Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) College Visit

Parents Forum
1

<p>The following is an overview of my visit to Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)</p>

<li>Academics: RISD is one of the oldest art and design programs in the US dating back to 1870. It is widely considered to be one of the best if not the top art and design programs, which consists of 18 undergraduate major and over a dozen graduate majors. We were floored by all of the art facilities comprising over 40 buildings. When you consider that there are only about 1980 undergraduates and 320 graduate students, this is a huge number of buildings for so small a student population. </li>
</ol>

<p>Each building is chuck full of studios, computer labs galore and more. Each major has up to date facilities. For example, glass majors have nice, new big kilns. Textile majors get state of the art looms that are found in top notch factories. </p>

<p>RISD also has hundreds of top notch visiting lecturers that lecture on their specialities. RISD Museum is one of the top art school museums in the country containing a wide range of artistic topics.</p>

<p>RISD gets some of the most talented kids in the country through a tough portfolio review process. Moreover, unlike that of other major art programs, RISD does seek academically qualified stuents too. Average SATs are 1200 and median GPA ( without GYM, music, art, etc.) is 3.3. A program that is heavily loaded with honors and AP courses get a bit of a nudge upwards. RISD gets over 2000 applications and admits about 800 of which 400 accept. Thus, 20% of their applicants enroll.</p>

<p>Liberal arts are also fairly good,but kids can take many courses at nearby Brown University. In fact, there is a strong tie in with RISD and Brown, which will be discussed later.</p>

<p>I did ask about 8 kids how they liked the school. Every single one said that they loved the school! They even said that all their friends and roomates loved the school. This is buttressed by the fact that 93% of the freshmen return for their second year! This is almost akin to what a top ivy school would have.</p>

<p>The students that I interviewed, however, did warn me that RISD takes its art and design program very seriously. Average freshmen homework was 10 hours per week. When I stated that “10 hours per week wasn’t that much,” they responded with, “per class.” Thus, RISD freshmen can expect to put in about 40-50 hours per week of homework, which is more than what is expected from nearby Brown freshmen. In fact, in freshmen year, don’t expect any social life. RISD is a really tough, hard-working school,but the kids love it.</p>

<p>One problem is that RISD is very specific as to their majors. Double majors are not only frowned upon but are almost impossible to achieve. RISD does, however, have a special winter session that lasts 6 weeks that kids take one or two courses that they wouldn’t normally take in their major. These can be software courses or courses found in other departments such as glass blowing etc. Also during Winter break, many RISD upper classmen take courses for credit abroad. RISD has programs in many major countries, which adds to their educational scope.</p>

<p>A second problem is that there are almost two females for every guy, and these girls are cute! I think it is the exercise that they must get climbing all the stairs that keeps them in good shape (Lucky RISD and Brown guys). Even my wife commented that my two sons would love it here.</p>

<p>I should note that RISD has an interesting arts library that had many thousands of digital images and sound clips for video editing and web design. This is a designer’s dream. RISD also has a great nature museum with lots of flowers, dead bugs, live pet gerbils, and many stuffed animals that students can check out and use as a subject for projects. This is quite an extensive resource.</p>

<p>Overall: I would give RISD an A to A+ for their academics.</p>

<p>2.Parking: RISD is located in Providence and right next to Brown. There were meters everywhere,but the good news is that most of them were broken. Assuming this was not the natural state of affairs, parking would be a major pain, having to constantly replenish quarters. I think that many students must be very familiar with the local meter maid and her $15 parking fines. They are in desparate need of parking garages.</p>

<p>I would give parking a C-. to a D.</p>

<li>Food: We stopped by to grab a bite at the local RISD Cafeteria. They serve food all day long until around 1 AM. We arrived between normal food hours (3:30PM). I had a sandwich. I have to say that this was, by far, the best sandwich that I have ever had at a college cafeteria. The turkey was real, off- the- bird white meat; none of the pressed turkey that you normally find in most restaurants and cafeterias was present. They even had some t urkey pesto. In addition, RISD had this fabulous multigrain rolls that you cut to specifications that was “out of this world.” For dessert, we had our choice of 4 different flavoried smoothies or various types of tarts and pastries. Moreover, all of this was simply the “between meal snacks.” </li>
</ol>

<p>Overall we REALLY liked the food a lot. I would give the food a solid A.</p>

<li>Dorms: We were lucky to have someone let us in to see their dorms. They were more spacious than that found in a typical freshmen college dorm. They were clean, and each person had their own fast internet connection. There was no sharing of internet connection. Each person also had their own drafting board. Each dorm had its own ping pong table, pool table etc.
All dorm rooms are either double or some singles. RIght now RISD guarantees freshmen housing,but there aren’t enough housing for others. However, they just purchased a huge new building, which will provide enough housing for sophomores and maybe others who want housing. I should note that there is plenty of reasonable off campus housing for students that are right nearby. Most upperclassmen take advantage of these.</li>
</ol>

<p>Overall: I would give RISD a B+ in dorms</p>

<li>Non- artistic,non-academic facilities: Obviously, Risd has fabulous artistic facilites,but what about the other non-artistic facilities? Frankly, I wasn’t impressed. RISD had a very small gym with weights and weight machines. They also had about 4 treadmills and no swimming pool. Overall,it was very underwhelming. However, RISD kids can and do use the nearby Brown facilites that include a fully equipped gym, swimming pool, ice skating rink etc. </li>
</ol>

<p>I should note that RISD has started breaking ground for a new student union building. This should be ready by 2006, at least that is what I was told. If this is completed, this may change my scoring.</p>

<p>Thus, based on RISD’s own facilities, I would give it a D. However, if you include the fact that they are very tied in with that of Brown and can easily use the Brown facilites then it would be an A.</p>

<li><p>Campus: RISD has no campus to speak of. However, when I think of a campus, I think of some big green area of trees and grass surrounded by buildings. Using this definition, RISD doesn’t have a campus per se. However, they do have about 43 building, all looking quite quaint that span about 8 square blocks. This isn’t a small school building wise. However, think of it as a city school.</p></li>
<li><p>Diversity: RISD has students from every state in the country and from over 44 foreign countries as well. I can’t imagine a more diverse student population.</p></li>
<li><p>Miscellaneous Considerations: First, let me note that RISD has a real tie in with Brown that is unlike that of other major art schools. Many art schools say that they are tied in with one school or another,but RISD really means it. They are right next to Brown. RISD and Brown kids can use each other’s facilities. Both RISD and Brown kids can take classes at each other’s schools, which greatly benefits both schools. However, although this certainly is possible and is accomplished by a number of kids, each school semester ends at different times. Thus, it isn’t as easy as it sounds. Also, the classes have to have an opening. Since RISD class sizes are less than that of Brown, it is a bit harder to get into some of the RISD classes; however, many kids are taking classes at each school to the benefit of both populations. In fact, I met a Brown kid taking a photographic course, and he loved it. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Moreover, RISD and Brown are developing some joint interdisciplinary programs as well. I also understand that Brown manages the RISD endowmen,which is over 200 million. By the way, just to put this in perspective, RISD is the highest endowed “stand alone art school” in the nation. I wouldn’t be surprised if sometime in the future the two schools don’t merge. Why knows.</p>

<p>Second, RISD has an amazing placement/alumni office according to their statistics. Over 90% of their graduates get jobs in their field of study or in a related field. Another 5% go on to graduate school, and RISD is working with the other 5% to see if they wish a placement. </p>

<p>Third, College Hill, where RISD and Brown reside has a lot of quaint shops and reasonably priced restaurants of almost every variety. Not only were there the mandatory pizza restaurants,but many indian, sandwich, gyro, soup and salad, and other nice quality restaurants. If you have even been to Grenich Village in NY or by Berkeley, you would get an idea of the type of town that is very nearby.</p>

<p>Overall evaluation: I would give RISD an overall grade of A. If you are interested in art, design, or architecture, I can’t imagine a much better place to study this than at RISD. However, at a tuition of $27,500 per year, you almost have to take a gulp before you come here. This becomes especially a problem because art and design majors aren’t the highest paid professions in the US.</p>

