<p>I just got back from the Graduate Portfolio Day in San Francisco, and thought I'd share my experience with the board. There were about 20 schools there, and maybe 150 prospective students. So it was common to wait in line for a review, but not for any ridiculous amount of time. Since I had done my research and knew who I wanted to talk to, I was only there for about 2 hours.</p>
<p>I reviewed with the Tyler School of Art (Temple U), the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Maryland Institute College of Art, and the California College of the Arts. I'm coming from an architecture background going into a Graphic Design program, so openess to interdisciplinary studies was one of my top priorities. </p>
<p>Tyler- they had a 'Fine Arts' person there and a 'Design' person there, and you talked with the one appropriate to your program, which was nice. I got a very detailed review, but frankly they seemed to think that Graphic Design was some holy order which required a blood sacrifice to get into, and could care less about actually design, being extremely focused on technical proficiency.</p>
<p>SAIC- randomly assigned reps, but good review in terms of presentation tips. Also were more into technical skills, but were more positive and cared more about the design of things as well.</p>
<p>MICA- randomly assigned reps, but were obviously coached in how to approach each discipline. Were very encouraging, said they really enjoy the diversity that different backgrounds could bring to a class, and knew (and cared) enough to actually really like my architecture. Encouraged night courses, but were obviously more concerned about design than about nitpicking, and understood that this is only October and apps aren't due until January, so didn't expect to see a finished product. I would say this was the most balanced review I got out of the day.</p>
<p>CCA- Extremely interdisciplinary, much more interested in design than tecnique. Inclined to think that design is design, and the divisions within design were pretty silly anyway.</p>