<p>All students there we saw are either waspy white or Asian. And, NO ONE is fat or ugly.
Coming from New York City, it was amazing. I have this surreal feeling every time we take trip out of the city to New England, but this is just
weird.
Oh beautiful school, gorgeous library, how friendly students are to each other.
They will offer Brown/ RISD duel degree (AB from Brown BFA from RISD in 5years) new this year but have to be accepted to BOTH schools to begin with. Gosh.
I wanted to grab every kid and ask, Just how your parent pay for this?<br>
Our guide was photo major and honest to tell us if he does not know about certain course but willing to go extra mile (literally) to show us whatever we wanted to see.
Children I brought had great time. My hope is that it will inspire them to study hard and do their best if not to come here but for their own good.
SAT 600 each, for art school!? GPA high 3, not counting art grades !? $ 50,000 plus for no way getting out of crappy dome and meal plan until junior year !?
Scary.</p>
<p>We pay for it the same way lots of other parents pay for expensive private colleges – with a combinations of savings, loans, and whatever scholarships and other financial aid we can find. Having just finished a major capital campaign, RISD’s top fund-raising priority now is to increase its financial aid, because it knows that it is losing some top talent to other schools who can offer more help. So maybe there will be more money available for financial assistance by the time your children are ready for college. </p>
<p>My son is a junior at RISD, and we believe that RISD is worth every penny we pay, but I know people who do not agree with that. Our tuition dollars are going towards some incredible specialized facilities, salaries for some truly creative wonderful faculty, and small studio classes. Your comments seem to imply that you hold “art school” as being somehow less worthwhile than other forms of post-secondary schooling. But we feel that our son is getting a superior COLLEGE education, and the high SAT scores simply reflect RISD’s high academic standards. RISD requires each student to take a significant number of liberal arts classes. RISD students can take some of those classes at Brown, so they have to be capable of doing that level of academic work. If they were not, I’m sure that Brown would be far less interested in collaborating with RISD.</p>
<p>And yes, RISD students are mostly White or Asian, as it is at most design schools -- and a good many elite colleges and universities as well. And for the record, there’s also an extremely unbalanced gender ratio of 66% females to 34% males – again, just like every other art/design school. The actual numbers are:
Black 2%
Asian 13%
Hispanic 4%
Native American 1%
International 14%
Caucasian 66%</p>
<p>We aren't at that stage yet. And I'm not sure what is worth what this early on. But if D was talented enough to get accepted into a place like RISD or similar priced school it would be due to solely to a confluence of good fortune: multiple professional incomes, one child, and years invested in a registered educational savings plan. </p>
<p>On one hand it seems crazily expensive. On the other, it almost seems normal when you select what to compare it to. This is so not us, but I see a heck of a lot of $50,000 cars and SUVs on the road, hear of people redoing kitchens or outdoor spaces or whatever for $75 grand, buying second homes, and so on. At least an education returns value and does not depreciate with time like a car or a face lift. </p>
<p>But such a school should hopefully find ways to open it's doors wider. I can't imagine it is in their interest (or that of the students) to turn away talent, or lose valuable diversity, because the selection is limited by financial issues.</p>
<p>All students there we saw are either waspy white or Asian. And, NO ONE is fat or ugly.
Coming from New York City, it was amazing. I have this surreal feeling every time we take trip out of the city to New England, but this is just
weird.
Oh beautiful school, gorgeous library, how friendly students are to each other.
They will offer Brown/ RISD duel degree (AB from Brown BFA from RISD in 5years) new this year but have to be accepted to BOTH schools to begin with. Gosh.
I wanted to grab every kid and ask, Just how your parent pay for this?
Our guide was photo major and honest to tell us if he does not know about certain course but willing to go extra mile (literally) to show us whatever we wanted to see.
Children I brought had great time. My hope is that it will inspire them to study hard and do their best if not to come here but for their own good.
SAT 600 each, for art school!? GPA high 3, not counting art grades !? $ 50,000 plus for no way getting out of crappy dorm and meal plan until junior year !?
Scary.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman at RISD and she also loves the school. She works very very hard at that school. If you’re lazy forget it. You won’t make it. Her observation in talking with her friends from other universities is that they party and drink much more than she ever thinks about. She also gets an attitude about how easy art school is. Wrong again. After her short 2 ½ weeks Christmas/Winter break, she was ready to go back to school. Said she felt too lazy not working. You must have an established work ethic. 25% of the kids are from outside the US. She gets a very worldwide experience. Regarding the payment for this school. Yes, it is very expensive. We are not rich. But we chose to spend our money on her education and not other things, as was stated in another post. </p>
<p>My last comment is about how good looking the kids are. Really? I didn’t notice that at all. But, my daughter said the same thing when she got there. How do they do that? My daughter is cute as can be, (Her mom speaking) but they never saw her before she showed up as a freshman.</p>
<p>I have a theory for this.
