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goblinlord:
I’ve been thinking about writing a post like this for a long time. If you’re a prospective student, you believe in art, and you want to get better - but you do not have a portfolio, and you aren’t prepared, AAU seems like heaven. They claim that you don’t need experience, they will shape you into an artist, their arms open to anyone with a high school diploma who’s willing to pay. San Francisco’s Academy of Art University is a school I attended for two years. On the outside, it seemed spotless, shiny, new, beautiful, in the middle of San Francisco, which they sell to prospective students as beautiful and alluring. This is not true. While I have grievances with the city, the true issue lies with the school. PLEASE, even if this does not apply to you reblog this post so more people can see it. If I can help even one person make a more informed decision, this post has served its purpose.
This is my OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. Your experience may vary. But please take what Im saying to heart if you are a prospective student. Don’t let them sell it to you how they sold it to me.AAU was recently exposed for a scam in this Forbes Article, which highlights some of the issues behind the scene. AAU has tried so hard to scrub the internet of the article. They try so hard to drill it into students that the school is pristine. That anyone can walk in talentless, and come out with a job doing what you love. They say that the reason the graduation rate (fucking abysmal) is so low is because students get jobs right away, before they even graduate. I will tell you firsthand that is not true. Please, please. If you are thinking of attending AAU, PLEASE read this post. Please pass this around. Please show other people what a sham the entire school is.Two years ago, I became a prospective student at AAU. I looked past the issues arisen - I looked past the fact that their accreditation (mentioned in the Forbes article) is being considered for revocation due to their graduation rate, which they will not release the true stats of since 2006, being so low. I ignored the fact that the for-profit school charged around $40,000 a year for their education+housing (and first year students HAVE to stay in a dorm). I went in starry eyed. I came out, albeit, far more skilled than I had been when I walked in, with a story to tell.1. Administration does not care about you. No matter what they say, they are there to protect themselves. Upon signing up for classes that I absolutely NEEDED to graduate, I was told many times that they were full, at inconvenient times (think 10:30pm, accross the city, with only the shuttles (completely unreliable) to take you back to your dorm, in san francisco. Which is insanely dangerous at night.) or that I would just have to wait another semester to take them. Many times, I called on the phone, was put on hold, transfered, put on hold, transfered back, put on hold again, and given the runaround for HOURS until I was told nothing could be done. I would go in person, taking many hours out of my day (Again, unreliable shuttle service), only to have it fixed for me the moment I saw someone, resolved in minutes. Sometimes, all it was was a simple change from one time to another for my class. I had to schedule appointments with my academic advisers to speak with them even for a moment on the phone. In fact, once, upon finding the class fee for my class was upwards of $1000 in supplies (yep, no textbooks, but thousands and thousands in art supplies that you will not use) and requested a switch, the adviser scheduled me for a time AFTER the class switching period was over, even though I had called well before it, then attempted to force me to take it because I had “waited too long.” They do this constantly.
2. Their absence policy. AAU has a very strict absence policy. 3 missed classes and you would fail a class. 3 missed classes in a row, regardless of if you have a doctor’s note, they say it will get you removed from the school. Meaning you will be homeless. Although at one point I missed more than 4 classes, my teacher allowed me to not fail, which would have meant expulsion. He also told me he didnt accept doctor’s notes, though. In fact, 4 of my teachers told me they did not accept doctor’s notes, despite the fact it clearly stated I was suffering from fluid buildup in my lungs that may have been bronchitis and was on antibiotics. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter how you feel, or if you are sick. You have to attend classes. If you can’t do that, then don’t go.
3. Homeless people will tell you they want to rape and kill you. I saw people die. Although, this is not a part of the school, so much as the fact that their dorms are in downtown on the edge of the tenderloin (the most dangerous part of San Francisco), here’s a list of stuff that I saw over my 2 years in San Francisco: (copied and pasted from a telegram message to my friend)1. dude passed out, literally covered in diarrhea. it was on the ground, on him, on the fucking porch of some random person’s house he was laying on2. dude standing behind me telling me he was gonna kill and rape me, when i crossed the street he told me he wanted us to run3. homeless guy jacking off under a blanket4. crazy homeless guy who literally RAN down the road after me shouting, then followed me down 2 more blocks while shouting5. homeless man pissing on the ground (3 times, 3 different people)6. the time someone was stabbed to death outside the dorm (Here’s the article about him, by the way. I watched that from my dorm window.)7. the time me and my gf walked by a dead homeless man, his brother was holding him, crying, telling him to wake up, dude obviously OD’d on something8. the huge fight between meth skinhead looking guy, 8 drunk people, and a man who looked like santa clause9. man walking parallel on the road to me telling me he wanted to fight me every couple minutes10. man who was on drugs, pulled my phone out of my pocket, told me he would pay me touch my hands because i have nice hands, followed me down 4-5 blocks until i bolted at a light11. man walking parallel to me and a friend with his hands in his pockets, made it to the dorm just as he got close. we slowed down, he pretended to be looking at something until we started walking again, so we knew he was following us. he looked at me through the door and stood outside, luckily it automatically locked.12. walking past human shit on a near-daily basis13. man limping, covered in blood14. various piles of blood on the ground15. Homeless man getting on the bus yelling that he should kill the bus driver, hold us hostage, and use a power drill to bolt our mouths shutIf you can’t handle people regularly calling you hurtful names, slurs, saying they will rape you, describing the ways they will kill you, if you can’t handle seeing someone die, do not go to san francisco. It changed the way I look at people. This is the truth. If you aren’t strong enough to handle it, and it WILL HAPPEN if you in SF, no matter what, don’t do it.
