How do you feel SAIC prepares its students to go out into the "real world?" Is preparing students to "earn a living" an obligation of the school, or is SAIC strictly a fine arts institution?

compiled by Andrea Hicks

This school is very suited for students to prepare for the real world, because the style of the school's education is basically "self-taught," meaning that it's the students' responsibility to keep up with their work and be ready to survive after their graduation.
-Teruyuki Matsuyama Undergraduate, painting

    Strictly a fine arts institution?! Let's not kid ourselves here - SAIC is a business, and its business is making money off a bunch of starry-eyed art dreamers (seems to be a damn good business too). The only "obligation" it really has is to the board and its investors. What do they want? (Here's a hint: it's not an intellectual utopia full of artists!) It's money. That being said, the "obligation" to learn how to survive in the real world falls on the student's shoulders. A diploma does not equal art stardom or even a job. All the money we dump into this institution is really just a risky investment in ourselves, and in the end the return on this investment lies solely in the investor. Smart investors take advantage of every opportunity to gain on their investments. We must believe the school offers some sort of opportunity to help us be successful or else no one would pay so much to be here.
-S. Dillon Graduate, fibers

    We prepare students as well as other major art schools. Perhaps it should be more directly explained to students, that to be successful as an artist, you must first make excellent work, as opposed to: do a pretty good job. Students must also be given a lesson in merging into society, as opposed to gettoizing themselves into identity clicks. Like successful authors, or professional athletes, the degree of success in an art school will always be a rather cruel equation.
-Chris Sullivan

    I feel that our school does not prepare us enough for the "real world." I'm graduating in May myself, and I've tried going from one department to the next in search for help and information on jobs out there. Career Development does not have very much information in terms of job information, and Co-op, even though they have contact information for many jobs, will only give out information for internships. One person even told me that it's my job to search for career opportunities, but no one helped me in where to start. I also don't feel that there are enough programs in the halls or the school community to help us out in our decision process. ... Not everyone that goes to our fine school wants to be a starving artist; some of us actually would like a nice career. I know I might get some evil responses to this, but it's my view on this situation. There's talk of helping the students, but I don't see anything done, except the nice kick in the behind out the college door into the big and scary "real world" that I dread entering right now, because I feel unprepared.
-Heidi Wirtz Undergraduate

    I have felt that SAIC has given me a close perspective of how competitive today's art world is. But going to this very expensive institution, I feel I am in a do-or-die situation when it comes to "making it as a artist" in the art world. It comes down to what we each hold deep inside as artists and if we can communicate our talents to the world we live in and make a living at it as well. ... Any time a college offers a degree it [had] better lead the student to their dreams. If not, the institution has failed. The real world never apologizes for being a hard place to land.
-Charles Taylor Undergraduate

    I think SAIC offers a lot of great resources, like Co-op and Career Development, to aid students in finding their place in the "real world." Co-op puts you in real world jobs, and Career Development assists in several career essentials like resume and interview skills. Career Development has also sponsored several workshops on grant writing, resume writing, and job/career fairs. In addition, there are a few classes that teach basic survival skills after graduation. A student's lack of "real world" skills is not the fault of SAIC, it is the fault of apathetic students who don't take advantage of SAIC resources.
-Kate Henningsen Undergraduate, Performance Senior Resident Advisor

    SAIC lets one see how the world operates; if you don't do it all yourself you're fucked.
-Ron Mendez Student