<p>Hi,</p>
<p>i applied for spring 2009 entry to MICA, SAIC, CCA. and i hope to major in graphic design or visual communication. i got an acceptance letter from SAIC yesterday. but then i've been reading posts on this forum, and most people say that SAIC and MICA are famous for fine arts? does anyone know about their graphic design courses?</p>
<p>i'm an international applicant. i come from hongkong, and just finished year 12 in australia.</p>
<p>thanks guys!!</p>
<p>// i applied for spring 2009 entry to MICA, SAIC, CCA. and i hope to major in graphic design or visual communication. i got an acceptance letter from SAIC yesterday. but then i've been reading posts on this forum, and most people say that SAIC and MICA are famous for fine arts? does anyone know about their graphic design courses?</p>
<p>i'm an international applicant. i come from hongkong, and just finished year 12 in australia.</p>
<p>thanks guys!!//</p>
<p>MICA's GD department is very strong. I know the co-chair, Bernard Caniff, of the undergraduate program a little, and he is well-respected. Ellen Lupton chairs the graduate level program (I think), and she is extremely well known and respected in the industry. </p>
<p>The other two have strong reps. SAIC is a bit of a free-for-all. CCA made a name for itself 20 years ago in particular...not sure where it stands today, but it has a solid number of well-respected faculty.</p>
<p>I used to live in Repulse Bay, Hong Kong. :-)</p>
<p>Thanks a lot RainingAgain! I'm waiting for MICA's notification in late December, and CCA's. Do you know much about the location? As in Chicago VS Maryland? I heard that maryland is really dangerous.</p>
<p>Maryland is just as dangerous as any other place... I don' t think one would single it out as particularly dangerous.</p>
<p>In my opinion, the benefits of going to school in a city such as Chicago farrrr outweigh the benefits of going to a school and living in Baltimore... Chicago will allow access to many major art and design firms directly, and I'm positive that SAIC will have particular interships that MICA students might miss out on.</p>
<p>But I thought that MICA students would benefit because Baltimore is near New York and washington DC?</p>
<p>Well I think in the ultimate scheme of things, MICA IS relatively close to New York. I'm just saying that the immediate surrounding atmosphere of spending four years in Chicago in the actual city would be more beneficial than living in Baltimore for four years and then moving to New York City. Baltimore is not close enough to NYC for MICA to focus solely on the city. Chicago is not New York, but it IS a city where one could certainly find a great job for anyone with a BFA. There are many many many many opportunities.</p>
<p>how about the school itself? which is better for graphic design?</p>
<p>Haha after all my ranting about Chicago, MICA is probably a little better for graphic design education wise.</p>
<p>I have a feeling I know why you got the impression that "Maryland is dangerous." The City of Baltimore has a high crime rate in some neighborhoods. Also, a recent American television series about urban police department "The Wire" was set in Baltimore as a high-tension kind of city. In fact, those same TV scenes and episodes could have happened in any poor neighborhood within any other large American city. Baltimore communicates an "edgey" and dangerous reputation due to the police crime statistics. </p>
<p>One thing to consider is that the City of Baltimore is a unique government entity, with different statistics than its suburbs, which are called by their county name, such as Baltimore County. By contrast, other American cities have one huge "county" level of government that includes its core city (poverty) PLUS the somewhat safer, tamer suburbs around the center city. Kind of confusing and not fair to Baltimore's reputation relative to other big cities that share the same issues. </p>
<p>My experience of many American cities is that you can live anywhere as long as you have good advice from current students and residents about where to rent an apartment, and where to avoid. </p>
<p>Students at MICA would live together sharing student apartments, making careful choices to locate themselves intelligently according to relative safety of neighborhoods. There are pockets/sections of downtown Baltimore that are very interesting, vibrant, renewed neighborhoods with lots of civic pride. You just have to get very good advice regarding where to find housing, based on what other students do. If MICA has a housing office, consult them for advice as to where the students live.</p>
<p>I grew up in Baltimore, and it's been a long time since I've lived there. While Baltimore has issues, so do some neighborhoods of NYC, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia...that's just our urban situation, not unique to Baltimore at all. </p>
