The Art Institutes Reviews of Bachelor's in Computer Animation

I would not recommend going to this school. One, you don't really receive a quality "college education" -- even though it is officially accredited, you are not guaranteed that your units will transfer to another school (if you need to, or want to go on to grad school), or be regarded as valid by potential employers. Not only is the tuition expensive, but many graduates do not go on to successful "dream" careers in their field of interest (only a small percentage, actually). I know many grads who... Read More end up working as receptionists or 'customer service' reps. It is true that many of the instructors are incredibly dedicated and talented, but the recent declines in enrollment and cost-cutting at the college have caused the school to fire many long-time instructors -- those who were most invested in the school and most dedicated to its mission and its students. Those instructors were in many cases replaced with "adjunct" or part-time faculty who regard teaching at A.i. as a 'gig' before they jump on the freeway to 'fly' to the next part-time teaching job (or their Uber assignment). It's true - the school does host weekend seminars -- but you could go to these for free if you wanted to. Ultimately, I would suggest that you would be better off going to a state school or some other real college than an overpriced institution of questionable value like this.

I had transferred to the AI of Austin from AI of Tampa after the Pell grant was supposedly cut from there. I only had a year left before graduating, as they claimed, but upon going over my credits, Austin said not all of it would transfer over despite being the same program and school. Though, I would have enough to be able to finish in a year. Year passes and guess what? They said I had another year to go, because I didn't have enough credits transferred over! Frustrated, but I was talked into finishing... Read More since I would now only have a year left. That year passes, and all this time I was a straight A student, 4.0 gpa, and suddenly I am failed in a portfolio class. Teacher told me I would never make it, and I was not good enough. Once again, they inform me I have ANOTHER year to go because of that one class, and on top of that my loans were drained and I would need to apply for private loans through them to finish. I promptly walked out of that school. Besides that, I learned they lied about how they help their graduates get a job in major businesses, and how many students actually graduate. Also how they can fail you even on the day of graduation walking across the stage. Don't even try to transfer to university with those credits from AI, because the schools won't accept them; I had a friend who managed to graduate from AI and tried to get a master's and was informed they don't consider them official.

First, I left before I graduated. I realized after taking a year and a half of classes that this school was a sham and that the money I was paying was not going to be a good investment. Transfer Credits: This was ok. They tried to force me into taking beginning computer classes despite the fact that I had multiple programming classes on my transfer degree. They persisted even after I explained that I worked in the technical industry and that I could build and setup a computer from components, and... Read More that I taught the same material they wanted me to take. I argued with the admissions people for two weeks about this before they finally backed off of trying to make me pay for a totally unnecessary class. This should have been a 10 minute discussion, a review of my transcript, and at the very worst a competency test. Instructors are hit and miss, some were amazing but they were the minority. One instructor thought his class was his political pulpit where he had the right to spout his hatred of George Bush for a third of every class. I called him on it because I don't want to hear about politics in a color correction class that I'm paying too much money for and once I did that I never got anything above a C from him. I spoke to the dean about this and he refunded the class cost back to me. Some instructors were so bad that they just tossed out A grades like they were free and I hated feeling that I may not have earned the grade I ended up with. Others were there to sell their own work to the students. Not as an example for them to use, or a roadmap of how to be successful but to literally convince students to endorse their work for competitions, festivals, and some wanted reviews of it simply to add to their own portfolio. Financial aid was ok. I see by other reviews that some students had a nightmare experience with it. I was apparently lucky and had no outstanding issues. Equipment: Everything was outdated and there was not enough of it to access. For one of my finals I had to build my own animation studio, scanning equipment and all, in my house because every time I went to use the school's there was a line out the door for it. You couldn't reserve time either. There was no allowance given to students for the lack of access either. Course Material: Again, hit or miss. This was directly tied to the instructor quality and the good instructors. Some classes were so bad that I learned more from internet tutorials than I did from the instructor. Too many classes had a distinct lack of teaching techniques for the discipline. There is no point to taking a class on painting where you get told to paint something but there is no discussion of how to actually accomplish it with different techniques or methods. Some of the required classes were a joke. Why are there culinary students in a 400 level art history class? An art history class where you actually had to complete artwork based on some of the historical masters' styles? I felt bad for these people, they are chefs not painters or sculptors but they were required to take the class for their culinary degree.

