<p>Cincinnati just won the International Bowl in Toronto.WOOT!</p>
<p>Hi Taxguy; I've been following your posts for about a year now, very informative! My son is planning to major in industrial design, and has been admitted to several schools (Michigan, Cincinnati, Pratt, CCS, Georgia Tech) and I expect he may admitted to Carnegie Mellon and RISD soon. Strong academics (5th in class, 2050 SAT) and he attends an art magnet high school where he's been taking industrial design courses for three years. He's visited CCS, Pratt and Carnegie Mellon, and goes to Cincinnati this week for the Cincinnatus competition. So far he likes CCS best, as he's partial to the art schools over the "academic" schools and he thought the student work at CCS was better than what he saw at Pratt and Carnegie Mellon. Also, he thought Pratt and Carnegie Mellon were more "theoretical" and less "hands on".</p>
<p>Two questions for you: (1) how's your kid doing at Cincinnati and how does she like it so far (any second thoughts regarding the other places she visited?); and (2) how did you and your daughter process the whole "academic vs. art school" issue? Originally I was partial to him going to the best academic school, but on reflection it seems the jobs are out of the art schools and if the kids are really serious about art why not go all the way? On the other hand, it seems better to be surrounded by a broader spectrum of influences provided by a regular university rather than the narrow focus of an art school.</p>
<p>I"d appreciate your input and thoughts on this, as we're starting to get near the end here; thanks.</p>
<p>Stanco asks,"
Two questions for you: (1) how's your kid doing at Cincinnati and how does she like it so far (any second thoughts regarding the other places she visited?); and (2) how did you and your daughter process the whole "academic vs. art school" issue?"</p>
<p>First, my daughter is doing well. She had just over a 3.5 first quarter, although she worked really hard.</p>
<p>Second, as to other places, she hasn't looked back. She LOVES marching band and the musical opportunities that Cincinnati provides. The curriculm and Sylabi were very demanding and thorough. She likes mid-west kids and enjoyed most of her design teachers.</p>
<p>She was not as enthusiastic about her English and math teachers. She felt that both subjects were a bit elementary for her. She did like, however, her art history class and her economics class. Overall, she is a very happy camper there.</p>
<p>The ID program,since this is of interest to your son, is very strong. It certainly is just as well regarded as the other schools that you mentioned PLUS it provides fantastic coop opportunites that the other comparable schools don't provide. This will eventually give her a year and one-half of top notch, paid experience.</p>
<p>My only regret about the school is the dorms. Honors dorms for freshmen are quads. YUCH. However, kids do get to meet a lot of kids there and form some close friendships.</p>
<p>Finally, you ask about the academic vs. art school issue. This wasn't as hard for my daughter since she really didn't want to go to a "stand alone" art school. She wanted a strong music program, a school that has decent liberal arts and Hebrew as well as a strong design program. Thus, schools like Pratt et. al weren't top on her list.</p>
<p>She did apply to CMU and got in with no scholarship. She also felt that CMU didn't hve the program that she wanted,which was Digital Design. Geting no money also wasn't very endearing to us. Finally, she just didn't like the atmosphere of CMU. She just didn't feel that it would be a good college experience for her. The kids that she interviewed could only speak about the large amount of work. None of them seemed to have any social life or participated in any extracurricular experience. It was a sort of "MIT" feel.</p>
<p>Also, she didn't like the fact that she was told that design kids pretty much associate with only design kids due to the large amount of work,which is a reason she didn't want a stand alone art school. She REALLY wanted to meet and associate with other types of students. Doing design and art for 12-15 hours a day and then to associate with only art students would, in her opinion, be just too boring and might burn her out. She likes the interaction with engineering kids, business kids, liberal arts kids etc..</p>
<p>Like your son, my daughter is a very academic person. She participated in a humanities magnet program at a top high school.</p>
<p>Also, schools like Cincinnati have strong facilites. Not only are the Design school computers plentiful and modern,but the other facilities such as work out and swimming facilities are fabulous. This is NOT true for most art schools regarding the miscellaneous facilities. </p>
<p>Bottom line: each kid has to make up their own mind. What is good for my daughter, may not be good for your son. </p>
<p>I should note that as a parent, I like Cincinnati, but I did find some of the stuff that they do rather "funky." This isn't bad, just strange. For example, in order to keep her Cincinnatus Scholarship, she not only has to maintain a specific GPA,.which is similar to other schools,but also has to participate in 30 hours a year of community service. This is endemic only to Cincinnati.</p>
<p>Also, if the state cuts back on funding, there are small cutbacks on services or offerings that you might not see in private schools. After all, private schools can always raise tuition or fees. However, for the money, Cincinnati is providing a superb design education as far as I can see. I also met one other parent whose daughter was accepted by both Pratt and Carnegie Mellon and who came to Cincinnati instead. Our costs for room, board, fees and tuition, net of scholarship, is about $26,000. Our costs at CMU for equivalent stuff would be $45,000. This also doesn't take cost of living into account!</p>
<p>Sorry for the long winded post. I hope this helps in some small measure.</p>
<p>Thanks Taxguy, definitely helpful; I think we had some of the same experience as you at CMU vis-a-vis work load and design kids hanging out with design kids; I hear the building at Cincinnati where the design kids take most of their classes is pretty new and very impressive as well, so here's hoping the kid likes it there</p>