Ten from the Top: reasons I picked SCAD
Ten from the Top is the weekly column of the very honest and often snarky thoughts of District’s editor-in-chief.
With the start of my senior year — and my sister’s junior year of high school, now full of college applications — I have been thinking about college a lot. Was SCAD the right choice? Are my student loans too high? Would skipping college and traipsing across Europe with a camera have been a better choice? So I took a look back at the 10 things that made me choose SCAD and if they still ring true.
1. The money: Believe it or not of all the schools I applied to (seven by the way, and yeah I know it’s a lot) SCAD was the second cheapest. Granted I looked at a lot of other art schools with price tags that are comparable but Savannah gave me the money. Hallelujah for scholarships!
2. The tour: I must have toured SCAD three times before college and I have to say, they do it right. Most of the time the guides know what they are doing and I liked seeing the buildings I would learn, eat and sleep in (not talking about dorms here, yes Eichberg I am talking about you.)
3. The student center: OK SCAD, the student center is very cool, and yes the fact that it is a converted synagogue makes it cooler and the fact that it has arcade games and skee ball the coolest. But I — like most of SCAD — seem to use it more sparingly than the library. Maybe try stepping up the game with a light show or unlimited amounts of coffee and puppies; just a thought.
4. Foundations classes: I am sure that many, many freshman will laugh at this part because it does not make sense why a photography student is in a drawing class. Foundations, although they do seem odd at the time have been one of the better things to prepare me for the weird, wonderful problems that art creates.
5. General education classes: Speaking of classes, all of my high school friends are insanely jealous of the fact that I have had to take one math class. That’s it, just one! Instead I get to take cool classes like Ceramics, Life Drawing and History of Photography. Take that, Biology 101.
6. No campus: This was a bonus for me since I hated the idea of being stuck in one spot. Although being stuck in one spot though as I wait for the bus in order to get anywhere isn’t something I planned on.
7. Bye, bye high school: No one from my high school had heard of SCAD or ever considered coming here. This was by far one of my absolute favorite things because, I’m sure like many of you, after 12 years of being with the same few hundred people I would have rather ripped off their heads than been their roommates.
8. The food: While I find myself eating pizza or PB&J’s far more than the truffle risotto I remember so well from SCAD days, after visiting my friend’s schools across the country, I have figured something out. It could be way, way worse. Trust me. Thank God for the decent coffee, though!
9. The opportunities: Okay if I haven’t done it enough already I am going to really stroke SCAD’s ego a bit here. In terms of colleges, SCAD is a toddler and without the age and name recognition of someplace like Rhode Island School of Design. SCAD has to backup their big price tag with reasons that it is worth it. They roll out the big names, Fortune 500 companies and notable alums because they would rather we get an internship or make the connections we need for the real world here than leave us at graduation with nothing but a diploma.
10. The city: I love the spanish moss, the friendly people and the well-kept squares. I also can tolerate the trolleys, tourists and 100 percent humidity so this was the right place for me.
