Reviews of Ringling College of Art and Design (College)

Jerry Banter

Very nice walking campus. Take a jacket because the rooms are cold.

Ayesha Tarannum

I wanna go here!!!!!!!!!

fabella moda

Any suggestions for Fashion Design school in Sarasota area??? Currently Ringling doesn’t have the career

Brian Matthews

I attended Ringling in the late 80’s and even then it was a great and formative experience. Now one of my sons is a graduate and works for a big online game company in LA. Perhaps the best educational facility of its kind in the world.

Savannah Griffin

Was on campus for a show & it is so nice and peaceful!

Amber Opphile

I do in fact feel unjustified by two certain instructors, which brought me to the academic dismissal. I performed my work in one of these classes, but the instructor's decision to fail me was not on my art, but my presentation, which required drawing a straight line with a knife on bristol board, which was all I could afford at the time instead of matte. When I e-mailed him about retrying either of the projects, he did not respond. I found out in the last day of finals from a classmate that I was able to redo one project. However, by the time I knew about it, it was already too late and I was handling withdrawals from a medication that I was taking for my Fibromyalgia and was causing serious depression and suicidal thoughts the entire semester, which were affecting my will to finish anything, including projects I was very excited about doing. He suggested during a mental breakdown(which was caused by his saying I didn't have a chance in his class) that I try switching to Visual Arts as he still felt like I was viable as an artist, just not in Illustration. I talked to my advisor the next day about it and we got the signature from the head of Visual Arts and everything. I felt like I still had a chance at Ringling, for my classes were much different than this major and I even got into a very difficult to get into class with my advisor's help. The second instructor was from last year, which I feel caused a lot of problems this semester. This instructor, who was my perspective teacher never did demonstrations and only critiqued on the day the project was due. After a few weeks of this class, half of the class stopped listening to him because we all felt the same about him. My apartment mate is one of the survivors of this class and is a witness to what I'm telling you about him. The only way I ever got anything accomplished in his class was my tutors, who taught me everything I know about perspective. I had another incident with another instructor the same semester, however, because I got some help from both my tutors and an instructor the next semester who knew how to work with my skill level and boosted me to the place I needed to be, I feel he did not have much of an effect on this semester. However, he did have a small part in my motivation, as he was one who questioned how I managed to get into Illustration to begin with. With everything that went down with my experience at Ringling, no matter how much fun I had learning there and how much love I had for it due to the amazing staff that did know how to do their jobs, I feel like I did not get my money's worth and I certainly do not feel like I would try again next year to get back in. I feel I would only run into the same type of people who doubted me and only put me down to the point I questioned how I got into the school to begin with. However, this is not the end of the road for me, as I will continue to pursue my dreams in the Illustration community. Art has always been my life and will continue to be so until the day I die. I have lost all respect for my dream college within a year and a half and was only given a week to get my stuff from the school after I was dismissed. I fought the dismissal and lost after believing from the advice of both an instructor and my advisor I would be able to get back in once I changed majors. My home is in Ohio and money is tight after the holidays and my parents splitting up.

Emø-Sama

This is my dream college

Hal Logan

Under President Thompson's leadership Ringling has continued to grow and amaze. While my stepson was attending he'd tell me about the work he was doing in class and it made me want to quit my job and go back to school. The instructors are top notch and the graduates' work is one of the biggest feathers in the the college's cap. The schedule is demanding though, so any students planning to attend should be ready to work hard and understand that an 'A' only comes with diligence and excellence.

Joseph Allen

This college is a joke for the time and money invested in it. You can get good art education with online classes

Paul Bun-onion

A very wonderful magic school. Now watch and be amazed as I make $62,800 dissappear!

