<p>It's getting closer to May 1st and I need some advice on which college to pick. I've read some of the other posts but I had a few of my own concerns about which one to choose. I'm not quite sure what I want to do yet but if I had to choose a major, I would pick illustration. </p>
<p>I've visited both colleges last week and at first I was pretty sure I wanted to go to MICA because they actually have an illustration program but when I visited SAIC I sort of "fell in love" and ended up liking it a lot more than I thought I would.</p>
<p>I went to MICA's open house and was able to take a tour and talk to students and professors about the school. To me, it seems like there are many internship opportunities and graduates have a better job placement percentage than SAIC does. It's also possible to take classes at Johns Hopkins (which is another major plus since I have been open to going to graduate school there for their medical illustration program)
Their campus is really spread out, which I don't really like, and the neighborhood does seem a little "sketchy" as some people have said before. Transportation is also another issue because I won't have a car but there are buses availble so I could live with it if I had to. Another inconvienece is that Baltimore is about a 10 hour drive from my home but I suppose I could live with that as well if I had to. </p>
<p>SAIC allows students to take as wide of a range of classes as they would like and they do have so many different classes. Their facilities and dorms are great, and of course, it's located in downtown Chicago which is a major plus. It's so easy to just jump on the train in order to go anywhere and my home is about an 3 hour train ride from Chicago which is most convienent.
When I toured there, I did learn that they have internship opportunites available as well but I think it might be more self-driven (like I would have to work harder to find opportunities whereas MICA holds a career fair where students can talk to companies and make connections much easier). SAIC also doesn't have an illustration department which is sad but I think I would be able to manage my classes. It's also possible to take classes at Roosevelt University a couple of blocks away but I'm not really familiar with this college at all. </p>
<p>What it basically comes down to in my mind is should I go where I think I'll be more successful but might not be as happy (MICA) or should I go where I'll be happier even if I might have to work harder at finding success (SAIC)? I'm equally torn between these two great schools.</p>
<p>Hi Caihui7. I’m in exactly the same boat you are. I got into RISD, SVA, MICA, and SAIC, but I have narrowed it to SAIC and MICA (with 2 other universities) due to cost.</p>
<p>SAIC is only an hour away from me, and the South Loop of Chicago is wonderful! The CTA system is extremely easy and I have a lot of friends going to Chicago. It’s also very safe, and they have the best dorms out of all my colleges. They also gave me an 80k distinguished scholarship and work study so it’s really affordable for me. However, I am turned off by the no majors and lack of illustration program as well as the lack of a grading system(it’ll hurt me if I want to transfer). SAIC also has a high acceptance rate and a low retention/graduation rate. Roosevelt University is not very known at all. The well known Chicago Universities usually are University of Chicago, Northwestern(Evanston), DePaul, Loyola, and University of Illinois - Chicago.</p>
<p>I have not visited MICA yet, but from what I’ve heard the dorms are pretty nice. I don’t like how they do not provide desks. I live far away, so I won’t know where to put the desk during the summer. Also, my parents are really concerned about safety (I’m 5ft tall and weigh 94 pounds so I’m defenseless). Are there shops around? What is the neighborhood like? MICA did not give me work study and my parents are not too keen on me working a part time job if nothing is around.
I also think MICA is better job placement wise. It certainly has more selectivity, and their students have better work (although I haven’t seen much work from SAIC kids). MICA gave me a trustee scholarship of 64k, so it’s substantially more expensive than SAIC. Honestly, I like everything about MICA more than SAIC except the location and dorms.</p>
<p>Wow Myloto congrats on the scholarships from both! That’s like double what I got from both schools. If you don’t mind me asking, why did you decide against RISD and SVA? I also applied to both but I didn’t get into RISD and decided against SVA because I didn’t get much scholarship money.</p>
<p>I would have to agree that the lack of majors is what is definitely holding me back from SAIC as well as the job placement rate. I think with a lot of hard work that it would be possible to get a great job though but it would be a lot tougher than graduating from MICA. I did talk to the head of illustration when I visited MICA and he told me that the majors and reputation of the school you graduated from doesn’t really matter when interviewing for jobs as much as your portfolio.</p>
<p>When I visited Baltimore I didn’t think there were that many shops around and the neighborhood was mostly residental so it didn’t look like there was much to do. Of course, many people told me that you have to venture out of the “MICA bubble” in order to find some fun things to do. Safety will probably be an issue anywhere you go but MICA’s location did seem to be a bit more dangerous. As long as you are aware of your surroundings you should be okay. </p>
<p>Right now I believe that I will go to SAIC and if I don’t like it, I could transfer. I know the grading system was another thing I was also on the fence about but when I visited they told me that it’s still possible to get “unoffical” grades from your teachers as long as you ask them when the semester starts. So if you’re worried about grades transferring you could always do that.</p>
<p>I decided against RISD because I didn’t feel like it was the right fit for me when I visited. I would be the economic minority, and some of the kids had a snobby attitude. My mother hated the hills, haha. Providence was really nice though, and the work was really good. However, they didn’t give me much money, and I decided I didn’t want to go into 200k debt for RISD.</p>
<p>I emailed a LOT of alumni (almost everyone on that career track packet) and all of them loved MICA and have jobs - all their friends have jobs too according to them. I visited SAIC last week, and more than 1/3 of the kids I talked to don’t have jobs, but have good “leads”. </p>
<p>I’m still stuck in between, but financially SAIC would be so much better for me, so I might end up there. Otherwise, I might end up at DePaul, my cheapest school. I think SAIC might be too conceptual for graphic design. However, Chicago internships might make up for the lack of art DePaul has to offer. That’s the thing about art - it’s all about the portfolio. Both of my cousins that are currently employed at Apple went to UIC. They discouraged me from going to UIC or DePaul though. :/</p>
<p>Oh cool it sounds like your cousins have awesome jobs but why would they discourage you from UIC or DePaul? Just because they’re not as art based?</p>
<p>I didn’t know they had Facebook groups actually so I’m not but I can join them right now. </p>
<p>And I’ve just looked through the course book from MICA and I really think MICA would be a much better choice just because their so much more structured which is good for me I guess. Another thing I found is that if I went to MICA it’s still possible to take a semester fo classes at SAIC or a whole list of other schools junior year as long as I meet the criteria so in a way I guess it’s possible to still get a feel for what it would be like at SAIC if I still want to in the future</p>
<p>I think it’s mostly because they didn’t have a college experience. I feel like because they graduated without any loans whatsoever and are now making tons of money, they regret not taking out the loans to go to a better school since they know they can make money.</p>
<p>I also like MICA better, despite Baltimore. However, it now comes down to a numbers game for me. I could graduate without debt at DePaul, 15k debt at SAIC and 40k debt at MICA. Of course my first choice is the most expensive.</p>
<p>I did end up choosing SAIC a couple of days ago. What helped me pick was looking at the course descriptions and the list of classes they offer at both schools. In the end, there were a lot more interesting classes at SAIC rather than MICA and it seems like I would enjoy them more which is why I picked it.</p>
<p>I’m probably going to drag out this process for a couple more days…</p>
<p>I emailed the graphic design department at SAIC and it looks like they don’t teach UI/UX. I’m wondering whether or not I can learn that on my own… I’m worried about the design classes; the drawing classes will probably be top notch. I took a figure drawing class at SAIC last semester and it was awesome!
Do you know what the liberal arts classes are like? I’d like to have some academic classes along with art.</p>