I notice how almost every school that has some kind of post-bacc ID program “strongly suggests” or just straight up requires 2+ years of professional experience…everything from OSU to Pratt, (Art Center being the exception for some reason.)
Is there some kind of logic behind this? They all fail to explain.
There are a number of reasons.
Mostly I think, it’s because many schools don’t have strong internship systems students may apply to grad school without any real world experience. Most of what there is to know about the profession is not about design skills, on-the-job-training teaches way more than proffesors do.
Grad students are typically required to teach to earn stipend funds - how can they teach something they have little to no experience actually doing?
NASAD accreditation of grad programs is becoming more stringent, and frankly alot of kids who directly apply to grad school are more interested in avoiding the real world than researching and writing a thesis that makes an academic contribution to the school and proffesion.
(Depending on the school), graduate programs have a different mission than undergrad. They are most concerned with giving students the place and expertise for them to develop their own point of view, and to build a direction and way of working.
It can be difficult if the student has not had enough time away from school, working in a professional environment, to have much of any opinion on things.
My experience with graduate school was that the students who came back to school from professional experience had more research already ‘backloaded’, were better able to create testable concepts, and had the maturity to effectively defend their ideas until the concepts were realized.
(Also, the students right out of undergrad were more likely to burn out halfway during the thesis.)
My 2 cents and others will probably disagree.
because experience counts more than an additional degree and they want their graduates to get jobs. Hiring a dual degree candidate with no experience is what doesn’t makes no sense, as they will want to get paid more to pay off those loans, but may have less real world ability.
Those are issues that would come up with attending any grad program straight out of undergrad.
I don’t see how a Master’s degree would keep someone from having less “real world ability” than someone who spent 24 months (2 years sounds less formidable that way, no?) doing say, CAD monkey work.
Do you think it’s possible to get this requisite experience out of the way while still in undergrad doing (rather exceptional) internships?
Maybe the specific time period has to do with a lack of job placement for students with Masters and PhDs; that is, They want students to have professional experience for job networking purposes.
You shouldn’t look at grad schools to make you more employable, because our industry doesn’t really value your education once you get your first job. It values performance and portfolio. (Exception is if you want to teach and thats a whole different thread)
And that’s where I feel that schools don’t do a good job with separating the purpose of their graduate programs from undergrads. It’s not a substitute for professional experience- they are different animals with different roles- and this ends up confusing the real value of graduate work.
I agree with this, but being I already have 2 BFAs I don’t see a point of getting another if I have the option of a more advanced degree to round out my current background. I don’t think it will help me get a better job, but I also want more a technical and how to implement ideas into business practices. From what I’ve been reading, all the “top” ART ID schools don’t teach this sort of thing, mainly just stylizing. I think going for an advanced degree can help you round out that lack of knowledge. I still have yet to tour schools to talk to students, but have a fair idea of what to avoid. I posted this in another thread before, but still searching threads too: What are some of the better Master programs that teach you the business and technical ends of ID? thanks
A lot of schools are offer programs in “Design Management” or some such similar title for those with bachelor’s or backgrounds in ID. I’ve heard some programs like that compared to an “MBA in Design”.
I’m sure that would be great for students who had more of a stylistic background to get some applicable design knowledge beyond stylization. But I’m still an undergrad, so take that with a block of salt.
Side note, I always thought Patent Law and Litigation would be an interesting way to go with a Bachelor’s in Industrial Design/Engineering…