Bachelor or a Master degree in design?

Hello, I am currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in automobile engineering in India. My drawing and sketching skills are very good, although not very impressive. But I believe I can get into a design school if I practise my drawing regularly which I am working on.
I have two questions;

  1. Should I go for a bachelor or a master degree in transportation design?
  2. I have short listed ACCD, California as my preferred design school. I have read that they give scholarships to international students. I want to know do they give a 100% scholarship to international students? Or is there another criteria to follow?

Practice, practice, practice, perfect, perfect, perfect!

Modern Man highly recommends ACCD for transportation design though he thinks it’s questionable whether Divyanshu would qualify for the vehicle track in the grad program.

Modern Man wonders what Divyanshu meant when he (or she) said “My drawing and sketching skills are very good, although not very impressive.” This is part of what put’s into doubt in Modern Man’s mind whether Divyanshu would qualify for the grad trans vehicle track at ACCD. At a minimum, to qualify for the grad level vehicle design track the applicant must be at the level of someone who has just graduated from ACCD undergrad trans program.

Modern Man recommends that Divyanshu contact Geoff Wardle, Executive Director of the trans grad program, directly to get to the bottom of this question. (Coincidentally, Wardle’s bachelor’s degree is in mechanical and vehicle engineering and went on to get a master’s in automotive design from the RCA in London.)

100% scholarships at ACCD are sparsely awarded, if they are awarded at all these days. Divyanshu’s international status has no bearing on whether you can qualify for a scholarship or how much you might be awarded. A scholarship award is foremost dependent on the quality of the portfolio Divyanshu submit for consideration.

Lastly, but also fundamentally important, if Divyanshu feels his drawing and sketching skills are not very impressive, hopes to maximize his (or her) chances of get accepted to ACCD on the first try and scholarship award potential, Modern Man VERY MUCH recommends that Divyanshu first come to Pasadena/LA, if possible, to take a series of public programs (AKA Art Center At Night) viscom, product and trans design night courses to improve his skills and portfolio. Richard Pietruska, Stan Kong, Randall Smock, David O’Connell and Steve Eastwood are all excellent instructors in the night program. (Warning: registration for Richard Pietruska’s Viscom class always fills up very fast - if or when Divyanshu is ready to take that course, Divyanshu must get registered for it as early as possible when the registration period opens to ensure he (or she) secures a seat.)

Good luck!

Thanks Modern Man! :smiley:
Well, here are some of my recent sketches. What do you think about them?



The perspective construction on the top one (Audi) is a bit off/odd. The middle one (electric city car) is too tight - not sketchy. The bottom one (Porsche) is loose (good sketch) and starting to get somewhere. The common problem among all of them is that they represent vehicles we’re already familiar with or know. You need to draw new ideas. Car designers don’t draw copies of cars that have existed for five to ten years; they design new futuristic cars ideas that might be realized seven to fifteen years (or more) from now. For example, a new body/model series of car coming out in 2014 would have come from concepts dating back at least seven years.

The good news is that you seem to be very motivated and you have some developable talent. You definitely should take at a minimum Intro to Com Sketch, Intro to Trans Design, Viscom and Portfolio Prep: Trans Design Week which are night courses that meet once or twice per week for 14 weeks (Fall, spring, summer terms) between 7 pm and 10pm.

There are no shortcuts! Good luck!!