UCLA DMA vs CMU Fine Art vs RISD Graphic Design vs NYU Steinhardt Studio Art

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
1

Hi guys! I have about 14 more days to make this decision, so I’d really appreciate some input on this subject matter. Below, I’ll list some pros/cons and details about each of these schools. PLEASE share whatever advice/opinion you may have!

UCLA Design Media Arts:
This is my DREAM SCHOOL. I’ve been a slacker all of my life, but I pulled my shit together in JULY to put together an entire art portfolio for college, and my Cali dream has been the driving force through all of this. It’s heartbreaking to imagine not going there, especially after my acceptance, but they only gave me $2k (I’m OOS), so it would cost about 58k a year to attend for me. My parents have said that they’d shoulder $30k for me wherever I choose, so I’d be 120k in debt upon graduation from UCLA.

CMU Fine Art:
Well… this isn’t really what I want to do, and CMU seems too rigorous and competitive for me. I was rejected from their design major. HOWEVER, they are giving me 38k a year in aid, which cuts down the cost to around 26k a year. no debt for me, but WRONG MAJOR, AND DEPRESSING ENVIRONMENT. fantastic reputation though. but… I hate the rain.

RISD Graphic Design:
They gave me about 17k a year, so it would cost give or take $30k a year for me. I’m unsure of the exact numbers but I would be debt free upon graduation. I honestly don’t know much about the school or the program, but I have concerns about the limitations of going to an art school. Please enlighten me and inform me on the pros and cons of their program!!! I’d really appreciate any input.

NYU Steinhardt:
I really have no opinion here. I received a $30k Steinhardt Scholarship, and then another $10k in some sort of portfolio award? unsure. the cost would go down from 70k to 30k a year. I don’t know much about the program but it isn’t very talked about, so I assume there’s nothing special about it? Neutral feelings about living in NYC, I’d prefer it over pittsburgh (CMU) though. It just feels like a waste to not take the scholarship.

My eventual hopes are to go in the communications direction! Would love to somehow go into advertising because I love language, I love breaking down the thought processes of human beings, and I love art! Some other schools I was accepted into include USC, Pratt, SVA, Scad, CalPoly, UC Davis, SMFA, but I’m not really considering any of those.

2

You have tough choices!
All I can tell you is, I would not have sent my daughter to UCLA if I (or her) had to endure so much debt!

3

UCLA might not be worth the cost. Definitely don’t go to CMU if you don’t like it. RISD and NYU definitely have different vibes especially in terms of student undergraduate population–which do you prefer? RISD is incredible for the arts. IF you are 100% set on design then def go to RISD, otherwise if there’s a chance you might switch majors, NYU is the way to go!

4

Awesome choices! If you are truly a “slacker” then can’t imagine what the world will see from you once you are cured!! Each of those choices will be quite demanding but totally worth it if you are willing to put in the work. You obviously have enormous potential.

Take a close look at RISD. 100% job placement upon graduation. Close affiliation with Brown so you can cross-enroll and take up to half of your LAC’s there. Amazing art and design environment. One of the top (if not THE top) graphic design program in the country. One of the top design schools in the world (top five at minimum - last I checked it was #1). Graduating debt free is like icing on the cake. As “design” is a way of thinking about a visual problem to be solved, it’s obviously going to impact both the fine arts and more “practical” areas such as architecture, interior space, websites, computer games, cinema, advertising, consumer products, animation, etc. Look no further than AirBnB which helped kickstart the “sharing” economy we hear so much about nowadays. The founder was a RISD grad.

The only thing you need to consider is whether you want a studio vs. classroom experience. Can’t speak about the other programs you were accepted to but RISD is a BFA program so is going to have approximately 21 contact hours per week during foundation year for its studios alone. Several more contact hours for the two academic courses. You’ll need to spend a lot of additional time on “homework” too, of course, so it’s very work-intensive (not that UCLA or CMU aren’t!). It’s a very challenging environment but their retention rate is 95% for the freshman class and their six year grad rate is about 87% (70% in four years). Those are on par with many top university program and phenomenal for a BFA program (where you can see a lot of transferring out for various reasons). You can get on College Navigator and compare to other schools although as university programs they are only going to reveal university-wide stats, not those of the schools and colleges you have been accepted to. Or contact your person at UCLA and get the stats for DMA. They are probably not far off.

One more thought comes to mind: not sure whether Steinhardt encourages a studio environment or not but one definite advantage of entering a dedicated design program would be that it fosters creative and innovative idea-making (rather than mere study of that). As an analogy, think of the difference between film production and film studies. A good film school will offer both (usually in a 2/1 studio/classroom environment). You definitely need to study film making in order to understand the context of your work. But if you are a producer, while your creativity will be ENHANCED by your academic classes it will actually be DEVELOPED by the experimentation and risk-taking that you do in studio. In short, studio is CRUCIAL to a creative producer. That’s why RISD and other design schools have such an intense studio emphasis and why they are known for producing top creatives.

Well done and Good Luck!

5

I’d say take a close look at RISD too. Has the programs, the reputation/prestige, and decent financial aid. It seems like a no brainer.

UCLA is just undoable financially.

CMU is a great school, and I would advocate for it… but if you don’t want to major in fine art then there’s no use in considering it. But keep in mind that most art schools (RISD especially) are very competitive and rigorous and you will find that everywhere, not just at CMU.

Most RISD students describe freshman foundation year as “hell.” I think Mamelot explained it pretty well in his/her post up there. But I’m just saying that rigor/competition isn’t a valid reason to discount CMU when compared to other institutions. And like Mamelot said, RISD graduates are extremely smart and successful in different fields. I don’t think it’s as suffocating or limiting as compared to other art schools.

Don’t know anything about NYU, but again it’s studio art, not design.

6

NYU is great

7

may want to consider VCUarts though its late in the process. #2 ranked fine art program in the entire country and actually tied with UCLA for top public, Only Yale ranked ahead. Great graphic arts department. Reasonable tuition.