Any SCAD alumni?

Hello,
I’m Natalie and I posted in another thread that I’m a mature student and I’m switching degrees. Yesterday I received confirmation that I’ve been accepted into SCAD’s Industrial Design program and I’m super excited albeit a bit nervous. Is there anyone on here that has graduated or is a student there now? I just read on Business Insider that SCAD is on the top 25 design schools because Facebook’s director of design and the Luna brother’s are both alumni from there. The program does seems to be solid especially in terms of product design and I do plan on traveling down there sometime in the Fall before the Spring semester but if anyone has any insight to this school it would be greatly appreciated!

-Peace

Also interested in hearing about SCAD. I’m still in the process of apply for the fall term for a 2nd bachelors.

I know a guy who graduated a couple years ago from the ID program there, will give him a heads up.

I just finished up my MA in ID at SCAD today! I started as an MFA candidate in Spring of 2013 and switched to MA after realizing there was no way I could afford the MFA route. My undergrad is in fine art and I have 7 years of professional experience fabricating custom bicycles. SCAD was a good experience for me. I would recommend the school if you are the type of person that pushes yourself. It’s possible to slide through and not pick up much, but there are a lot of really smart professors and really driven students too if you seek them out. I feel that the Collaborative Learning Center has been the best use of my time at SCAD. I took two CLC classes, (you can usually substitute studio classes for them) one working with HP and another making watches for Fossil’s Michael Kors line. They are a lot of work and you have to present in front of employees of the companies, but that’s what makes them so good. That and getting to work with people from other majors.

Otherwise the school is super professional with all the ways they offer information and do event planning (except for the intranet, myscad is a horrible exercise in UX). Savannah is charming, but a little hot and flat for me to want to stick around. The Gulfstream building is now home to over 600 students and it was designed to house 300. There are times at the end of the quarters when the place is a wreck. I feel sorry for the people that clean that place.

So I think the school is pretty good, if I’m able to find a good design job soon, I’ll return and turn my enthusiasm up a couple notches.

Any other questions?

I have had a chance to work along side several SCAD designers over the years. I was always very impressed with SCAD when they described their education, that is until I found out how much they were paying for that education.

http://www.tuition.io/blog/2013/03/worst-10-colleges-for-roi-how-does-your-school-rank/

I have no idea if the price is high, american school prices always seem insane to my canadian eyes. However, that analysis is extremely flawed. It’s basically saying that students who go to universities that specialize in fields that don’t pay much end up not making a lot of money.

Yeah, private art school is expensive… But if you compare the cost of the top 5 Graduate design schools (the program I just finished) in the country (US News and world report 2013), SCAD isn’t so bad.

Art Center College of Design $39,605 for two semesters
SCAD $34,452 for three quarters
Auburn $ 46,330 for two semesters
Carnegie Mellon $ 35,000 for two semesters
Pratt $33,648 for two semesters

And SCAD is no longer on the bottom 100 of the worst ROI colleges. It sure ain’t in the top 100 either, but things are moving in the right direction.

Congrats on getting in!

I was an undergrad at SCAD from 2006-2010, and I’d say it was a great experience. Later in life, I was living in Providence, RI and became more familiar with design students and classes at RISD, and I can say the approach between the two was very different.

SCAD was a great place to be, especially getting to watch as “Interaction Design” was gaining traction as a separate discipline. I was really grateful for the 3 day weekends, it allows plenty of time to stay creative, take road trips, and generally unwind. The free time was also great to explore creative side-projects or network with other disciplines, something which really came in handy when I set out for NYC without a plan. Savannah is a great city to be attending college in, though after I graduated I began wanting a little more adventure from my surroundings.

I do agree with the previous comment about being self-driven. The general atmosphere (up until finals) feels pretty laid back, and once or twice I found myself just coasting when I should have been more proactive in my education and using the resources I had available to me. The staff is pretty amazing, as are the co-lab classes where you get to work alongside larger companies and present to real-life stakeholders. I was never left wanting in terms of knowledge or experience from the professors, but I did have to seek out the right people to query.

After graduating, I was able to peek into the Gulfstream building a few times throughout the years, and I’m always amazed at how much renovation has happened between visits. I feel that SCAD does put a good bit of money back into the school and it’s programs.

I currently work in ID (music industry) and I’ve never felt under-prepared or overworked. In fact, I’ve found it pretty easy to go beyond expectations. The most important thing I learned, I think, is seeing everything as a design opportunity, and knowing how to take an idea to the next step towards a tangible solution.

Sorry for the lengthy reply!

Corey

Thanks for the reply! Everyone here and this site itself has been super helpful so far! Congratulations on finishing!
I was a bit concerned about the ROI and that was one major thing that was making me weary. I noted a bit about my situation an I’m not trying to make a rash decision about which school I choose but I do hear positive feedback about SCAD. One thing that I do hear and that is true with any college is that you have to push yourself. I don’t see myself having a problem with this because in my downtime, I have been sketching and even fabricating furniture (like one chair made out of plywood with zip ties but it’s still a chair :wink: ) and I have NO experience in woodworking but I want to make sure that I want to invest my time and money in this field and I’ve realized that it’s something I am called to do.

So far it’s between SCAD and Humber College in Toronto. Based on price alone, Canadian schools are much less expensive but I have yet to look at their accreditation however I do believe Humber is accredited. You answered my question about co-ops and internships because I was probing into whether or not this school has you working along side companies before you graduate. This is a key factor for me. I’m going on a site visit in three weeks to Humber and then I’ll go visit SCAD some time in October and then I’ll make my decision. You both sound like you had positive experiences there and are well prepared and that’s a great thing to hear! Thank you for replying!

And thank you CRVaughan for your congratulations! It was a pretty awesome feeling!

SCAD is a for profit school such as the Academy of Art.
It think it is wrong to look at the price, which is meaningless without looking at the average scholarships student get and without looking at how much you will start at on your first job. For instance on paper Art Center is the most expensive school, but it is rated#1 school for I.D, most student get scholarships (good luck getting a scholarship from SCAD) and the starting salaries are much higher, actually the highest of any I.D school. For example, you will find many Art Center Alumni working for IDEO,but none as far as i know from SCAD… That said, both SCAD or the Academy of Art for that matter have good programs, you won’t be waisting your time…

SCAD is non-profit.

Graduated B.F.A from SCAD in 2008. :wink: