International programs

[aam99]

Is it just me or is everyone finding it impossible to compare international programs to those in the US. Is there a global ranking for MFA programs, or is it more a matter of conatcting people in the 'art world' in whatever region and figuring out which programs produce the best grads?? I mean RCA seems great, so does Goldsmiths. Give me numbers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[caraa]

I totally agree!!

I have been trying to research RCA, Goldsmiths, Slade, and Glasgow School of Art, but it seems I have only the schools' websites to go by. And a few brief comments left by people in this forum...

If anyone knows more about these schools, please FILL ME IN! I have pretty much already taken RCA off my list due to the horrendous cost.

[NWT1983]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/table/2010/jun/04/university-guide-art-and-design

Though it doesnt break up the categories of painting or sculpture, and I don't see some of the more famous schools on it (where's Central St. Martins?)... also, why is Oxford second? I've never heard of their program.... maybe the art school is known under a different name from the larger university?

anyone have any more information?

I totally agree!!

I have been trying to research RCA, Goldsmiths, Slade, and Glasgow School of Art, but it seems I have only the schools' websites to go by. And a few brief comments left by people in this forum...

If anyone knows more about these schools, please FILL ME IN! I have pretty much already taken RCA off my list due to the horrendous cost.

[shabu2011]

All I know is that the three London school's I've heard most about are Royal College of Art, Goldsmiths and Central Saint Martins. Goldsmiths has a good media studies program and that trickles down to cross-disciplinary involvement with the creative programs. They are very reputable and have really nice studios for the fine art department. I'm sure you guys are aware of the notable alumni that have come from the program and the YBA era. RCA is a wholly graduate school and seems to have a strong emphasis on research and had the first curatorial program. St. Martin's seems to me known for the fashion, I'd think it would be a Parson's equivalent. That's all I got.

I only applied to RCA because out of the three, I think their graphic design program is strongest but I know most of you are considering their fine art program.

[mimoma]

DEFINATELY SLADE SCHOOL !!!

[newamsterdam]

After researching grad schools in London, I ended up only seriously considering the Slade, RCA, and Goldsmiths. Eventually I decided- of these three- to apply only to the Slade. A few factors that were important to me in making my decision were:

- RCA and the Slade are more centrally located in London than Goldsmiths. (Goldsmiths is kind of comparable to Pratt in terms of location, I'd say, for those familiar with New York.)

- RCA has beautiful exhibition spaces where their thesis shows are installed every year. Really gorgeous spaces.

- At RCA, it is only possible to study art, design, their histories and curation. And only at the post-graduate level. (I can imagine this would be attractive for a lot of people, but for various reasons I cared about being in a program within a broader academic setting.)

- The programs at Goldsmiths and the Slade are both seated within a larger academic institution... Goldsmiths is definitely very well respected for their art department, but from what I've gleaned, their academic departments seem not to be as highly regarded... The Slade is part of UCL (University College London), which is generally accepted to be one of the best universities in England.

- Goldsmiths awards only an MFA, and not an MA in fine art.

- At RCA, everyone must do an MA in fine art. MFA isn't offered.

- The Slade offers the option of doing either MA or MFA. (I preferred this as I want to do an MA, and I felt that the History/Theory classes would benefit by being filled with students who had specifically chosen to dedicate that extra time and work outside of the studio.)

- On the Slade's website, I was able to read the biographies of professors, and I saw that there was a lot of overlap in terms of my own interests and theirs.

Edited March 23, 2011 by newamsterdam

[tsu]

Central St Martins is a department within UAL, University Art London. If you're going for UAL painting or drawing, they will most likely send you to Chelsea or Wimbledon since CSM is mostly a design school. UAL is ranked 35th on the list.

Some other very well known art schools besides those already mentioned: Reading, Leeds, Winchester* (personal favourite, I went to their campus on residency before), Edinburgh, Glasgow, Westminister.

I'm not sure whether you can apply to study to UK with a US degree.... they're really peculiar in that they pay a lot a lot of attention of tiny details and will *not* give you any leeway. Like, I applied to Goldsmiths before and was rejected because the minimum age to enter is 24-25 years old. (it's not listed on their site) REGARDLESS of how good your portfolio is, or how many recommendations you have etc etc Most art schools such as UAL will not take in BA graduates either, even if you are from a very respected uni. They also require min. honours for all their graduate programs even if your undergrad program length is *exactly* the same length as theirs (for instance a 3 year undergrad in australia is basically the same as a 3 year undergrad in UK, except in UK you graduate with honours after 3 years.). Some schools also require you to take UKCAT or UCAS. Some really oldfashioned ones don't do phone or skype interviews, and require you to fly down to an interview (even if you live halfway across the world). Basically whatever is listed on their admissions site, follow everything to the T down to the name of your degree.

If you're really keen on going UK, be prepared for a lot of paperwork.

Other European countries are much easier (and cheaper!) to get into.

