrooms
Stone Got Glass Fucked By Your Mom With Love In The Men’s Room At 12 Galaxies
I hire people with AOAU diplomas all the time. Of course, they are also talented and hard working, without the sense of entitlement that this person seems to be lost in a miasma of…
ah, the plaintive cry of the barista.
Nothing worse than the recently graduated unemployed. Get a clue! SCHOOL is not WORK and just because you have a fucking diploma does not give you carte blanche.
When I graduated from collage I was making as much as I was in High School and then I got that job this jerk wanted….
Willie, you spelled college wrong
Dude, don’t knock collages. It’s fun to cut out all the pictures. Plus, you can make some serious money, all while making a social statement.
Doesnt The Academy give out degrees? You get diploma’s in high school.
Nope, We’re accredited like any other college in the country. I’m gathering this person doesn’t understand that a college degree isn’t the only thing you need to get a job. Dedication, hard work and badass portfolio are also huge factors in getting paid.
^^^I totally agree with this statement.
If your hatin’ then you obviously didn’t have what it takes to succeed in the real world as a creative person. I am sure it is a lot easier to try to bring down an organization by slandering it as opposed to busting your ass and trying to accomplish something with the opportunity that you have or had.
The hard fact is that the economy sucks and that means that you have to be even more badass than everyone else out there just to get a paycheck.
On top of that, a lot of people get the misconception that “Art” school is easy. Wrong.
I am an Alum and the truth is that every employer I have had hold ME, MY WORK AND MY ALMA MATER in the highest esteem.
If it didnt work for you …sorry, better luck next time.
^^^ And I totally disagree with both of the above statements.
There should be a balance between the tools and knowledge the college is supposed to give you, and the amount of hard work and dedication within the graduate. Otherwise, what is the point of going to college in the first place?
Saying “Oh, well I went to the school, and now I have a sweet job. Obviously you’re not cut out for a field in the arts, blah, blah blah.” is complete bullshit. I went to a for profit school and it was the worst decision of my academic life. I was fortunate to get a job with a small graphics firm out of school, but only cause I knew a guy there who helped me get my foot in the door. It wasn’t because of anything this “school” gave me. My own hard work, and luck was what got me where I am today. NOT the education/degree provided by a college that was more concerned with my credit report, than teaching me anything of value.
For-profit colleges are a plague. Plain and simple. They put on a good song and dance, and sell you that their school is the best. When you get there, the “advanced technology” and “caring instructors” (or whatever promises they make) from their commercials/brochures are somewhat absent.
They take advantage of high school graduates who don’t have all the facts. Hell, I too was such a graduate and couldn’t imagine that there were actual institutions that just wanted my money and “Who gives a fuck if we teach him anything.”
I didn’t know that many for-profit colleges will annex/buy smaller accredited universities as a means of obtaining said accreditation. I didn’t know that they will regularly change the name of their school or hide it’s affiliation with a larger for-profit university. “Oh, our name is Baker-field University, we’re not that awful for-profit Chester-field Academy” *wink wink.
If you’re going for a degree in the Arts, start with a community college while you look into other larger institutions. Go in for the tour, ask to sit in on classes. Question students who are there if you can. Don’t just trust the lines they feed you. Go online and research, research, research.
Oh, and Todd. Go fuck yourself. Saying something as condescending as “Better luck next time.” Just proves what an insufferable dick you must be in real life. If you can afford another go at college, then wow sorry, not all of us were born with a silver spoon in our mouth. Prick.
Ah, for-profit schools. Scum sucking shitbags of fucked-uppedness. Found this blog after steering someone away from Full Sail University… a “fully accredited” film school located in Winter Park, Florida. So I successfully divert her from this school and she comes back with asking about Academy of Art University.
I’ve been giving people the same advice as Davidson… start out at a community college… research other schools, sit in on classes… ask professionals for opinions… do lots of informational interviewing.
Davidson, I hope you don’t mind me reposting your commment. You’ve provided lots of good information.
And Todd, you’re a douche. With the high cost of education, there’s no chance for a “next time” for most people. They shot the financial wad the first go-around and there isn’t anything left for a second try.
