Interior Design

College Majors Architecture Major
1

<p>Does anyone have a list of Interior Design Schools that have Co-op programs?</p>

<p>I am aware of Univ. of Cincinnati and Drexel's programs but others that I have seen mostly have "internships" as opposed to paid co-op programs that are a required part of the curriculum.</p>

<p>My daughter is bored of high school and can't wait to get into the meat of interior design so she wants a program that jumps right into it and has practical (co-op) experiences. Univ of Cincinnati is looking like the best choice so far.</p>

<p>We have been focusing on schools with architecture programs because she really enjoyed her architectural drafting and CAD classes in high school but doesn't think she wants to do the "math" involved in becoming an architect.</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

2

<p>In Boston, Wentworth Institute of Technology.</p>

<p>Wentworth</a> Institute of Technology: Prospective Students > Academics > Degree Programs (BINT)</p>

<p>They also have an accredited 5yr BArch with two mandatory co-ops, less math than you'd think.
Wentworth</a> Institute of Technology: Prospective Students > Academics > Degree Programs (BARC)</p>

<p>-sara</p>

3

<p>The BAC
Boston</a> Architectural College</p>

<p>Be sure your program is accredited:
Council</a> for Interior Design Accreditation - Accredited Programs</p>

<p>And again, it's a myth that there is alot of math in architecture. Better to be talented in drawing and creativity than math.</p>

4

<p>Thanks ArchKid and Archiemom! You would think I would have looked in Boston since I went to MIT and my wife went to Simmons! </p>

<p>We were looking at schools that have both Arch and Interior Design thinking that once she got there and took a few classes and talked to some arch students, our daughter might decide she wants to be an architect and would not have to change schools.</p>

<p>We'll have to schedule a visit to Boston - during Red Sox season :) to visit.</p>

5

<p>For Co-ops, check out the schools that belong to the NCCE,</p>

<p>Drexel University
Kettering University
Northeastern University
Wentworth Institute of Technology
C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University
Rochester Institute of Technology
Johnson & Wales University
University of Cincinnati
University of Toledo
Pace University</p>

<p>Scholarships here;
National</a> Commission for Cooperative Education</p>

<p>Also note that WIT (which has significantly changed since your wife was at Simmons, look close at this school) is part of the Colleges of the Fenway.
Colleges</a> of the Fenway
Wentworth students can cross register at Simmons and several other colleges in the area.</p>

<p>Go Sox!</p>

<p>-sara</p>

6

<p>Sara,</p>

<p>Were you listening when I mentioned this to my wife last night?! She said "I'm not sending my daughter to Wentworth - we all laughed at Wentworth students!" </p>

<p>I am going to have to do some digging to prove to her that their reputation and programs have improved. Thanks again.</p>

<p>Chris</p>

7

<p>Chris,</p>

<p>Both Sara and your wife are correct. </p>

<p>Your wife may remember Wentworth as the two year commuter school that it once was. I recall that Wentworth from my high school days in Boston 30 years ago, and then visited last fall with my son and found a different school altogether. I know you are looking at Interior Design and my son is looking for an arch school, but perhaps what he and I have discovered might be of help to you and your daughter. </p>

<p>->Let me insert here that although what I've written below may sound like a sales pitch it's really just what my son and I have learned about a small up and coming school that gets hardly any mention on this board. If anyone can add good or bad to this we are eager to learn more.<-</p>

<p>Currently my son has his acceptances in hand from the architecture programs at Cal Poly, UCBerkeley, UofOregon, Penn State, and a few others as well as being accepted with very generous scholarships to to arch at Rensselaer, Carnegie-Mellon and RWU, plus Wentworth. So he has good options, and has considered them carefully. His number one choice is WIT....
Honestly, I find it incredibly hard to pass up powerhouse west coast arch schools or the big $ scholarships at the likes of RPI and CMU. However, he looked carefully at all the schools, visited every one of them, stayed overnight at a couple and came up with Wentworth on top. Says it 'fits' him the best, he loved Boston, the abroad program in Germany appeals to him, and he is excited about the challenge of a MArch in 5yrs.
I feel it is his decision.</p>

