<p>My D recently finished her freshman year at RISD, where did very well artistically and academically and liked the intensity, the workload and the weather. However she had reservations about the viability of art as a career. Given that we have limited financial resources and were paying for it ourselves, she has for now chosen to transfer to a very highly regarded in-state public university. She thinks that if she had some greater sense of a career path she would be more likely to return to RISD. She was going to major in Film, Animation and Video but was also considering Illustration. I have read taxguy's thoughts about "Is RISD worth it" and greatly appreciated his efforts. If anyone has any thoughts, I would love to hear them. (reposted with a different title)</p>
<p>You have to do what is right for your family situation at the moment. While true that the art field is extremely competitive, it can be a viable career for some. There are no guarantees, even for engineering or business degrees, especially in a down economy. There’s no downside to saving tuition money!</p>
<p>I’d be in your daughter’s class at RISD if she were still at the school. :)</p>
<p>All I can say is that your daughter’s feelings are not unusual. It’s hard to commit to focusing near-exclusively on art, especially when the best art education comes with a cartoonishly large price tag.</p>
<p>Like niftydesign said, you have to do what’s right for your daughter and your family. There are a lot of reasons why RISD might not be a good fit for someone at the moment or at all, and that in no way reflects on their artistic abilities.</p>
<p>Often, who gets the jobs in any particular art field comes down to who wants it most. Everyone’s skilled; the people who have the clearest sense of what they want are going to work harder and be more enthusiastic. I think it’s very mature of your daughter to recognize that she doesn’t know what she wants right now and might need some time to find out exactly what that might be.</p>
<p>In any case, RISD’s liberal returning student policy has her covered, so if she ever wants to come back she should have no problems.</p>