The Art Institute of California-Silicon Valley

I can’t say much since I haven’t attend this school yet.
Anyways they were kind enough to give me a tour even though I’m a Cogswell students. I can say their equipment/​facility is better than my college can provide. At least this person who gave me a tour didn’t pressure me or make me transfer to this school. The only thing this place need to work on is the students. The 3d animation is weaker than other college. However, it’s a quarter system than a semester class and you will graduated within 3 years. So, I shouldn’t be too hard on the artwork quality.
If you can create good artworks with a fast pace time, then you’ll be good. This is what animation studio is, a fast pace industry.

Edited April 30, 2015
Unfortunately, it has come to a point where I need to amend my review. I started at this school in August of 2013, and at the time I was satisfied. However, the school is not the institution I was lead to believe it was. I was told a lot of things before I became a student, and almost none of those things are true or have actually happened. Plus, this school is for profit, so it’s a business first and they’re not too terribly concerned with student satisfaction. AI has also been getting a bad rap lately for misappropriation of funds, Additionally, I’ve heard from a lot of students and industry professionals that if you have AI on your resume and say you got your degree from there, you’re not taken seriously. I don’t waste time and money at a school just to have my degree not mean anything out in the industry. All of the great teachers I had at the beginning seem to have left, as well as other staff members that I had bonded with. The bottom line is that I’m just not happy here, and what this campus was when I started, it no longer is. So, I will be leaving after this quarter.

This school rocks! There are plenty of enthusiastic young people I have made lasting friendships with. I highly recommend coming here!

I decided to go back to school a bit later in life than most, hence I was one of the «old dudes» in the Web Design program.
I honestly feel that going back to school was the best decision of my life, but that choosing the Art Institute was the worst decision of my life. I basically learned how to code and develop websites, circa 2003. Since I graduated in 2012, that’s a problem.
There were several good instructors, but the really good ones kept leaving to get jobs in the industry. An instructor would come along that would be to the design students what Mr Keating was in Dead Poets Society, but would only teach one class, and then would be gone the next quarter. It was just enough to keep me, at least, motivated and pysched to graduate and get out into the real world.
The general ed classes, as someone else said, are completely worthless. Since they are non-​transferable, what you get out of them is only whatever social value they hold. Since most are rather shallow, you won’t get much out of them. The administration promised for the whole time I was there that AI was on the cusp of getting accredited (which would allow credits earned there to be transferred to other schools); as far as I know, this has not changed.
As for their promises of helping students get a job, that promise seems to have an insanely short shelf life. Within six months of graduating, and only being able to land one internship at a third rate marketing firm, I was no longer getting job leads from the staff at AI.
I came to realize that there were more important things I learned in the process of getting a Bachelor’s Degree than what I was actually studying. I do not work in the design industry, and am quite happy doing what I do, and I have no doubt that in the long term, I will make more money than I would as a designer. But for know, I have $ 90,000+ worth of student loans to pay off. I needed a Bachelor’s Degree, it’s helped a great deal with my confidence (and there are bits and pieces of the design process that help me in my daily work), but in my opinion, I would have been better off going to San Jose State and getting a degree in Photography.

I graduated from this school with a Bachelors in Game Art and Design. It turns out to have been a large, and very costly mistake (over 90k sort of mistake.) While I truly enjoyed most of the staff, the curriculum needs a lot of work. Many classes were just following along to instructions in a book or a website tutorial, something that I could do more quickly at home. The general education classes are a joke, and it’s scary to see the lack of grammatical skills in most of the papers written by young adults. I graduated almost every quarter on the Honors List to the President’s List, but that means nothing in the long run. It truly comes down to your portfolio and connections made in the industry.
Currently I’m happy not working in the games industry, but for those truly looking for the experience, there are some great tutorials online and in print, many of which are probably used in a classroom that charges your over 1k for the privilege. I do not contest that some people have had great experiences and results with AI’s programs, but I recommend people not to go if they must get private school loans. The interest and tuition amount will be very, very hard to pay back. If I had not gone an alternate route, my monthly repayment after the deferred period would have been over $ 2500, something that would be very hard to make just starting in the industry.
So, for those still interest in the game industry, do some research online and look for some alternatives if possible. But as mentioned before, I did enjoy much of the staff and miss them.

