<p>Hi, I'm new here, I was wondering if anyone who graduated from design schools in general could offer some advice for the lost soul. </p>
<p>I'm an international student (graduated from a respectable design school in my country w/ BFA in Graphics Design). It has been my dream to study abroad in the NYC and my dream school is SVA. </p>
<p>I want to someday work in the States.. and I have been offered various opinions on whether I should start over my undergraduate study, start as an undergrad transfer student, or just go directly to the graduate school and get an MFA. I've talked to a few friends who have graduated from RISD and some other schools, and they seem to think that if I want to get employed someday in the States, it would be far more advantageous to have a US degree of BFA, rather than a foreign BFA degree and a US MFA degree. Getting both BFA MFA in the States is not totally out of the picture, but I'm afraid it would take too many years and the cost in NYC would be prohibitively expensive.</p>
<p>So, what do you guys think? For a better job prospect in the future, should I get a BFA again or just go for an MFA degree in design? Would US employers in design industry really care that much about where you received your undergraduate degree if one had a more advanced degree? </p>
<p>In my opinion the design world is not going to care about what degrees you have, it’s all about your work and your portfolio. Apply to some high end schools for the advanced degree and see if you get in, if not then you might want to consider that BFA. It’s the portfolio, not the degree. And then a lot of hard work and lucky breaks. In the design world a degree from a school like RISD might carry a bit more weight and some schools do have stronger programs but I sometimes wonder if RISD only carries weight because they know anyone from RISD is used to working long long hours under pressure. If a design company gets a stupendous portfolio from somebody from a lesser known school and a so-so portfolio from a RISD graduate they’re going with the stupendous portfolio.</p>
<p>Oh and if they received an ultra amazing portfolio from someone who didn’t get a degree they’ll hire the ultra amazing portfolio person. It’s the quality of the work and then maybe the school.</p>
<p>So, barring a major difference in quality of portfolios between prospect employees,</p>
<p>would you say that there would be a discernible difference in employment opportunities upon graduation depending on your school’s (sva’s for example) vast alumni network etc in the design industry? </p>
<p>I’m just wondering why people around me are so strongly suggesting that I repeat the undergraduate courses if I want to get employed in the US in the future!!! argh~</p>
<p>Any international students who have been in the similar situation care to chime in?</p>
<p>I don’t really understand why the focus on undergraduate. If you can get into a graduate school you can handle it. If not then go undergraduate would be my thinking.</p>
<p>Did you ask them at the time? Because I really don’t “get” why someone would look at it that way and there might be a logic behind it but…It is true that some schools will perhaps give you better connections or saying you weree a graduate of so and so can help. What did you friends say about RISD? Are you not interesting in going there? I’m also curious about what the responses would be re SVA as opposed to some other schools.</p>
<p>Well, RISD is out of the picture for me as I’m currently looking at only schools in NYC. My friend, who graduated from RISD, said it’s advantageous to repeat and get a US BFA degree than getting an MFA degree, when looking for a job in the US.</p>
<p>I think your friend has it wrong. If you have the skills and your portfolio is strong why start all over in the same discipline. If your portfolio is not strong enough for landing a job but is strong enough to get into a grad program, two years should be enough “student” time to build a good portfolio. SVA has a great graduate program in design. Very good teachers and head of department is Steven Heller. Very well connected writer and design critic. Join the AIGA and volunteer at events in NYC. You will meet many, many people in the industry. Don’t waste your money. NYC is expensive enough.</p>
<p>I second that!!! go get your graduate degree and don’t worry about spending money on another undergrad degree. In fact some people might like the “exoticness” of your having an undergrad degree from somewhere “away”. It will give you a different perspective in your work and there’s an appeal to that.</p>
<p>I actually posted the same question on a different forum and I got the following reply as the answer (part of).</p>
<p>“The question of BFA to MFA is an important one, however. It depends upon your goals. The BFA is considered a “professional” degree, designed to prepare students with the formal and conceptual skills to enter the workforce. The MFA is very different. MFA study is more theoretical, less commercial and more research based. Depending upon your plans post graduation, an MFA may make you look more attractive to an employer, or less attractive. The only people really needing an MFA are educators, as it is currently considered the terminal degree in our field.”</p>
<p>So, I guess that was the reason why my friends were suggesting the route of repeating the BFA. Any opinions on above quotes?! Thanks again for participating guys!</p>
<p>The decision of going back or moving forward depends your own talent. What country are you from? If the goal is to work in the states, then it’s paramount that you understand how to design for an American audience. This will be extremely important to anyone who will hire you. You need to make yourself very useful to an employer. Do you friends think you should do the BFA because you will have more time to take in the culture or because you didn’t get a strong enough skill set in your former program?</p>
<p>I think my friend’s suggestion had to do with a little bit of both you mentioned i.e. culture as well as different curriculum offered in the US schools. And, you are right, I think it’s important to understand the audience, which will take time. Thank you for your insight, drae27.</p>
<p>So if you need some time and skills and money isn’t an issue it seems that doing the BFA over will put you in a stronger position. I still suggest joining the NY chapter of the AIGA and volunteering at events. They have a student membership: [AIGA</a> New York / Design Events Workshops Talks Blog Video & More](<a href=“http://www.aigany.org/]AIGA”>http://www.aigany.org/)</p>