<p>The key strategy to live and enjoy any American city requires awareness of which neighborhoods are safer for you than others. I'd say choose your art school based on what you want to study, and its program... and then get the advice you need regarding housing, and you'll be fine. Be sure to live with others and not alone, especially when you first arrive. That's my opinion.</p>
<p>Baltimore is about 4 hours by train to NYC, so yes it's far to have a weekend relationship. But MICA is nationally famous, and a degree from there is recognized all over the country. Following studies at MICA, you might end up moving to a different city for a first job, and I think brokenapertures is correct that Chicago may offer more opportunities right in the same city as your school. It is very common for someone to attend school anywhere along the East Coast, from Boston to Washington, D.C., and then choose a different city in that corridor to work after college. The inter-city transportation systems link these cities, and people interview from one city to another very often. It's called the "Bos-Wash Corridor" and in some ways works as a multi-regional environment. By contrast, places in the Midwest, like Chicago, or St. Louis, are large but further away from other cities. I believe that all of the connections from school to first-job-after-school might happen more within the same city. People are also commuting and interviewing by plane, too, so your scope can be wide regarding where you might work after any schooling. </p>
<p>There are great art museums in Baltimore (the Walters Art Gallery, and another great museum ont he campus of Johns Hopkins University) for inspiration; plus an easy hour by train to Washington, D.C. for day trips to all the national Smithsonian Galleries, or the private Corcoran Gallery of Art, even while you are a student living in Baltimore.</p>
<p>If city living troubles or worries you, you could also attend MICA and reside in a tame suburban apartment, around 40 minutes from the inner city of Baltimore, and take a public bus each day to school. That would be a very unusual choice, however, and not good for socializing with others. </p>
<p>I hope this helps a bit. I mean, if someone gave me a chance to study in Hong Kong and I heard it's "dangerous"...you'd tell me that I really need more information, correct? Surely there are neighborhoods of Hong Kong that are dangerous, and others not, for daily living.</p>
<p>EDIT: I'm also agreeing with brokenapertures that Chicago has more work and design firms for internships while you are a student, compared to what Baltimore could offer, simply because Chicago is a larger city in total than Baltimore, although both are "big cities." Chicago is also a place where many students choose to move following college graduation, while Baltimore doesn't draw people to it in the same way. Perhaps that means there's greater competition in Chicago, but also more opportunities. </p>
<p>"The bigger the dog, the more the fleas."</p>
<p>Hi, sorry if this isn't related but...
I applied for Spring 09 also and I'm waiting for my letter. How long did it take you to receive it (if you don't mind me asking)? I'm just dying to know!!</p>
<p>thanks in adv.
Lu</p>
<p>paying3tuition, thank you so much for the long and detailed reply. Hopefully MICA will accept me and so I can choose between MICA and SAIC.</p>
<p>I received it around 3 weeks after application.</p>
<p>Before that, i also sent an email to admission asking them if they have received all the necessary documents.</p>
<p>;)</p>
<p>Well nvm, I just got my acceptance letter last on Saturday. I'm stoked! :)</p>
<p>do you plan to enter SAIC then? which major?</p>
<p>Yeah, I am 99.9% sure I'll attend but I'm visiting the campus just to make sure. I live really far away (although not nearly as far as you do, lol) so I don't want to risk it! I'm going for the BFA w/ Emphasis on Art History/Theory/Crit. </p>
<p>Btw, do you think it will be strange starting a semester late? I wonder how many people are starting Spring '09 also...</p>
<p>Well I guess there's just lots of catching up to do... I heard that in the first year, u have to do like everything from painting to film production...</p>
<p>hey so one questions.... are we Year 2 students in Fall 2010?</p>
<p>I suppose we could take summer classes... </p>
<p>That's a good question though. I have to remember to ask that now when I see the advisor!</p>
<p>do tell me when u get an answer :P</p>
<p>good news i got accepted to MICA and CCA as well :)</p>
<p>however, i think i'll choose SAIC anyway... coz of the cityy</p>
<p>I am <em>probably</em> going to transfer to SAIC because of the city of Baltimore.</p>
<p>I go to MICA now and my apartment has been broken into twice since September, 3 or some girls have been raped that went to MICA, and the city is extremely dangerous. I can't even leave the house by myself after 6:30 or 7 :[</p>