The New England Institute of Art is a scam, plain and simple. It's a diploma mill designed to saddle students with as much debt as possible while skirting around the barest minimum of what could reasonably be called a school. We'll start with Admissions, since that's initially what suckered me in. It's clear to me now that admissions representatives are trained to say whatever is necessary to get students to enroll, however misleading or downright false. I distinctly remember being told that AI had... Read More many alumni working in big name animation studios such as Pixar and Dreamworks. This is a blatant lie. I was also told that around 85% of alums were gainfully employed in their respective fields of study. Last I checked, that number is closer to 15-20%. Financial Aid is another matter. I was told multiple times that a single loan per semester would be enough to cover the cost of tuition. However, on multiple occasions, I was pulled out of class and told that I couldn't return unless I signed paperwork for more loans on the spot. The curriculum is a joke as well, either being spread way too thin, or loaded down with dumb and totally unnecessary classes that you're forced to take. I was forced to take a "computer science" class my first semester because I'd never used a mac before. The class consisted of the teacher handing out a "to do" list (which would only take about 1 hour of the 3 hour class) and spending the rest of the class playing Words with Friends. In the core curriculum for my major, subjects that really needed a few weeks to cover were glossed over in a single class, meaning that any student that didn't have foreknowledge of 3D software (the vast majority of us) was constantly struggling to keep up with lessons. I also took a single life drawing class for my entire 4 years at AI. Life drawing is an essential skill for someone in my major and I only had ONE class! There should've been one every semester! Most of the faculty were competent enough, but there was ZERO consistency in the curriculum between teachers, so lessons were scattered and oftentimes contradictory. Career Services was the worst joke out of everything. I was assured, over and over, that Career Services would be available to help me find a job. However, after I graduated, I called and emailed 2-3 times a week and got no response whatsoever. Emails were never responded to, calls went to voicemail and were ignored and I even came to the school in person twice, hoping to speak to someone and both times I was told that my so-called career adviser was unavailable that day. Finally, after six months of being ignored, I got a call and was told I would no longer receive help from my career adviser since they had other students that needed help. Yeah. Thanks. The degree I got from AI is worthless and I have nothing to show for it but $135,000 in debt that I will never be able to repay. To top it off, during a job interview, I had a prospective employer say that my education was "frankly, a joke." And that's exactly what AI is. A joke. The kind of joke that ruins your future and your financial security. TLDR: This school is a scam. Save yourself. Save your family. Save your money. Don't even think about this "school".

Art institute is the worst school to go to. My experience there was very horrible, okay I will start with the school and students they are immature people some of them acted like high schoolers. Some students will scream in the halls sometimes it was annoying because you have to study and also there was hardly any space on the student lounge; and in the lounge people would play video games and would scream sometimes I would have to leave and try to fit in a quite room or mostly ended up homeless... Read More . One of the teachers would say that the arts Institute degree is a joke and to get master degree but that would end even more in debt. This school would often tell newcomers lies and say that Disney people worked here also I heard from one student that they tell the newcomers that the video games that are played at the lounge where being tested as if the students make popular fighting games. They also call for you a lot when you are in school trying to get what you owe them. They harass you and ask you if your friends or family can pay for your school and not even do they waste a second in calling to milk your money out from you. They do special ceremonies that involve food video game etc.. to lure in the students even more with their ceremonies and also paying this much for a school and not getting extra things like free programs or clubs to help you enhance your skills. I understand that college you have to learn and by yourself but YouTube is not the instructor for learning, some teachers wouldn't know important elements that should be taught in programs and when asked they would simply tell you to look on YouTube or other sources but we don't pay YouTubers we are paying the teachers not other people other wise I would of done my career for free. One time we had a teachers that would teach us poorly and didn't know the programs they taught, and some people worked hard on the class and they ended up almost failing us students, we complained but we never got heard from anyone and they kept those teachers in the same position. I would sometimes ask for help and sometimes when I was getting help from a teacher they would in the middle of helping me on my time would rather help their favorite students and talk a lot to them and would often give up and instead I self taught myself because it was so much better than a teacher that makes time for me but takes it as a joke but I don't because it was my career and grade.This school doesn't get you a job but it should help because people pay a lot of money for whatever reason an art school should cost as much as an engineer career. From my experience stay out of commercial schools it's better to find a job or go to community college it's way better and cheaper then arts Institute they are never serious and the will accept almost anyone with money. Money is this schools priority it's not about education otherwise they would of got you some kind of connection with the fields you study. Also there was this student that had low gpa, lower than this school requires and that student was never taken out of the school. So that is an example of school profit, I am sorry that I sound harsh but it's just I been a fool for falling to this scam and now I have to pay the price for my mistake I made when I was fresh new to the world without internet without knowing how to research properly and scared I would end up in the streets, thank you arts Institute for putting me in debt now I will pay for years and end up in bad credit for not making enough to pay off quick like you guys said I would.

