The Savannah College of Art and Design (StudentsReview)

Educational Quality	D	Faculty Accessibility	C
Useful Schoolwork	D	Excess Competition	C
Academic Success	D+	Creativity/ Innovation	C
Individual Value	F	University Resource Use	D
Campus Aesthetics/ Beauty	F	Friendliness	C
Campus Maintenance	C	Social Life	D
Surrounding City	F	Extra Curriculars	B
Safety	B-

Describes the student body as: , , ' color='class=grade' > Describes the faculty as: , ' color='class=grade' >

Male

Bright

Individual Value	F

Extra Curriculars	B

He cares more about Campus Aesthetics/ Beauty than the average student.

Date: Feb 14 2008
Major: (This Major's Salary over time)
I've gone to SCAD for two quarers now. Having transfered from a different school - I can't say there's much to commend SCAD. For what I'm paying - I feel like the whole deal is a rip-off. I'm majoring in photography. At my old school, which cost a whole lot less to go to - any photo student could use the darkrooms and lab for free. Here - you have to pay a $35 fee per quarter to use the lab. Even worse, for digital photographers, you're not even allowed to use the inkjet printers until you're taken the inkjet class. For how much money being charged, SCAD is marked by incredible miserliness. One building (Wallin Hall) does not even have clocks in all of the class rooms! Another great money making scheme they have is their bizarre and patently absurd attendance policy. According to this policy, if you miss four classes, you're automatically flunked for the quarter. Being late to class by 15 minutes equals an absence (and classes are two and half hours long). We're told that this policy is in place because of the short quarters SCAD has (charge lots of money for short quarters... seeing a theme here?) and that if you miss four classes, it's as though you've missed 20% of your education that quarter. Never mind the fact that most teachers require students to spend many hours each week studying on their own time outside of class - so that roughly 50% of your learning time happens outside of class... Many other students, and even some of the professors have remarked that they find this policy somewhat ridiculous, if not downright asinine. Regardless of what they say, it's a good way for the school to flunk people and charge them to take a class over (seeing a theme here?). The teachers are a mixed bag, as could be expected with any school. My own have been pretty mediocre (I have had better teachers in community college) but friends I have have apparently encountered pretty good professors, that actually give out interesting and educational assignments. So all I can gather from this is that it's a mixed lot, and there some real lemons in the mix. The lesson of course is to research your professors and choose them carefully. Which can also be difficult... because SCAD hires teachers on one year contracts - so the person who might have been your friend's favorite last year - may no longer be employed by the school this YEAR. And SCAD has had a not too heart warming history of firing staff here and there for differences of opinion with the school's owners. The campus is spread out, roughly over 3 miles of Savannah. You'd like to use a car to go to class - but there's rarely enough parking at any of the halls to make this practical in real life. You can bike during the fall and winter, but the rest of the year is really too hot and humid (for all but the heartiest, or most masochistic of souls). Luckily they have an adequate shuttle system. You can get around, if you're lucky and watch your watch (and you'll have to if you happen to go to one of SCAD's clockless buildings). Last, and probably least: Savannah. What can I say, Savannah is about as exciting as an old man talking about how he wished the U.S. Mint would bring back the wheat penny. This town is a tourist stop for old people on their way to Florida. This is no college town. Savannah forbids anyone under the age of 21 from going to music shows. This city is a second rate old fogey fart course. Unless you like historic architecture, or sightseeing tours on hideous faux-streetcars, this city doesn't have much going for it. Everything downtown closes between 5pm and 6pm. So far as cities go, this city is like a red giant imploding (for comparison say St. Louis is a black hole, and N.Y. or Seattle is comparable to something like our own Sun). What more can I say. SCAD is an overpriced school in an incredibly boring city. Some courses are better than others. Some teachers are worse than others. You could probably find a better school for cheaper, or an equal school in a far better city.

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