Academy of Art University — Local services in San Francisco

This school is pretty decent, the only thing I think they should really fix is their tutoring online session, because when i was trying to get online tutoring, the online tutoring was not was all over the place and not very organized. If you do decided to apply to this school please make sure you ask the important questions, such as, what is the maximum classes you have to take when taking classes online, How much you are paying for classes every semester, and finally make sure the academic counselor, tell you how long you have until you graduate and all the supplies you need because, I was taking Anaysis and Form FND 110. The councelor only shown me how to purchase my school supplies offline, they had also a tab that is called "General Supplies" I was not told i need a figure and the geometric shapes.

Lastly, I also did not like the way the format of the online student portal was setup. After going through orientation, most teachers expect you to automatically grasp and understand the entire student portal over night, when it is impossible. Another thing i did not like is, every semester, you can only talk with an instructor in online email, and sometimes they take forever to reply. The school do not allow most instructors to talk through skype or by phone. In addition to that, they give you up to four tries to resubmit an assignment per module and once your four tries are up, they do not allow you to resubmit your work anymore. some teachers will just give you a punishing grade even though you put in the effort to get your grade up. When I was taking FND110 Anaysis and Form, my teacher name was Miller Cristen, she gave me a 62% on my first semester assignment for module 1. I was so disappointed and i felt like quitting and going back to my other art school. most teacher use the grading system as an excuse to rip students off considering they put in a lot of money to be there and the effort.

Please really think long and twice and when you get a phone call from them after applying, do not sign up for anything until you get the answers you need. This school they make you take four classes full time which is too much, it feels you are at a university taking online class's. I hope that this message reach out to someone, and that they do not make the mistakes as I have.

Another thing I forgot to mention, and it seems that some instructors have a ha it in doing this which is anot her thing, I dI'd not like about his school. When working on an assignment and just because your artwork is not meeting up to their "high status " standards they grade down on every thing strictly even though you are putting in the effort to do better. Also instead of the instructors telling you in honesty up front, about a few suggestions as to what to work on or what are some things such that could help you get better, they would email the orientation teacher behind your back saying that basically your artwork skills are poor in class and that you need help. One day I spoke to my orientation teacher concerning this issue, she kinda disappointed regarded everything I said and made it see, like tutoring is my only hope in doing quote on quote " doing better" in class ( even though online tutoring was not much help) the online tutoring setup is like a workshop, where they have one tutor tutoring a bunch of students one by one.....which is ridiculoustill and it needs to be more organized. Overall if or for those of you that are currently taking courses online with AAU ( Art Academy University) just be aware that majority of these instructors do not care rather you pass or fail and they will not tell you honestly of what are some of the main things to improve on and or any suggestions. They will email the orientation instructor about everything which is stupid. When they could have told you what you need to work on considering you paid a lot of money and effort in class. So something to be aware of, also another thing too, even though you are using Pell grant to go to school on, you have to pay 120.00 for registration fee...

I've been at AAU for two semesters now, and I would say that if you want to build your portfolio this is a good option. I'm attending online, and as such my experience is limited to this aspect of the school.

Here are questions you're probably here to get answers for: Is this school worth going in to debt for? Will I improve as an artist if I attend? Do I need a portfolio to apply?

Q: Is this school worth going in to debt for? A: It depends if you plan on working freelance or for a company when you finish your degree.

Freelance artist? probably not. This school is VERY expensive, at around 2,000$ per course. Go to a Community college that teaches Foundations in Art, as well as some business and time management classes. Some Community Colleges even offer entrepreneur programs that, in conjunction with art courses, would suit your needs just fine. as a comparison, a course at the Community college here in Salem, Chemeketa Community College, comparable courses run at 400$. The only difference is that community colleges do not have degrees that focus on specific areas like Game Design or Illustration. You'll have to go to a school like AAU to learn more about these fields.

If you want to find a firm to work for, attending AAU could be a great option. Especially if you've tried to get in to other schools but were denied because you didn't have a complete enough portfolio or had poor grades in high school. This is the situation I am in, I was a poor student in the past. Even with a decent portfolio, I would not have been accepted to, say, Digipen. Having a degree from an art school will help you in your job search, because completing the program will give you working experience of what is expected of an artist in the industry.

Will I improve as an artist if I attend? Yes! If you are ready and willing to learn, you will improve. If you are expecting to immediately become amazing, rethink things first. Art takes time and effort, just like any other skill, so be patient and really apply yourself. Do not expect to grow your skill set unless you actually give it your all.

Do I need a Portfolio or good grades to be accepted? No, AAU is one of those schools that will accept any student. As a result, many students that are not ready for college courses or are not able to manage their time wisely tend to fall by the wayside. They get overwhelmed, and have to drop out. If you know you're ready to apply yourself to college and put in the time (LOTS of time) to study, you should get in. Be aware of finances. If you don't like the school you will still have to pay off any student loans that you have taken out.

Bottom line: If you weren't able to get in to your first choice school but want a more focused program than a community college, look in to AAU. I have had good experiences, good teachers, and great results so far and will continue to work toward my degree. I am paying a very high priced tuition for online classes and feel I should have considered that more. I also feel that the Online experience is not the same as a physical campus. While it was the best choice for myself, a mom with a husband that works full time, Online classes still take a lot of time and can make budgeting time very hard. After my degree is complete I may re-apply to Digipen, which was my...

My experience applying to AAU as a transfer student was absolutely horrible, almost laughable, really. The day after I submitted my application, I received 5 calls within two hours from the same recruiter. It seems that they outsource recruitment to a call center because when I finally was able to pick up (I was at work) she had to re-route the call to an actual advisor. I told the advisor that I was at work and asked if she could just send me an email with any information she had for me, which she did.

After this, a different advisor named Johann began contacted me persistently. He called 3 times one day and 2 times the next day. When I asked him to email me (again, I was at work) he insisted we must talk on the phone. I went ahead and submitted my FAFSA and had a (scheduled) phone call with Alice, who was kind and professional. I informed her that I needed some time to think about the plan I had received.

Johann continued to contact me and leave voicemails. When I was able to pick up, he ripped into me about me needing to cancel my application because I was not a "serious" enough applicant. In reality, I work full time, run a business, and travel frequently. I do not have time to constantly make phone calls. He rushed me several times to pay the enrollment fee and begin classes - either that or cancel. Keep in mind that it was January and I applied for the fall semester. He seemed annoyed when I said I wasn't quite ready to commit to AAU as I was also in the midst of applying to SCAD which was my first choice, so I was a little more preoccupied with them. I was so fed up at this point that I emailed Johann and told him to please withdraw my application and that I did not feel comfortable speaking with him. Of course, he calls me again to tell me he will not be withdrawing my application because he wants to talk with me about it first. To be honest, I was completely over the whole situation at this point and did not respond.

I continued to receive emails from AAU, so I emailed the admissions department to ask them to make sure my application was cancelled and that I would receive no more contact. I did not receive a response. Today I received 2 more calls from Johann, telling me he can't withdraw my application until I tell him why. I don't know how I could possibly be more assertive in telling them to cancel my application, but I have sent him one last email.

I encourage you not to apply to this for-profit school. All they care about is getting as many students in as possible and rushing them into paying the enrollment fees ASAP. I definitely learned my lesson. Another thing to note is that their "full time" status is only 12 credits, and when you want to do the e-Learning program you must do a half time semester first. If the school seems like a good fit, I wish you luck! And if you have to deal with Johann,...