Academy Of Art University

there’s always 10 – 20 students forming the CANCER-​SMOKE line outside this building and cropdusting the hundreds of people who walk by the two blocks (and smell their second hand for four blocks) MORNING, NOON & NIGHT
f8ck the smokers who do that & f8ck the administration that allows them to create a dense smog morning, noon & night for people who need to walk by
the only way to get by without coating your lungs in second hand smoke daily is to drive.
if they have a right to smoke there, i have a right to hose them down with a supersoaker filled with mountain dew

Great school! Great professors! Great networking! Shuttles are useless depending on where you reside. Expensive! Great place for your Masters! Enough said! Lol

I’m in the fabulous Masters program. Super expensive, but worth every penny. You really need to stay on top of your adviser and your class schedule in order to graduate on time and not take any unnecessary classes.
This building is the Grand Central station of AAU. One improvement that needs to be made are longer library hours.

Jesus doesn’t have your answers, I do.
Here’s some friendly advice: follow your dreams elsewhere. You’ll save a significant amount of money and you’ll probably have a better book/​portfolio to show for it, because after all, that’s what it’s all about.
It’s common knowledge that AAU is not the most intimate art school. At its core it’s an economic and property hungry machine – it’s a modern imperialistic entity that is fueled by your dreams and aspirations. It is THE largest art school. THE LARGEST in terms of student population, that is. Fuck, maybe property too, it is the 2^nd largest private landowner in San Francisco.
The school’s environment consists of an Orwellian tone where you are a mere number that is consistently observed by their secret police. Seriously, you better pay your shit. I just got back from an attempt to meet my adviser (4^th under qualified adviser in 3 semesters), and the man at the desk said, «We’re not accustom to face-​to-​face advisory meetings, everything is done by phone.»
Now think about your situation logistically. You’re considering this school because you want to find yourself in a professional artistic field. Essentially, what you need in order to get there is a competitive book/​portfolio (a really, really competitive book). [Unfortunately, your dreams are shared – and dreams are bullshit, but that’s another subject. Use your dreams for what they really are, great stories.] Anyway, the school’s class matrix is strategically setup so that your book won’t really take much shape until you’re close to your mid-​point and even by then you’ll be heavily in debt. By this point, if you’ve followed all the rules, your book will consist of different renditions of overplayed mediums. I’ve heard some horror stories about midpoint books, but what I’m saying is, you will not be ready for the professional world. They are conscious of the fact that you want to get yours and get out, so they have designed a matrix that will keep you from taking shortcuts. Imagine what your debt will be like at your end point. Do the math. Seriously.
Paralleling this theme of the class matrix strategy is the student loan strategy. You may know this because of the popular controversy surrounding for-​profit schools. What happens here is they limit the amount of classes you can take a semester, thus forcing you to spend more time in school, thus forcing you to use more loans. You can fill out a release/​waiver form stating your capability in regards to a heavier load; however, you better find a job because your loan won’t cover all of your living expenses. This awkward amount causes one, to again, question taking a heavier load – it happened to me last semester. Everyone is capable of a heavier load than 3 classes and this is why I’m convinced that the loan amount (or the unit price correlation) given is not a coincidence.
One of the most popular advocacy arguments for AAU is that «you’re paying for the network,» and this is true to a certain extent. There are great teachers and instructor with sound advice. However, your network won’t do shit for you if your book sucks.
Also, consider that there are 15 periods for each class over the duration of a semester and each class is a grueling 3 hours. In these marathon-​like classes you’ll run into a lot of situations where an instructor is bereft of ideas or parched from directing. This equates to a lot of awkward silence, an awkward silence that costs you a fuck ton of that funny money. If you’re brave enough, break down what each class costs, or each hour, fuck, figure out the minutely cost. It might be cheaper to purchase phone sex in an attempt to fill up your weekly schedule.
The truth is, good books come from all over the place – even AAU. You’re objective should be to figure out how you’re going to produce the best possible book that you can. Personally, I’m sticking with AAU, not because I’m a lying bitch, but because I’m kind of stuck. If I drop out, I know I won’t be able to afford my loan payments. So I’m sticking with it in hopes of finding a job that will accommodate my economic issues.
I’ve written this so that some other asshole doesn’t find himself/​herself in a similar spot – it’s a very tight spot. If I were to do it again I’d read up on my subject as much as possible and create my own network of artists. I know that seems overly ambitious, but that’s what it takes to set yourself apart. Meet weekly and compare and contrast your work because you’ll only get better through this social process. You cannot do it on your own. AAU knows this and exploits it, but you can do it with your own circle. Then advertise your shit. Advertising is free these days and social media is a great way to gauge where you stand within the professional competition. Anyway, do your best. That’s all anyone can offer.