Upcoming admission info needed for DD for Comm/GD

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
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DD is a junior and we started looking into schools. We have some idea regarding art schools as we went through this with DD1.
@JBStillFlying @BrooklynRye I have been reading your posts since a few years back. With DD1 she was in PrattMWP but had to move back home for her own personal reasons and health during the COVID and she took a one year break. She decided to stay in state (Texas) at home and transferred to CVAD … @JBStillFlying I know you have a kid at SCAD. DD2 is inclined to RISD and PRATT but does not like the cold :slight_smile: she was looking to SCAD too. With DD1 transferring to a state university art school, she is going through that review each year that you mentioned in one post. Its been extremely stressful to be under that program and to not know if you still are going to be able to continue becoz they cut down from a few 100s to 50 kids for Comm Design. I was NOT aware and would never know unless i read your information about SCAD. So SCAD has a review each year too? That might just stop DD2 from applying.

DD2 is a very ART loving child but she is not that typical art kid if you know what i mean. None of her friends are in art and she hangs out and behaves like a regular kid. This is not meant as a disrespect to anyone but we have to look for a fit her her kind for the 4/5 years even if she decides to go to a private art school. I have seen the kids at PrattMWP with DD1 and there was a good mix. I am assuming Pratt Brooklyn would be similar too. What about RISD?
DD1 was decided with PrattMWP so we did not do any school visits. I am thinking we will need to actually go spend a day in the schools to get a feel.

Comparing RISD and PRATT in the Comm Des, which would be more inclined to a city job or internship? I am assuming RISD is as well connected as PRATT even though PRATT is closer to the city?

She has a GPA 4.8 as of this sem of her junior year. Quite good in art I must say having won gold emblem in state art contests so her portfolio level could be a bit higher than average. She is attending the online NPD tomorrow so she will get some feedback. She is however not showing any inclination to SAT and with most schools going optional it has further reduced her motivation.

Sorry for this long post! A few years went by and it seems I have to start all over again!

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My D was in animation so I can really only speak to that. However, SCAD has (or had when my D was there - she graduated in 2020) a minimum major GPA of 3.0 for most if not all majors, and a minimum GPA of 3.0 overall in order to keep your merit aid. Definitely check/confirm those requirements before making any final decisions. As long as you meet the GPA, however, you should be able to stay in that major. As pretty much every class includes critique, the “review” is ongoing but there is no general admission to a “pre-major” the way there is at many larger, public universities. At the latter, they are selecting for admission to the BFA program for some field (GD/Comm D, animation, etc). In contrast, if you are admitted to SCAD, they will start you in your declared area of interest and as long as you make the GPA minimum, you will graduate with that major.

As Brooklyn Rye posted a few years ago, their RISD kid did an internship out of junior year with a large well known company. My Pratt kid did a variety of smaller part-time positions in the Brooklyn area and didn’t even look for a “real” job before graduating, but was employed full time within a few weeks of starting her job search. Opted to move back to the Midwest and has been working as a creative director for a publishing company in the Chicago area for over three years now. Said her portfolio and Pratt degree really opened a lot of doors and that despite being very busy at work, the deadlines are completely manageable compared to the degree of rigor at Pratt. They prepared her well.

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@JBStillFlying thank you for the clarification! I was aware of the the gpa and the merit based scholarship regarding SCAD. I was thinking it would a portfolio based review each year like my DD1’s school now, which is very unfortunate since kids rejected after two whole years will have to look for another major and start over now. Anyway the word is they are getting done with that system now.

Got you. Given the reputation of the two schools nothing less is expected.
Thank you again. Always benefit from your posts.

We are looking into MICA too. Today DD2 had some of her work reviewed on the online portfolio review and she got very good vibes from MICA. I don’t think we will be able to decide anything without school visits with my younger one. :slight_smile:

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MICA was another excellent consideration for our kid as well. Best of luck to your daughter and congrats to her for getting this started now - she can get some great feedback this year which will help her a lot come this time next year.

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@JBStillFlying can speak to the large majority of your questions much more ably than I.

We were in a similar situation as far as doing our due diligence, when our daughter was applying to art schools. We did 3 consecutive accepted student days, going from MICA to Pratt to RISD in a 3-day span.

Focusing on your question re RISD versus Pratt, there were several deciding factors for our daughter. First, at Pratt, she was struck how the accepted students seemed to have already “cliqued-off”. She did not feel welcome at tables dominated by kids who had already met and seemed to have formed a tight social group. Second, whenever she mentioned in conversation with other accepted students that she had also been accepted at RISD, the unanimous response was, “Then what are you doing here??” Finally, although in close proximity to New York City, she had the feeling that most students did not actually go into NYC very often. I stress that her perspective was personal to her and is certainly not the same for everyone.

As for RISD, she generally felt safer in the Providence campus area, enjoyed the proximity of Brown and other mainstream colleges, and was very taken with the reputation of the school. There was a strong sense of degree portability which turned out to be spot-on as her job interviews for summer internships after 3rd year and for a full-time job after graduation, all noted her RISD degree as a major positive.

That said they are both excellent schools, with superb reputations. Pratt may have the edge with its extensive, lifelong career support resources.

From your post, I would advise trying to get a best sense of the culture of the schools your daughter is considering. Our daughter is very much a mainstream social person, who also happens to have a passion for art. She never envisioned herself doing anything else and was very opposed to going to a mainstream school. This has its costs as art schools often feature more “fringe” kids who do not move in the mainstream (as a “regular” kid) so to speak. This made socializing very difficult which is why, also, the presence of several mainstream colleges in the immediate area made RISD so appealing.

Will leave the specifics of Comm Design (our daughter was an Industrial Design major), to JB.

Good luck!

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@BrooklynRye Thank you so much. Yes we will have to visit and visit during school time. We were planning during summer however I don’t think she will get the feel of the community when the campus is empty. Its kinda difficult to plan anything for us during school time from down here in Texas, the time stretches for travel and she cannot take that many days off during this junior sem. She will apply wherever she has to and maybe we will visit during fall when the work load at school gets a little lighter. While I scan CC for information and tips. Thank you so much!

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RISD is a great school and while not in the city would provide many internship opportunities.
Texas to cold climes is a whole 'nother ball game–not to mention the HILLS in Providence. When we visited it was very pretty, a cute SMALL downtown and wore us out just looking at the climbs in every direction it seemed.
My D went to Manhattan location for Pratt for graduate school. Great education and great internships but right now (even then) I wasn’t overly comfortable with the area. She “took the long way home” to avoid areas and some subway rides. The actual main campus is probably very different.

MICA isn’t in a great area of town. I hear as long as you pretty much stick to the MICA “bubble” it’s okay (or was–it’s degraded over last couple of years).