My daughter (a Senior) is very interested in Industrial Design (strong math/science skills and artistic ability). Unfortunately there are no ID programs in Florida. NOT.ONE!! So we would be OOS. She is really interested in DAAP based on curriculum, coops, reviews on here etc. Also, Is the OOS for DAAP worth it? Or do I have her do a year in FL and get all the Gen ed classes out of the way and then apply?
She is also looking at SCAD (did a Summer workshop there). Any other schools you guys would recommend? She prefers the more practical/design oriented programs like DAAP/SCAD.
I am the mom of a pre-junior OOS ID DAAP student. it is worth it. if she can get in i say go for it. UC has the best ID program in the country. We live in MD and not one school in MD has ID. the closest schools to us were VATech and Drexell. She got in to both but when she heard she got in to UC and it was #1 in the country for ID she went for it. because the ID program is so specialized there are not many general ed classes that are required. I suggest you visit the school and make and appt with an admissions advisor or call the admissions office to get information.
Thanks, @daapmom! That is exactly the reason my daughter likes it - seems like it is focused on ID starting on day 1!! But that OOS tuition…Yikes!! How is UC with merit scholarships? Reading through the threads on here, seems like they aren’t very generous…? My daughter is 3.77/4.6W, and has 30 ACT - would you say DAAP is a match or reach?
We are also looking at Auburn, VTech, SCAD,any others I should put on the list? (Our guidance counselor is no help - just says she never had anyone look at ID schools before so she doesnt know!)
Hi @DAAPDad! We are still in the process of deciding, but thankfully, moving in the right direction! We have narrowed it down from 7 schools to 2 (ID at DAAP vs Graphic design at University of FL)!! It would be a lot easier if my daughter was 100% sure she wants to do ID, but of course, how can she know definitively untill she does it?! Her decision has been complicated in the last week by her UF acceptance (state flagship school, hard to get in, only 4 hours from home) and the Cincinnatus being less than we expected…We are heading up to Cincy on March 5/6 to visit the school - hopefully that gives us some clarity!!
Congratulations to you and your daughter - sounds like you have decided on ID at DAAP?
what do you mean by swtiching programs? within DAAP? not sure. if they are in ID they need to decide at that point if they want to go the transportation route or the product route.
My son has been accepted to the ID program . We just visited the campus this week and did the daap close-up tour. For the first semester freshman year the design students take studio classes together- this includes the communications, fashion and industrial design students. I would check with the department to see about switching majors. The AAP students take their own studio classes. The second semester the students start taking ID specific classes.
I was really impressed with what I saw in the tour. We are from NY and have visited RISD, RIT, CMU, Pratt. I think the UC facilities and the co-op experience are the best we have seen.
the co-op program is amazing. my daughter is a 3rd year ID student. her last co-op was at apex supply chain workshop. she designed and built something for them. during this process she met with the president/ceo of the company and he just loved her fresh ideas. to make a long story short…even though she didn’t get her name on the product because she was an intern with them, her product was presented at a trade show and is now on the market…but she had a fantastic piece for her portfolio this year. this semester she is in classes and has chosen the product design route over transportation. this semester they are designing and building a chair. two weeks ago their portfolio was sent to companies for summer co-ops and she was chosen for owens-illinois. she is so excited because if they like her, she has the chance her next co-op to work for them in their germany offices.
we live out of state and it is hard not seeing your child for 4 months at a time…they get 2 weeks (sometimes) between classes and co-ops so she usually is able to come home for about 6 days…that is the only part of the trimester co-op program as a parent that i don’t like…but the outcome is amazing. to think of all the job experience they have put on their resumes when they graduate is a great plus.
@daapmom - Sounds like your daughter is having a great experience! Her interests are similar to my sons- product design over transportation, co-op assignment out of the country.
Designing and building a chair is exactly the type of experience he’s looking for. From the ID presentation it sounded like students can choose studio classes that have a different focus- chair design, lamp design, etc.
Do students need to be somewhat skilled in speaking German to co-op there?
The time off between classes and co-op is very short! During co-op do the students get any time off besides the national holidays?
while on semesters at school they will get fall reading days (which we learned is actually fall break and everyone goes home), winter break and spring break. during co-op rotations they will only get federal holidays if the company is closed during that time. i don’t think they need to know the foreign language if going abroad for a co-op.
Thanks again for all your insight @daapmom ! We are just starting our college tours so it will help with questions along the way. The registration begins at 9 am tomorrow for the DAAP summer camp which we feel is critical to helping him decide if he wants to pursue ID. I know it’s in demand - just hoping it doesn’t fill up within minutes!
she is loving it. i told her this would be her year… she got into a sorority during informal rush a few weeks ago (wanted to meet people outside of DAAP). is on the committee for DAAP makers market https://www.daapmakers.com/
My son finally selected UC to attend this fall for Industrial Design! He was accepted to CMU, UC, RISD, RIT, Pratt. In making the final decision he found it very helpful to look at the portfolios of the students from the various schools to get an idea of the skills the students developed.
The portfolios are one of the biggest factors for getting hired as an industrial designer. UC student portfolios stand out in comparison to the other schools.
@geode111 - Congrats on the decision! We just returned after touring some design colleges (University of Oregon, University of Washington, RIT, Syracuse) - of those 4 Syracuse stood out the most. Did you look at this university? They offer a 5 year Industrial and Interaction Design degree. I asked the head of the department to compare it to the coop program at Cincinatti. He brought a few good considerations including 5 years of straight academics allows broader exploration of topics. My S is starting to shy away from a coop experience - preferring to concentrate on college. Wanted your thoughts as they have some similar leanings. We will be visiting Purdue in a little over a week - they also offer interaction design in addition to industrial. This area seems more widely applicable than industrial design only.
@singermom4 - Thank you! My S did look at Syracuse last year. It was the only 5 year academic program (w/o co-op) we came across in the schools we visited. We did take a tour of the school but met only with the admissions rep, not the ID professors.
My S is looking forward to the co-op experience at UC. It does sound intense having to relocate for 5 co-ops over 5 years. He is interested in travelling to different parts of the country and maybe a co-op assignment in Europe.
He also took a 2 week summer program for high school students in ID last year at Syracuse. It was very worthwhile. The class confirmed that ID was the right choice for him. He was able to begin a lamp design project that he continued to work on over the rest of the summer. The lamp project became one of the main highlights in his portfolio for college admissions. He also found that Syracuse was not a good fit for him and he took it off his list early in the process. During the summer he did not connect with too many of the students that attended the class. The students were from all over the country and were not current Syracuse students. He also did not like how the design programs are in a separate building off campus. He traveled from campus to the design building each day during class. I’m sure Syracuse is a good design school but it wasn’t a good fit for him.
It is interesting to see how different design schools handle UX/UI. Like you saw at Syracuse they have it as part of the ID program. AT UC it is part of the Communication Design. At RIT it’s part of another department (New Media Design I think). The UX/UI field seems to be really hot right now. At CMU we saw data for 2016 ID graduates with $85K average starting salaries! Most of the CMU ID graduates are working in UX/UI for companies like Google, Facebook, IBM, etc. At UC I think the opportunity for UX/UI for ID students is not as easy as other schools. For my S his main interest right now is product design. UX/UI for him is a “maybe”. He has not been exposed to it enough to understand what is involved.