A visit to DePaul University
DePaul University is a private Catholic research university with two Chicago campuses - Lincoln Park and the Loop Campus. If you are looking for a traditional university setting complete with a vibrant neighborhood college town and an iconic quad, the Lincoln Park campus is a beautiful choice. The CTA has a stop in town, students have unlimited rides using their U-Pass, so it’s easy to get to their Loop Campus downtown. DePaul is home to 22,000 students who live in dorms and off-campus apartments in the neighborhood. DePaul D1 sports teams compete in the Big East Conference, ironically the largest Catholic college in the nation goes by the name of Blue Demons! DePaul is operates on the quarter system which is a faster paced, more intense experience than the traditional semester program, there are pros and cons to each which you can read about in this blog post.
The Loop Campus is home to the College of Computing and Digital Media (CDM), housing the School of Cinematic Arts which offers both a BA and BFA in Animation, a BA and BFA in Film and Television, and a BS in Computer Science and Animation, the School of Computing, and the School of Design. This gives students a wide range of options to choose the program right for them. Also at the Loop Campus is the College of Communication where majors in journalism and other areas of communication are housed. This school is also located near SAIC and Columbia College and near the Art Institute of Chicago as well. The Animation program offers five different concentrations including Character Design and Game Art. The Film and TV BFA offers 11 concentrations including Comedy Filmmaking which works with the famous SCTV. The Film program also has an alliance with Cinespace Chicago which is a collaborative professional environment as well as housing three DePaul soundstages, giving students the opportunity to interact with businesses outside of the academic environment. Clearly students have a wide range of programs to choose from with a multitude of opportunities.
Lincoln Park is home to all of the programs for an art student including The Theatre School, School of Music, and liberal arts majors in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. Of note, The Theatre School is a conservatory based program offering 15 BFA majors across their three departments: Design/Technology, Performance, and Theatre Studies. The BFA programs are highly structured, building off a progression-based curriculum which supports over 30 public productions annually. Students work directly with working industry professionals and have many opportunities for internships in the city.
The School of Music offers BA, BS and BMus programs. There is no shortage of opportunities to collaborate and create - they house 13 different performance ensembles! For budding musicians, DePaul hosts Summer Music college-credit sessions for high school students.
A performing artist or film student would fine a fantastic home at one of the creative schools within DePaul.