Both parents are well educated, well resourced, at least in US more than couple generations long if they didnt come on Mayflower. Like marries likes, have good tastes outside and inside: as a couple naturally produce cute babies whom grow up to be cute young adults because they eat better food, play sports or do ballet,dressed and groomed well, have access to orthodontist and dermatologist, steady curfew and bedtime for beauty sleep, equally attractive circle of friends in same racial- socio economic range that repeat the cycle all over again. It is nature and nurture.
Please do not get me wrong. I am not bitter because we do not have the advantage as those students that not only pretty but also hard working and talented as well.
It saddens me the void is just too wide. Coming from Japan, I am forever outsider and observer. If my child is a genuine geek or even better, international student, I had no clue what is really going on in this free country.
I took one of my sons classmates (HS sophomore) to the RISD tour during school vacation. The boy is one of the most devoted and talented artist but else underachiever. Who could give them a chance if it is not these fancy schools which actually have funding, and manpower and the connection? I wish you could see the wonder in their eyes peeking in glass blowing furnace thing.
In reallity, best we can ever able to do is start with City College and pay our way out somehow, and hope.
It is their lives anyway, not ever our badge of honor for our job well done.</p>
<p>Bears and dogs—I loved your post. My daughter would benefit from knowing a wonderful person like you and your children. I think every child should go to the best college they can get into. And the college should help them get there (in the form of $$$). I know that is not reality of it. I have had plenty of people on this post and in my real life tell me that my daughter should not go to an expensive school like RISD if we can’t afford it or because its just art school. The heck with them! I believe in her and that RISD is giving her a great education. They are teaching her to be disciplined and think creatively. I think that is just what the world is going to need. And they are lucky to have her too! It is a perfect fit. Additionally, She thanks us about every two to three weeks for her education. She knows the sacrifice we are making. My husband and I work very hard to send her there. So what? What else are we doing? We’re her parents and we love her.</p>
<p>Osage notes,"I know that is not reality of it. I have had plenty of people on this post and in my real life tell me that my daughter should not go to an expensive school like RISD if we can’t afford it or because its just art school. The heck with them! I believe in her and that RISD is giving her a great education. They are teaching her to be disciplined and think creatively. I think that is just what the world is going to need. And they are lucky to have her too! It is a perfect fit. Additionally, She thanks us about every two to three weeks for her education. She knows the sacrifice we are making. My husband and I work very hard to send her there. So what? What else are we doing? We’re her parents and we love her."</p>
<p>Response: Osage, you remind me of my best friend who spent OVER $40,000 for a bar mitzvah ( for a 13 year old kid),which he could hardly afford. In fact, he had to take out a second mortgage on his home! I think he did this to "prove" his love for his son, although I am not sure who he is trying to prove it to.</p>
<p>Yes, I do understand the sacrifice parents are willing to make and are making for their kids,and I do applaud this. The question is not "whether you should spend the money because it is an art school." The question is ,"Are there equal but less expensive alternatives!</p>
<p>RISD is a very snooty school when it comes to merit aid. The same can be said for many other schools such as the Ivys. Is RISD better in design than schools like University of Cincinnati,which does give out merit aid and has cheaper tuition to begin with? I would doubt it!</p>
<p>Is RISD necessarily better in fine arts than schools like MICA or Syracuse, who does give out merit aid and have sterling reputations? I doubt it, not to mention many other top notch art schools and state schools ( caugh..tyler school of art of Temple University..caugh)</p>
<p>I, for one, do NOT believe that RISD is the only school that can provide the opportunities and creative training necessary nor do I think that the ivys produce a better education that a number of other great schools and even some good state schools. As proof of this, take a look at the faculty at both RISD and Carnegie Mellon. Most of the faculty did NOT attend either RISD or CMU. They attended other schools!</p>
<p>To me, folks who can't afford RISD could have easily found less expensive alternatives that wouldn't have compromised their retirement and would have resulted in an equal, quality education at a much cheaper price. However, like my friend, I guess they can't help themselves in "proving" their love for their kids by paying for the most expensive school around. IN addition, schools and sites like this, reinforce this belief that going to certain "named" school will give you a better education or better skills. Frankly, from seeing the backgrounds of faculty and of successful practitioners in most fields, nothing can be further from the truth!</p>
<p>You ask what would you do with the money anyway? WEll, you could have bought a house for your daughter with the tuition saved or funded your future grand child's education with a section 529 savings plan.</p>
<p>Note: I am NOT knocking your decision.You did what you thought was best for your daughter.</p>
<p>
[quote]
RISD is a very snooty school when it comes to merit aid. The same can be said for many other schools such as the Ivys. Is RISD better in design than schools like University of Cincinnati,which does give out merit aid and has cheaper tuition to begin with? I would doubt it!