Iamshoushou

Not diverse in personalities. I would not recommend this school if you are from an urban community with lots of diversity, you will not experience it here. The location of the school is in a bad area and the poor people (black Americans) that live in that community are being kicked out. I was told by a professor that the school is buying land to expand, not being considerate of the people who live around the area. :(

Anne Terres

I attended Ringling for four years and graduated with a degree in illustration and a minor in Fine Arts in 2011. I had previously attended Marlboro College in VT which is an excellent institution. Ringling has its good points and its bad points. First, let me address the good points: Ringling has some amazing professors, who care about the students and want them to excel and succeed. Ringling had a very good Career Center, with a helpful and caring staff that will look at a students portfolio and give great advice to help prepare him/her for interviews and jobs. Ringling has a mental-health center, a decent dining hall and I hear they are going to have some sort of physical health-care starting this year. (props to them for that, it was needed) Ringling also attracts some great recruiters. Ringling is in Florida, so if you love the sunlight the location is probably great for you. Now, let's discuss some of the negatives. Ringling is expensive, *very* expensive and students don't necessarily see much of what their tuition is paying for because certain majors are very costly to maintain, so the tuition of all students supplements those departments. Ringling has some lousy teachers, so some students will have a professor who responds to them and cares deeply about preparing them to do a good job, but the unlucky ones will receive instruction from a professor who is a well-respected artist in his field but doesn't know or care how to help students learn and meet their potential. The class selections are left up to the students by lottery, which means, if you don't get first pick, you may just not learn how to use oil paint that semester. Ringling does not care if you are bad at art. If you can't draw, can't paint, can't animate, can't conceptualize well and basically are not going to be able to succeed in the world, NO ONE is going to tell you and no one is going to advise you not to continue. No one is even going to tell you you need to work harder and do a better job. They allow people to spend four years (or more) to get a degree in something they have no hope of succeeding in. For me, this devalues the degree and is plainly unkind to those students. we were told that "A Ringling degree will get the art director to look at your work." How long will that hold true if there are people out there with that degree who have no skill? If I was training to be a surgeon and obviously was not smart enough to do the job, would they just let me continue? No. Because it's not sensible. Ringling's mental-health counselors are not very good. Two of my dear friends went to them while I was at school and neither one of them received the help they needed. I am of the opinion that a counselor needs to be smarter than his/her patients and they cannot often meet that bill. Ringling is in a bad part of town. There were muggings, thefts and I once saw a guy with a gun running through a lot RIGHT NEXT TO SCHOOL. Now, that's not the college's fault, but it should be a consideration. Ringling will not make you feel cared about as an Alumni or as a student. When you have concerns, they will brush you off if they can. So, that's the basic points that I think might be helpful to someone considering Ringling College of Art and Design, hope I was helpful. For the money, I can't recommend the school, unless you want to be a CA or an ID, in which case, maybe.

