Good luck I getting into that one! But don't feel disappointed if you don't. Competition is tough as fuck 
It just so happens to be the one school you should focus on if you want some actual important contacts in the business in sweden so everyone wants in.
Scroll down to the summer courses https://animationworkshop.via.dk/en/programs-and-courses
All courses are taught in English. It is a bit pricey, but considering what you get out of it, it's worth every penny. Classes 9-16 for a week, materials, food and lodging (nothing fancy though, you can put up a tent or sleep in a classroom), and you get to spend a week in the company of about 30-40 of the craziest most weird ass people all sharing your passion! It would be so cool if you could be there!! 
I've been diagnosed for three years now (I'm 26). I managed to get through a two year business academy education, but then collapsed when I had to go job hunting. I'm in a rehabilitating internship atm, drawing for a one man board game company. I'm working on coping mechanisms etc. I'ts just up hill after ignoring my needs so long.
I haven't fully given up. It's just for now. I have just taken a blow, feels like a setback to me, and I'm still dealing with that, since it was quite recently. It was also a pretty annoying string of events. My boss really think I have what it takes to get in, and he told me it was a two year education, so I thought I could probably manage that. I then started working on portfolio and figure put living arrangements and such, then figured out it was a four year education and there would be no special need support what so ever, and I had to be realistic that I wouldn't be able to handle it. Hence why I'm bitter over it.
Oh I know about though competition. It's the same with The Animation Workshop. It's the best in Denmark, so everyone is gunning for that too. Plus apparently the French love it, so we have to compete with them too... That's what some students said anyways... When I said easier, I meant time wise, it's only one year, not four 
I didn't know it was the best in Sweden though... I was just told about it from some professional comic artists I met at a festival last year.
Ehhhh it's basically the cool kids hangout/ "have studied there" of the swedish comic industry. I was eyeing it myself and applied but got rejected, unsurprisingly 
But I've heard that it's really good. Over the years they have had several professional comic makers as tutors in there, and they have strong ties to the publishing business. If traditional publishing is your goal, it's a good place to learn from those who are in it, develop your skills among likeminded people and tie some valuable contacts that could get the ball rolling for your comic carreer.
As for me, I found out with time that the oldschool/traditional publishing industry in sweden isn't very positive towards manga. There are a few manga titles in it but the attitude is generally negative. One of the most (if not the most) popular swedish manga creators in Sweden runs their own publishing. There is obviously a huge demand for manga here and general publishers want to procrastinate on recognizing that for as long as they possibly can.
As I said, school vs no school depends on intent as well as culture. I am not willing to change my artstyle just to get into swedish publishing culture, and I don't get anything out of aesthetic education. I did 3 years of aesthetic classes and in terms of my art development they were a waste of time (full of stuff I already knew or was already in the progress of figuring out myself and understood better when learning on my own time). My friend on the other hand felt she learned a lot in those same classes, and improved on what she did already know. She isn't better or worse at art than me, just different. Learning is just different from one person to another.
My stuff doesn't appeal to the swedish comic industry. Too bad, so sad, it does well online instead. One or the other isn't better or worse, just different. Therefore, I feel that the "Is higher education better or worse?" discussion is sort of... not gonna go anywhere because it differs on a case by case basis.
How long is a string?
Also tangent but... this is also why I get a little annoyed when people complain that their comic isn't doing well on Site X or that Site X isn't doing enough to promote Genre Y, all they ever see is Blabla romance and BL or whatever people complain about, and that the site should do Z to make genre Y more popular on the site.
Like mate. There is a medium out there where genre Y FLOURISHES. Move yourself over to wherever that is and give it a try. It's the realization I came to and the thing I did. Why ya gotta come over to the one place where people like me can flourish and tell us it has to be like all those places where we already got rejected??
You don't see me walking into that comic school shouting WHY THE FUCK U NO LOVE MY MANGA-ISH GAY ART
Like no I just move on and go where the people who will love my gay-ass art are hanging out. Everybody wins.
Tangent over I suppose 
My degree is in Creative Writing. Could I have written without their help? Yes. Could I have been exposed to as many fresh ideas, and histories, and contexts if i had studied alone? Probably not. You need other peolpe to grow your craft. Take advantage of your youth and post-secondary education.
My biggest hang up has been to do an MA in writing...
This is exactly the biggest boon from doing an arts degree in either comics or creative writing.