Check out my blog over at
http://fullsailuniversityreview.blogspot.com/
Actually, Academy of Art “degrees” really are worthless. Yes, they are “accredited,” but the accreditation is by a *different organization* than is used by real colleges and universities (anything from CCSF to SF State to UC Berkeley to Stanford etc.). So let’s say you have a degree from A of A. Later, you decide you might like to get an MFA ar other higher degree at one of the real universities. They will laugh at you. “What? You think this A of A thing is a degree?”
From their perspective, it’s as much a degree as a roll of paper towels.
It’s tricky at best to get work with a Art degree, but if you MUST HAVE a degree in art, try to get into the SF Art Institute or other legitimate art school; or even study art at UCB or SF State etc.
Sure, people actually learn stuff at A of A, but their options for graduate training are very small indeed.
that is some excellent commentary. i didnt know about that accreditation issue.
sounds like a bit of a scam to me.
and the AofA degree aint cheap, neither.
They do have the same accreditation. Check this page out: http://www.wascsenior.org/directory/institutions . same as State and UC’s. so….
people are fussing.
You friggin internet jockies spouting off opinions as facts are funny. Get your facts straight. I’m sure your just bitter about failing out of AAU or something else like that… Sad, and always the victim ready to cry to the crowd of faceless people on the internet. Please… Complain more about how it’s “Someone elses fault.” We love to hear it.
i hire em too. thing is….this is an art (or design, or media) degree. so school is about honing & developing talent. without talent (a combination of skill, drive & bravery, imho)….the diploma is in fact worthless. that said, WITH talent, the diploma is a decent credential showing – at the very least – the ability to follow through. that said, the notion that it will “get you a job” is pretty off-base, as it would be regarding any but a very very few institution’s diplomas in a very narrow slice of the job pool.
Well, the WASC accreditation must be new for them. They didn’t used to have it. I therefore revise my remarks, but I still think that young artists would be much better off simply majoring in Art at a regular university. They have all kinds of digital arts programs at these schools nowadays, in addition to photography, painting, and other such programs.
A traditional school does not teach students how to make a living off of art. There’s a difference between Art for Arts sake and Art for Industry.
This blog is not about just getting any diploma from art school, it’s about getting an Academy of Art university diploma. And even though it IS accredited like all the universities. Does it do anything is the question. Frankly all the great professors have gone, the education is outdated, and the students are lacking in motivation even in the first year. So is it worth it? If you want to waste your money and time.
The academy is nothing but a bunch of fags who produce more fags to then go out into the world and corrupt it with more faggotry. thus it is a disease. It has literally destroyed the loins of SF with illegal “acquisitions” of downtown real estate and have made no efforts to deal with the claims. It is a sespool littered with weaboo scene bitches and Chinese fagots who wish they were Japanese. They virtually rape people’s wallets so they can continue advertising their bullshit at conventions and teh internets whenever they can. The purchase old city buses and rev them up in their secret auto department. The security their is bullshit. The people that attend usually have their noses shoved so far up their professors asses that they pluck them out they can still smell the shit and believe it to be them. Alas.. they are not the shit. The fashion bitches are legitimate hos. Even though the bitches wont admit it you can often see them working the streets at Sutter corners. The fact is the “industry” as they call it is so fucking saturated with old faggots that they like to recycle that newbs never get a chance. The Admin at the school are nothing but a bunch of selfish uncaring fucks who don’t care about shit but a six figure pay check. Fuck Academy Of Art University. AAU Sucks
I will ram my dick straight the fuck down your pretentious ear canal.
I Have a degree from AAU and let me just say, my diploma means shit! Every employer I have ever had (I have had a ton) hires me not because I graduated from there but because I have the drive of a bull during the pamplona run. That is something you personally have not are taught. However, AAU did kick my ass for four years and made me really good at what I do. I could not make the money or have the knowledge I do today if I went anywhere else in the country.
And just so you know Anonymous us fashion kids work about 120 hours a week in the studio alone and I am sure the whores on Sutter are only doing it cause they have two hours to spare a week and we do have to pay rent just like you. Also please stop throwing the “F” bomb around no one likes that word.
