Colleges

College Checklist for Senior Year (or year before you plan to start college)

College Checklist (2).docxDownload College Checklist (2).docx

Taking the ACT…

  1. Take your ACT multiple times your Junior year and once or twice your Senior year to get it as high as you can. Consider taking an ACT Prep Class during your Junior year to help you raise your score. ACT Prep classes can really help you improve!
  2. If your ACT score is too low, you may not get accepted to the college you want to attend, and the higher the score, the more likely you are to receive scholarships. Keep in mind that if your ACT score is low, you still may get accepted to a school because you have a high GPA, class rank, or other qualifications. Never hurts to raise your score though, so start taking the ACT early in your Junior year.
  3. After Covid, schools started relaxing their requirements for ACTs. They still help you to be eligible for scholarships, however, so you should still take the ACT and try to improve your score. 

How much would I get paid if I got a particular job? Where are the jobs?

To check into the salaries and how much demand there is for different careers, go to:
https://www.bls.gov/ooh The Occupational Outlook Handbook

This site also will tell you what education you need for different careers, etc.!

What visual creative jobs are out there? What companies are hiring?

Another good site to check for animation jobs is Indeed.com
Just go to Indeed.com and search for keywords like:

  • “animation”
  • “multimedia art”
  • “after effects”
  • “maya” etc.
  • “adobe”

Also check the #jobs channel in our TEAMS! Go see what they are looking for!

You can also find jobs and follow companies that you want to work for by making a LinkedIn account. Make your account, then click “Jobs” and then search for jobs. You can also find companies and follow them, then check their Jobs page in LinkedIn.

Other Jobs

You might want to get a job to help you pay for college.

For jobs you can get right away without training, search “store associate” “restaurant” “movie theater” “pharmacy” etc. Or follow companies where you think you might like to work and then click the “Jobs” link on their LinkedIn page.

Create a Resume’

You can use a Canva template to create a resume’. Don’t forget all the great experiences you had at Francis Tuttle that you can put on there. Here’s a sample…

4-Yr Bachelor’s Degree in Animation

Nearby…

Oklahoma Christian University.
http://www.oc.edu/academics/art-and-design/degrees/gaming-animation

Wichita State University. In Kansas, but In-State rates are offered to Oklahoma residents.
https://www.wichita.edu/academics/majors/animation_baa_345.php

Art Institute of Dallas. https://www.artinstitutes.edu/dallas/academics/animation-effects

Farther away…

Full Sail University (Florida). https://www.fullsail.edu/degrees?bachelor=1&art-design=1&media-communications=1https://www.fullsail.edu/degrees?bachelor=1&art-design=1&media-communications=1

SCAD or Savannah College of Art & Design (Georgia) https://www.scad.edu

Rochester Institute of Technology https://www.rit.edu 

Google search for “best colleges for animation“
Note: the costs listed here do not include living expenses. Go to this site to calculate total costs: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/calculate-your-cost

Related College Bachelor’s Degrees (4 yr)

One pathway to a creative career is to get a college degree in an area related to your passion and then work on the side to create a great portfolio to showcase your technical/digital skills. You have to have the self discipline on your own to create awesome projects for your portfolio that show you have the TECHNICAL skills to work in animation, so keep that in mind. 

What degrees are “related”? You could consider:

  • Graphic Design / Visual Communication
  • Art
  • Art Education
  • Theater
  • Film
  • Marketing or Business
  • Communication/Mass Communication
  • Professional Writing
  • Technical Writing or English
  • Programming or Computer Science
  • Interior Design

In-State 4-year Colleges — Request to Tour 

In-State colleges have much cheaper tuition than out-of-state ones do. Read up on these and then go tour your top options! 🙂 

HS students are allowed to be excused when they tour colleges — just bring a print-out of your schedule from the day and your absence will be excused. Check the FT Handbook for details on how many are allowed for this each year.

SWOSU. Southwestern Oklahoma State University. In Weatherford, about an hour to our West.
https://www.swosu.edu/academics/art-communication-theatre/index.aspx

UCO. In Edmond.
https://www.uco.edu/programs

Cameron University. In Lawton.
http://www.cameron.edu/academic/degrees.html

USAO. In Chickasha. 
https://usao.edu/academics/major/art-bachelor-fine-arts USAO has a Neurodiversity mentorship program to help students with autism diagnosis transition to college. https://usao.edu/future-students/neill-wint-center-for-neurodiversity.htmlLinks to an external site. 

