CAA or RISD which is better?

Hello everyone

I am ready to apply for design schools in US.I really like the furniture design .so 2015fall,I want to apply for Master of furniture design in US,recently ,I started to write a list of schools which maybe I like. I found there are not many schools which have Master of furniture design in US .I knew CAA (Cranbrook Academy of Art) and RISD are very good .

so would you ask me ,CAA or RISD ,which is better?and in US Can you recommend me more school‘s name which have Master of furniture design.

Many thanks

Why not apply to both?

Yes I think I will apply for both CAA and Risd. so If two schools both give me offer ,would you think which is better?

I’ve heard good things about RISD and know great talent from there, but am not all that familiar with CAA so I can’t give an opinion one way or another on it.

At the end of the day, I think it needs to be a decision you make for yourself. For example, what kind of design and theories interest you, and which one seems to align better with those principles? Do you want to sketch, 3D model, develop forms based strongly on ergonomics, etc.? That should help guide you.

Thanks a lot klohr.I will thins about it in the furture.

You should look at the Environmental Design program at Art Center, amazing program for furniture design lead by David Mocarski.
As far as RISD and Cranbrook Academy of Art, just for the record I visited and met with both respective chair when I was looking for a program myself. Also I have a friend who did the furniture design program at RISD, and he didn’t like it. However it is a renown program, so not necessarily a bad choice. Sometime a good program doesn’t mean it is the right one for you, which is why you need to think about what you really want to do and what are your expectations… each program has very different philosophies. As far as Cranbrook Academy of Art, I would not recommend it. I visited the school, it is very small, most of the faculty are visiting faculty, so you are basically taught by mostly one person, the chair of the department.
The program is more of an apprenticeship, sort of based on how artists learned their craft during the renaissance: You would apprenticed with a Master until you were ready to go on your own. They do have visiting faculty, but that may come for a week, maybe a semester, but it is pretty much a one person show. Also the facilities (tools, machinery to actually build your prototypes) were not impressive at all, certainly not on par with other schools I have visited. Which brings me to another point, visit the schools you want to go to and talk to the chairs of their respective departments.