College reputation for a specific field

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Here's my situation. I am interested in the field of industrial design, which for any who don't know is essentially product design. Anyway, I've applied to a few of the top-ranked schools, with the University of Cincinnati being my favorite (and 2nd in the nation in this program.)</p>

<p>The main reason it is so highly regarded is the co-op program, which basically means that students get 6 paid internships before graduation. This Design Architecture Arts and Planning (DAAP) college in the University of Cincinnati is highly regarded. However the rest of the school doesn't have much of a reputation at all. </p>

<p>My concern now is that maybe I should have applied to Carnegie Mellon (the deadline is today, and I don't have the counselor forms filled.)
It's somewhat high in the industrial design rankings, but still not as good as Cincy. However, if I ever were to go into a different field (my other main interest being video games) the CMU name is much more well known, and most people don't know what Cincy is. </p>

<p>Even in general conversation, a CMU degree would seem to be better;
Where did you go to school? - Carnegie Mellon
would garner a lot of praise, whereas Cincy would not.</p>

<p>I really didn't want to go to CMU in the first place; I'm from Pittsburgh and want to get out; the lack of social life is a real downer; and it's pretty expensive. But now I'm wondering that if I don't get into Cincinnati if I should just take a year off and apply to them both again.</p>

<p>TOO LONG DIDN'T READ: I'm not sure of whether I should go to a school with a great overall reputation (Carnegie Mellon) or one with a better program and better reputation in a specific field I'm interested in (Uni. of Cincinnati.) To make matters worse, I haven't applied to CMU and missed the deadline.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Well, I'm not sure what product design is but CMU has a top tier Design program which is very competitive. It branches off into many specializations even though the major itself is just called Design. Its a very flexible major and many grads are quickly snatched up through the university's sterling networking and reputation. The job fairs here have companies hiring for multiple fields that are not offered as specific majors by CMU, as they know CMU's courseload is varied and broad. Cornell/CMU are good examples of how the overall reputation is greater than just individual rankings (as Purdue may be ranked higher than Cornell in engineering in several fields but overall a Cornell (and CMU) degree would never hold you back). </p>

<p>However since you missed the deadline, I don't think there's much to do. Taking a year off is not a very good idea and CMU's Design department is very touchy and competitive, so making the deadilne and having a great portfolio and recommendations are key to acceptance. </p>

<p>Since you haven't gotten in yet, why not apply to both?</p>