My university is mostly this, but it helped, to some degree. Sure, I didn't have a thousand Hemmingways or Kerouac's to lean on, but it was a tighter group which fueled more discussion. I feel I got more out of my education because of this.
could you talk more about your experience with creative writing education in terms of comics? like, did you find a lot people also interested in comics and able to teach you more about that specifically? was visual storytelling covered - and if not, how did you fill that gap?
im seriously considering a creative writing degree, considering my second Big Thing is poetry, and i do love all forms of writing. i think outside of studying comics specifically, itd be a great way to get the right training when combined with an art course.
Well, my degree almost never discussed comics. However, a narrative is a narrative, and anything you can write into a short story or a novel you can write into a comic. So, those are very transferrable. However, if you really want to focus on what can transfer, studying film scripting is a great start.
Comics actually came after my degree. So I can't say that there was anything I did to particularly focus on them during.
That being said, many of my colleagues were interested in graphic novels (and my make this distinction from 'comics' on purpose). Graphic novels take more cues from traditional writing than old style serial comics do. They have recently become very big where I live (Canada), so there have been courses developed at my university to specifically study their style (thought not many).
If you want to do creative writing, I'd say go for it. It may seem peripheral, but it's not. Knowing how traditional storytelling works and what the historical tropes are is very important to constructing any style of narrative.
oh fr. ive been really sucked into film studies lately, its really tantalising in its similarity not only to comics, but also to theatre, a lost love of mine. i often feel like if you cant study comics, the next best thing is studying film (or really, animation, which is just film but More Specific)
i totally agree! ive had some good advice re creative writing vs lit, and the big question is finding a place where both the art teachers and the writing teachers are good - ive been warned that its important to find a course where the teachers write stuff you actually like. im tempted to lean towards literature on the basis that to study how others do something is arguably the best way to learn how to do it, but im still divided.
Well, my main teacher only wrote literary fiction, which I hate. And she hates fantasy, which I love. But it still worked out for me because my peers loved what I wrote...
that makes sense. i meant beyond genre, and more in terms of just... quality, and values. apparently, at least in the uk, theres lots of pretty mediocre creative writing courses, taught by mediocre writers. thats what ive been told, i cant confirm it.
that said, ive also heard lots of stories of people being disappointed by writing workshops from their absolute favourite writers. so its a balance, ig
I think it's all about what you make of it. Just go in to network, find a group of like-minded peers. Even if your professors aren't that great, you can still learn something from them. I just think you lose if you don't go, no matter what. haha
oh i totally agree, any arts degree is totally what you make of it, and a great teacher for one can be an awful teacher for another (hence making sure your values and tastes line up, at least somewhat). but when theres a wide selection, its better to get the good profs over the less good ones.
True. That'll be the hardest part and will take a lot of research. My school was the lesser known creative writing program out of the two in my area, and it turned out to be awesome. So, sometimes it's just a gamble, too.
mmm... im hoping to go and visit the places im looking at, but because right now im looking at such an array of different courses, ill only really have space for one or two applications (theres a five applications maximum process in the uk) to creative writing courses. luckily, my options are narrowed by wanting to do a joint honours, so i gotta find somewhere where both the art and the writing course meet my needs. its... blugh
Ive spoken about this at length in other threads but i’ll throw in my two cents here
I graduated with a degree in Illustration in 2016 with the intent to work in comics. Although I have worked for comics companies as a flats colorist, my professional career has mostly been a patchwork of freelancing and working in art-focused spaces, like museum security and arts education. I’ve now found a bit of a calling in art dealing and work for a gallery where I get to talk about art all day, make a decently living, and still have the time and energy to focus on my own illustrative pursuits.
I agree with a lot of what is said above: working in the arts is hard. It is worth every second, but I would not go into debt for an art degree without both a solid financial plan in place and a deep, deep passion for what you do. It is entirely possible to be really lucky and land a job in the big leagues, but it’s important to account for back-up plans and the like. The great thing about arts and comics is that its something you can pursue in your own time whether or not you work in “”””the industry”””””,. Also, despite what some people might say, an art degree is very valuable outside of just working in your chosen craft, and can be translated into education, sales, design, web development, and marketing should the need arise.
Go with your gut!!
Hmm, it doesn't exactly line up with what you're looking for but I'll pitch in my experiences anyways!
So I studied Architecture in school, and graduated with my BA in Architectural Design just coming up on 2 years ago! I was someone who was always interested in drawing comics and illustrations in Highschool, but I effectively decided upon reaching college that I wasn't dedicated enough to pursue a degree in art. Like a lot of people have said in this thread, it's totally doable! But requires crazy dedication, marketing and perhaps a little luck getting started out of school (although I find this to be the case in most fields). So, after experimenting around for my first 4 quarters (including taking some literature classes, creative writing, and art studio) I finally settled on Architecture.
