S
1/5
I was in the animation major, and the department is not only severely underfunded but overall at this school the teachers are extremely biased and unable to teach in an effective way.
Students have to take turns to use the equipment and then get told it's their fault when they're unable to meet deadlines.
I personally have problems with learning computer programs, and when I asked for help I was told to "Google it". I'm paying $30,000 a year in tuition, I expect to be helped, not told to do something I could do on my own.
The teachers also, instead of teaching, would have "video tutorials" for students to watch and would refuse to help and instead redirect students to the videos, which were only good if you had a Mac computer. They made no sense if you used a PC, which is what 80% of the students in the major had.
The school says it embraces creativity, but the classes expect you to do things in a very specific way, and if you don't do it you're docked on your grades for it.
The school itself is also very elitist. I was told by many students who take the foundation classes that they were strongly advised against getting jobs while at school, but then we're also expected to buy expensive art supplies. Not only that, but the school itself shows blatant bias against the applied art majors like animation and illustration and graphic design.
They also showed no care or concern for the interactive arts major. They actually closed the major down when there were students halfway through finishing and told to move to other majors.
Signing up for classes is a nightmare. Advising counselors don't help with sign up whatsoever, have admitted multiple times via email they don't know which classes count towards required credits for degrees, and half the time there's not enough room in the required classes or there's classes you need that aren't being taught/available. This was especially prevalent during senior year which was absolutely ridiculous and stressful.
The buildings themselves are very underkept. They're building new buildings while the baty house and illustration department building are infested with cockroaches and mold.
Their student website also is really bad. It constantly locks you out and makes you reset your password, and the school itself has bad wifi connections. They are impossible to get in contact with, I would send multiple emails asking for help with admissions or signing up for classes and would only be redirected to multiple people, all who showed very blatantly that they didn't care.
Teachers use the website called Moodle for their online assignments, which sucks because Moodle is one of the worst websites I've ever had to use. Not only is it stupid that this school doesn't have online classes, which for a lot of people I know would've helped a lot, the website they do use looks and works like it was made and last updated in the early 90s.
The neighborhood around it is also bad. It's relatively safe around the Nelson, but that's because they have good security. The school, however, does not. There have been mutliple instances while I've been there where students have been robbed at gunpoint. Another family had their car stolen off campus. The school sends out a monthly crime report of everything going on around the school and it's usually a couple pages long. It's ridiculous the amount of crime that goes on around and on campus.
The only reason I came to this school was because it was closer to my hometown than other animation schools, something I really regret doing now.
Personally, if you are considering going to this school I would say to give it a hard pass. Keep your options open, because this school will not hesitate to screw you over. It costs too much for what you're getting in return, and you'll be on your own because it's impossible to get help from anyone who works there.