Denise Hernandez

I was there for two years until I had to take a gap year. I studied Game design. It's a good school in general and people do come out with an amazing portfolio. But I want to point out some things. The school is unnecessarily expensive. Yes, it's a private school that provides technology for their students, but so do community colleges and universities where a tuition for a year there would total just a semester in ringling. Not being able to obtain a loan for the year will guarantee being forced to take a gap year. They don't accept payments per semester in terms of student loans. As a game art major, the labs are limited and they all close at 2 am. And you would think that's not so bad. It's bad if you have a lot to do with deadlines so close to one another. The one thing that's always asked for is a 24 hour lab, which never happens. The education is amazing, but to know some more experimental stuff or to get better at specific things (like lighting and VFX) that's something you have to do on your own time which is something not a lot of people have in this major. The teachers there are amazing at what they do since they've been in the industry themselves. The education feels like giving the basics and people experiment with it to see how they can do it better. Faculty and administration wise tends to vary. I've heard a lot of people tell me that there are people who are of jo help and would give attitude, but my encounters with them are quite pleasant. If you know what you need and how to ask for help, it will be given to you. But that's also hard to distinguish sometimes. Housing here is descent. Comes with a bed, closet or wardrobe, drawers, and a desk for you to work in. Some of these places have mold and shouldn't have people in it and yet they still put people in. And there's new housing that is brand spanking new and very pleasant to live in. For people with an ESA (emotional/emergency support animal) it is quite hard to get that covered and have to fight quite hard to get the acceptance in for your pet. I would assume it would be different for specific people. Some of my friends struggled to get their pets in. A good amount of activities for students who have time to connect with others. Student run and they're fun to be a part of. And for those out there: don't bother trying to start a fraternity and/or a sorority group here. Never happened here. And last but not least: food here definitely sucks. With the exception of the mac and cheese and the ox tail they serve a few times. Their cafeteria has cause a lot b of health issues and are not always well cooked. Sometimes serving undercooked meat. From when I was there there are 4 food locations: Hammonds (main cafeteria, and where most of the trouble happens), outtakes (serves snacks and bottled drinks. Please check for expiration dates. Sometimes they're not removed so keep an eye out for that. Also be cool with a guy name Pete, he's a cool guy), Roberta's cafe (haven't had anything there), and Brickman's cafe (they serve sandwiches and soup. Probably the best source of food from on campus prepared by staff, but also has had their problems). One of the problems that occurred was the upbringing of the nobody virus because people would serve with unwashed and un-gloved hands. I had a few friends affected by it. As many universities, it is full of high schoolers who just graduated and along comes some drama. I was part of a graduation class that has so many problems and drama, i had more friends from other years than my own. In general, it's a good school. I would not recommend coming here if you want a more detailed education if it's not Computer Animation or Illustration (the most prefers majors; yes there's favoritism in majors as well). I would also not recommend coming here if money is an issue. Can probably get way better education at an affordable price somewhere else. But power to you if you do decide to come here.

Joe Lipstein

Public safety is a joke. They take away parking spaces and then ticket you if you're forced park somewhere else. Even for a paying student.

Jason Main

College for rich kids. Active participant in Gentrification. I know. I was assigned to a site where they tore down massive sections of a working class neighborhood to extend the school

Infinity Watermellu

My mom said that I could go there when I turn 15

Elvish CounsilGaming

F

Amanda Clem

There are many good school that are more affordable with the same skilled teacher please think twice about how you plan out your life and recognize that the arts in general are difficult to make a living in. Stick to a major that will give you a practical skills and can help you make a real living. Don’t be fooled by pretty pictures and fancy stuff. Student loans can destroy your life and going to college isn’t suppose to make things harder it suppose to be another step to securing independence.

Audrey Scherer

Well, I loved being a student here. I learned a lot. The ghetto is not that bad. The teaches are great. The campus is stunning. If someone is unhappy with anything to do with this school, let someone higher up aware of it. They are very accommodating. I loved RCAD and still do. I am a proud alumni. The armadillo as the mascot, thing - still confuses me, but I think I dig it.

Lakewood Ranch

I'm curious as to what they really teach at this college. I currently work with a woman that went to Ringling for a degree in Photography. Honestly, I've never met anyone who knows less about photography than she does. She knows nothing about lighting, subject compilation, depth of field and the list goes on. Is Ringling the type of school that pushes people along and out or do you really have to learn something at this school and prove that you know it before they give you your diploma? If I spent the money this woman and her mother did to go to this school, I'd be pretty upset at what I didn't know.

Paula Rodriguez Ramirez

I currently study motion design here and the facilities are the best, the professors are all stellar. They teach by devotion not just for the pay. Honestly could not have made a better choice for college, they really give you all the tools to succeed in the art industry. The last two motion design graduating classes have been 100% placed in the industry within 6 months of graduating ❤️

Matt Lagonzo

great animations on youtube

Michael Niemi

I believe this is a place where i can dedicate myself and my art, and i can improve myself to the maximum level of skill and poise, i have looked at many different art schools. but now that i have found this one, i believe that even now at the age of fourteen i can become something great.

Alyria Anderson

i am thinking about going here when i get older.

Karl Seckner

Ringling college of art and design

TomasHobbs

I wish I could study here it looks beautiful. When I grow up I'll save to fly here and go and study here