Pixar - where to go for college?!!

[spiraltic]

Hey guys,

It's always been a childhood dream of mine to go into Pixar, but now that I understand how hard it is to actually achieve that dream...I need some advice on which college to go to in order to increase my chance of getting closer to that dream.

I got accepted into both Parsons and Ringling for animation, and a pending reply from CCA. I thought Ringling would be THE school to go to for animations...but the 3D world mag rankings for computer animation programs is already a few years old...and it doesnt seem that like they'll be releasing another ranking soon. But anyways, my dad asked around and all his computer graphic/animation friends has apparently never hears of Ringling but they've all heard of Parsons?

Is it better to go to a better know school like Parsons and major in their not so famous program or go to Ringling and school that not a lot of people has heard about?

Please help! I've only got another week left before I've got to get the replies back to the schools!

[Shadownami92]

That all depends, I'm sure for something like Pixar it will mostly be your portfolio that counts. But I've also heard that guys from Pixar visit Ringling to check out what students are doing. Overall I would just do some research to see which has a better program, personally I've heard of Ringling but never heard of Parsons.

But to be honest, if formal learning is your thing, then find the best school, but if your a self directed learner. You could probably benefit just as much from learning art on your own, buying some gnomon dvds, using tutorials and maybe go to a school that's good but might not be such a money sucker.

The benefits I could see from Ringling is possibly getting some networking done and talking to some Pixar guys. But you might be able to do that some other way by just taking a tour of Pixar or by getting your portfolio good enough and attempting to get an internship there. Just going to college won't get you a job, so I just suggest continuing your research and keep on practicing your art. Also I think conceptart.org has a full section about colleges with posts from people who have done research and people who have gone to the different colleges.

[JacqueChoi]

Usually the appeal of Pixar is to work in the field of animation, typically performance animation/storytelling.

I think there's some Pixar guys that teach on at Animation Mentor.

I think a few of them run a website called Splinedoctors, and they often are the celebrity judges on 11secondclub.


I think the Art Schools in California seem to have a higher density of Pixar graduates.