<p>I should note that you should also visit the school. Your take may be different from mine. I have also published this in the alphabetical listing of school under RISD</p>

2

<p>Wow, Taxguy, you write the BEST school trip reviews. Thank you!</p>

3

<p>Thanks Carolyn. (<em>Taxguy blushes</em>). I guess that when I might spend over $120,000, I get very anal- compulsive about these schools.</p>

<p>Actually, there is one more think that I wanted to add,but CC only allows 10,000 words. RISD is the only art program that provides a five year program in certain majors such as graphic design, industrial design and a few others. Instead of getting a BFA from most schools, you would get a BGA (Bachelors in Graphic Design) or BIA (Bachelors in Industrial Design).</p>

<p>I noticed some typos where I left out s's etc. Please forgive my sloppiness. I guess I am tired from my trip plus I am a horrible proof reader</p>

4

<p>Excellent, helpful summary, taxguy. I might be able to supplement your report in some areas. My daughter graduated from RISD in 2003, with a major in industrial design (ID). She's now working in NYC at a job in which she's doing both ID and GD.</p>

<p>First re the connection with Brown. My daughter took several courses at Brown, mainly in language, sociology, and ecology. (She's interested in ecological design.) But in general it's hard to coordinate between the two schools, but not really because the semester schedules are slightly out of alignment but more because RISD's studio courses are all-day affairs one day per week each. (In addition to the 40+ hours of homework per week, the students spend 30+ hours IN class per week.)</p>

<p>There are already some cooperative courses and programs. My daughter took one course that was joint with Brown engineering students, for example. Architecture has a similar arrangement. I think other programs do as well (e.g., graphic design). </p>

<p>RISD students definitely do have access to Brown's athletic facilities (not just informally but also formally).</p>

<p>Looks like tuition has been climbing a fair bit the past couple of years. You might also note that art/design students also have lab/studio fees for many of their courses and more important than that they can have serious expenses for tools and supplies ($200-$300/mo). Imagine sending your kid off to school not only with the usual PC, but a quarter-inch drill, a dremel, a variety of wrenches, hammer, saw, screwdrivers, files, etc. A big toolbox.</p>

<p>Despite the rigor of the program, RISD has a low drop-out rate. One reason for this is that they have a liberal leave of absence policy. If a student burns out or runs out of money or just needs a break, she can take a leave of absence for up to 10 years and be readmitted automatically with no questions asked.</p>

<p>Also despite the rigor of the program, the students are highly cooperative with one another. Some of this stems from the first year (foundation year) when students tend to develop a "we're all in the same boat" mentality. The "crits" in studio courses tend to be very honest but not mean-spirited putdowns.</p>

<p>I can write more about RISD if you have any questions. One thing you didn't mention is Providence. It is a very lively place. For its size it has many quite fabulous restaurants. (A great place for parents to visit!) One reason may be that there is a Johnson & Wales culinary school there. Another may be that Providence has turned into a mecca for people to come from miles around for shopping and entertainmment. (Tough place to get a hotel room -- book in advance, especially when Brown or RISD have events scheduled.)</p>

5

<p>Taxguy,
You really do write up good college trip reports that touch on every aspect. Thanks. </p>

<p>I am not as up on art schools. It so happens that a friend of my younger daughter's who is a junior did the summer program at RISD this past summer and liked it a lot. I guess he is beginning his college search of art schools. His mom told me that they are not sure on RISD due to the specific majors and the way the program centers on that and I guess this kid prefers a broader art program where you don't have to do that quite the way RISD does. I read that you brought up that issue as well. </p>

<p>My D is a freshman at Brown. The schools basically adjoin one another. I do think RISD kids use things at Brown. In fact, my D tried out for Brown's tap dance troupe and they only let three kids into it and one of them is a RISD student! My D is hoping to eventually take some RISD studios if she pursues a major in Architectural Studies at Brown. She has heard that it is hard to arrange it but not impossible and that other students in this major do this. She knows it entails a six hour class on one day per week which is hard to mesh with other classes. The first requirement, however, is to take the initial studio art class at Brown and she recently learned that she got into the class next semester via lottery, so that is good. I think Providence is a fun city for the kids and all accessible by foot. My D has gone downtown a few times, though she frequents establishments on Thayer Street more often as her dorm is steps off of that street and that already is a fun place compared to home, lol. </p>