You have to put in what you get out in everything in life fyi and there are people and places that help you do that.
i went to academy of crap and decided after going there for two years of an MFA(i had an undergrad degree in psychology… and they let me into an MFA program??????!!!) that it was indeed a waste of time and money. i knew more than many of the teachers, had a job in the field already, and the fact that they “needed” another year of me in there meant that they wanted more money. save your money, go to a real school.
even worse… a few years back i tried to get a job there just for kicks and they said i wasn’t qualified!!! HAHA! they must have looked me up in their drop-out (full tuition not completed) database.
I love when people say they’re smarter than their teachers. Those people are usually the dumbest in the class.
Also, you probably didn’t get hired because you’re an unpleasant person to be around and the “I’m better than you” attitude probably doesn’t help.
Yevgenya Lepskaya’s school of music will provide you with proper education service for your child: piano teaching, guitar learning, music scale learning, and music theory learning. We will glad to see you at 10 Main Street Park Ridge, Illinois.
whoever wrote this article is obviously is deeply offended and has a throbbing, pulsating boner for aau and needs a reality check. that place is nothing more than a half step up from that commercial of the old guy asking if you “like to draw” and to “call for a free art test.”
I would like to know what percentage of the Academy’s alumni continue working in the field of art after graduation. I’ll bet you that 1) they wouldn’t share those numbers if they had them, and 2) those numbers are probably very low.
That’s the dirty secret of ALL art schools — most of the graduates aren’t making art. Sad but true.
AAU or AAC when I graduated.
Came to SF learn CG.
Cal state had 1 SGI for the whole department.
AAC 50 SGI’s + SGI workstations in each classroom.
I know where my tuition went. (50k+ per machine)
School is what is. They have the tools you need the drive..
The degree puts you in the pile that gets reviewed, it does not get you a job.
It’s all about your work.
That school taught me the skills to make 100k with my “Art” skills.
I am a working professional in the CG field now.
And I would do it all again at that school.
Believe me, I know about the real estate scams ect.
Go to school to focus on what you love not BS…….
Academy of Art is just a student visa scam for wealthy Asian parents that want to ship their kids off to the U.S. for a couple of years.
Culinary Academy is a rip-off too. When I see kids walking in chef clothes or carrying their art portfolios around Van Ness, I have to laugh. In 2-3 years, they will have no usable skill, but a nice pile of student debt.
Why would you laugh at something like that?
I go to AAU and do think aspects of the institution are absurd. For example, organized sports????? C’mon.
Actually, the job placement rate is extremely high! The graduation rate, however, is not (i think it’s like 30%, seriously!). The problem is that so many attend AAU thinking it will be easy due to the lack of portfolio for admittance. I’ve seen so many fellow classmates come and go.
I think that with any school, the work you put it will pay off in the end.
If you have the connections (especially in the art/ design world) and the talent to back that up–you’ll do well no matter where you attend school.
So to sum this up– Yes, the Academy of Art can be questionable in their actions but that doesn’t mean that the students attending are any less talented or connected than any other art school.
If anything, at least the Academy of Art prepares you for an actual industry job, unlike other, more “prestigious” art schools that prepare you to be the next failed Andy Warhol.
For-profit schools are always a scam. An Art degree from a real university however, is still worth something, regardless of whether or not you’re able to monetize your particular field of study.
I have degrees in Literature and Cultural Anthropology. I work in neither field, but my work in the field I am in is better for my having acquired those degrees.
Don’t let the ‘mathnscience’ cult degrade your appreciation of the comprehensive benefits of an “Education.” Otherwise, we should just close our universities and all go to trade schools.
All art degrees are pretty much worthless. It’s your portfolio that will get you a job. Do you think a RISD or SCAD or any other “prestigious” art school degree will matter if your portfolio sucks?
Agreed.
I am pretty sure you take your academic classes at Brown if you are going to RISD… so maybe.
and if you do try for an art degree, take a liberal arts class
I work at AAU part time (very part time) as a spare pocket money job, in fact I’m posting from there right now. Holy shit is it a bad idea to go here if you don’t already know what you’re doing. Don’t go unless you already like doing creative work on your own and push yourself to get skills on your own. You can start with a better education from reading 1 book on your own than you’ll end up with from going in clueless and taking 4 years of classes. Study up before they assign work and already know what they’re going to assign you. Then take it as a chance to apply what you already know with technical help. If you haven’t done that and think this is a good place to go, think twice, try cheap classes at city college first.