[tsu]

I think it varies a bit - my friend studied in UCLA for film, and when she applied to Loughborough they didn't accept her degree because it was 3year with no honours. I know that they definitely do not accept degrees with no honours from Australia though, RCA has a pretty good degree guide on their admissions page if I remember correctly.

I went to undergrad in England, but I've met a lot of people who studied as undergraduates in America, and then did MFAs/MAs in fine art in London.

[abunny]

hey guys - i got into RCA and to the Slade. I live in Los Angeles and it's so hard to choose! If anyone has any advice that would be super.. from what ive heard RCA has the bigger rep but they both seem great in their own ways...

[bo 55]

I live in London and went to art school here so maybe I can help:

 

The big 3 art schools in London are Goldsmiths, RCA, Slade –

 

Goldsmiths: The MFA programme is interdisciplinary (does not distinguish between painting, sculpture, etc.) the group critiques and individual tutorials are probably the most theoretical of the 3 schools. Also Goldsmiths (to disagree with 'newamsterdam') actually has an excellent academic reputation in the humanities and social sciences (its visual cultures, anthropology, and psychology departments are amongst the best in the country) and you will be able to 'audit' classes in other departments relatively easily - however you should be aware that most of the departments (outside of the art department) have a particularly radical left-wing political position/agenda.

 

RCA: The MA is split into completely separate programmes for Sculpture, Painting, Photography, etc. and there is relatively little crossover (although this is changing). Personally I also see it as the most conservative of the 3 - it produces very commercially acceptable artists (read: "unchallenging"). This is defiantly the most trendy art school in London at the moment, as the increase in university tuition fees means that art students want a more direct route into commercial gallery success. However I should mention that Ute Meta Bauer, the new head of Fine Art at RCA is really tiring to make the school more interdisciplinary and experimental etc.

 

Slade: The Slade is split into MA and MFA these programmes are essentially interchangeable except that on the MA you do a longer dissertation and take additional art history classes. The Slade is somewhere between Goldsmiths and the RCA and generally produces an interesting mix of more commercial and more transgressed works at the degree show. You will also have access to UCL and its excellent academic departments.

 

 

P.S. Obviously this is an oversimplification of the 3 schools so plase message me if you have more questions

[guildor]

Hi everyone,

I know it has been two years since the last reply on this thread but I hope someone will help me through the decision between a master at RCA and Goldsmiths.

 

I try to give you a bit of context:

My artistic path lead me to performance art, which I am already developing on my own.

Thus, I applied for the Performance pathway at RCA. (It has been two years ago, I think),

 

On the other hand, I am used to experiment a lot, and Goldsmiths interdisciplinary approach seems "safer" in case you are still not so sure about "what your artistic practice will be".

 

However, RCA seemed to me a lot more trustworthy.

I have been working in advertising for years and I have the feeling that Goldsmiths could be more marketing than substance.

 

Can someone confirm or deny this?

 

Thank you all!

 

G

[kingdom92]

well...just saying...i dont know anything about RCA....I did my undergraduate studies from surat school of fine arts, India and one of my faculties is a goldsmith graduate....and she has managed to turn things pretty amazingly at our school...I dont know if this was any help to you...but thought i just mention this..goodluck

[itscontents]

Hi everyone,

I know it has been two years since the last reply on this thread but I hope someone will help me through the decision between a master at RCA and Goldsmiths.

 

I try to give you a bit of context:

My artistic path lead me to performance art, which I am already developing on my own.

Thus, I applied for the Performance pathway at RCA. (It has been two years ago, I think),

 

On the other hand, I am used to experiment a lot, and Goldsmiths interdisciplinary approach seems "safer" in case you are still not so sure about "what your artistic practice will be".

 

However, RCA seemed to me a lot more trustworthy.

I have been working in advertising for years and I have the feeling that Goldsmiths could be more marketing than substance.

 

Can someone confirm or deny this?

 

Thank you all!

 

G

I visited both RCA and Goldsmiths last spring. It depends what you are going for. If you are wanting to focus on performance, RCA has a very small performance department compared to a larger sculpture/print department. That being said, I think there are many opportunities for the students in that program because it is so small, as they often have people coming in and workshops but the school is quite segragated so the performance MFA students have a smaller space.  Goldsmiths seems a bit disorganized but has a good reputation and I'm sure many of them are also in performance and faculty there are too, so either would be good. RCA is costly if you're not UK.

[Felix Zhang]

It seems it's been quite a long time after the discussion above. Hope my information can help other people who see this in the future. Considering there are different subjects under the Arts and Design field, the overal ranking might be unfair. Nonetheless, there is a QS subject ranking who can give all the artisits a rough idea about the performance of all the arts school all around the world. For detailed arts field, it is totally a different story if someone only refer to the QS overall subject ranking. I may not be familiar with the performace art, but if someone is looking for a fashion design cource. I highly suggest the following 3 schools: CSM, Parsons, and RCA. They are all great and are the tier I schools.