Part 2: Continuation of 2023 uni (and other) applications for those pursuing art and creative routes

[Duchessofmuchness]

As requested transferring us all over hear for the continuation of the 2023 journey. Have so enjoyed the company and support of all on the first thread. Link to original thread copied below (I hope!)

2023 uni applications for those pursuing art and creative routes www.mumsnet.com/Talk/higher_education/4626697-2023-uni-applications-for-those-pursuing-art-and-creative-routes

This is the thread I've been looking for for DD.
I'm going to go back to the start. So much useful advice!

@Fifireee Morning! Mainly because this thread is a mix of information and support, I started another thread which tries to distil all the info about the process. That was maybe a bad idea because posts are now sometime duplicated, but you might want a look at it anyway! But all the people here are lovely so please do ask anything!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/higher_education/4795276-art-and-design-at-university-for-past-present-and-future-students-and-parents

@FancyFanny DS starts at UWE in a few weeks for a Fine Art degree. He was recommended it by tutors at his Foundation course in Leicester DMU. He applied 'blind' and got an unconditional offer and we visited on offer holder day. We both loved it. He turned down Brighton and Leeds (and DMU) for it. Didn't get in to UCL.
Bristol is a great city (expensive but obviously not as bad as London!!). Vibrant art scene (we were there on Spike Island open weekend (Fine Art is based there, co-located with commercial artists studios) and the place was buzzing with locals..
Bower Ashton where the workshops are is also good- that's where other disciplines such as animation, film studies etc are based.
The art is not in the main campus, Frenchay (which is to the NW of the city centre) so accomodation is private halls (Unite etc) right bang in the city centre.
Ds wants sport and music too and these are available on main campus and he will bike or bus there (it's a 5 mile off road purpose built bike ride from.city centre halls to Frenchay campus)
Its quite a trek from.city to Bower and a fair walk to Spike so everyone bikes. There are vans to move work between the two.
My son loves print and it is very well though of for that but on the offer weekend the show of students work was very very varied. Which he loved. Painting, installation, print, mixed media, photography etc
The course sounds great and they are not expected to pick a 'route' (some make you 'specialise' quite early) so he can access everything for the whole 3 years.
The course leaders seemed great and there was lots of emphasis on allowing time to settle in with a block of group work at the beginning.
I would def recommend you look at it.

@FancyFanny as Lottsbiff says the UWE fine art studios where the students spend a lot of time in their dedicated space are here at Spike Island with working artists, gallery space, exhibitions, events and a cafe

https://www.spikeisland.org.uk/

Bristol is a great place to be a student with anything a student could wants in terms of music, sport, nightlife, vintage shops, public transport etc.

The Complete University Guide rankings can fluctuate quite a bit and UWE’s Art and Design is currently 30th out of 84 but is down 4 from 26th. Student satisfaction is very high at 9th which is up 11 places and is of course influenced by individual cohorts. The department is on my DC’s list of choices.

@FancyFanny UWE Bristol has a good reputation for Arts. You probably both already know, but for Saint Martins & Goldsmiths she'll need a foundation and her tutors will be able to help with next steps.

Hi @mondaytosunday I know your DD has had a change of art, but has she considered something like this - BA (Hons) Creative Technologies – AUB – Arts University Bournemouth?

Ha nice try @Soma! Sounds an intriguing course but is the opposite of what she's interested in. Digital and emerging technologies is not her thing. She's looking at Human, Social and political Science at Cambridge, and Sociology at Bath and Bristol. Probably will need a masters afterward in Heritage Studies or similar.
Still has UofH and AUB open days in the diary though.

@mondaytosunday just seen your other thread. My dd had a change of heart last year and wanted to do film production but then changed her mind again and went back to animation. We have been to a lot of open days for different courses. She is now having another moment of doubt as the talk of AI is really worrying her. She's been ranting about how AI is destroying everything and what the point of doing any degree when computers will just do it all better. I can't disagree but also I have to be more hopeful.

@mondaytosunday ahha 😀, we can but try. It's a pity undergraduate degrees are so restrictive when it comes to mixing truly creative subjects (not just history of art) with something else. Even the current crop of Liberal Arts courses are limited. Trying to find fine arts, music and something else combined proved a step too far!

@Soma Goldsmiths doesn't necessarily require a foundation first. My daughter got into their BA Design degree course without one. Also @FancyFanny mentioned "UAL" and while it's true that CSM require a foundation before their degree courses, most if not all the other UAL colleges don't (can't recall if Camberwell do, I imagine that might be the target since fine art was mentioned). Just good to know if your YP doesn't want to go the foundation route and prefers to crack straight on with a degree, like mine!