Updated Review since last.
I’d like to reenforce what others have said, this school is essentially a scam, like most businesses, they exist mostly to make money. With that said, you should also take care of your «customers» and not treat them like another number. I’ve since withdrawn from school on account of me LITERALLY teaching the class (including the instructor) on how to use the program that our class was based and designed for! I spent hours of class time (which obviously I paid for) to teach people paying the person I was teaching, doesn’t that seem a little off?
Also this school is very clueless, I continue to get emails stating that I’m an alumni grad whose doing well in the field and should come talk on AICA-SV’s behalf and attend events as an alumni (i’m pretty sure you don’t want me to be honest with students). I don’t think it’s right for a school to want to claim so many success stories when in reality, most of the success stories were all user based. Each individual person worked their butt off outside of AI to ensure their future was going to be successful, I can honestly say that AICA-​SV did nothing to prepare me for the real world and I regret going. Especially since I’m still paying off 42k in loans AFTER I paid most of it out of pocket on my own.
It’s my understanding this location is having their degrees revoked moving forward so I’m not sure if this review update is even valid, however I can say that even shortly attending the SF campus that AICA feels about the same everywhere.
Word of advice, go elsewhere, or go no where and learn on your own, the tools are out there, don’t like a school take your hard earned cash for little in return as I did for years.
My previous Review:
I’m here to even out the reviews. Is this school perfect? MOST DEFINITELY not, but its not deserving of one star. If you’re thinking of going here, do think of it. It’s smack in the middle of silicon valley, small but accessible. The MAIN issue about this school, is the students, never have I seen so many students who expect things to be handed to them, catered, and all with the excuse «I’m paying for it». People on this review sheet aren’t putting in the effort, they’re expecting the school to just handle everything.
I haven’t even graduated and i’ve been an industry professional for the past year, doing better than most. My point being is that you do get what you pay for. Whilst the tuition can be REALLY high, trust me, i pay for mine, but what you get is the availability to get a bachelor’s degree in two years, not sure about you, but that’s definitely worth the money.

Very very disappointed with this school. If any one where thinking of applying here I would suggest them not to. Before attending this school I was accepted to other universities but decided to come here in order to follow my dreams of working in the culinary field.
I first applied for the bachelors program but then switched to the associates and decided I could transfer later to a California sSate University for a bachelors and pay less money. I made sure that all credits would be transferable and they re assured me that I would have no trouble transferring.
I got my associates degree, and applied for state universities to transfer over, my applications got whit drawn from the universities. They informed me that all credits from The Art Institute where not transferable, I needed 90 transferable credits, and that the general education classes at the Art Institute did not meat their requirements. I was extremely disappointed.
Now I have to enroll in a community college earn 70 more credits, because only 20 of my credits where transferable. I’ve ended up with a load amount of debt in loans! Triple of what i would of spent and California state university. I now have to waste my time and money going to a community college to get these credits to transfer.
My degree feels like a total waste, I should of gone to the schools I was accepted to prior coming to the Art Institute, which I know have been rejected from with my Associates degree from the Art Institute of California Sillicon Valley.
This school is a mess, no one ever returns phone calls or voicemails, paper work is always lost, I’ve gotten charged twice on statements. Most faculty members do not make an effort to make connections with students. Every one is very disorganized, the classes are 5 hours long and ingredients that we need and pay for aren’t always available.
If any one is thinking of coming here, please think things over. You will end up with a huge amount of debt in loans, and will be completely disappointed with the over all school. This has been a total waste of my time and money.

When I first came to AI it seemed weird that there were absolutely no qualifications needed to get in. The employees were also very salepeople like and so I’ve always had that in the back of my head that this school seems pretty fishy. I was there for a little over a year, and I’m sure glad that I got out. The quality of teachers is ok some are actually pretty good and some are not so good. I recently went back to the community college that I was previously attending and I’m sure glad I am. The class cost ratio is 30+ community college classes per 1 AI class. Now that’s ridiculous and the teacher quality is below or sometimes equal to that of the community college that I’m attending. I stacked up quite a bit of debt here so I’m glad I was able to get out while I had not finished the program. On another note, some of the employees those who I won’t name, use really nasty psychological tactics to make you feel like you must listen to what they say like mindless zombies. If you don’t listen to them they will make sharp remarks to make you feel bad. It’s a good learning experience though, I now know what to look for at future schools if they are potentially not so great like this school.

