<p>Hey, I applied to RISD and I'm fairly confident I'll be accepted (not being self-important or vain, my statistics match and I have a good portfolio) </p>
<p>I live in the Midwest and have never had the chance to visit RISD's campus. However, I love the rigorous program and know it has a good reputation. </p>
<p>Could anyone past or present student tell me a little about the school, campus vibe and Providence?</p>
<p>I live in the Madison, WI area, in my free time I like to paint, read, discuss philosophy, do things in relation to my position as a youth representative for the state and president of my high school political activism club, make dmt, and get black out drunk. I love all kinds of music but I'm more of a jam band, edm, hip-hop kinda of kid.</p>
<p>Anyways, whats risd like? Can a hippie kid from Madison survive or will I be ostracized</p>
<p>Hey there badatmath (chuckles at your screen name), </p>
<p>I graduated from RISD quite a few years ago but I’ve been back to visit and it doesn’t seem to have changed all that much. Providence is a nice small city and Brown University is just up the hill from RISD, so there are plenty of college-age people around and events on both campuses. I love the old architecture in Providence - RISD makes good use of interesting old buildings rather than just building from scratch most of the time. Now that the riverfront has been opened up it is quite nice further down the hill as well; you can even take a gondola ride down the river (something for your parents to do whent hey visit, haha). The more non-traditional types of students abound at RISD, especially in fine arts. The more conservative types (and this is relative) tend to be graphic design or architecture majors. The Museum at RISD is really nice. I recommend taking advantage of your ability to take classes at Brown as part of your RISD degree. I did so and am very glad I did. There are all different groups within RISD, like any college, some more edgy than others. If you make an effort to get to know people you will certainly find others like yourself. My advice is to be as outgoing as you can (if I could do one thing over I’d make more effort to meet more people) and take advantage of as many of the great events and opportunities as you can. Enjoy!</p>