@Anotheranonymousname Ravensbourne has been really going from strength to strength and is one to watch. I think it struggles with reputation as it's still fairly unknown compared to the other London arts colleges, but since moving to north Greenwich and seemingly getting a lot of funding from somewhere (?) it's quite impressive. My daughter got into their foundation and Fashion degree there but ultimately chose Kingston for her fashion degree starting Sept. But we were both really impressed with Raves and they certainly had the best marketing, most enthusiasm, and best merch of all the London colleges we visited!! The building and facilities are really super. What are they studying?

I've lost track of who is applying where now! Ravensbourne has a reputation in the world of illustration/animation of being very heavily focused on digital rather than traditional media. That's neither good nor bad in itself, but it's worth knowing!

DD gearing up to to start Year 2, heading down by train next Friday with a couple of cases and a sleeping bag, the rest to follow a week later when I'm free to drive it down. She is excited for ceramics (an optional extra) and letterpress (part of the course) this term... plus her class drawing trip to Seville. She's also going to sign up for a couple of new clubs to widen her circles.

Good luck to everyone!

@luluposs they're doing the foundation diploma in media production.

@PhotoDad good luck to your dd for year 2.

We decided against Ravensbourne as it was focused on only 3D animation but I agree that it was very enthusiastic and seemed like a very positive place.

DD is going into year 13 and will pretty much start her UCAS form in week 1. Assuming she does not change her mind about the degree she wants to take, she knows the five choices she plans to put down. She has decided against taking a foundation. The countdown begins!

We went to Ravensbourne open Day too and also discovered it was 3D based (snd I wondered how I could have missed that but checked back and couldn't see any mention of the fact they didn't do 2D animation on their website). The head of department was VERY forthcoming, and we enjoyed our visit even if crossed off the list. Ive says it before - the fashion was fantastic. Contact hours being reduced to one and a half days with no access to the studios on other days was a disappointment too.
Who was asking about Foundation? I don't think any art school absolutely requires a FAD, just recommends it 'or equivalent'. But if the portfolio is good enough can go straight in. But the value of a FAD is in discovering different media and subjects they may not have been exposed to at A levels. Plus maturing and a bit of a break after intensive A levels!

@mondaytosunday CSM does require a Foundation though, that's a thing. And the poster was specifically asking about UAL, to which another person replied that UAL needs a FAD, which is why I chimed in to say not all of UAL does, as some colleges (LCF among others) will take you on a strong portfolio, application and A levels. CSM though, not so.

@luluposs gotcha! Couldn't remember or find the original question.

How are PP organising drop off? Thinking of driving up on the day and staying overnight in a hotel, although expecting DD might want to go out with new flatmates.

Last year, my DW was going to take DD down, but caught Covid! (Remember that?) So I managed to take a day off work (not easy as a teacher at the start of term) and drove there-and-back with a 10-minute drop off. Which worked, but it depends on your DC!

Thanks @PhotoDad , that sounds like a mammoth journey... DD has asked if I can stay longer, which makes it quite expensive.

We're staying a couple of nights, but will keep out of DD2 way once we've dropped her. Nice to have a couple of days in Cornwall. Driving down on the Friday, dropping her Saturday afternoon, then day out somewhere with DD1 on the Sunday before driving back on the Monday. We're then dropping DD1 for her 3rd year at Warwick later in the week, but will do that one in a day as only 2 hours each way.

The first time we dropped DD1 we just unloaded the car and then left. The moving in slot wasn't very long, so we would have had to find somewhere else to park if we were staying longer. We offered to drive her to Tesco for a first shop, but she decided she'd rather unpack first and then walk to Tesco so she could explore a bit.

With our eldest, we dropped her off, unloaded, checked the room and then hugged her and left. She didn't really need us to stay and other parents also didn't seem to hang around. We'd already spent a few days in the area with her to check it out in the summer so all in all we were there for an hour.

Early days but my daughter is NOT enjoying her Art Foundation. She said vibes of her Foundation Prep short course at Kingston. She said they treat you as if you haven't held a pencil before. And she said Art teachers are never succinct and use 500 words when five would do. The heat hasn't helped.
This is also how my friend's daughter described her Art Foundation at CSM. She said she felt she was back at school and course was simpler than her GCSE work.
She has made a few friends though - they go out to the park or Brompton Cemetery for lunch.
How are your kids getting on? I'm hoping this is just the teachers easing them in and it will become more interesting and focussed soon!

Oh that's such a disappointment @mondaytosunday I really hope things improve. I'll ask DD what her first weeks of FDA were like to see if she can relate. I remember her friend who went to Camberwell was similarly unimpressed by the lack of attention they got early on but that did improve so fingers crossed 🤞