I’ve been meaning to make a review for a while now, but I wanted to give it some decent time before I indulged into this school. I went to one of the Art Institute chains in Orange County and than took a bit of a break to take care of my baby girl. I was enrolled into the Graphic Design program there.
I decided to go back to college and finish up my degree once my daughter got a little older, but I moved to Northern California. luckily, The Art Institute has many schools in different locations so I was able to continue my degree and keep all of the classes I had completed previously.
The process was easy as far as getting back into school and getting my loan all figured out again. I felt the Art Institute of California — Sunnyvale was very professional and cared about my education. I mean, don’t get me wrong, they wanted my money for sure… but what school doesn’t? I was happy with how they handled things and transferred my credits over easily. The campus is nice, but small. however I actually liked that about the AI in Sunnyvale because you get a lot more teacher interaction time.
I want to talk a bit about the class and teacher experiences I’ve had. Remember, I’m still a student here but I’m well… very well… into my degree as a Graphic Designer here. There are a few huge differences between the AI I went to in Orange County and the one here in Sunnyvale. One is, the classes are smaller. As I said, I like that a lot… It gives the students more one on one time with the teacher. Another this that it’s a lot less strict than the previous one I went to because students are general more respectful and there’s less people in one class. I remember, at the AI in OC, we had to ask permission to use the restroom… There are a ton more examples, but I’d rather just talk about this AI.
I’ve had a lot of great teachers and have learned a lot since attending the Art Institutes. Is it pricey? Yes. Do they use that money to keep the school updated? HECK YES! Amazing equipment and labs! Is this school worth it? In my experience, yes. they have been nothing but helpful and they have brought a lot of great things my way. I can’t wait to finish my degree with the Art Institute of California — Sunnyvale and continue my career as a Graphic Designer.

I actually graduated from here in December with a Culinary Arts Degree.
Now, what to say about this school. In the beginning, things were fabulous: the staff, the program, the advisors, Fresh out of community college, this felt like an ideal place to be. Needless to say, I actually enjoyed going to school everyday.
However, towards the middle of my program, things got a bit rocky. Due to shifts in administration, we (the students) often found ourselves caught up in office politics. We also had to keep up with a very inconsistent curriculum that was constantly changing, partly because of disagreements between our instructors and department heads. It was extremely stressful and frustrating, especially when it came to not knowing what you were supposed to be doing. As mentioned in a previous review, I never heard from or saw my admissions recruiter again after I started. My Financial Aid advisor also changed three times while I was a student… without me knowing.
However, things got better during my last quarter. By then, new staff (advisors, chefs, administration) had been hired and the changes were more visible. We received a new department head who implemented a lot of new policies (some of which were implemented too quickly for our liking), but they were beneficial to us in the end. Also, I had a career advisor named Sari who actually helped me find a job. That I enjoy. And pays well.
Anyway, the school’s had its ups and downs (more downs than ups when I was there). However, what’s important is that they’re trying their best to serve the students in the best way they can. Let’s hope that they continue to do so.

There are pros and cons to any school you attend the key is finding a school that is the right fit for YOU. overall I would say that it is not a good school. The AI’s goal is to train you and give you the skills and knowledge you will need to succeed within your field, but YOU have to be willing to put in the work and effort, no shortcuts! And the majority of the time YOU are teaching yourself, their are some really good instructors and some that really make you figure things out on your own.
One thing that I would recommend to anyone who is considering the AI is to first go to a community college and get all of your general ed out of the way, you will save a lot of money that way, trust me. I had some that transferred in but I wish that I had waited and did all ge elsewhere. But also consider a different school!!! The recruiters get a bonus for every student they get to sign their life away and when you first go they make all these promises they never keep, the big one being help after graduation with finding work and resume advice! Does NOT happen, so it is not worth it to be paying extra for services they promise to provide and don’t!
I guess this is why this campus along with over a dozen others are closing! I just wish I could get my money back!

I echo Tamiko B. when she said «They were extremely condescending and pushy but I figured maybe it was B/​C they were a new school and wanted students. Their tactics are to pretty much keep calling and making you feel like the world’s biggest dink if you don’t jump right in and start signing your life away. «I couldn’t have said it better myself! Also, they refuse to refund the $ 150 that was required as a «TUITION DEPOSIT». They completely ignore your questions and concerns regarding the school and pepper you with telephone calls and emails. The overly aggressive sales tactics were HUGE red flags for me and when I finally told them that i was uninterested in attending school, the admissions counselor sent me a lengthy email which I felt was extremely disrespectful! Please DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME even expressing any interest in this «school»!! Thanks to everyone for posting these Unilocal reviews — they fully saved me from making a giant and horrible choice!

save your money.
i applied, made it 1 year through the culinary program. I also started working in a kitchen when I started attending AI. I realized that there was no way that I would be able to afford paying off my loans, plus I felt for my learning style I had a much better experience working in a real kitchen, (and getting paid).
The RA’s are like care sales people. I even called mine out on the 2^nd interview, I said you must work off commission huh? and my RA even blushed and was trying to somewhat hide that she did.
so now im paying $ 400 for school loans, and I cant even transfer my GE to a local JC to continue.
save your time and money!