Oklahoma City University. Private school, so it’s expensive. However, you might be eligible for scholarships/aid.
https://www.okcu.edu/artsci/departments/visualart/academics/studio-art

Oklahoma University. 
http://www.ou.edu/checksheets

Oklahoma State University.
https://go.okstate.edu/academics

Save Money — Consider Starting at a Community College and Then Transfer to a 4-Yr College

This can help you take time to get used to college and save you money. AND you can still graduate from a great school after earning credits at a smaller place first at a lower cost. 

For any college degree, there will be core classes that you need to earn credit for. These will transfer to other colleges. If you are able to live at home while you attend for 2 years, you can save a lot on living expenses.

Here are some local Community Colleges to look into:  

In addition, when you transfer to another college after proving that you are a good student at a smaller school, you can qualify for “Transfer Scholarships”. Be sure to apply for transfer scholarships when you transfer from one college to another.

Special Associate’s Degree Opportunity at Redlands Community College 

You can earn an Associate’s Degree by attending Redlands for 37 hrs (only 2 to 3 semesters, which is 1 to 1.5 years) after completing the Animation program at Francis Tuttle and passing the Photoshop Certification Exam. If you take Concurrent classes while still in high school, you can finish up even faster! 

Here’s the degree that you would earn: 

Applied Technology: Computer Systems and Application Option – Digital Media Technology Emphasis

Set up a tour and check it out: https://www.redlandscc.edu/campus-tours

The college classes you take at Redlands in that 2 to 3 semesters will transfer to other colleges that you might go to in the future so this is a great, inexpensive way to start your college journey! 

Check out their Scholarship page early in the Spring before you plan to attend so you can apply before their scholarship deadline: https://www.redlandscc.edu/index.php/scholarships

They also offer some extra transfer scholarships so that when you want to transfer from Redlands to a bigger college, you can be eligible for extra funds. Check out the scholarships page linked above for more info! ^^

Interested in taking college classes, a.k.a Concurrent classes, at Redlands while still in high school? Here’s the scoop…

We serve concurrent students all over the state by offering them online. Concurrent enrollment is open to qualified high school juniors and seniors. You must have a minimum 19 ACT/Pre-ACT Composite OR 990 SAT/PSAT Composite OR 3.0 unweighted high school GPA AND 19 in the appropriate subject area on the ACT/Pre-ACT OR 510 in the appropriate subject area on the SAT/PSAT.

Juniors get 9 hours tuition free and seniors get 18 hours tuition free. You only pay the fees.

  • Juniors and Seniors are eligible for Concurrent Enrollment at Redlands.
  • Tuition is waived by the state but students have to cover fees and books. You can take summer courses to finish faster. There is a scholarship available. https://www.redlandscc.edu/index.php/scholarships
  • Concurrent Fees listed for Seniors are…
        three (3) credit hours = $94
        six (6) credit hours = $163
        nine (9) credit hours = $232
        twelve (12) credit hours = $301
        fifteen (15) credit hours = $370
        eighteen (18) credit hours = $439
       *Some courses, such as sciences, may have additional fees.
       **A NEW student will be responsible for an additional $25 admission fee.

Here’s the form that will help you to get enrolled at Redlands for next school year for college credit while in high school: 

concurrent_enrollment_checklist.pdf Download concurrent_enrollment_checklist.pdf 

Special Associate’s Degree Opportunity at Northern Oklahoma College

Another school in OK will offer the Career Tech credit for passing an Adobe cert in our program: https://media.websitecdn.net/sites/740/2022/12/2022-2023-A.A.S.-in-Applied-Technology-Industry-Certifications-Option.pdf

.Here’s their main website: https://www.noc.edu/ (edited) 

2-Yr Associate’s Degree in Applied Science, Specializing in Animation

OSU IT. The rep says many of their students graduate and get high paying jobs. While in school, students do an internship where they make upwards of $20/hr. If you’re thinking you only want to attend 2 years more of school, this would be a great option. This campus is located in Okmulgee near Tulsa.

http://osuitviscom.com/

Rose State College. In OKC.
https://www.rose.edu/content/academics/academic-divisions/business-information-technology/multimedia-digital-design

What’s the Difference between the 2 Kinds of Associate Degrees?

Read this good explanation on the Rose State website: https://rose.edu/academics/types-of-programs/

Get College Credit for Your Adobe Certifications

Did you pass the Photoshop test? The Illustrator test? The After Effects test?

