transfer graphic design

mom60 · 06-21-2008, 04:44 PM

Looking for suggestions as to schools with good to decent graphic design programs
My son finished up his freshman year and is questioning his school. He likes his campus, friends but feels like the art dept might be lacking. He is at a 4 yr university. His first choice has always been art school. My husband will absolutely not pay for art school. We both believed he needs a well rounded education. My son is willing to stick it out after talking with people who are in positions of power in the work force as to the importance of having a degree and critical thinking skills.
One option is to return home and attend the community college and look to transfer jr year. This is the cheapest and probably most logical path. Only problem is I really don't want him living at home. Plus his friends in town are mainly on a path to nowhere and I feel like he would get sucked into the life.
Another option is to go back to his school and work hard at bringing up his gpa and investigating different programs and applying as a transfer from his 4 yr school. He might also find that he can make his present school work for him.
Biggest obstacle is the freshman grades were not great. Including one F. I think the overall gpa is about a 2.75. ADD and learning disablities and a decision that he would not use meds did not help. Along with immaturity and missing more class then he should have.
I would push keeping him home if I really felt he would mature. He is two different kids. He can be the most deep thinker and motivated when he is away from his peers. Get him with his peers and his common sense goes out the window.
Schools would be preferable in the West.

emeraldkity4 · 06-21-2008, 06:22 PM

If he is in Wa, Seattle Central community college has an excellent graphic design program- Graphic Design & Illustration
It is very competitive for admission however- my daughter who won the art award in high school as a senior and had a strong arts background wasn't admitted.
( but just as well, we decided it was easier to do art on the side than science

)

taxguy · 06-22-2008, 10:05 AM

Have your son look at the University of Cincinnati. It has a terrific graphic design program, cheaper tuition than most private schools, and paid 1.5 years of coops,which gives fabulous experience. Wash U St Louis would also be a good choice as would Syracuse University.

Frankly, once you have the basic liberal arts that was provided in the first year of college, I don't see why your can't go to an art school. There are a number of great program in art schools plus many of these schools have relationships with top college in order for students to take courses.

For example, RISD students can take courses at Brown. MICA kids can take courses at Johns Hopkins. I am sure other schools have relationships too.

poi · 06-22-2008, 10:54 AM

Also, look at Arizona State University. They have a very strong program. Chapman also has a program in Graphic Design. Best of luck!

LongPrime · 06-22-2008, 11:04 AM

Not a rec. Niece is doing Portland Art School, a four year program. In the meantime she is surfing, and waitressing.

anneroku · 06-22-2008, 07:45 PM

I second the recommendations for University of Cincinnati and Syracuse. As far as the West, I believe the University of Washington has a good department, as well as UT Austin. But the strongest western schools really are the art schools in California.

He will have a problem transferring with that GPA, so bringing it up should be a priority. It may be less of a problem if the low grades are outside of his major.

mom60 · 06-22-2008, 08:17 PM

The grades will be a problem. I am not pushing transfer. It will have to be his drive that makes it happen. I am going to give him a few suggestions and what he does with it is his choice.
The lower grades are outside his major except for the F which is in an art history course that he blew off at the end of the year and did not turn in the final paper. His LD are in the area of written expression and also memory. He had options to use accommodations but didn't follow through. It was a recipe for disaster. Once again his choice. (He will have to take on paying the cost to retake the course at some point)