<p>Back to Wentworth. I can tell you a little bit of how Wentworth has changed;
They've built several new dorms on campus, they even lease out one to either Simmons or Emmanuel, - I can't remember which.
They bought and remodeled neighboring buildings as well as upgraded the existing buildings.
The arch and ID programs are accredited in good standing. Profs I've checked on have good credentials, -the department head is a MIT PhD, and they are very approachable people. </p>

<p>My son spent part of two days at Wentworth last fall during which two different profs gave him personal department tours. They had him sit in on studio and classes as well as crits which he enjoyed more than the crits at any of the other schools. One prof who is a practicing architect had my son visit his Boston office studio. Both these guys later followed up with phone calls to my son whenever he e-mailed them questions. -Keep in mind this was before he even applied.
The kids on campus seemed happy and engaged and my son has connected to several on the WIT sponsored online informational chat sessions.
The stats of applying, accepted and enrolled student has been on an upward trend. </p>

<p>Once he applied and was accepted we were invited to a WIT Alumni reception out here on the west coast. My son met and spoke to a number of alumns including a current prof at UCSF and two recent grads working in SF as architects. He also spoke at length to WIT's president Zorica Pantic just before she gave a very nice presentation to the alumns on where Wentworth is headed, which included two big announcements; they just received accreditation from NAAB to start up an optional 5yr MArch program, and the start of new construction on campus, a Student Union -not having one has kept them off many 'rankings'.
-> They did make the '07 Princeton Review;
Wentworth</a> Institute of Technology: News & Events ></p>

<p>Also, check out Pres. Pantic's profile here;
Wentworth</a> Institute of Technology: President's Office
and curriculum vitae here;
<a href="http://www.wit.edu/President/docs/curriculumvitae.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.wit.edu/President/docs/curriculumvitae.pdf&lt;/a>
She's a dynamic person and leading Wentworth into the future.</p>

<p>Two points your daughter may find of interest;
The Co-op program places 100% in the students chosen field.
They have a significant outreach to female applicants, including a Women at Wentworth weekend for admitted girls each spring, and have some special 'women only' facilities on campus -but we did not get to see, so can't comment....</p>

<p>If you want more, feel free to PM me.</p>

<p>Good luck to your daughter.</p>

8

<p>Thanks 4trees!
I think I am going to get my daughter to apply to WIT anyway, even if my wife sneers. We both loved Boston and the Fenway so I think I can get them to visit (hurt me) during baseball season. I see that WIT has 25 $6k scholarships under the National Commission for Cooperative Education program and they have a crew team, so it is worth the application. I say the more choices the better.</p>

9

<p>flalaw97</p>

<p>Wentworth and the NCCE awarded my son that Co-op scholarship, 6K x 5yrs. Applying requires a 3.5hs gpa, a hs transcript and a one page essay. He also received an Arioch merit scholarship from WIT, a minimum SAT score of ? (I forget) and an essay, 13K x 5yrs for a total of $19K merit, real nice...
Another nice thing about WIT is it's rolling admissions, so you can apply very early and get an answer in a few weeks. If accepted the remainder of the college admissions process is a bit less traumatic.</p>

10

<p>Thanks 4trees!</p>

<p>Hopefully my daughter will be as successful in the scholarship game and have those choices. I agree the rolling admissions will make things alot less stressful once you have the admissions offers, then you can switch focus from getting in to finding the right fit and enough $.</p>

<p>Let me know how he likes it as Fall progresses.</p>

11

<p>4trees</p>

<p>I found the Arioch scholarship minimums: minimum SAT (Critical Reading, Math, and Writing) score of 1600 or an ACT Composite score of 24.</p>

<p>My daughter has both so, as long as her essay is competitive, perhaps she will have a shot at that. Even the President's scholarship which is the next level down is $11,000 per year which is great.</p>

<p>Looks like she has some essay writing to do this Fall!</p>

<p>Thanks again.</p>