4. The food in the cafes is regularly moldy, undercooked, and has given me food poisoning. I actually don’t know of anyone who HASN’T gotten food poisoning from the school. The food is awful for you, but that’s not the issue. The issue is that it’s regularly moldy and most likely kept in substandard conditions. There were times milk was curdled, food had mold on it. A regular practice of students is to cut meat in half to make sure the inside isnt raw before you eat it. While I regret not taking pictures of everything, here’s a picture I took of a moldy hot dog bun:
And here’s some undercooked chicken:
Like I said, I regret not documenting every time it happened. I would advise not coming here if you can’t afford to buy yourself food every day.
6. They may lose their accreditation and are under fire for building violations in 31 of their school buildings. AAU is currently facing the possible loss of its accreditation in the end of 2016, which has been under review for a long time. If they lose their accreditation, your credits will become meaningless and any time spent at that school is basically nonexistent in the eyes of other colleges. Although I believe that their credits are nontransferable anyway. Basically, going to AAU now is even more of a risk than it has ever been.
7. They tell you they will help you find a job and that students who don’t graduate didn’t because they found a job in their field. Not once have I or anyone I know receive actual helpful advice regarding a job. They don’t help you make connections or pull strings for you to get jobs like they implied they would to me - I left without the faintest idea of how to get into the industry, or to do anything, really. My girlfriend and my other older friends, further into their degree, also did not receive help regarding it. It was at this time I realized I needed to leave, that I was digging myself into a hundreds-of-thousands-in-debt-deep hole.
8. Be prepared for it to take you 6 years or more to graduate. I remember at one point, deep, deep down under a pile of kind reviews on a college review site, that there was one review that was negative. In that review, it mentioned that the others were untruthful - that after 8 years of being at the school, attempting to get a bachelor’s degree, they had quit with nothing. They were told “just one more semester, then you’ll have all the classes!” Their bachelor’s program, in truth, is actually a six year program, if you make it on time. Meaning, you can graduate in 6 years after paying the additional fees, taking summer classes, failing NOTHING and working your ass off, taking the maximum number of classes a year. All for a bachelor’s degree from a let’s be honest, not very prestigious art university. No one’s going to raise an eyebrow at seeing an AAU degree. Except maybe being surprised you opted to go there at all….A friend of mine looked online a few weeks ago. Her degree planner said “50% done” She had completed her third year. She was assured by her advisers that she was on track for graduatre in 4 years - when she called and asked, they said “yep, youre going to graduate on time, because our bachelor’s takes 6 years.” 6 years means 2 extra paid years of schooling. it takes ¾ of a master’s degree time to earn BFA. That is ABYSMAL. My other friend’s checked the site and called THEIR advisors and yep, theyre both at 50% too. Now they have to figure out if what was covered up from them for years is worth finishing with an extra two years of tuition and housing tacked on the end.
At every corner, I was nickled and dimed for minuscule things like “violations they found in the room”, supplies (which they make you pay for), and to top it all off, you’re essentially forced into EXTREMELY overpriced student housing because the city of san francisco is so expensive to live in, living by yourself, going to school, and working at the same time is almost impossible.
I will not lie. The school teaches invaluable skills. What I learned in my time there, I cannot replicate. I have emerged so, so much more skilled. My overall experience was good - however, had I known all of this, I would have thought twice. Im 80,000 dollars in the hole, no job prospects whatsoever, and no ability to stick out another 4+ years at a school for a degree (only to be sent on my way, even more lost than before). Leaving is a fresh breath of air. Im glad I left and didnt fall prey to “well Ive already been here for this long, might as well finish it.” I beg you, if you are thinking of going to AAU, think again. Its worth it to build a portfolio and take yourself to somewhere better when you get good enough. The art industry is hard to get into, if you have a chance at art school don’t toss the coin with AAU.
I wish I could have known any of this beforehand because I had largely the same experience. The only real difference is a graduated. I consider myself a good artist, and my teachers did too. The lowest grade I received in my entire 5 years was a B-, and while I didn’t work as hard as I could have, I’m proud of the work I did at the school. I learned a LOT, and I would NEVER be where I am now with my work had I not gone, but… when I graduated I received a very lukewarm portfolio review and have yet to find a job in the field. I’m over 100k in debt, now in repayment working 2 jobs to barely afford rent and I’m kind of fucked. While there’s a lot to do for someone who has the time and drive to do so, it doesn’t make up for how expensive the school is. Not to mention I was constantly told I was doing really well, getting good grades and generally feeling like I was guaranteed a job in the industry. I was always top of my class, and regularly didn’t get critique when everyone else did. I WANTED the critique and pushed for it constantly, but I rarely got as much as my other classmates. I thought I’d be ok after school, but I was wrong. They don’t help you. They don’t offer ANYTHING outside of a job board here and there. I had to make friends with teachers to get any semblance of help.It’s -not- worth it.
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