Why did you choose your school?

Quite honestly, I got lucky. I was thinking about going into architecture and just happened to take a couple of classes at CCS while in high school. I had no idea what Industrial Design was. I took, “Intro to ID”, fell in love, and applied. I had applied to some schools for architecture that were in other parts of the country. We mistakenly thought that since I’d live at home, we save money. It was not cheaper. I had large student loans and credit card debt when I graduated. Those darned art supplies! However, it turned out to be a great school for ID and I was able to pay off my debt over time. Through CCS, I learned a lot about design and communicating my ideas that showed in my portfolio. In addition, without my college’s reputation it would have been much tougher to get my foot in doors for interviews. However, I do wish my school had more of an internship program like University of Cincinnati’s back when I was there. To graduate with all that real world experience is really helpful.

Hmmm, I’m studying in Budapest, MOME. Chose it, because i didnt want to move abroad for now. It’s the best here in Hungary and its considered good in Europe. The BA program is very good compared to European standards. More drawing classes coimpared to other countries, which I think is lacking importance worldwide, the teaching of drawing and sketching.
MOME has very good connections with most big schools in europe. And good connections with companies. Mercedes BEnz has been working with us for about 10 years. SO does Braun, Miele etc.

I chose my school because I had no other choice. However, one of the factors in choosing the school was that it was in Dublin, the lively and culturally interesting capital city of Ireland. There’s also a ferry terminal there, so if things in Ireland turned out to be completely dire, I could get a trip to England or France. So overall, it was quite a holistically based choice :wink:

I doubt whether any of you have heard of my programme, B.Sc. Product Design in Dublin Institute of Technology. However, a few of my classmates are competing against students from DAAP in Cincinatti and Tsinghua in China, in Staples Eco Easy Challenge (Eco Easy Challenge - they are Team Bolton)

It just shows that it doesn’t matter what school you go to. What matters is your attitude, your life experience, your skills and motivation. We have a decent library facility and good engineering and marketing lecturers. Also, there are few artist/design collectives in Dublin. If one asks these lecturers and collectives questions and shows work for criticism, one can get a wealth of feedback and knowledge. This approach worked pretty well for me. I made a positive impression on a couple of designers and architects in Vancouver, Canada, so overall I’m quite happy with my school experience.

I chose AAU in SF because:

  1. graffiti
  2. location
  3. love the city and painting it!!!

I am really happy that I chose the program that I did. Emily Carr University in Vancouver BC (Industrial Design). I chose it because it was one of the better design programs in Canada and going to an American and/or European school for undergrad was ridiculously expensive.

I think it did what a good program does which allows you to grow, become self aware as a designer in understanding who you are, what you have to contribute to the ‘design culture’.

And overall no matter if its a top of the line school or a bottom feeder you make it what you want it to be and push for opportunity and change if need be within the curriculum. Furthermore, look for like minded (same values) individuals (peers and faculty) with complimentary skills to jam with and learn from.

Having been in Vancouver myself, I can say that there are very few better and more stimulating places to study industrial design.

Choice: Rochester Institute of Technology.

Reason: There are four major factors that went into my decision to attend Rochester Institute of Technology. Reputation, faculty, environment and cost. I narrowed down my search to internationally recognized schools that ranked in the top 10 for the field of design. In terms of faculty, I felt that it was important to review their accomplishments, work and personality. The faculty at RIT are talented, accomplished yet humble and supportive. The campus environment was another factor, determining if I wanted a large metropolitan area or a safe suburban area. RIT is situated between the metropolitan city of Rochester and the beautiful country side just North of the Finger Lakes. Lastly cost was a major factor, RIT is tuition is competitive to most major design schools, however they offer a multitude of scholarship opportunities.

Rochester Institute of Technology (http://computergraphics.rit.edu/) has a BFA and MFA program in Computer Graphics Design. The curriculum combines knowledge of design theory, methodology and aesthetics with skills in 2D and 3D computer graphics, interactive techniques and interfaces.

Best Regards.