I jokingly told my friends that I was taking that degree partially to get better at drawing backgrounds (low-key kind of though LOL) but really I appreciated that it was a direct avenue to a specific job path, but still involved the aspects that I liked about art: Drawing, project based instead of exam based, design theory, color/material theory, etc. So that's how I made my decision. Architecture school was a blast! I was definitely kind of a newbie (I didn't really have a particular interest in architecture before I started studying it for my degree vs. several other students who were like... already pretty into it) but it worked out well: graduated on time, job hunted for like 8 months, and now I just passed my 1 year work anniversary.
Just recently I've gotten back into drawing characters and comics and stuff. I'm definitely "self taught" as far as pure art and writing skills go, but I'd say that Architecture school is very applicable to many things, including comic making! Drawing the built environment is something I'm a lot more comfortable with now, both in terms of creating buildings that look interesting, as well as drawing them in a convincing way. Setting up establishing shots is pretty much the name of the game for our poster presentations in school: all of the big main renderings that we do are effectively photoshop collages of people, props, and the surroundings around our design projects. Also regarding the posters, creating effective layouts to make sure that your content is presented in an effective way that draws the eye is vital. Lastly just working hard in general. Not specific to arch school by any means, but countless late nights over 8 quarters of Architecture studios was like a good preparatory step for working hard in general =u= granted since comics are a hobby for now, I don't intend to go that ham on them, but I do intend to at least keep to a consistent release schedule >: D
But yeah, this got somewhat long, but I'm pretty happy with the path I took xD I definitely wasn't willing to compromise on studying something art related, but I opted to take a safer route in a lot of ways. Present me is a lot happier to start trying to carve out a name for myself as an artist while working a nice job in a mostly stable profession than trying to self market and freelance: I'm simply not bold enough for that lmao. I have mad respect for those who take that path though!
I went to college in the USA for Biology/Chemistry double major and then switched to a Studio Art degree with an emphasis in Figure Drawing. My college was mostly free because of scholarships and grants, I paid out of pocket to spend one semester in Europe to study all the architecture/sculptures/museums etc over there and to dip down to Mexico briefly to do the same.
If it wasn't mostly free, I'm not sure how much I would recommend spending the money. I self-taught myself everything to do with digital art and comic-making, and anything I learned about writing was in High School, not college.
That said, college did provide me with a ton of local art connections that has continued to get me into art shows, and very very VERY eventually into a good steady art career, to this day. I graduated 15 years ago. And it was definitely great to have so many opportunities to draw models and be introduced to new mediums.
So in my experience, if the price is right, definitely invest in yourself and meet people, learn things and take advantage of any cheap or free travel and exchange programs (not to mention cheap or free resources, computer programs, and so on). If it would seriously run you into debt though, your money and time may be better spent on online classes, workshops, and etc.
This page2 has some GREAT ideas and suggestions, I would highly recommend scrolling down to the "The Ultimate $10k Art Education" section where he meticulously outlines a whole range of learning opportunities and resources (including FREE ones) you can seek out a la carte.
oh that page you linked to is super useful, thank you!
im glad you brought up connections, thats something all my teachers have been bringing up when considering universities. being in a place surrounded by other artists and connecting with the industry is definitely a big plus about art school imo
I got an MSci in Zoology, worked minimum wage ecology jobs over summer for 2 years, gave up, and became an artist.
I'd say I do ok, there's a ton of things I had to learn (especially about running my own business, social media interactions etc. as well as how to draw better) but I have no idea whether I'd have learned them in a course or not. Contacts and student internships are one of the big draws of a course I think, but you can get them by doing various comic conventions and events as well, or even growing your fanbase on social media. Saying that, college/uni is a great experience, you meet a lot of friends and it's nice to learn beside other people.
i suppose you need to weigh up if it's worth it financially. I'm Scottish so I never had to worry about tuition fees. Good luck!
in my case all went not so good 
i had not enough skills for art school. My friend suggested to learn about IT, earn money and after this I will have ability to pay for quality art schools. I was learning IT languages for one year and after this I needed to pass important exam. These guys spotoclub.com helped me with this goal, because they are the leader of IT Certification Online Training Agencies. They offer 100% real and valid exam questions and answers to all candidates. These practice tests will be all verified by their professional tutors. They helped me a lot, so you can check out their site for more info.
