applicantmum77

My daughter, a junior, is just beginning her search for an interior design program. We are unable to locate information as to size of DAAP and size of specific programs within DAAP. Also wondering if it is more difficult to be admitted from OOS. She attends a small private college prep school in the northeast and it is too small to rank. Will this be held against her? Sounds as if their admission criteria is a bit different from what we are accustomed to. Does anyone know what the average sat's, act's, gpa's are of the accepted DAAP students? Thank's in advance.

taxguy

Applicantmum77, I will try to answer your questions in the order posed.
I can't speak for Interior Design,but the other design disciplines have 90 kids admitted each year.

I don't think that being out of state makes it more difficult since UC wants out of state people due to the higher tuition that they can get.

Being from a small private school which is too small to rank might prove to be a problem. Here is the url for UC's minimum requirements for Interior Designa and architecture: http://www.daap.uc.edu/said/bsintdes_admissions

What I have seen is that UC is VERY class rank oriented, wanting to take kids in the top 10% of their class. However, if your daughter isn't in the top 10% or isn't ranked, they want a minimum of 3.75 UNWIEGHTED GPA. Frankly, I think it is crazy to not weight honors and AP courses more, but using unweighted GPA seems to be all that they do. I even met a guy with SATs in the high 700s and a great GPA who was rejected because he stupidly applied too late.

I can't tell you what the average GPA and SATs are of accepted students but Interior Design and Architecture are very highly ranked programs in the US, which brings in some top kids.

I would say that if your daughter has a GPA of at least 3.75 and has SATs of at least 1250 ( and preferably higher), she has a good shot.

Remember, UC doesn't require portfolios for admission to most design programs. They believe that a strong academic kid will perform better than one who isn't as strong academically. Thus, their admission policy is one of the more selective academically among the art and design schools.

Also, it is VITAL to apply as early as possible. Many slots are awarded to those who apply early and meet these requirements because UC uses rolling admission. This is also a bit strange for a very selective school,but, again, this is the way they are. AT least your daughter will find out early.

Hope this helps.

darkdaven

In my experience (out of state DAAP digital design student) being out of state was advantageous. I had great grades in high school and attended a UT before switching to DAAP, and got in based on grades not ranking since I had taken some college classes. UC likes out of state students since they charge us so much to go to school (the only bad point in my DAAP experience, and in my opinion still worth it).

Interior design is very competitive at UC however, so its not going to be easy. I believe they are one of the courses that has a large freshmen class that they then weed down.. so even getting in doesn't guarantee you'll be able to remain there if you're not dedicated. I think its a bad strategy, but I suppose its what makes them one of the best.

applicantmum77

Taxguy and Darkdaven- Thank You! The GPA is not a problem, Sat's will be taken this Spring. So we shall see. We read that only 3000 students reside on campus. I assume this is mostly freshman and does not include the housing in Cliffton? which is off campus??? Is housing an issue? What about safety?

Also wondering how the social scene is for OOS students. Would you consider UC a suitcase school?

Any idea what percent get cut from DAAP after freshman year? My daughter is an excellent student, but has limited design experience at FIT. Do all DAAP students do the same foundation year together?

Sorry to have so many questions, but their website is limited and it's a long way to visit! We learn more from CC! Thank you for all your informative posts!

taxguy

Applicantmum77, let me address your issues.

DAAP has an extremely high return rate for freshmen. It is akin to the ivy schools and somewhere in the 90%++ rate. Some students who didn't return came to the realization that design wasn't for them due to the intense demands of the program.
As one professor noted, DAAP generally doesn't cut people. The students realize they won't or can't make it and drop out themselves.

The fact that 3,000+ students live on campus is very misleading. It should first be measured against the 5,300 hundred kids that get accepted to UC,

Also,there are a large number of kids who choose to live off campus after their freshmen year but near the school. Most of them do participate in school programs, events etc.

Finally, many kids participate in the coop program for two quarters a year., which frees up a lot of space. This applies to many students during their last three years of school. Thus, I wouldn't consider UC really a suitcase school.

Architecture and Interior Design have their own design foundation program. Graphic Design, Digital Design, Fashion Design and Industrial Design share the same foundation program.

There are a lot of housing for freshmen. Upper classmen can usually find housing too.