I regret this decision a lot.They don't even care about you.They're so focus on getting your money,not to mention,they refused to give me my financial aid refund back and I was forced to pay $500 a month right out my pocket.Their housing is terrible I can't even have a quiet peaceful night without feeling hold or cold and the beds are awful.I have ADD and used the accommodations request to help me in class more but none of the teachers even acknowledge the fact I had that and was quite difficult... Read More for me to complete the course.Once I started to get comfortable, they want to tell us that the school is moving to another building that's about far away and I don't know my way around.And also the housing might loose their lease which meaning that I might be forced to share a room with someone else and I don't want that.This school is a complete rip off and hope that fewer people will attend this school in the near future

I'm reading these things about my school and I do find it a bit suspicious now that Ai doesn't need portfolio for an art school, nor an SAT score or shot records... But I've enjoyed my teaching so far. I've learned a lot about Animation and have also received help getting jobs. There is a job fair twice every quarter and I feel my job advisor there has helped me as well as she can whenever she can. She even urges me to step up my game. But the money... I definitely don't see myself paying it all... Read More off soon after college. It's definitely a debt that stays with you unless you snag big job right out of graduation. On the note of substitutes, I have to agree that they're bad. I got one recently and she wasn't even a teacher of the major we were learning. When it comes to the housing, it can be another bite in the butt, but you can always try to be an RA and get free housing. Not to mention, the RAs I know are pretty respectful. And if you don't like your roommate, you can file a complaint or move out or they can move out. The only thing I don't really like about the housing is that we're not allowed pets outside or therapy animals, but our school prop manager gets to have his nevertheless... anyway, there's a bunch of good and bad to every school, but Ai... t might be up there... just always research and plan ahead before choosing a college. Some Ai's (like mine, here in Indy) are pretty good and nurture creative growth, but you may not like it, so be careful.

This isn't a real school. It's a corporation posing as an arts college. Their sole mission is to enroll anyone with air in their lungs, borrow money from the federal government under your name and leave you with an eternity of debt with nothing to show for. The "academic advisers" don't have an education background. They are used-car salesmen that are trained to tell you anything you want. They entice young impressionable people with the promise of "Job Placement" into your "dream job". Their "Job... Read More Placement" is an assistant clerk who copies and pastes Monster.com leads into the alumni website. Although they claim to have close relationships with local businesses that are lined up to hire Ai alumni, it is entirely up to you to do the legwork they promised they'd do and call the leads yourself. Potential employers have blacklisted Ai schools, so putting it on your resume is futile. They've dubbed the schools "degree-factories" knowing the education provided is not compatible with industry standards. The teachers were burnt out has-beens or artists that never really made it. Some made you watch YouTube tutorials in class, instead of actually teaching. The few good teachers spoke the truth and told students to go elsewhere. They were not hired back the following semesters. Save yourselves! Save your sanity! Save your credit! Save your financial future! Attend a community college or a state school. You'll be paying an Ivy League tuition for a community college education. An expensive art degree is not necessary if you already have the talent. Seek out free online resources or YouTube tutorials. At the end of the day, it is your portfolio that opens doors, not a piece of paper. No matter what you do, ***DO NOT ATTEND ANY ART INSTITUTES!!!*** Steer away from schools that are for-profit, don't require SAT's or a portfolio before enrollment!

The school is a scam. They overcharge for everything. I received financial aid and grants from the government, and they took the entire amount of my grants and loans, plus made my mother take out a parent plus loan to pay for me being there 4 months. They took all that money, which would have been between $27,000 and $30,000 for four months, and that didn't even cover my books. I had to pay all my supplies and books out of pocket. Granted I had housing, but the housing was an apartment I shared with... Read More 3 other guys who were paying the same I was in tuition. They were making a killing off of us. I only stayed four months for two reasons. One was because they promised me faithfully they would assist me in finding employment since I came from out of town. They said employers send them jobs all the time... no problem. This was BS. The lady who was supposed to help me kept cancelling my appointments to see her, and when I finally did she her, she said to look online and make a resume.. Ok, I already knew that. I had already applied everywhere. I was starving, eating dry cereal out of the box. She was no help. The second reason I left was the cost. I knew I would never pay them off in my lifetime if I continued paying that much every four months. The lady who recruited me to join the school was all helpful and nice while she was trying to get me in. After that, she hardly said hello when I passed her.... My roommates were typical college roommates I imagine. They ate any food I brought in for myself. They stole stuff from me. They stayed up playing musical instruments and partying many nights a week, and let people come there and stay who also ate my food... The lady who was supposed to oversee the students in the apartments didn't care what they did really. She partied with them. Some of the teachers were ok, but some were just strange. My film teacher was stuck on Nazi films, and that's all we watched or talked about. I don't recommend this school to anyone. You can go some place way cheaper and get the same degree. This place is way too high for what they do. When I left, I couldn't get my transcripts from them to attend another school because they said I owed $60. I asked what I owed it for, and they couldn't really tell me so I asked for a statement showing what I owed that for... They sent me a statement showing different items, but beside each thing it said i owed $0. Then at the bottom of the list it said total amount owed was $60, so I still didn't know what I owed it for, but I had to pay it quickly to get into another school. I wish I had never went to this school. They took so much of my money while I was there from my financial aid, I had to pay most of my senior year out of pocket at a different school, but I graduate in two months from another college, so I struggled, but I made it. No thanks to The Art Institute.