What is your impression of the program at Carnegie Mellon??
Nothing???
Nothing???
maybe ur question is to generic? 
hey, don’t let us twist your arm or anything.
If you really don’t believe UC has the best program for your particular needs - by all means go somewhere you’ll be comfortable!
CM not UC…
and
nothing.
yo - this is the kid who wanted to go to UMich over UC because it has the better biz school, and then got a late acceptance to CMU…
Pal, if you didn’t go to the district conference last month to look over the portfolio’s of the 3 respective scools’ graduates … I have no sympathy for your dilema. the responses here have been very clear.
Oh,cool, thank you for putting it together… been super busy lately so haven’t been putting as much into he boards. Thanks for picking up on that.
cmu is a great school i work with alot of people that went there and they are brilliant. cmu turns out some very good interaction designers… but all of the people i work with that went there for ID ended up becoming design researchers… nothing wrong with that. but if becoming a well rounded industrial designer is what you want, then cmu is not the school for you.
in an effort to “head you off at the pass”, what other schools are you interested in???
Hey
I just want to say thanks to everyone that has helped me the last couple months, even though I know I sometimes got a little repetitive. Your responses have really helped me make my decision. I think i have finally decided to go to CMU, barring any last second changes. In the end I think that the design program coupled with the fact that the school itself is highly regarded and the caliber of students that go there is what made me decide to go there.
daaphearthrob–
The schools that I got in to and was deciding between were:
Carnegie Mellon
U of Cincinnati
Pratt
U of Michigan Ann Arbour
Syracuse
U of Illinois Urbana Champaign
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) (for architecture- no undergrad ID)
Everyone I’ve met from CMU ended up in design research or interaction design as well. If you know what your focus is, and it isn’t one of those 2 specialities, I’d choose another school from your list. Keep in mind that it’s perfectly normal to now know what you want to do when you get out of school. But it can’t hurt to know what kinds of careers the majority of a school’s students end up in.
If you do have an interest in an ID specialty, let us know and we can better help inform your decision.
CMU started the first industrial design school in the US, not that that makes for a good school, but I agree with the positive messages previously posted. However, if you are interested in having your design live between a smelly sock and dog s*%t on the street I suggest looking into one of the superficial schools attended by the outspoken “Designer” who posted above. Anyway, good luck! - there is always room in this industry for a thinker who can produce innovative results (and affect a company’s bottom line). 
wow, that was the best evasive non attack in awhile… proud? feel good?
Son just decided to go to UC for ID. He was accepted at Art Center, Pratt, Carnegie Mellon, RISD, CIA, CCS, Michigan, Georgia Tech and others, but after visiting UC, Carnegie Mellon, Pratt and CCS it was an easy decision for him. He goes to an art magnet high school, so seeing the student work in person (he’d been looking at it on line at Coroflot) was important; the student work at UC and CCS was more impressive than at the other places. As between UC and CCS, the facilities and coop opportunities at UC were the deciders; the DAAP facilities are pretty amazing. Couldn’t tell much about faculty as they weren’t generally available on short notice, but I note from the DI rankings that it seems there’s many good instructors there. Also, it didn’t hurt that of all those schools UC seemed to also offer a regular college campus experience as well.
Pratt campus was great and proximity to NYC nice, but the tour was nonspecific on many details (even though we were asking a lot of questions) and no student work to look at; also pretty evasive when asking about job market/prospects. Also, didn’t seem like they were that organized as to internships.
Carnegie Mellon is initially impressive as to academics and it’s all smart kids there, but the facilities weren’t in the same league as UC and when asking about internships and coops the general response once again wasn’t that encouraging; students seemed to be much more into theory then practice and as to future plans many were vague (“going to Europe”, etc., didn’t get a great sense of direction).
UC is weird abut not looking at students’ portfolios during the admission process, but i guess it works for them. Also, UC is not as generous as some of the other art schools when it comes to scholarships/grants, etc.; on the other hand, the cost of attendance at UC is cheaper than the art schools (except for CCS, which is a real bargain).
Thanks to everyone at the various core77 discussion strands for their advice and input; it was very helpful.
Hey kid, I understand where you are going by deciding to choose CM, but i am going to tell you right now, you will be wasting your time. It is too research based. If i were you and had such talent, i would consider Syracuse (I go there by the way) or UC which is an amazing program.
SU will give you a mix of Industrial design and interaction design. I don’t know how many people know that, but our program there is a mix of both.
Our program is only getting better, and graduates are only getting better jobs every year. What they teach us at SU is becoming more popular and more requested by companies.
I would rethink your choice if i were you.
Perhaps the best quote ever on a Core77 board?
CMU kicked me off their property for climbing the buildings.
Fun ID/ but yeah design research seems to be the outcome…or you wind up teaching at an AI.
Nothing much to add except that you are a really good dad
Congrats on your son’s decision, can’t make a mistake going to UC.
CMU is indeed strong in theory, but I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that everyone ends up doing design research out of undergrad. The IPD (integrated Product Development) and MPD (Masters of product development) programs are strong, and if you are interested in developing products in collaboration with engineers these are two great programs. Solar Decathalon is all the rage this year too, since design came aboard made sure the house was livable.
We had two great visiting professors, Ben Fry and Scott Summit this year, and they gave the program a good kick in the pants… Ben’s information viz class produced some incredible things, and Scott’s senior studio designed prosthetic legs… going to the final presentation made me want to get in an accident so I could have a Nike leg. It was really inspiring.
As a furniture person i was sort of doing my own thing. Other programs such as Pratt, UC, RISD usually steal the bacon when it comes to exposure and “blog worthy” designy things… but I don’t think CMU is far behind. Change is in the wind there. And the professors are willing to make it happen.
henry julier