Art School Exchange

burntheladle

I'm thinking of doing an exhange semester at a US art school, through my school's exchange program. I'm just about to start my second year at the Australian National University's School of Art, and I'm thinking exchange would be a really great way to get to live in the US for a bit.

My school has exchanges running with schools all over the place, but I'm thinking somewhere in the US for a couple of reasons - I really think I should go somewhere where schoolwork would be in a language I speak (ie, english); and while I'd really like to spend some time in the UK and Canada both have excellent youth travel/work schemes for Australians, and the US doesn't, so a student exchange program seems like a great way to spend some time in the US without having to work at a summer camp.

The US schools that do exchange with my school are:

California College of the Arts
School of the Art - Institute of Chicago
Kent State University
Rhode Island School of Design


I'm a digital art student, so I need somewhere with a strong digital/media/graphic design program. At the moment, I'm drawn towards CCA, but that's only because I like their website best.

So, a few questions.

Opinions on the above schools?
When (roughly), do the semesters fall? Ours are generally feb-june; july-nov; how do the US ones compare?
The immigration website says people on student visas are allowed to work on campus. Are oncampus jobs common and reasonably easy to get?

Anything else you'd like to tell me?

Gaffero

Of all of your choices, California College of the Arts has the most tolerable climate unless you're used to cold snaps and several feet of snow in our late fall or winter. But I'm sure you're looking for something more important than the weather.

The only school with which I am familiar is the Rhode Island School of Design which is known simply as RISD (pronounced Riz-dee). I considered applying, but wound up attending Pratt Institute; I have since moved on from Pratt, but that's another story.

I assume you are somewhat familiar with the rigors of art school, so I'll spare you the hype about RISD students having a tougher course-load than students at MIT, etc. RISD is located near Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. It's a nice neighborhood, but it's entirely set on a massive fucking hill which is a real bitch in the winter. As far as Providence goes, there's enough to do in that area.

As an aside, the RISD sports teams are something of a legend; their basketball team is called the Balls and their hockey team is called the Nads. Go Nads! They have rivalries with other art schools, which means competition is more friendly.

As a RISD student, you should get some sort of discount on RIPTA (public transportation) should you choose to elsewhere in Providence. It's fairly easy to get to either New York City or Boston by train. Both Boston and New York have some great art resources in the forms of museums and galleries; I'm sure you already know this.

I'm not familiar with RISD's digital arts program or it's location(s) on campus. Semesters are roughly: late August/September - December; January - May. As far as employment, it varies by school. My brother milks the University of Connecticut dairy herd as his work study. For foreign-exchange students, they tend to reserve jobs relating to tutoring in their native tongue. Whatever school you choose to attend, get in contact with somebody early. Most work-study jobs go quickly before the semester even starts, and any other jobs tend to be harder to find.

Hope that helps somewhat. You have quite a decision in front of you. Has anyone else from your school gone to one of these U.S. schools? You're better off picking their brains for answers.

rts

I would go to the Rhode Island School of Design because it is actually a pretty good school as far as art schools go. Most are not.

I can't give you much information besides that, except to say that I go to a very good school for drawing/painting and I never hear about any of the schools you mentioned except RISD.