<p>Te~chan......Visit RISD before you decide. It may make all the difference. It may reinforce CMU or you may have a new appreciation for RISD. You have great options!!!</p>
<p>To the OP:</p>
<p>My son faced the identical dilemma last year. He is interested in Industrial Design, and he was accepted by both CMU and RISD (his top two choices). He had a very tough decision to make and it took him a while, but ultimately he chose RISD. He is very happy there now and positive that he made the right decision for himself. However, it may not be the right decision for you.</p>
<p>Here were some of the factors he considered:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>ID at CMU is more "process-oriented" than at RISD. The CMU rep admitted during an info session that their students' projects were less polished and refined than those of students going to art schools like RISD. This is primarily a reflection of the differing curricula. You have less time spent in studios (although there is still a lot of studio time at CMU) because of the general distribution requirements. At an art school, you have more time to make the finished project "perfect." Still, both schools give you an excellent education and prepare you to get a job when you get out. Both schools have good placement records for ID students.</p></li>
<li><p>The biggest advantage CMU has over RISD is the "university" experience, where you can take electives in all kinds of subjects -- science, math, foreign languages, music, etc. RISD has only a very limited number of non-arts classes. It tries to offset this by letting you take liberal arts electives at Brown (and a good number of RISD students do), but it's still more of a hassle than taking classes in another department of the same school. Also, you don't get nearly as many elective slots at RISD anyway, due to the time spent in studios.</p></li>
<li><p>Both Pittsburgh and Providence are great college towns. CMU has U Pitt next door and RISD has Brown, so both schools offer a much larger pool of college students to hang out with. Providence is a surprisingly good little city -- with a strong arts focus -- and has the advantage of easy access to Boston (less than $7 and 60 minutes away by train) and to New York (about three hours).</p></li>
<li><p>Just as CMU has interdisciplinary projects among its various departments, RISD has a similar program where RISD ID majors collaborate with Brown students majoring in engineering and other subjects.</p></li>
<li><p>My son felt that RISD's ID facilities were superior to CMU's by just about every measure -- total amount of studio space, storage/studio space allocated to individual students, number and variety of machines in the metal and wood shops, etc. But the lack of a campus and other amenities (like a student center to just hang out in) is a negative for RISD. </p></li>
<li><p>Another factor that was important for my son -- and I think may have clinched the decision for him -- was the "fit." He decided that, even though he really felt comfortable with the ID students and faculty he met at both schools, he didn't want to be a "minority." Although CMU has a well-respected College of Fine Arts, it represents a very small percentage of the total school enrollment -- which is actually dominated by the "tech types." EVERYONE at RISD is passionate about art and design, so he wasn't going to be seen as an "oddball" because of his interests.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I hope this helps. Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>Yes, my next goal is to have my daughter call up RISD and find out what her scores were in both academic and porfolio evaluations. We need to know this before we establish a battle plan.</p>
<p>I also need to have a heart to heart talk with my daughter to see if she is interested in RISD over Cincinnati. Both are very good for different reasons. If she expresses interest in our pursuing RISD, we will proceed with a letter from a top artist her in Maryland, who also tutored my daughter. If it is academics, we may submit letters from the guidance counselor or submit some graded papers. Either way, I need to know what the problem was at admission.</p>
<p>"1. ID at CMU is more "process-oriented" than at RISD." // worried_mom</p>
<p>FWIW, this is probably the most relevant part of the academic discussion. The majority of Industrial Design companies are looking for process, not for a finished piece of artwork - they want to know that students have a methodology they use when approaching a problem, and that the method is not a fluke (ie, it has been demonstrated several times with some degree of success).</p>