Subject: Design School? or University's Design Program?
| Posted By: hananah
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| Posted On: 6/8/2007 5:24 PM
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10 Replies
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SO I'm stuck in a decision between two schools to pursue my degree in Graphic Design:
The Fashion Institute of Technology (NYC)
or
Arizona State University - College of Design (Phoenix, AZ)
I've been wanting to go to FIT for awhile, but now I'm thinking if its better to take the "practical" way, in which I feel I'll be settling for less....(at ASU. I live in Arizona)
My parents have pretty much left it up to me to go to FIT or not....after outlining all the burdens I would have to carry by moving out east. And...it's a heck of a lot.
- Finding a job
- Balancing a job w/ school
- Disciplining self to keep money aside for tuition
- Carrying responsibilities that come along with living with my sister....which also means helping to raise her daughter, my 9-yearold niece
- Figuring out transportation and getting around
- ...just to name a FEW
.......and that's only aside from financial issues and struggles..
ALL the classes I've taken at ASU were to SPECIFICALLY to satisfy the SUNY requirements that FIT needs. I did all that so that I could get into the accelerated 1-YEAR AAS Communication Design program, in addition to over a year full of graphic design commissions to a stronger portfolio.
But...they didn't ask for a portfolio this year.
So I thought I didn't have to worry about it.
Little did I know that my sucky high school portfolio would be a major role in my placement (or lack thereof) into this accelerated 1-year program. So I didn't ask to send a portfolio earlier.
They placed me in the 2-year T_T
Now I am constantly on the phone with FIT Admissions & the Communication Design dept...in an attempt to have a special arrangement for them to review my portfolio....
If I get into this 1-YEAR program, I would shrink the financial hole I'm digging for myself and my parents......
(We calculated over $40,000 in total expenses at the end of FOUR years, assuming that I get stuck with the normal 2-year program. My parents' financial help cap for college is $25k)
...And I'd be more likely to go, if I get into this 1-year program.
Soooo in a nutshell...
I think I am leaning towards going to ....
Fashion Institute of Technology, even if it's the norm 2-year associates (instead of 1-year + 2 years for bachelors)...but there's still a possibility for the 1-year program....
But should I?
Going to FIT gives me the POSSIBILITY of finishing in a TOTAL of 4 years
I am HOPING to get into this 1-YEAR program, which will save a LOT of money (we are BROKE. absolutely no joke) and keep me on my intended schedule of 4-years-in-college
Going to FIT means a lot more responsibility...
But i believe it'll put me in the situation in which I will HAVE to grow up and get used to dealing with these type of things..and prepare me for the post-college life. But It might also be way too much for me to handle...it is a giant self test....pretty much a trial and error type test...but in a situation in which i have NO room for error...
Going to FIT is a BIG risk...
a LOT is on the line here, a large deal of money being the major issue. i absolutely CANNOT screw up here...or i will be wasting my life, my time, and my parents & my own money.
Going to FIT will mean almost COMPLETE independence
I will be 2,500 miles away from the safety of my parents...though I will be very close to extended family and other immediate family members (older siblings). I will not have as much support from my parents as I would if I were to stay with them in Arizona.
Going to FIT means having a better design program and a degree halfway through
i love the curriculum FIT offers for my major. It is more specific and concentrated on what I want to conentrate on. after getting an ASSOCIATES degree in 1 or 2years in Communication Design (which covers a bit of everything about GD), I have a choice in what to focus on, and can take my bachelors in Graphic Design, Packaging Design, or Advertising Design. A typical program like ASU's would have all 3 of those in one program, rather than a choice in concentration.
FIT has teachers from some of the BEST art schools
instead of paying someting like $15k per SEMESTER at a typical private art school like Parsons or School of Visual Arts....i'd pay a FRACTION of that per year, with the some of SAME teachers as these money/blood sucking schools.
(haha...sorry. my family has a grudge against SVA and how much money they've sucked from my brother and my family :/ i used to want to go there :P)
FIT is DAAANG cheap for an art school.
..thanks to its being a part of SUNY.
$3-4k tuition a year, if you live in NY
$9-10k tuition a year, if you're out of state.
you will NOT find an ART school that is that cheap.
(..maybe except the Cooper Union, which gives FULL scholarships to anyone who gets accepted....but they take only 60 people a year into their college of art&design...lol.)
The MUCH easier route to take, with barely ANY expenses...
...is staying at
Arizona State University
Going to ASU DEFINITELY Means finishing in no less than 4 ADDITIONAL years
I'd be doing their Graphic Design program for 4 additional years with no possibility of finishing when i intended (2010).
Going to ASU allows for a balanced amount of independence
I'd dorm at the main campus, with the safehaven of having my parents less than an hour away. I would have less to worry about, i.e. food, perseonal expenses, etc.
Going to ASU will mean having 100% support from parents
But i worry about being babied through college...so by the time I'm out...I really wouldn't have any experience of dealing with post-college life. It would be something almost completely new to me. But maybe I don't need that experience right away either...it might be better to stay in the nest with heavy parental support for longer.
Going to ASU will mean having a very general design curriculum
From what I've read..I really don't like ASU's graphic design curriculum. It's very general without very many choices to make as far as concentration goes. Instead of focusing on a major area and mastering it, I'd learn a bit of everything in 4 years, including some things I'm not interested in doing after college.
ASU's College of Design is in the Top 60 Design Schools in the World in 2006
According to Businessweek at least http://bwnt.businessweek.com/dschools/2006/
This covers the college in general, not a specific program or major.
So...anything can happen.
and wow..those were two, big nutshells. lol. sorry.
What do you think?
i seriously would appreciate any feedback or opinions...and especially prayer.
I'll be waiting on big G to see where He leads :)
just a bit anxious, scared, and excited
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