Talk to your enrolling counselor at any college that you attend to see if you can get college credit based on passing these tests! See details below… 🙂

https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Educator-resources/College-Credit.aspx

Info we found from Oklahoma schools about this opportunity…

OU

Noncollegiate Learning Experiences (ou.edu)

UCO

UCO: Prior Learning Assessment FAQs

How are prior learning experiences evaluated?

University of Central Oklahoma faculty are responsible for evaluating if prior learning experiences meet course learning outcomes and requirements. Recommendations from organizations such as the American Council on Education (ACE) are used to inform credit decisions. 

OSU

credit_by_exam.pdf (okstate.edu)

Training Programs/ Extra-Institutional Learning OSU awards credit as recommended by the American Council on Education (ACE) in “The National Guide to Educational Credit for Training Programs.” Students may present certificates of completion or a transcript from the ACE Registry of Credit Recommendations to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions for evaluation. Registry transcripts can be requested at www2.acenet.edu/credit. OSU also awards credit based on the recommendation of the Board of Regents of The University of the State of New York’s National College Credit Recommendation Service (CCRS).

Did you earn college credit with your AP Portfolio?

Make sure to report your score to the college you go to! Info here: https://apstudents.collegeboard.org/sending-scores

How Much Does College Cost?

This calculator will help you figure it out…

https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/calculate-your-cost

Oklahoma’s Promise

11th Graders!
Did you know the state of Oklahoma provides tuition funds for eligible students through Oklahoma’s Promise (aka OHLAP)?

WHAT IS OKLAHOMA’S PROMISE?
Oklahoma’s Promise offers qualified Oklahoma students an opportunity to earn a scholarship for college tuition.

REQUIREMENTS (from the website)

  • Must be an Oklahoma resident.
  • Must enroll in the 8th, 9th, 10th or 11th grade.
  • Must be a student whose parents’ federal adjusted gross income does not exceed:
    • $60,000 with 1 or 2 dependent children OR
    • $70,000 with 3 or 4 dependent children OR
    • $80,000 with 5 or more dependent children.

If you are in 11th grade, you can still sign up. Do it even if you aren’t planning on college just in case!

Here’s where to do it: https://www.okhighered.org/okpromise Show this to your parents. 

If you’re a senior or older, your counselor might have helped you to enroll in this and you may have forgotten. Contact the OK Promise office at okpromise@osrhe.edu if you have questions.

How to Decide Where to Go for College

If you are going to college, here are some steps to help you to decide where to go: 

  1. Research the degrees you can get at colleges that are In-State. In-State costs are much, much lower than if you attend Out-Of-State. Some schools in Kansas and Texas will give you their In-State rates, just because they are so close to Oklahoma. ALSO, Public universities are a lot less expensive than Private universities, so keep that in mind as well. 
  2. During your Junior and Senior years, you can email a recruiter or fill out an online form to schedule college visits or virtual tours that are excused absences from your high school AND from FT. You (and your parents/guardians) can go and see what the different schools are like and get more information about their programs and their financial aid, etc. During your tours of the schools, remember they are trying to make a big sale! Every student they attract is worth a lot of money — your money! So, while everything may seem amazing on the tour, keep your head on straight and look at the COST to attend compared to your other options. 
  3. In October of your Senior year (or year before you plan to go to college), you and your parents will need to go online and fill out the FAFSA. Everyone MUST do this in order to see what financial aid you are eligible for. Your parents will have to provide some tax information. The FAFSA app will be connected to every college you apply to so that schools can award you scholarships and let you know about financial aid.
  4. Early your Senior year, look up the application deadlines for the schools you’re interested in and apply to those schools as early as you can. You might not be accepted to your first choice, so it’s good to apply to multiple possibilities. It’s good to apply to several so that you will have options! 

    Applying doesn’t mean you’re committing to anything, so do it early. This will give you more options later. 

    Fill out the Common App and any other college applications for colleges that don’t accept the Common App. 
  5. Also, look up the scholarship deadlines for the schools you’re interested in and apply for scholarships before the deadlines. Many schools have a deadline as early as February 1. If you miss the deadline, get your applications in as soon as possible. 
  6. When you find out which colleges have accepted you and what they are willing to offer you in terms of financial aid, you will be able to make your choice! You’ll know what your options are and what it will take financially to attend. 

You’ll have to weigh a lot of factors… Which school is best for me? What will it cost to attend after financial aid is considered? What degrees can I get to help me have a good well-paying job?

Good luck!