Noooo! I'm so sorry, James. That sucks. I'm guessing they don't let you do deferred enrollment? Btw, do you mind my asking old you are? If you'll be an independent student next year, it might be more affordable (with FAFSA and things).

Even though I was the one who started this thread, with thoughts of moving to Santa Monica or Santa Clarita, I’ve given the idea a lot of consideration over the past few weeks, and I’d have to agree that it’s probably not a good idea to uproot and move to L.A. (or anywhere) just to go to a community college.

On the other hand, for older applicants, if you’re already paying rent and things and maybe already planning on moving out here, then moving to California now—anywhere in California—might be worth it because of the Cal Grant and establishing residency to benefit from it, but you'd have to be sure that the extra eligibility for the Cal Grant (if you are eligible at all) is worth the move. And even so, there’s still the out-of-state tuition at community colleges to consider.

I’ve decided to commute to SMC, but only for the art classes (3 times a week in the summer, and twice a week in the fall), and I don’t plan to try to transfer those credits at all. The reason for taking the art classes at SMC is to take advantage of their more advanced art/animation program (as far as community colleges go), and to continue my art education while I work on another portfolio. I’d be doing it at Saddleback anyway, but I think SMC has way more to offer. The classes I do plan to transfer for critical studies credit will be taken online.

Online classes seem, to me, to be a viable option for anyone who lives too far away to commute, but wants to work on their critical studies. Personally, I feel like I need to be working on an AA in animation in order to justify the extra year(s) spent trying to get into CalArts. I can make SMC work for me, but I’m not sure this kind of plan will be as beneficial to anyone else from out-of-area. So if you're not sure it's doable, I'm not going to recommend it.

However, I can almost guarantee that tuition will NOT be cheaper at CalArts with transferable credits. From what I understand, you’re expected to go to CalArts for 4 years, and tuition is the same regardless of how few classes you take.

If anyone else is planning to take classes at SMC or CoC for the sake of transfer credits, I think it’s critically important to understand that the only thing you’ll be saving yourself is time. Time to take other classes, time to spend on your other projects, time to work, time to be more competitive at CalArts.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the time saved may not be worth it if you’re not already in a position where the commute or the move is truly feasible. You’re certainly not going to save money.

This post was edited by Maggie Horton at May 9, 2013 1:16:28 PM PDT

When I went to SMC to take my assessment and stuff, I was sort of blown away by how pretty it is, just as a campus. To be fair, Saddleback College (where I've been going) is okay-nice, and it’s a great community college for everything except art. I think the problem with most community colleges is that they only offer “the basics” like drawing, figure drawing, and painting, and most of their classes are filled with adult hobbyists, adult amateur fine artists, and … yeah, dorks. It’s a rare thing to find someone who is legitimately planning on pursuing a career anywhere in the arts, let alone animation (most of those are usually less than dedicated). It's almost a relief to find someone who is just taking the class for fun.

True, SMC is probably not on the same level of a 4-year art school, but their approach to art and entertainment arts seems way more sophisticated than any other community college art department I’ve ever seen!

@Hannah - I've heard great things about the co-op housing. My friend lived there for a few years with her boyfriend, and I don't think he was going to UCLA. I don’t know what you have to do to qualify, though.

@Mollie, if you’re thinking of going to SMC, I’d suggest going through the admissions process and getting up there to take your assessment pronto. Then at least you’ll be able to register for classes, whether you decide to go or not.

 

EDIT: On the subject of the Figure Drawing, Figure in Motion and Costumed Figure Drawing classes, it seems like the classes go in a cycle of being offered (in the same order) during Summer, Fall and Spring. That's kind of disheartening, simply based on the competion to get in, because you know that if you don't get into a class, you won't get another chance to take it for another year!  

This post was edited by Maggie Horton at May 7, 2013 11:57:23 AM PDT

Hi Jesse, I've actually changed my mind since posting above. I've enrolled at SMC and I'll be taking classes up there too! I'll have to commute, but I did all the numbers and realized that it is WAY cheaper to commute than to move, so maybe we'll be classmates. I agree that it's definitely worth it if you can go!

I'm going to be taking figure and animal drawing during the summer for starters. I haven't seen the costume figure drawing class, though. Do you know if it's still offered?

This post was edited by Maggie Horton at April 30, 2013 2:03:53 PM PDT

Wow, they are strict. I've never head of community colleges saying you absolutely can't take a class if you're underage, no waivers or anything. Sometimes, I swear, it's like some people equate figure drawing with an academic orgy or something! How annoying!

Well, the figure drawing book that made a lot of sense to me was the one by Michael Hampton. I don’t want to say it’s the only book to get, but I really liked it.

The most important thing is that the author talks about figure drawing theory, as much as anatomy. You want to be able to internalize the information, so it’s good to find books that are trying to help with that process. I’d stay with some of the more recent books, because they tend to be less academic—more geared towards folks like us, who eventually want to be able to make up a figure out of our heads. You don’t need books that want to spend a lot of time talking about fine rendering and mediums—a good “anatomy for figure drawing” book gives you the information and theory, and lets you worry about your methods and techniques.

EDIT: Also, I realized I just said "figure drawing book" but you really want to make sure it talks about anatomy, not just figure drawing. There a lot of are good "figure drawing" books that're not about anatomy at all--useless if you don't already know it.

This post was edited by Maggie Horton at April 26, 2013 7:29:40 PM PDT