The lumpen majority seem like they are fresh out of high school, sweet talked into riding corporate dick, piling up debt with no hope in the end, heads full of useless ideas about glamor jobs that don’t exist. The few who seem like they know what they’re doing, probably already have school time done elsewhere, and go in a degree program to get a few years to practice what they want to do without distraction of working, while student loans cover living expense. They are the exception who succeed. Less than 10% of them I’ll bet. The other 90% are paying for them and the owner’s car collection.
REAL TALK: AAU is ok if you know what you want out of it, know decent teachers, and are personally driven. But if you’re serious about studying any discipline of art, CCA takes the cake in the bay area.
I’m really interested in going to AAU after high school. How good is their Motion Pictures and Television program?
The MPT department is crap. Go elsewhere, trust me!
Good to know. I’ve decided to study aboard anyways.
The editing track at AAU, within the MPT program, is fantastic. This room is full of whiny-assed nobody’s who will never get anywhere, regardless the school they choose, because they have their minds plugged into a thought process that is negative and counter productive. Go to any school and you get what you put into it.
You must ALWAYS be studying about your field, outside of your scheduled academic program. You must read and get out into the community and behave as if you are already a part of your chosen industry. BE what you want to be, on the lower level and build yourself up into what you wish to become. Those that go to Brown and Harvard are given positions in life, because they went to school at Brown and Harvard. Don’t be one of those people. Decide to succeed and go do it, wherever you go to school.
You can do anything you want. You don’t need accrediation to learn to produce great art. You don’t need it to become a great film or video editor. It’s all in what you produce with your time and skills. So go out there and develop some God Damned skills and maybe I’ll hire you when you’re done with your program.
Get motivated and get out of the counter productive mindset and do something about your future that doesn’t involve bitching and moaning about testy little issues that don’t amount to a hill of beans in the real world.
FUCK!
I am really close with someone who works there and they are corrupt and incredible fiscally irresponsible. The owner of the school doesn’t give a shit about the students, just making money and having students make good art so it makes the school look good and therefore bring in more money. I don’t care what kind of students go there and how ridiculous or pretentious they are, no one deserves to be taken advantage by a crazy woman who knows nothing of running a business and is just money hungry. AAU is a black pit on an otherwise wonderful city, it needs to wiped away.
This “school” is an absolute joke. Sure, the hipsters and kids who hang out on the streets that they’ve taken up in the Tendernob district can be annoying, but what is truly sad is how they take advantage of the students by promising a glamorous career after graduation. Most companies in the industry do not think highly of the academy or the degrees that they hand out.
The academy is in fact a real estate company disguised as a school. Their model is to get you to enroll, take your money (leaving you in debt, hey, it’s not their problem) and buy up more real estate.
-former graduate student of this “school” and yes, my degree is worthless. thank god i have a degree in business to fall back on.
Ehmmmmmmm…..No university guaranties a JOB to their graduates!! That part is up to the graduate. Universities prepares you for the career, the rest is up to you. I think is stupid how ppl are complaining here that they did 4 yrs in art blah blah and they don’t have a job in arts. Is that AAU fault??? NO!! Ask Laws students, Medicine students, Business students, Education students, Science students how many of them got jobs in their fields…..not more than a 30%. Just because you have a Degree doesn’t mean you will find a Job. You have to be persistent and work hard to be above the rest of MILLIONS seeking job too!! duhhhhh
The Academy of Arts University is not for lazy people who think they know it all. This University is for people who have big Dreams and already have goals in their minds and will work hard for them. It is for people willing to learn, sacrifice and work very very very but very hard.
ahh okay so ….. should i go to a community college to start my art classes there and then come to AAU??? orrr like whattt???
I understand wat your sayinnngg where to beging
When i was younger i wanted to go to the academy of art university but when i started looking up information they don’t have a very high amount of graduates finding good jobs or being displayed in galleries. It was pretty but not a great school. After doing my research i found SAIC to be a much better alternative in being one of the best and more competitive art schools in the nation. I’d rather go to a school i can hav.e a better chance of a successful future with
Also, for any school, especially an art school, you get out what you out in. The school’s degree helps but in such a conpetitive field, it’s about putting yourself out thereand remaining dedicated.
can someone just tell me some good schools that have online learning so i can try to better myself while still working at my current job..