<p>As we wait for those big envelopes, what do people think about spending $200,000 for art school, even if it is arguably the best art school in the US?</p>
<p>Not worth it at all. Especially with its location being in Rhode Island.</p>
<p>googly, have you ever actually been to Rhode Island – and more specifically, RISD? It’s in a wonderful location – sharing College Hill with Brown, right on the waterfront park, with lots of beautiful historic buildings, within walking distance to downtown Providence and Providence Place Mall. Providence itself is a funky, creative, artsy kind of place. Full of fun things to do.</p>
<p>OP, only you can decide if the cost of RISD is worth it to you. My family decided that it was and my son has had just an incredible experience there for the past 4 years. He has received a fantastic education and has really blossomed as an artist/designer. But we had been saving for college since the day he was born so we were able to keep the amount of loans needed down to a very manageable level. If we had had to take out more loans to finance his education, we probably would have chosen a lower cost alternative. Since most graduates coming out of art school are not likely to make a lot of money the first few years (if ever, lol!), it doesn’t make sense to go heavily into debt to pay for art school.</p>
<p>^ Yeah, I have family living in Providence, so I’ve stayed there a couple summers for a few weeks. I’ve never been to RISD itself, but I’ve been around Rhode Island, and I found it to be a very, very boring place. Of course that’s just my opinion, and the OP may visit Providence and discover that it’s exactly the kind of place they’d like to spend for four years, but I grew tired of it after a week of driving around the place, going shopping, and eating at restaurants with the family. I didn’t find it particularly beautiful or exciting. It wasn’t a horrible city by any means, but it just didn’t stand out to me as a fantastic place.</p>
<p>However the reason I think the setting of RISD isn’t worth the money isn’t really because I don’t like it, but because I don’t feel like it offers enough for artists to advance to be worth the money. Parsons and Pratt may not have as prestigious an overall reputation as RISD (although some of Parson’s and Pratt’s programs are better rated than RISD’s, and they are both reputable art schools as well), they are located in New York City, which offers a much bigger and (in my opinion) better range of internships and places to get work experience. Pratt has all students do at least one mandatory internship during their junior year, so if you go there you know you’re going to get at least some level of experience in your field before you graduate. Pratt’s career placement rate is also over 90% and a lot of the students are already employed before they graduate.</p>
<p>I’m sure RISD offers good internships seeing as it’s so highly regarded, but I feel like if you’re gonna spend a lot of money on art school, go to the school where you think you’re going to get more success in employment. In the end, that’s what it’s all about, because all art fields are extremely competitive. I don’t know how much more impressive the name RISD looks on a resume than that of Pratt or Parsons, but if the latter two schools can give you more possibilities for experience and employment, then it really doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>Rhode Island may be nice and all, but it’s not NYC.</p>
<p>I agree with worried<em>mom. If your child has to take out large loans in order to pay for this (or if you do), then I actually am not sure it’s worth it. In order to do what they want ideally after they graduate, they will have to live on very little money the first few years at least. To be honest, if you’re helping, then that would be a great time to help out, help support them for a year while they get on their feet, for instance (which would be considerably cheaper than $50K!). However, if money is not SO much of an issue for you, then I’m sure it’s a great education. I like your name, worried</em>mom. That pretty much says it all for me as we try to figure out things–</p>
<p>Pratt and RISD are my daughters first choice schools, she got accepted to Pratt, and they offer her $13K scholarship. We dont have a lot of cash money to pay her college, we have to get loans and pay them off in the next 10 years. Sometimes, I do think about, is worth to pay so much money for your kids college. Of cause we hope that she can find jobs after she finish school. </p>
<p>Last summer, we visited RISD, Pratt and Parson, we love the city of Providence, it is very quiet and you can go around the city freely, it is not a big city. Well, we also love the campus of Pratt, it is beautiful campus, and I am just little bit worry about the city around Pratt.</p>
<p>worried mom - was the foundation year as hard as people say it is? Does your son have a paying job and how many of his friends are employed? Did he take any classes at Brown and was it relatively easy to juggle the different semester schedules? My d has her heart set on RISD but I’d feel better if I knew students were successful and happy after their time there.</p>
<p>There was an article in the NYT last year about providence, and they interviewed a RISD graduate who was still living in Providence, working part time making soap. Ever since then I’ve been a bit wary of the art school thing. I just need some reassurance!</p>
<p>Foundation year at RISD is indeed very intense. It’s like boot camp and basically the students live, eat, and sleep nothing but art for 24 hours a day. But it is an incredible experience and gives them a really solid background as they move into their majors sophomore year. My son – who was a bit of a slacker in high school – admitted that he had never worked so hard in his life. But the amazing thing is that it really motivated him and he worked like a dog. BUT HE ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!! And it does get easier after freshman year…</p>
