I am deciding between two schools for ID. One offers a BS, which requires taking many academic classes, whereas the other is strictly design focused.
Do employers care about the degree more than the portfolio? Thanks
Portfolio all the way. What schools are you considering?
I have a BFA and manage a gaggle of engineers.
In the end, your degree title, grade point is meaningless. Portfolio gets you the job.
It’s between Georgia Tech(BS) and Rochester Institute of Technology(BFA).
That’s what I’ve been thinking, but had other counselors and such tell me otherwise. Appreciate it.
this is exactly right. When I was looking at schools I agonized over things like BS vs BFA vs BID (not sure that even exists anymore), what accreditation the school had, and all of these things that in the end did not matter. In the 90’s though there were no core77 boards to ask professionals though 
I ended up getting a BFA and have managed engineers, designers, product managers, marketing people… in the end it matters what you can do. Design in all of its specializations is one of the few professions where people can visibly see your work, so that takes the lead every time. Put another way, it almost doesn’t matter what degree you have, who you know, or what your grades are if your portfolio is terrible.
If you aim at becoming a designer at a local agency, your practical skills and experience will matter more, at least in the beginning. If you want to work for a larger corporation that is more structured in conducting business and integrating multiple disciplines, an academic degree prepares you better for that kind of complexity. In Europe at least, I see academic people generally getting hired sooner because they are more structured. You of course do need a portfolio, but Georgia Tech, while less practically oriented 1. allows you to do that, 2. is getting to the forefront of design and 3. has more international acclaim.
Haha, thanks Michael.