Sorry for the re-post…
I am looking for info/advice on ID graduate programs in the US.
My husband is a product designer, two years out of one of the top ID schools here in Japan. He finished with a decent portfolio, but a pretty pathetic GPA.
We are talking about moving back to the US (I am American, he is Japanese), and he wants to get into an MA program in ID in the States.
I am looking for relatively decent programs that are likely to accept him regardless of the less-than-stellar academic performance in college. Anyone have any information on programs that are easier to get into?
Any advice you may have would be great!
Thanks
Robin in Tokyo
actually, your in luck. If you can pay the full tuition you can go just about anywhere. pick the part of the country you want to live in and start looking at the local art schools with grad programs.
universities will be a bit tougher to get into, but a good portfolio and a personal interview demonstrating strong commitment and you can get into lots of departments.
Why does he want a Masters in the first place? Does he want to teach?
He is worried no one will hire an ID with a Japanese education and not-fully-developed language skills…
He wants more “practice” and a chance to build the kind of knowledge/skills (lanugage, cultural, etc.) that will put him in the best direction to become an independent designer in the future.
He does NOT want to teach.
Do people think it would be a waste of time and money for him to go back to school? Do you think he has a chance of getting decent design work (product or furniture, etc., and/or green design) without a US education?
he absolutely does not need more ID education to get a job in the states.
when you’ve jumped the immigration hurdles - all he’ll need is a good portfolio!
employers here don’t care about GPA, not that it’s easy to find a job but if he finds a company with a Japaneese tie in…
Don’t assume he can’t get a job with his current qualifications until he tries. Companies won’t care about his GPA, especially since he should not put it on his resume. But companies will care whether he has authorization to work in the US. Most grad schools will not care about GPA either, but they might require the TOEFL exam (test of english as a foreign language). www.ets.org/toefl .
The portfolio is the most important thing, for schools and companies. A masters degree may not be necessary. If he feels that he needs to brush up on his skills he could take a continuing education class here, which would be less expensive, and less time consuming than an entire degree. I don’t know where you would be moving to, but I know that MassArt (in Boston) and Pratt (in NYC) both have good continuing ed classes in ID.