Daughter trying to decide between CMU BFA or MICA. MICA very generous with scholarships. Is CMU worth it? Concerned about CMU being too interdisciplinary, no majors. Would appreciate any insights.
My daughter was admitted to MICA and CMU some years ago. (She attended RISD.) As I’ve watched various careers in the visual arts, it seems to me that you can’t be “too interdisciplinary.” I don’t know what your DD’s particular interests are, but these days artistic talent can be integrated with many different endeavors, from industrial design to journalism and publishing. If CMU offers opportunities to work across disciplines this is a big plus. The “major” may not matter that much. That said, MICA is a strong art college, with a very good reputation. I don’t think your daughter would go wrong if she chose either one.
Thank you mackinaw for your thoughtful response. Daughter’s interest was primarily graphic design and we were very impressed by MICA program, career development there. She applied for c of Design at CMU and did not get in, but was admitted to College of Art, which does not have graphic design - taking electives in GD they say possible but may be difficult there… Her art skills are very strong conceptually and now she thinks she likes/is a good fit for CMUs interdisciplinary approach. I think a major in graphic design makes her more marketable and I wonder if CMU is worth the steep cost, esp when MICA was so generous with scholarship?
I did my freshman year at CMU for fine art/graphic art/industrial design (back in the 80s, so take this with a large grain of salt).
If I could go back and do it again I’d take MICA and the money over CMU and 5 figures of debt after one year in a heartbeat.
CMU was good, but art and graphic art is more about your portfolio than the name of the college you graduated from, imo.
Cost is something I can’t really address for you. These days the cost is so much higher than when my DD entered college about 15 years ago. (The total cost of attendance has roughly doubled in that time.) One thing I would consider now is whether your DD would take loans to cover costs or rather whether you can squeeze out the money so that she can graduate debt free. That was our goal, which we achieved for both kids, with some help from the grandparents (my parents).
By daughter applied to and was admitted to the College of Art at CMU. As her interests evolved, she chose to major in industrial design (ID) at RISD. I think that major is available at MICA. But even though at that time RISD was not focused on environmental or sustainable design, my daughter became interested in it (now RISD’s curriculum incorporates this), and after a few years in the economy she decided that to have a role in sustainable design decisions in larger corporations she needed another degree. She actually got two more (simultaneously): an MBA and an MS in sustainability (in a school of natural resources). So her interests and skill-set both evolved after she was admitted to college. This is hardly special to her – my guess (as college prof in social sciences) is that this happens to the majority of students after they enter college.
If your daughter sees opportunities in the CMU context, even if constrained in some ways by the College of Art affiliation, she should be able to take advantage of ways to pursue interests that draw on her artistic sensibilities but require a range of skills (including technologically advanced ones). That said, the same could be true of MICA. At RISD my daughter initially expressed an interest in illustration but a teacher there told her (after she took a short course in it), “Look. You get this. You can always do illustration. But you should do something more challenging.” And so she chose industrial design (ID), while at the same time she took an interest in environmental issues through her courses at Brown. And thus started her intellectual migration toward sustainable design.
I love CMU (DS majored in CS). I always trotted over to the Fine Arts Building to see what they were up to and was impressed. However, I think graphic design and art are a chancy enough business that there is no way I’d go into debt for it.