Academy of Art vs SF art institute?

help!

Im leaning towards AAU but I want to be sure that the school I choose is well respected and actually beneficial to me. I still need to take tours and everything but before I get all that going, I'd really love to hear some honest opinions about both. Good or bad.

SO!
alumni and current students and anyone who has any source of information on the pros and the cons of both schools please help! it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, Im most likely going to be majoring in Photography, if that helps at all.


thanks!

make your choice based on the offerings of each school, compared to what you are looking for.

many smaller schools offer just as credible degrees as large expensive schools.

for instance, a person with a marketing degree from New Mexico State is no less educated than the student with the same degree from Duke.

Do what's right for you, and you'll be just fine, don't let the popularity of a school be a deciding factor.

When you say the SF Art Institute, you do mean the San Francisco Art Institute, and *not* the Art Institute of California - San Francisco, correct?

The SF Art Institute (not part of the Art Institute chain of schools) is an extremely well respected art school. It's in the top 10-15, and offers high quality programs that command a lot of respect in the industry.

The Academy of Art University, on the other hand, is no where near as respected. Not even close. And in my opinion, it's got a troubled reputation. It's not that it doesn't graduate strong artists - actually, it does - but it has a troubled rep, and is no where near as prestigious as SF Art Institute.

If you're still in the process of looking for art schools, some of the best in California are (in ranking order, from highest down):
- California Institute of the Arts
- Art Center College of Design
- UCLA (although that's a broad uni, not just an art school)
- California College of Arts and Crafts
- SF Art Institute
- Cal State Davis (like UCLA, a broad uni, but with a good art program)
- Otis College of Art

Those schools are head and shoulders above AAU in terms of reputation.