I wouldn't recommend art school to anyone. I have a BFA in studio art and I wouldn't say I regret it but it's not something I'd advocate for anyone unless they're just fabulously talented and can get into a very traditional program like Ringling. I was in a similar position to you when I picked my major. Art was the only major at the time that I considered because it was the only thing I knew I liked but I was like 17 so I didn't know what else was available. Now I know I'm really interested in logistics but I didn't even know what that was at the time. And I'm not going back to school and getting further into debt so I have an art degree and work in a frame shop making $15/hr. It doesn't sound like you're in a good position starting out. When I started school I had a portfolio from high school and I knew the basic programs like Photoshop and Illustrator and I had an internship behind me going in. Art school is really competitive and the job market for artists is even worse. And the pay isn't commensurate with the level of competition. We're talking like $20k for a graphic designer out of school in my area and they expect you to know the entire Adobe suite and be able to do various web things like Java and html, css. That's not to say that you can't go through a program and get a level where you're competitive in the job market but you're hobbled from the start and most public universities are willing to take your money and give you a degree the you can't do anything with. At least in the states. I went to school with a bunch of people who could accurately be described as having no talent and they got the same degree as me and I was headed to a good MFA program until I realized I couldn't afford six figure debt with the prospect of an adjunct instructor job as the likely outcome. I don't mean to discourage you. Too much. Art school is a bad idea but if you really want to do I guess go for it. But I'd say you're better off finding something else and I think you can do that just fine if you take some classes that interest you and build some life experience.
thanks for your story, so i think if i'm attending art school, i'll be one of those no talent guys.. because i honestly never really know what i'm interested in except in art, or what am i good at. i think my life is really flat, i study what teacher teach me in school, and its all about textbooks, right? i love to read articles on the internet, and i enjoy watching youtube. i spend most of my weekends on youtube. and yeah i think i should really open up my eyes even more about life. because its not as nice and easy as that i think maybe! anyway if i may know, what was it like to study arts in university? is it tiring? do u have a hard time? anyway thank you for sharing :D
Art school is a playground with limited supervision. We smoked cigarettes in the studios, drank there, smoked weed in the classrooms after hours. I don't think anyone else had more fun in school. I majored in sculpture when I went back to finish my degree so we also played with fire, melted metal and used various industrial equipment. When I was a graphic design major things were a lot more sober. I had to deal with a lot of people with no talent or ambition who were in college because they were expected to be in college. My favorite story about one of these people was a girl who used the prompt love/hate to make a (bad) life sized plaster model of herself drinking milk with a bunch of empty milk jugs around it. She loved milk but she was lactose intolerant so that's what she came up with for the assignment. The movie Art School Confidential is good too. It seems ridiculous but art school is just that.
