>>2773924Art Center Student here. Going to a school has a few benefits. While ultimately, its true that in the end, it all depends on YOU to do your best, going to a good art school will provide you with the best teachers, the best resources and a higher quality of classmates. In the end, the degree doesn't really matter for a few subjects (Entertainment Design is mine and that's a major where your portfolio is the most important thing.)
That being said, my school has a wide variety of alumni in many industries and just having a talking point with graduates in the fields I want to go into is already a step up. If I walk into EA and there's an Art Center grad working there, I instantly have a connection.
One of the other reasons to go to a school is DEADLINES. Very few people on this planet will put out work every day at a consistent pace. If that's you,that's awesome. If not, then schools give you homework and deadlines so you learn to work and push through. It forces you to develop discipline (it's hard to slack when you have 40k per year on the line).
Also, people here are assuming that you will continue to grow at an exponential consistent rate on your own. GL with that. teachers help point out where you can do better in instances you didn't even know. If you could learn all that by yourself, why aren't people here getting better? If you can learn everything on the internet for free then there's no point in going to a medical school or law school.
If you're NOT looking for a degree ( I am) then going to places like CDA, Gnomon or Brainstorm are the best bang for your buck. They are far cheaper and will help you develop a portfolio very quickly. The Downside is that there are fewer stakes, there is no vetting and its not feasible to learn design fundamentals on a once-per-week for 10 weeks basis.
