So if I don't get into Cincinnati...

Wow, second thread in a couple days :sunglasses: .

Anyhow, so far this summer I have visited Philadelphia U and U of Cincinnati. I liked the PhilaU campus, the distance from home, their program director, and the amount of academic and athletic scholarships I would get if I went there. Like so many others though, I was blown away by Cincinnatiā€™s facilities and co-op program. I got to meet a student there who had and will co-op for my favorite company, New Balance. That was pretty awesome.

So in case I decide to do ID I have already started applying to both Cincinnai and PhilaU. However, for what I want to do I fear that going to anywhere other than Cincinnati will put me at a disadvantage because nowhere has the coporate connections etc. in a co-op program like Cincinnati does. Am I right?

Either way, thereā€™s no guarantees that I will get accepted to Cincinnati. So I should apply to a few more schools in case I donā€™t get in to give me options. Most of these are far away, so I wonā€™t be doing any visiting at least until after I get accepted. Iā€™ve done research already on most of these, so my question is: what schools are also good with internships/co-ops like Cincinnati? For example, I heard SJSU requires internships but I canā€™t comfirm because their site is under construction.

Hereā€™s the list of potentials (ones Iā€™m most interested in are at the top):

SJSU
CSU Long Beach
Metro State Denver
Virginia Tech
UIC
MassArt
Auburn U
NC State
Arizona State
U of Houston
UIUC
Southern Illinois U

Thanks!

What about:

College for Creative Studies (CCS)
Cleveland Institute of Arts
Minneapolis College of Art & Design (MCAD)

Ideally I would go to a school with a xc/track program, so thatā€™s where Iā€™ve really been focusing my search. I guess in the end, academics go first, so if one of those art schools turn out to be worth it, I would consider sacrificing the athletics.

I went to Georgia Tech for ID. We had some track and cross-country folks in our program. Worth a look if thatā€™s a criteria for you.

What about Drexel University?

The program is relatively new (started 3-4 years ago), but it is right down the street from Philly U. You can probably get some scholarships too.

Hey Harrier99 -

I went to Virginia Tech and really enjoyed the program. Great faculty and an awesome learning/collaborating environment. PM me if you have any questions!

Also, there were two brothers a few years ahead of me that ran xc/track while studying ID at the same time. Both were super into footwear and are now applying their passion of running towards footwear design (one designing for Adidas, one for Columbia). They also interned at New Balance while at VT and we just had another student intern there as well as Saucony. So Iā€™d assume VT is starting to create good connections with those companies moving forward.

Ohio State?

While athletics are a criteria for me, I donā€™t want to rule anything out this early in the process if there is an art school or whatever that has a great ID program that would be the perfect match for me.

Ya know how at the end of some books they have a page that says ā€œIf you liked [bookā€™s name], tryā€¦ā€ and it gives a list of similar books? So, If I liked Cincinnati (but am not sure if Iā€™ll get in), what other schools should I look at?

Q4857:

Thatā€™s interesting because I heard on some other threads that VT had bad corporate connections (because of VT not being in a big city) and didnā€™t do much to help students get internships. Maybe theyā€™re trying to change that?

GHoge:

I was considering applying to Drexel as an Architecture major because of their co-op program. Their product design program doesnā€™t seem to be accredited (yet). But Philly is an awesome city :slight_smile:

Check out Iowa State. The program is relatively young, but the faculty is strong and there are major ties to large corporations thanks to the highly regarded engineering school.

Division 1 athletics, too.

While there are some ā€˜corporateā€™ connections as far as schools goā€“ID is a tremendously informal, and close knit, community. Good work and good friends will put you lightyears ahead of school connections.

And with that said, VT definitely does have some corporate pipelines for ID. Not sure where you heard otherwise.

@Eddie L - this is true, but it takes time to become connected within the ID community. As a young student the hardest part is getting that first internship and thatā€™s where a well-established co-opp network (like Cincinnati has) comes in. VT is definitely getting stronger in terms of student internship placement and we now have good ties with corporate companies and consultancies alike.

That being said, when I was there, students that got internships had to work super hard to get their name out there. Core77 is a great, if not the best, resource for that. Posting projects, portfolios, sketches, etc. will help you get visibility and guidance from seasoned pros - and if youā€™re good, youā€™re good, employers will recognize that.

Iā€™m surprised no one has asked if you plan on pursuing product or transportation design?

Donā€™t get me wrong I donā€™t think thereā€™s anything wrong with pursuing athletics and Industrial Design at the same time, but I think your first priority should be a strong ID program, narrow it down to 3-5 schools and then lay out a pros/cons list of each school after you have visited each campus and make that decision. Ultimately what skill-set you obtain from your 4-5 years of schooling is going to be up to how much you put into it, but a strong ID program with a creative environment full of creative people surely helps kick one into gear.

Yeah, Iā€™ve been chasing myself in circles weighing the pros and cons of a whole bunch of programs in my head. Upon reflection I realize that while there is a shortlist of ā€œgreatā€ ID programs that everyone can agree on (Cincinnati, Academy of Art, SCAD, etc.) there is a very large group of ā€œgoodā€ programs out there that are hard to differentiate from over the internet. Clearly the best way to judge each one is to go visit each of them. However, criss-crossing the country from California to Iowa to Colorado is expensive, so thatā€™s why I got the idea of apply-first-then-visit-if-you-get-in. And since I donā€™t have the money to apply to every one of these 7-10 ā€œgoodā€ schools I have to make a decision of 3-5 based off of things heard on the internet and gut instinct. Thatā€™s not an ideal situation, but I suppose some of that can be resolved with more digging on my part through e-mailing each school, looking at portfolios, etc.

BTW I am considering product design because while I am interested in transportation, Iā€™m interested in a lot of other stuff too. So Iā€™m assuming product design is a more well-rounded track that would allow more freedom to pursue personal interests.