[/quote]
RISD is not "snooty." There is a huge deficit, this year they had to accept 100 more students than usual in a desperate attempt to pay it off. Most ivy league schools are generous with financial aid. Harvard is the most generous because they have the most money. Harvard extension school is a good deal also. In general, the bigger the endowment, the more money they can give you (RISD is a big exception).</p>
<p>How could most of the faculty attend RISD? RISD is one of the world's most selective art colleges, few people have attended it. This is pretty silly.</p>
<p>I know that art can be self taught, but that doesn't mean an expensive education is worthless. I have yet to meet anybody who regrets going to RISD.</p>
<p>I hate how everyone here is so fashionable, skinny, clear skinned, and often asian. It makes me look bad by comparison.</p>
<p>Linzoy notes,"I know that art can be self taught, but that doesn't mean an expensive education is worthless"</p>
<p>Resonse: I NEVER, EVER said that an expensive education is worthless. This is quite a falacious argument. You are puting words in my mouth that were both not said or meant. What I said is that there are " less expensive but equal alternatives."</p>
<p>As for no one disliking RISD, go to students review forums. I can't give you the url since it would violate the Terms of Service. Just research "students review." Check out the comments under RISD. Not everyone was thrilled with it, and there were folks who really regretted all the money that they shelled out.</p>
<p>As for faculty, most of the faculty at RISD, CMU and other highly selective schools didn't attend those schools. They attended lessor named schools. Assuming that these faculty are considered top in their professions and are competant at what they do, attending an expensive, "name" school isn't necessarily the way to go over one that might offer aid. I honestly dont' think that RISD is better than MICA for example. I don't think they are worse either. I honestly think that you can get a top notch design and art education at many schools such as Syracuse, Pratt, Calarts, Art Center College of Design, Cincinnati et. al. without having to go into hock!</p>
<p>Yes, some of the ivys, such as Harvard has increased their aid substantially. However, this is NOT uniform among top schools and is a very recent situation.</p>
<p>and yes, as I noted in my RISD review found at the top of the RISD forum, the kids seem to be very attractive. I too wondered why there is an overabundance of attractive kids. I wonder if this wasn't a factor in selection from the picture they used in their portfolio? Who knows?</p>
<p>Taxguy -- are the 'students review forums' on this website?? If so, can you tell me where? If not, can you not give the url but tell where to find them? I am interested in checking them out! Thanks.</p>
<p>There are so many factors to consider when choosing a school. Finances, albeit crucially important, are just one facet. RISD offers a superlative education -- and a supportive, engaging, often thrilling environment -- that fits a great many superlative young artists to a T. My D is a junior and has been consistently ecstatic about her RISD experience. And, contrary to what others have written, RISD has been extremely generous with both merit and financial aid for us. We work hard, too, to afford RISD, as does our D, but we can't imagine a better college experience for this particular artist of ours. During the college search times, we visited a lot of schools and my D had many great choices with better merit and need-based aid offers -- and several of them also felt as if they offered a charmed environment -- but it was clear that RISD stood out, that she was happiest around RISD. (And she's not snooty!) Honestly, she mourns a little already at the thought of these four great years ending next year, even as her art world deepens with amazing opportunities. </p>
<p>One thought about why you might not see as many RISD/CMU-educated faculty at those respective campuses: maybe the RISD/CMU graduate is more inclined to work in his/her field than teach. Some schools, like RISD, are more about creating working artists than artists who will get grad degrees to teach. Just a thought.</p>
<p>Just a thought on how RISD could be selecting all those attractive students. There are all those in-person National Portfolio Day reviews and students who come to the campus to check it out. I doubt it is intentional, but certainly a portfolio reviewer at an art school is an artist themselves, and would be attracted to an aesthetically pleasing face. Since art is subjective anyway, it could go into the evaluation as a subconscious element...</p>
<p>I was always so curious to see what this RISD place is like....now I'm extremely curious...all this talk of good lookingness.</p>
<p>When I was at a top bschool years ago, us PhD students used to remark on how utterly beautiful every MBA class was(the same wasn't true for the PhD students). Now we knew they were each interviewed before acceptance, so we figured they purposely selected on that criteria given they had so many applicants. But seriously, we always wondered if it was coincidence, or a correlate of other factors that predict acceptance at a top MBA program, or if they knew the research showing that, however unjust, attractive people also do better on average in subsequent job interviews. In the MBA rankings game, such considerations matter. </p>
<p>One theory is a correlation between wealth and physical attractiveness which comes about because people with wealth (or the potential for), in comparison to those without, are more likely to be able to attract, and thus choose, beautiful spouses.</p>
