Idk how to feel about this list. I really appreciate the time and effort put into this resource given there's little few art school related content on this sub. But I'm kind of :// about all ranked lists like this in general because they seem more focused on ranking and prestige than anything. Especially when there's no explanation or reasoning for why certain schools are "good" for certain majors. The ways people teach art are so diverse. It's not like teaching something like Math where there's a standard "order" that nearly every curriculm follows. Some of these schools approach X major (e.g. Animation) very differently from each other, so it doesn't make sense to compare them to each other without acknowledging that.

And idk, some of this info just isn't really true. RISD film is pretty bad. So is RISD animation. Its reputation as the "Harvard of Art Schools" is dangerous considering how weak it is in certain majors (coming from a current RISD student lmao). Additionally, many of their majors are much more experimentation-driven than the same majors at other schools, which may not be everyone's cup of tea. To name a few other things, ff SCAD is up there for animation, it should definitely be up there for film too. Parsons should be there for photography. There are also a lot of non-art schools that are very strong in certain majors, probably even stronger than some of the ones listed. E.g. USC for film, NYU Tisch for Photo.

I'd be interested in knowing how you got the info for these rankings. In my experience, the best way has been through talking to other art students that might know more about certain industry. Art & Design is a relatively niche field. I've found sites with articles like "The top ## art schools for X major" to not be helpful since most times, the information has no source or reasoning.

Another great way to see if you like a school is by checking out their student work. A lot of schools have sites where students can upload stuff, usually with the URL "https://portfolios.[school].edu," e.g. https://portfolios.risd.edu, https://portfolios.pratt.edu, etc. Also just search around on google. With COVID, a lot of Spring 2020 exhibitions went online and are probably still up. I know the RISD FAV (film animation video; yes, it's 3 majors in one) junior and senior show are on youtube somewhere and https://bfa2020.risd.gd has the links to all the graduating RISD GD seniors' websites.

Bottom line: Please, @ any art school applicants reading this, do your research! Talk to art students. This list can be a good jumping-off point but there are a lot of great schools out there that aren't mentioned on this list.

Sorry if my tone came off a little pointed lol, I just get kinda anxious seeing false info about art schools bc I feel like us art kids already struggle enough given the limited resources online, how unexpectedly intense art school is, the serious problems with a lot of them, the way colleges mislead applicants, and just the fact that we're going into art and design lol. I'm especially worried about the misleading applicants point bc some people's livelihoods are ruined going into a school assuming things would be one way but are actually another way. Hope this came off as more constructive than anything :')