<p>Susan</p>

6

<p>Hey - that was an AMAZING trip report...woohoo.</p>

<p>anyways, I love RISD - if i was going in to art, i would surely go there!</p>

7

<p>I would like to try to clear up one thing about majors. It's true that RISD doesn't have double majors. But students really do have a chance to take many courses outside their own major, especially after the first couple of years. Though my daughter was an ID major, she also had courses in illustration, jewelry, metal (casting), ceramics, and graphic design, as well as a couple of "interdisciplinary" courses such as the senior-year concept studio.</p>

<p>Their basic philosophy, however, is to produce graduates who are thoroughly trained in their major field. <em>All</em> RISD undergrads have a common "foundation year": three studio courses and two humanities courses per semester, plus one elective "wintersession" course, in which most students try out a studio course in their intended major. (My daughter tried out illustration, and liked it, but was advised by the instructor as follows: "You 'get' this major. You don't have to major in it." She wanted to work in 3-D but more in an applied area rather than sculpture. And she liked the ID facilities and this is a strong field at RISD.)</p>

<p>Students choose their major by April of their first year.</p>

<p>Then, the second year at RISD is a "foundation" again -- this time for the major field. All majors in that field take the same set of basic studio courses, focusing on concepts, methods, and skills. They can again use the wintersession to experiment some more. Wintersession courses, which last 5-6 weeks, are treated as equivalent to a semester-long course.</p>

<p>By third and fourth year, they have mostly courses in their major but students have more chance to take elective courses outside their majors. They do, of course, continue to have some humanities courses -- non studio. But anybody going to a school like RISD had better be prepared for the idea that some 65-70% of all courses are studio courses. RISD is no place for the general liberal arts major!</p>

<p>There are also ample opportunities for summer or semester or wintersession courses abroad. My daughter spent a summer in Milan after her junior year, studying ID. At least one of her courses her 4th year also involved a project in NYC (the class redesigned the waste-management system for the City of New York). (One of my daughter's drawings from that class was published in Metropolis Magazine, which wrote a story about that class.)</p>

<p>So, while RISD students definitely graduate with strong training in one major art or design discipline, they do get exposure to other fields. The tough part for some students is making that initial choice of majors before the end of the first year. That's a trade-off that goes with RISD's focus on having students coming out with high-order skills in their fields.</p>

8

<p>Four of my best friends from my years at Brown were RISD friends; my family & I spent New Years with one of them & her family. A great deal of informal mixing happens outside classes. People from both colleges live in the same off-campus apt buildings, work at the same restaurants, dance in the same dive bars... I was in a model in a fashion major's fashion show and later was her roommate in Paris, after college. I befriended another graphics major while waitressing on Nantucket one summer, and so on. They are a fabulous, fun, smart, passionate group.</p>

<p>I took photography at RISD and loved it. Senior year I also lived on Benefit Street, smack in the middle of RISD teritory. RISD is a great counterbalancing element that keeps the environment at Brown from being too left brain.</p>

9

<p>Sooz; Great to hear your D got in the studio course! Keep us posted next term...</p>

10

<p>Actually, I did leave something out that I should have added.RISD has 17 very specific majors. They do NOT have some of the more avant-guarde majors such as digital design or multimedia. I guess a student can probably take courses this area,but there is surprisingly no undergraduate major, as one would find in schools like Pratt; also, there is no advertising design major etc. Thus, you really need to check out the RISD curriculum before you apply to see if it meets your needs.</p>

11

<p>Taxguy...you sure really get around!</p>

12

<p>Sgiovinc1, actually, I am a lecturer and really do get around. I have become an expert in "airport bathrooms."</p>

<p>Also, I will be visiting several more schools such as Pratt, School of Visual Arts, Syracuse University, and Towson University. Thus, I should have a few more college reviews.</p>

