DD is a freshman in HS, and is intererested in realistic art (e.g. portraits). She does not enjoy the abstract type of art, and is also academically advanced. When asked, she will tell you she really likes science, but she does well in math as well.
A casual acquaintance was saying that the combination of engineering (e.g. mechanical, but I don’t want to get “Ice creamed” - whatever that means) and art would be very powerful. His example was a friend, who has had excellent opportunities doing engineering jobs such as designing decorative sprinklers for high end buildings that want to “hide” the mandatory sprinklers.
I know almost nothing about engineering, but we do have an excellent pre-engineering program at her high school.
Are we on the right track? Is the idea of sharing art and engineering a good one, or is this friend talking about a small niche market?
Thanks so much for any guidance!
Your daughter sounds a lot like mine. She always loved art, excelled academically as well, and she ended up choosing architectural engineering (in the civil engineering dept ) as a major. She is loving it so far. I can’t speak to career opportunities since she’s still early in her program. My daughter took all AP and honors in high school, as well as music and three years of art classes. We planned for a college prep curriculum in high school that wouldn’t rule out any choice of major and let her pursue her own interests otherwise. We don’t have pre-engineering but I wouldn’t have thought to have her do that if we had. Art was always a part of her activities in and out of school. She never mentioned engineering at all until later in junior year, but so far it’s a great fit for both her interests and abilities. Your daughter is a freshman so there’s a lot of time for her interests to develop but I certainly wouldn’t rule out engineering , especially if she does well in math and physics.
When people ask which type of engineering is “best,” it is no more meaningful than asking what type of ice cream is best.
Engineering and art collide in some interesting ways, maybe not quite as much as architecture, but still commonly. My father’s cousin designed high efficiency cars. My brother has done some seawalls. A HS friend did software for Shrek. Somebody had to design those really cool Italian murphy beds.
I always felt that the niche of human factors engineering would be good for someone with that combination of artistry and applied science. I also once met a Georgia Tech grad who does large scale kinetic art similar to George Rickey.
A lot will change over the next few years that can change her direction, but there are plenty of places for her if she follows that path.
What about industrial design?
That being said, it’s also possible to have engineering as a job and painting as a hobby. A couple of my friends are engineers who brew beer in their free time. One of my coworkers actually teaches ballet in her free time. Another plays hockey. Not everything you love has to be mashed together and be a part of your everyday career imo.
Freshman year is early. At this point I’d say line up the high school classwork to meet prereqs for engineering. THen see how things evolved.
It might be a great possibility.
My DD, who is finishing up her junior year in high school, also shows interest in engineering and art. Every college she has visited she wanted to check out both the engineering and art department. While she is intending to pursue engineering her ability to take art classes is important to her.
A great surprise to DD was when she visited RIT - she liked the fact that there was a large selection of art classes for non-majors available, but also the art students and engineering students interact. In fact one of the Society of Women Engineers Reps said her roommate was on the Arts side.
If your daughter does not know what she wants to do yet or if you even love her DO NOT let her go to RIT. I’m a first year graphic designer. I go to RIT now and it was easily the worst decision of my life.
- Absolutely no social aspect to the school
- Being friendly is something unknown to most students here
- they take great advantage of parking tickets
- They don’t plow or keep parking lots properly maitenanced
- Most classes require extra fees to milk students of every possible cent they have
- Classes don’t get cancelled during blizzards putting everyone’s lives in danger
- labs aren’t provided with sufficient equipment and up to date computers/ software
- Shops that certain majors require run on unscheduled times making it impossible to be confident in getting work done on time
- The gym will be packed everyday all day. Mostly by people who don’t know how to properly exercise
- Every RIT website is confusing
- Most RIT websites don’t work properly
- Enrollment is completely unfair. They hold extra spaces open for deaf students that don’t require the course even though there are majors that require certain classes to graduate.