I applied here a couple of years ago or so, right as the AI Sunnyvale was about to open & go live. It’s located in an old Silicon Valley-​type office bldg, next door is a culinary institute. I filled out the application and spoke to a few people & reviewed the materials they gave me. They were extremely condescending and pushy but I figured maybe it was B/​C they were a new school and wanted students. Their tactics are to pretty much keep calling and making you feel like the world’s biggest dink if you don’t jump right in and start signing your life away. Luckily I’m older and they didn’t bother me as much and finally got the hint that I wasn’t going there (because I told them I was moving on to a university and to stop calling me), but I can only imagine someone who’s younger and doesn’t know any better. Also, a lot of artists aren’t business people and I’m pretty sure the Art Institute is banking on that as well. So, a warning to you from one art student to another: Don’t give in if you’re not ready or haven’t really thought it out. Or if you feel even a LITTLE WEIRD about the place/​person/​program. PLEASE. You and your «future you» will be so grateful that you chose wisely!!!
So anyhow, after that motherly advice bit, I’ll go further w/​my review: I wanted to at least check this place out B/​C talk about convenient location & easy/​ample parking –all too good to be true unfortunately. I just didn’t think it was a good idea after doing some research… if I’m going to shell out some bucks I want to make sure that the school and the education I am striving for are recognized industry-​wide.
But I do gotta say, WOW after reading these reviews i’m so glad to be going to SJSU for my BFA Illustration. A better course of action in my opinion besides a genuine art school (like CalARTS, SF Art Academy, which cost major $$$) and to save serious bucks, go to a community college– ANY ACCREDITED two year college!!! and get the GE out of the way & then move on to a good 4 year as a Junior/​transfer student!
I stress again, MAKE SURE it’s accredited otherwise you’re probably throwing your money away and settling for a lesser school who will pretty much take anyone and tell you anything to get you in for the sake of turning a quick profit!!! If alarm bells are going off in your head and your heart, SKIP this one!

Absolutely Horrible. I’m a current student here and I just want to give a warning to anyone thinking of coming to the Art institute in sunnyvale. i’m not sure if all the institutes under this name are run the same way but it just keeps going down hill. Im going on my sixth quarter and in that time I think I’ve seen more teachers come and go than students. while there are a few good ones that actually show a desire to teach most of the instructors do not hide the fact that they do not want to be here. when I was given the walk around tour by the institutes salesmen I was told how all the instructors are carefully chosen and and all masters in their craft and that the institute strives to help us all succeed. Bullshit, I’ve seen students who know more than instructor here. and man’o man for a school that demands excellence and professionalism they sure do lack those qualities in most of their instructors. the school just recently screwed a ton of students out of thousands of dollars by changing the curriculum. they axed a bunch of classes that students already payed for and basically just told everyone «well shit happens». they call themselves an art school and yet ive seen the same student art on the walls for 5 quarters now, not to motivating for an art school. this this list goes on and on. aside from letting the students express themselves and the lounge room and work program they have this school doesn’t have a whole lot going for it. I will continue to update anymore shitty qualities about this school as they present themselves. save your money and time and go somewhere else

I can’t say anything about this school really because I actually haven’t attended. The reason I’m writing a review is because someone else mentioned high-​pressure sales techniques. I was just on Craigslist looking for jobs, and I saw the AI is hiring SALESPEOPLE to fulfill the position of Admissions Recruiter. I don’t know if this is standard practice, but it seems a little shady to me. I’ve heard of other schools, such as Heald, doing this, which basically leaves many students feeling like they’ve been conned. Just a heads-​up. If something sounds too good to be true… maybe it is. Proceed with caution.

This school is a big scam. Teachers suck, they ask the students questions, cause they don’t know what the heck the answers are. There are perverted teachers. The finance department sucks and can never help you with anything, it’s like an Asian sweatshop in there with all the little Asian girls. Ohhh and don’t let me start with the registrar, that hefty women can’t do a damn thing for you… hellla lazy. The students are weird, and just plain… weird. They have students who look like they just got out of jail. I guess they’ll accept anyone. Teachers come and go all the time. Once you’ve started, they won’t let you complete units at a different college, for instance you wanted to complete some of the gen ed at a J.C. to save money… nope that won’t happen. The only good thing about this school is that… i don’t know, I can’t think of any.