RIT is a great school, just invest in a good winter coat. You’ll need it from September->July :wink:

Choice: Iowa State University

Back Story: I went to ISU initially for a bachelors in “pre-vet” and after 2 years was very sick of the major and the idea of it as a possible career. While I was a freshman, my dorm was filled with design students and I went to them after looking into the college of design here and started the CORE program that is offered for design students (first year CORE program, then get accepted into your major). I hadn’t thought of the possibility of changing schools when changing majors and basically stuck with it. Before completion of the CORE program we were informed that Industrial Design was going to be added to the college of design, I had an understanding of what it was from a friend in architecture who has an uncle in the business and basically knew what I wanted to do. Then… summer I was accepted!

So now I’m currently one of 19 of the first students to be graduating in 2013 with a bachelors in Industrial Design (called INDD here, interior design is ID :frowning:) and it’s been fun starting as a class with basically nothing, this semester our shop should be completely finished and I’m excited to finally start working with some quality machines!

Welcome to the boards, dk! I’m an ISU alum, so it’s nice to see a little representation from the new ID program here on Core. Anxious to hear how things are really going there (outside of the CoD published press releases that tend to give a warm fuzzy look to everything…)

it had a baseball team i could play on, it was a big university (not a small art college), and was far far away from home :slight_smile:

-s

Brunel University (UK)

It is among the best design schools in the UK with strong technical and engineering aspects. It has an excellent Head of School (PT in case you know him) and some excellent staff. It also has great links with industry such as M&S, Boeing and others, companies who get involved throughout the course. It is also a nice compact uni with really nice grounds. Also it has its own indoor climbing wall and 100m track. And it’s in London.

I want a school for not only subject practical knowledge is very important for every student.

SCAD

  1. Largest full-time Industrial Design staff
  2. Most sponsored classes of any ID program
  3. Best equipped machine shop and tech labs of any ID program
  4. Relationship with Gulfstream
  5. Yes, I would choose it again

I was at RIT first (2006-2007), and hated it. The machine and lab facilities were terrible and the faculty did not seem noteworthy.

-Impressed with past students’ work.
-Good number of graduates working in the field.
-Affordable.

I originally wanted to be an architect, I applied to three “main” schools and three safety schools. My main schools were Virginia Tech, Auburn, and Penn State.

Virginia Tech: applied to the architecture school, got deferred to regular university (undeclared major) admission, got accepted to the university but not the architecture school.
Auburn: got in no problem
PSU: Accepted but not to the main campus, and their architecture program does not accept transfers even from branch campuses. Crossed that one off my list real fast.

George Mason University, Christopher Newport University, and James Madison University were my safeties. If I didn’t get into VT, AU, or PSU I would’ve gone to one of those and transferred out after a year.

I was all set and ready to go to Auburn to be an architect, I had my deposit sent in and was filling out housing forms when my parents got cold feet about the out of state tuition. So off to VT I went. While re-applying to the architecture school during my freshman year I stumbled across ID by accident and was like “hey this looks a lot cooler than architecture, I think I’ll do that instead”. Applied to ID, got in, did my four years of ID, graduated with a BS, had a job offer in hand before graduation.

Academics-wise, I might’ve gone about the college application process differently if I’d known I wanted to do ID from the start. I probably would’ve applied to Art Center or looked more seriously at RIT (they sent me an acceptance letter with a scholarship and I hadn’t even applied… they’re THAT desperate for women I guess). While VT is an excellent school for ID, I feel like they fall short in some areas simply because it’s a young and still growing program. I might pop on over to the other thread about schools and do a full write-up on my time in the ID program at VT.

Experience-wise, I wouldn’t trade my time at Tech for anything. I don’t think I would’ve been happy at an art school full of artsy people. I like having “normal” friends and football games.

Seems like some really good designers coming from VT . They are definitely upping their profile in the professional world.

I went to SCAD.

I originally chose SCAD because of their video game design program. Once upon a time I thought that is what i wanted to do. I also liked the proximity to the beach and the opportunity to play sports at the college level. Midway through my Soph. year I took advantage of my electives and tried out an intro to ID class. I loved it and never looked back.


I would certainly do it all the same way again. The only thing I would do differently is spend a little more time looking into internships. For some reason I thought that internships where unpaid and I had to work to help pay for school. I did not complete my first internship until after gradation, which was a mistake.

I chose CMU:

I had a few major criteria in mind when I was thinking about colleges at the end of high school:
I wanted to go to a school that was in a city, had industrial design, and allowed me to continue studying Japanese.
This narrowed things down rather quickly. CMU fit the bill though.