- They have several food places to eat, but it’s all interchangeable food, just a different name on the place. for example the chicken at salsaritas is the same at Gracies and commons and everywhere else that sells chicken. That goes for everything like pasta, cheese, etc. They say they cater to food restrictions like Vegans/Vegetarians but that is compeltely false all meals rely heavily on the meat aspect.
- All facilities are run on RIT’s time not the student’s
- To get to your classes you must first walk about half of a mile, and during 10 degree weather in a blizzard it is almost unbearable. And like i mentioned before these walkways aren’t shoveled at all… that speaks for itself
- Specifically to my major… the doors to the studios are never locked so students will come up and steal from you unless things aren’t locked up tight at all times
- they do things like construction in the middle of main campus walkways during prime class times. for example the other weekend they had a bucket truck in the middle of the main walkway hanging up a “Freezefest” sign while thousands of students had to walk by the dangerous site all day… Negligence
- from my experience with deaf students… they are immature and wreckless so prepare to put up with this behavior everyday.
- All campus living is a scam. Do not live at Park point, province, Colony, etc. they are money hounds.
- They claim to have a great hockey team… They were good for a few years, but not anymore.
- Advisors usually aren’t much help. They spend more time out of the office than they do in the office.
- extremely ugly campus… it looks good from space though…
- The buildings are designed and placed in a way that they become gigantic wind tunnels. This is not ideal for a place that is already above average windy
- All the dorms are disgusting
- Parties are horrendous. Most of the time they are held in Park point or Province apartments that are basically one room apartments so It’s always just a bunch of weirdos standing around being weirdos
- They host tours during the 4 weeks of nice weather in September and May to trick people into coming here. Little do they know there is a 6 month long intense winter
- Most RIT events will be a complete let down due to either weather or just a bad event overall
- When there are special events parking becomes closed off for special guests making your 200$ parking passes illegitimate for the time being.
- Insufficient parking leads to you being late for class because you have to wait 10-15 minutes on average for a spot in your designated lot.
- There is no community within the campus. it is pretty much a place for students to go to learn and do school work. there is no life within the buildings just static students there for one thing, education.
- Every food place is way overpriced because they know they can get the money out of you. I mean where else are you going to eat?
Let me tell you RIT could care less about “DD” as a student. You are just another one in the masses and they will gut you for all your money. I think of something new everyday mostly because these things genuinely do happen on a daily basis. The school is one of the biggest scams in the country and I hope this persuades you to look at other options. The combo you are talking about will not exsist at RIT no matter what admissions tells you, its a lie. Hell, I tried to do the same thing within my own department (combo of graphic design with there new media major). And it was like pulling teeth till they finally told me it was incapable. From experience the art students and engineering students do not mix with each other.
I think your daughter needs to find out a bit more in terms of what she wants to do RPI has a amazing engineering program. If this is what shes passionate about I would suggest a major in engineering and maybe a concentration or a minor in art/illustration. RPI I know has a concentration in graphic design as well as other things. An important thing to remember in the heat of all this is that it is not your program that will make you successful, it is how driven you are.
That is a lot of vitriol for someone who just joined today and posted two identical posts. Are you a freshman? Did you do due diligence before you went to RIT? I am sorry you are so upset with your circumstances.
@superstok3d Wow, my D is a 2nd year in CIAS and many of her friends are engineering majors. She loves it, socially and academically. It all comes down to “fit” - and RIT obviously doesn’t fit you - but it may be perfect for others. Rochester does have terrible weather, and the housing situation is a mess. I hope you can transfer to a school more to your liking.
@superstok3d - Sorry you are having such a terrible experience. I agree with mamaduck… it comes down to fit, and the pros/cons of each college will have varying impact on different students.
For what it’s worth, I have worked with some excellent engineers from RIT. They seemed to have good things to say about it. I do know one family that had issues when their son didn’t have the right credits for graduation, but that’s a saga played out on many other campuses too.