Hi all! I applied to UMHB, U of Houston, RIT, Georgia Tech, and University of Washington for Industrial Design (not at UMHB… free app and it’s safety safety school for graphic design). I was accepted to U of H, and RIT, and given the arts and sciences transfer pathway for GT… (basically guaranteed admission with a 3.3 GPA) but I was waitlisted at my dream school, UW. The only school that offers ID in state for me is U of H, so I pretty much had to roll the dice out of state. As much as I liked the environment of a design school, I wanted the option to change majors into the sciences or something else… just in case, so I applied to state schools that were more affordable, RIT being the exception… I’ll get to that soon. I didn’t like the environment of U of H, and I am visiting RIT next weekend… but I still feel like I am settling for a school that I wouldn’t fit in at. I grew up in Texas near big state schools, and went to a big high school myself… so I wanted to go to a large university like UW. RIT is too expensive for me… and I don’t think I would best use my money there. It is a great school, #7 in Industrial Design in the nation… but I can’t help but think if I transferred to a school that had the environment I wanted I would be much happier, all while spending less money. Getting waitlisted at UW is basically a soft rejection… but I could try to transfer there or to another school (like Ohio state, VT, etc). I know I have pretty low odds… especially going 4 year to 4year OOS, but I am already going to send the application to GT anyways… so would it hurt to apply to other schools to find a better fit? What should I do?
For me, I would accept the Georgia Tech pathways options. Then go to UH which is affordable for you for that required for the first year outside of GT. Take the required classes GT outlines for first year ID students.
You either fall in love with UH and stay. Or your automatically going to Heorgia Tech in a year. No transfer pressure or application hassle. And it’s GTU in your dream major. I see it as a win win.
Congrats on earning these big time opportunities. Let us know what you decide and why.
I would not even consider attempting to transfer to UW. Unless direct admit to the major it’s pretty much a full rejection, nothing soft about it. Even if you had gotten in, it is not the right school to attend with the thought of changing majors, everything is impacted these days. Which, as an alum, pains me to say. As it likely is at GTech so I’d really look hard at that, just because a school is large doesn’t necessarily mean it is flexible.
VT may be a solid transfer option depending on how your first year goes but if you want the full D1 sports thing RIT may not be the right fit but it’s not exactly a “small” school either. The GT pathway option is a good one, if you feel solid about the gpa requirement. Freshman year can be pretty rough for some.
That said, you haven’t yet visited RIT so maybe wait and go in with an open mind for the visit before you decide.