I visited CMU and loved the campus, was impressed with Pittsburgh as a city upon my first visit, and became fixated on going there when I saw the design studios and all the work they were doing. I was also very attracted to the small design class sizes, each year is only ~50 students, who then split into industrial design or communication design for sophomore and junior year before rejoining in senior year.

Simply put, I got a very good vibe. The convergence of artistic creativity and academic rigor that I think defines CMU was clearly apparent in my visits there and made it a very appealing place.

I actually applied early decision to the humanities college for a Japanese major, but got deferred. I then applied regular decision to the school of design. I felt good about my portfolio, but the interview portion left me a little shakey; I couldn’t tell if the prof talking with me appreciated my work or thought I was a tool… It was a long drive back to CT! But I must have been over thinking things because I got in and was ecstatic! It was the only school I felt passionate about going to, and was the only one I applied to. If I hadn’t gotten in I wanted to find some kind of work for a year and try again along with some other places.

Retelling this story always gives me anxiety, because so many of the big things in my life right now are directly related to starting my design education at CMU 3 falls ago. It’s too crazy to think how different things could have been. In particular I always feel grateful that I didn’t get into the humanities school!

Heading into my senior year at CMU ID, I feel better than ever about what I’ve gotten from the program. The facilities, the staff, the community, the greater campus intellectual environment, I have nothing but great things to say. I’d say it’s one of the more progressive design programs at the moment, from what I know, but there is a long standing appreciation and respect for the traditional technical skills of design, and a high standard of craft that is instilled in you throughout the first two years. The second two years, although I’m still in the midst of them, push you to think critically of how you apply the design process, to a rapidly changing world’s diverse set of problems.

The only real issue I can think of is that there are a lot of periods of angst amongst the students, myself included. I think the program asks you more questions than it answers, in a good way, but with job hunting on the horizon, finding yourself as a designer, etc. etc. I’ve found the environment to squeeze out a lot of introspection and contemplation, and maybe too much at times. You have to step out of the bubble regularly to keep your head, because it is a very intense and concentrated environment, CMU as a whole and the design program specifically. I think it takes initiative to provide yourself with rich outside perspective on all that you are experiencing within the school, and that can be difficult.

In addition, it certainly is expensive. That said, in my case CMU has been generous with grants every year, and Pittsburgh is definitely a cheap city. I’m racking up a good bit of debt, but the investment has felt worth it more and more as I progress. I might change my tone a tad when I start writing those checks, but I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it :wink: For any people considering CMU though, don’t write it off too quickly over the price. My family is middle class and with the financial aid etc. it is manageable and worth it, if you connect with the school and program, that is!

I don’t find CMU gets that much love on Core77, and I can understand that, because looking at shear numbers, when you compare CMU alums to other good ID schools, they are probably much fewer and far between in the traditional ID world. A lot of ID students end up in UX and IxD which makes even fewer of the ~22/year that graduate likely to be seen in the ID community. Then when you look at tuition costs, things don’t add up. But if anyone is considering it, i’d encourage you to considerate it strongly, because the education I’m getting is top notch and has really changed my life for the better. It’s a great school, they make you think, make, and ask questions. It is a very ambitious atmosphere at CMU and I think it pushes me to work my hardest and learn as much as I can in my time there.

Why did I choose the school I did:

  1. Reputation - It has a good reputation for all courses producing many “famous” designers in all disciplines even outside of ID.Within ID there are some very big names on the alumni roster.

  2. Location - It is in an incredible city and to experience a faster pace of life so early on had been my dream.

Would I choose it again? Yes and no.

Yes - Only on a personal level. Mainly for the location and being able to live in that city so early on, personal growth and being exposed to so many different cultures, and finally meeting people that have made a huge impact on my life.

No - Professionally it has not prepared me to where I personally would like to be as a designer. It has relied too long on it’s reputation to the point where other schools produce more employable graduates. Recently our grads move in to research and strategy and not so many hardcore ID’ers

I also didn’t know as much about design as I do now when I picked my school and what would prepare me best for the real world. My school didn’t offer a CO-OP or even allow us to study abroad - we had a lot of people come over to us but we weren’t allowed to go to them! If I had my time again and could afford it I would have moved to the US, from what I have seen Virginia Tech seems to be right on the money currently.