13

<p>Taxguy, I hope you will do a comparison post when you've finished your rounds. Quite a few others might chime in on a general assessment of art programs. My daughter also visited Pratt, Cooper Union, the Art Institute of Chicago, Boston University, and Syracuse (but didn't apply to any of those), and she applied to CMU, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI), and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), as well as RISD.</p>

<p>Regarding digital design, I doubt that many RISD students would have the background but you might know that Brown's computer science department has a strong history of supplying graduates to Pixar, as one example.</p>

14

<p>Mackinaw, that is intereesting to know. Also, for some reason, there is a real dearth of good information when it comes to art programs. US News doesn't rate undergraduate art programs, and there aren't a lot of discussions here either. Thus, I agree that I need to post as many reviews that I can about the schools that I see.</p>

<p>I am not sure it is because RISD doesn't get the quality of students for these programs. RISD has the highest SATs among that of all the art schools. Pratt and MICA have undergraduate programs in digital media. Even RISD has one but only in their graduate school.</p>

<p>Also, my daughter isn't interested in computer science or getting into the zen of programing. Art is her thing, and art comes first. However, she does want to learn how to design web sites with a music, video and sound integration using the latest sofware and design techniques. If she can learn these skils,she would develop her senior project to encompass this.</p>

15

<p>Now you have me thinking "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." </p>

<p>We faced the same problem that you are facing in trying to get good information about arts programs. All of the standard ratings and rankings books just don't help that much, beyond giving you a kind of directional arrow to look at places where you know they have strong MFA programs (at least by reputation). So my daughter kind of felt her way along (as did we parents)</p>

<p>I agree with your assessment that RISD hasn't created some of these combination programs but wonder whether certain courses in departments of film/animation and/or graphics design wouldn't provide good opportunities to develop the kinds of skills your daughter is interested in, which she can combine with interning or added courses in summers?</p>

<p>I have a brother who works at Warner Bros. animation, and I know that a lot of what people learn for that kind of work is "on the job."</p>

16

<p>I stumbled across the College of Imaging Science and the School of Film and Animation as well as other departments within the college at RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology). Anyone know this school's reputation? It's interesting to see how universities choose to organize themselves to meet the challenge of the intersection of art and tecnnology.</p>

17

<p>I'm in the same boat as many of you regarding the difficulty in getting good info about arts programs. (This stuff is way out of my league, since my husband and I are both engineers!) On a whim really, my S (who was also leaning towards a career in engineering) signed up for the pre-college program at RISD last summer. And he absolutely fell in love with it. So much so that he switched his career plans to Industrial Design. Now going to RISD is his dream, although it's going to be really tough for him to get in since he has only been "doing art" for a few months and his portfolio will be rather limited. (He may have a better chance at CMU, since it recognizes that not every applicant has had the opportunity to take a lot of art classes and allows a "design project" option with the application. But I digress....)</p>

<p>RISD is definitely one of the top art schools in the country. As near as we can tell, there are only a handful of schools that come even close to offering the kinds of facilities,programs, and opportunities found there. The students at RISD are so committed to their art; even in the summer program, my S said there were NO slackers. It was really hard work but everyone was in it together. Staying up all night was fairly routine, but it was easy to stay awake because everyone else in your dorm was up too. My S just loved all that creative energy. My S met many full-time RISD undergrads (who were working at the school over the summer) and every single one of them raved about the school. They all felt the work -- and the very big price tag -- was well worth it.</p>

<p>I had the opportunity to stay in Providence for a week while my S was there. The school itself is in a wonderful historic neighborhood -- between downtown and Brown U. It's a great place to just walk around and soak everything up (although you will certainly get a good workout walking up and down those steep hills!) I was amazed at how much interesting stuff (especially in the arts area) is going on in Providence. It's a great place for college students. And of course, it's just a short drive (or train ride) to Boston.</p>

18

<p>Path1, I actually did a parent review of RIT. You can find it here on the parent forum ,or go to the alphabetical listing of college, and check out the RIT forum.</p>

19

<p>Taxguy, when are you going to write your reviews of "airport bathrooms?" Only kidding...I have yet to stop laughing from your remark!</p>

20

<p>Thanks, that was very interesting.. I loved the tuition price!</p>