<p>I have to admit that my husband and I had the same concerns as you when our son first decided to go to art school. We are both engineers and just don’t get this whole “artsy/creative” stuff at all. But we are just in awe of what he has accomplished over the last four years. He graduates in May, but he has not yet found a job. Normally most RISD graduates do find jobs, but 2009 is definitely not a normal year. (My son’s high school friends – who are getting degrees in business and engineering – can’t find jobs either!) Up until this year, there were quite a few companies and arts organizations recruiting at RISD, and their alumni network is awesome. Also, my son did not have any trouble finding a paid internship for the past two summers. I would hope that by the time your daughter graduates in four years, the economy will have turned around and things will be back to normal again. </p>
<p>Don’t read too much into the story of the RISD graduate making soap in Providence. It may have been a personal choice and she may be happy. One thing I have noticed about RISD students is that they seem to get by with very little money (and very little sleep). A large percentage of them stay in Providence just to be near other creative people, which gives the city that nice funky vibe. Yes, Providence is certainly not NYC (and since I’m from NY myself, I certainly can attest to that!) but it’s a wonderful small city in its own right.</p>
<p>worried mom, I like your positive and reasonable input about RISD. May I ask you a question. Did RISD offer any scholarship to your son?</p>
<p>Our family does not qualify for need-based aid and RISD has relatively little merit aid available, so we are indeed “full pay” there. But my husband and I have always put education as a very high priority, so we scrimped and saved for 20+ years in anticipation of sending our two sons to college. We were able to accumulate enough that we only had to borrow a small percentage of the total cost. That gave my son the freedom to choose the school that he really wanted to attend and not just go with his lower cost options. But we know that others are not as fortunate as us and that’s why I posted above that, as much as I love RISD, I would not have borrowed $200K to send him there.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for the information, worried mom. I wish your son all the best. I’ll try not to obsess too much on the soap-making skills of RISD grads.</p>
<p>We do not qualify for need-based aid either; we do have to depend on the most financial aid that the school can offer to us. We are trying very hard to let our daughter choose the school that she wants to go to. Some people told us that take the home equity loan better than the Parent Plus loan, because the equity loans offer lower interest rate. I dont know that is truth or not. Thank you for the information.</p>
<p>kat110, I can only advise you to shop around as much as possible to get the best loan deal. Besides looking at interest rates and upfront fees (if any), you should also consider the tax impacts, as you can deduct the interest paid on home equity loans in most cases. </p>
<p>The problem around here (AZ) is that it is getting next to impossible to obtain home equity loans because the housing market has tanked so badly.</p>
<p>I am a risd grad and have been out 5 years. I had my heart set on that school, went to pre-college and loved it as a high school JR. I got a scholarship to MICA and chose RISD, as RISD was my “dream” school. My parents paid in full…with that being said having NO loans it was worth it and ripe with growth and experiences. If I had loans to pay off while barely getting by and struggling as an artist in our current society where everyone one schooled or not wants to be a designer or artist of some sorts…I don’t know how i would do it. At times my parents still financially help me out 5 years later.</p>
<p>Butterfly,</p>
<p>What was your major? Did the school help at all with career advice, etc? Would you say your dream was realized?</p>
<p>Niftydesign - I’m in the same situation as you (super in debt), but honestly, if you really love it, understand what you’re getting yourself into, have short term and long term goals and be willing to live on a super tight budget. Then go for it. But be sure RISD is the right school for your major.</p>
<p>I am a RISD grad, 1986, and I have to say RISD was wonderful. I was a transfer. When I graduated as an illustration major, I went into graphic design. RISD has a winter program that I used to intern at various jobs in NYC that were design based, (at the time, mechanicals and type specking) but I had a real leg up when I graduated PLUS the RISD at the top of my resume, really helped get a job. I was looking in NYC where there seemed like there were always an abundance of jobs. Now, 30 years later, I still use my RISD background in the business I have. Well worth it and I look back at it fondly! And I took classes at Brown while I was at RISD, a little perk that is offered. </p>
<p>depends how much you wanna go. RISD sounds like a fine school, if you’re willing to pay 200 grand of debt. If you could get into RISD, you would probably be able to get scholarships at other art schools for a much cheaper price. Tbh, I wouldn’t mind going to RISD myself, but seeing how hard it is to get in, it is less likely they will have scholarships.</p>
<p>We just visited RISD and my daughter and I both fell in love. It was the foundation year program that really sold us.</p>
<p>She’s just a junior, but right now,it’s first pick. </p>
<p>RISD is a wonderful institution but it’s hobbled a bit by its refusal to grant merit aid. I work in a high school, and last year three of our seniors were admitted to RISD. The two who ended up going weren’t even sure they wanted to attend art school and decided on RISD at the last moment. They both come from wealthy families that can afford to pay full tuition. The third student was the most talented of the three and the only one who knew he wanted to go to art school from the outset of the college process. He comes from a family that doesn’t qualify for much need-based aid but cannot afford 60K a year. RISD is a great place, for sure, but they could be more aggressive in ensuring that their student body is made up of their most gifted applicants. They would be a stronger institution if they upped merit aid in an effort to close the hole that causes them to lose out on talented middle-class kids. </p>