<p>Wow! Such a reaction? Were you shouting when you wrote this? It must be the tax guy in you, Tax Guy.</p>
<pre><code> <<<“RISD is a very snooty school when it comes to merit aid. The same can be said for many other schools such as the Ivys. Is RISD better in design than schools like University of Cincinnati,which does give out merit aid and has cheaper tuition to begin with? I would doubt it!”>>>
</code></pre>
<p>Taxguy, your too smart too equate a coming out party with a college education. And didn’t your daughter apply to RISD? Were you going to tell her no if she had been accepted? Or maybe she was accepted and you did say no for all those reasons you just listed. Good! Great! But, I don’t have to do what you did. Sending my daughter to RISD doesn’t make your decision not to send your daughter to RISD wrong. Neither does it make my decision wrong. As a matter of fact, I have never made a better decision in my life. (Oops! Besides marrying the right guy and having great kids)</p>
<pre><code> <<<Is RISD necessarily better in fine arts than other schools? >>>
</code></pre>
<p>My family and I thought it was. You disagree. Fine. Why argue with my decision? It’s a matter of choice. </p>
<pre><code> <<<“Look at the faculty at both RISD and Carnegie Mellon. Most of the faculty did NOT attend either RISD.” >>>
</code></pre>
<p>That is true at all schools even at University of Cincinnati! </p>
<pre><code> <<<“To me, folks who can't afford RISD could have easily found less expensive alternatives. You ask what would you do with the money anyway? WEll, you could have bought a house for your daughter with the tuition saved or funded your future grand child's education with a section 529 savings plan.”>>>
</code></pre>
<p>I could have not sent her to any college and saved a butt load of money that way too. Finding a cheaper alternative to RISD wasn’t my goal. If it was, I could have sent her to community college. So, it’s our priorities. SO What! It is our choice and our money. Be calm. We have retirement money. And by the way, I don’t want to buy my daughter a house or buy my grand child’s college education. She gets the pleasure of doing those things herself. I just wanted to send my daughter to RISD and I have to work and sacrifice. It’s ok. That’s what I do. That’s who I am. Why is this such an argument with you? (Peace and kisses) Out!</p>
<p>Osage, I am not sure that any community college would be equal to RISD. Thus, poor analogy.</p>
<p>Again, I am NOT knocking your decision. I have no problem with parents working and sacrificing for their kids. I am an accountant. Thus, my thinking tends to be very financially bottom-line oriented; thus, as your noticed, my name. LOL</p>
<p>Yes. Peace and joy to you too and lots of luck to your daughter.:)</p>
<p>I don't think there is any conspiracy about the attractiveness level at RISD. Art students tend to look good, asian women tend to look good, gay men tend to look good (in a certain way), and rich people tend to look good. Add all four together and you have RISD.</p>
<p>Thanks for the non-link to student reviews taxguy. I'll look at that.</p>
<p>There was pile of flyer titled Multicultural life at RISD on polished oval table in the office where we had our information session. I took it and read it, it amaze me how every photo has somewhat colored students in it. BUT WE DID NOT SEE THEM!!! Maybe now school is in low-key time called Wintersession?
In the flyer there is info about pre college scholarship, this is where my saga originally started. I asked for financial aid forms and received already, that underlined on every word significant for financial aide eligibility. That means free lunch from public school or being ward of the state.
Ok, I think now, I am bitter because we are not poor enough for their standard not only rich enough
.
My son excitedly reported the trip to his YMHA art teacher ( blonde and very pretty by the way) asking her opinion on RISD.
She grew up in Connecticut having parent that is successful artist. She applied and been accepted but opt for Pratt for better aid money. I think it is telling enough. Sign.
P.S.
Hello, Tax guy. I become somewhat fan of your guts. When I heard about Brown/RISD duel degree program, first thought it came to my mind was
Gee, it would have been perfect for Tax guys daughter!
I think Im spending too much time on this site.</p>
<p>Hahaha Linzoy I really want to quote that.</p>
<p>I have found this thread to be interesting and also a bit frustrating. All I can do is speak from personal experience... My son received more scholarship money from RISD than the others. (Pratt and SVA included...) While he attended Pratt Precollege (loved it) and was offered a substantial scholarship there as well, RISD was a better choice for HIM. He is loving RISD and it has been a perfect fit. </p>
<p>People on these boards can only reflect what they personally felt/experienced when visiting or attending a school. There are so many factors each individual needs to take into account when deciding on what school is right for him/her. Sure seem like people feel the need to "bash" schools (on this and many other threads). Just because it is a highly ranked art school does not mean it is perfect for all students. We certainly didn't love all the schools we visited, but that doesn't mean they won't be a perfect fit for others. (SCAD, Parsons and SVA included)</p>
<p>BTW, I have spent much time at RISD and can assure you that all the students are NOT rich and beautiful! While my DS certainly is beautiful, we are far from rich and his friends are VERY diverse!</p>