I just graduated and overall I very much enjoyed m...

I just graduated and overall I very much enjoyed my time here in the illustration department. Foundation year is a pretty hellish bootcamp but once you get into yhe major you actually want to be in it is much more fulfilling. The illustration department is great and all the professors are wonderful and very invested in the students and I feel like the genuinely care for each of us. Though illustration truly deserves a bigger building as we are the largest department in the school! Those dang painting kids are spoiled and their building and studios are huge and much nicer than illustration s. The work load can be kind of overwhelming at times especially taking into account liberal arts on top of your studio classes, and i have pulled a few all nighters to get things done. but i managed to graduate and keep all of my scholarships and got A s and B s for the most part while also working a part time job. I have seen many classmates drop out or stay back a year from not being able to handle the workload in addition to whatever was going on in their lives though. In my experience the work load becomes much more manageable as you progress and have more freedom to do what you want in junior and senior year. The school is super inclusive for LGBT+ students and puts a big emphasis on respecting pronouns and most buildings have gender neutral bathrooms, or are in the works towards making them gender neutral. I ve heard bad things about the living center but i did not live there myself so i can t say, but they are currently building a brand new living center which will hopefully be a big improvement! there is also relatively affordable off campus apartments reserved for students that are pretty nice! The school has 2 art museums on either side which is a huge great resource for art history. There are usually plenty of on campus activities going on if you want to get more involved. A big downside of the school is the safety of the area. There is a lot of crime in the immediate area and i have heard of many students being the victims of muggings. Someone even got shot and killed right outside of my apartment one night just a few blocks from campus! it can be very scary walking home from night classes, as many students do not have cars. But the school does offer security escorts up to a few blocks off campus at night! Other complaints are mostly administrative, like them waiting until the last minute to cancel school when there is unsafe weather conditions or not cancelling at all. One day the temperature was so low there was a frostbite warning if you went outside and they still had school despite many student having to walk 15 minutes to get to class (like myself), most students skipped that day. That reminds me, there is a pretty strict attendance policy! this is not a school where you can only show up for tests. in my department if you missed more than 2 classes you lose a full letter grade and beyond that you fail. most classes are only once or twice a week though so that makes it a bit easier to manage attendance wise. Don t skip at the start of the semester!! save your absences for when you need them, and if you still have them at the end of the semester then you can skip if you really want and it won t hurt your grade.
Overall I have really enjoyed my time at KCAI and I feel like it has definitely helped me figure out the path I want to take my art career!