<p>I'm currently a sophomore in high school and am starting to seriously look at colleges. I really want to major in interior design, and have been in love with RISD since I first clicked on their website. I am currently still exploring myself as an artist, and am practicing quite often. My grades are in the middle range, and acceptable for RISD. The thing is, is RISD as good as it seems to be, especially for interior design? It seems like a really good school for fine arts, but is also highly respected as a design school. I really need some sense of perspective. Any comments or tips would be greatly appreciated :)>- </p>
RISD is currently ranked at #4 in interior design (UG) by DesignIntelligence. Pratt has a longer history of top ranking for interior design, as do U of Cincinnati and Cornell. In general RISD has a deep field of top departments, and is one of the most selective art and design schools in the country. Your best bet on how well you’d like RISD is to enroll in their 6 week precollege summer program either this summer or next summer. You would get a chance to participate in a rigorous foundation program of drawing, design, and critical studies (Art History), plus choose a “major” such as Interior Design. I’d highly recommend this program - my D attended this past summer and really loved it. They work you hard! About 26 “contact” hours per week including four 6-hour studios (9 - 4 with an hour break at lunch time). Well worth the cost and a great portfolio builder. Here is the website and I think registration just opened in December. It fills quickly! http://ce.risd.edu/programs/pre-college-program-1?term=Summer
My D did the Pratt interior design pre-college this past summer and worked pretty hard! It’s a four-week course and you get a LOT of exposure to the thrills of NYC. RISD is RISD, of course, but you can’t discount Pratt as one of the best in interior design–plus, you’re in NYC and not Providence. That said, I like Providence very much and think there are some benefits to being there, including the synergy with Brown.
@lauriejgs is your D a senior this year and did she apply to Pratt for undergrad? My D was accepted in December for ComD and is very excited about that. She’s still waiting on a couple others but is definitely art-school bound somewhere. At the risk of hijacking the thread, I’d love to hear your thoughts re: the area Pratt is in, transportation into Manhattan via subway, etc. Safe? Fast? Seems so from what we experienced from our visit last spring but would love to get your input. Thanks!
@Mamelot, she is a senior and she would have applied to Pratt for sure, except that she decided ultimately she’d prefer a liberal-arts education and got into her first-choice LAC ED. She does have friends from the summer who are going to start at Pratt this fall, though.
As far as safety, I have mixed feelings. Bear in mind that I am a native Brooklynite who has lived all over NYC and now reside in the suburbs. I started taking the subway by myself at age 15, back in the crime-ridden '80s. So I do appreciate how much Clinton Hill (the area Pratt is in) has gentrified…however…it IS a little sketchy. My D was not street smart, so I was very glad that she only took the subway when there were group trips. I wouldn’t say it’s downright dangerous, but it’s got dangerous pockets. I know my D felt nervous when running to the corner deli late at night (which I would not advise doing alone). The train trip into Manhattan isn’t terrible, but it’s not a five-minute jaunt, either. Basically, your D could easily get into Manhattan every day if she were so inclined (not that she’ll have time!!!). Where are you from???
@lauriejgs we are Midwestern suburbanites - D has grown up in the Twin Cities metro pretty much all her life. She currently commutes to a “city” school but the city and suburban transit systems here are quite safe. Minneapolis ain’t Brooklyn. Thank you for your feedback on Clinton Hill which is very, very helpful - especially coming from a native Brooklynite. What about late nights on the campus? Safe to walk through/leave the studio? Some of the dining facilities are open till 11 pm so that has to help - plus we just bought her a keurig system for her tea (lucky will be the roommate . . . ). I don’t see her leaving campus late at night except perhaps for sushi. How do students enter and exit campus at night - by the front gates on Willoughby? Dekalb seemed like a safe street heading west from the campus but when we were walking from the subway on Classon/Dekalb it appeared, as you say, sketchy. The 88th precinct is right there kitty-corner from Pratt but so is a housing project and there are more nearby. Having lived in some pretty sketchy places myself (after growing up in a fairly sheltered suburban environment) I’m aware that with a little bit of common sense a person can do just fine in the big city. Still, the recent increase in violent crime in some of the NYC projects and the current tension between City Hall and the police do worry me that the area won’t be as safe for her as it might have been only a few years ago. I certainly don’t want to send my kid into a situation in which the crime rate is rising. Having said all that, we noticed a lot of young upscale families of all ethnicities who live in the area so it’s apparently safe enough for them. And of course it’s NYC. D likes the quiet of the Pratt campus as well as the prospect of being so close to some of the best cultural experiences in the world. We’ll have to see where else she’s accepted but Pratt is certainly high on her list.
Hmmm. I’ll ask her about the exits and entrances when she gets home from school. I’m not sure. I do know that they all went in a group because they were high schoolers. That said, they were not required to be supervised. They had an 11 pm curfew and were free to come and go as they pleased. Every time we’ve visited there have been security guards at the entrances, but it is a public place and there are neighborhood people hanging out there. You’re right that the area is attracting more upscale families and professionals–my cousin (who also works at Pratt in the health center) lives a few blocks away and is very happy with the area. What I have heard was that crimes against Pratt students have mostly been of the mugging type–area toughs taking iPhones and the like, which is why it’s best to walk in groups. The dorms all have security–both key entry and guards.
The 11 pm curfew was how it worked at RISD precollege as well. D ventured out on her own on the weekends and told me that she definitely encountered some not-so-nice sections of Providence. But for the most part she was in at night, working away. RISD definitely kept her very busy. Given where she’s applied - four art schools as well as the U of MN - she’s going to end up in a very urban environment and there are sketchy aspects to all of them (some more than others). We just have to make sure she understands how to use her head and be smart.
My daughter is an art student at NYU. I prefer her East Village location over Pratt’s Clinton Hill location, but it seems that D and her friends venture into Brooklyn frequently at night via subway. Lots on NYU students live off campus in Brooklyn plus there are bars, restaurants and clubs that are popular. D goes to Williamsburg, Bushwick and around Dekalb Avenue frequently. So does her older sister (25) who lives in Chelsea. Hopefully they travel in groups and use street smarts, but I wouldn’t worry about Pratt’s location.
Thank you @uskoolfish this is very helpful to know. What I’ve read about Brooklyn sounds very encouraging to this “Welcome Back Kotter” generation parent! I’ve only lived in NYC for a summer while in grad school in the early 90’s (internship) and it was the NYU campus. The city was very different in those days! My D did tour Parsons and loved finding sushi places everywhere in Manhattan (we even had sushi at midnight on Easter in Midtown!). But she struggled with the noise and bustle of the Village and prefers living on a real campus so Parsons was ruled out (although we had a wonderful tour and it was so enjoyable to see the new facilities there). She is very excited about the opportunity to live in NYC but in a “neighborhoody” part of the city. I’ve been very impressed with the development of the Brooklyn downtown area. I told my D that if she attends Pratt we’d get out there a few days before orientation and explore - visit Brooklyn Museum, Botanical Gardens, Coney Island, etc. And of course, all by subway.