hardknox1149

Rankings by national design employers (the people who do the hiring) are just out for 2010, and UC’s interior design program earned the No. 1 spot in the nation, while architecture and industrial design are, once again, in the nation’s Top Ten.

Over the past decade, the University of Cincinnati’s design programs – interior design, architecture and industrial design – have earned top spots in the nation’s report card for design programs, the DesignIntelligence annual poll of employers in the field.

The newest rankings for 2010, just out, are no exception. UC’s programs (housed within the university’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning) head a national class when it comes to preparing students for the professional world.


•No. 1 in the nation: UC’s undergraduate interior design program
•No. 4 in the nation: UC’s undergraduate industrial design program
•No. 5 in the nation: UC’s graduate industrial design program
•No. 6 in the nation: UC’s graduate architecture program

taxguy

Yeah, it's hard to beat UC's coop program.

kmees2000

Hello! I am so glad I stumbled into this forum, in fact I made an account just to participate! I am currently a student who will be graduating with an AA from my college and plan to transfer to the DAAP digital design program. I've already applied, but I haven't completed my short statement...gah..it's so nerve wracking..i've gone through several drafts and I am still unsatisfied.

Any who, I was hoping you would be able to give me some insight on your first year. How are the classes conducted, what kind of "skill" level is required in some of the design courses, and how are your peers?

Belated grats! Hope you're enjoying it!

benellis

kmees2000: make sure you do a good job on your short statement. I think that mine is a big part of what got me accepted. I guess I have OK ECs and my SAT was fine for DAAP, but my unweighted GPA was probably below their standards. My statement was really honest, and thought I wrote it the night before the deadline (I work best under pressure), I think it showed that I'm passionate about ID. Of course, I have no idea why I was really accepted, but this is just my theory.

taxguy

Kmees2000, I can give you some of the answers from a parent's perspective. My daughter is in the Digital Design program, finishing up her fourth year out of the five year program.

I would strongly urge you to take some courses in basic drawing skills. It will serve you well.

In addition, a good part of their foundation year focuses on Adobe products namely power point and illustrator and Photoshop. Although you don't need to know these applications before you enter the program, having a strong familiarity with them will certainly help you throughout your UC career. Thus, I would take some courses over the summer in Adobe products and familiarize yourself with these programs.

Be aware that transferring is tough! They don't have a lot of attrition. In addition, you will probably have to start off taking foundation courses, although you will probably place out of most gen eds.

Also be aware that the Digital Design program is a VERY, VERY demanding program. You will be required to put in many overtime hours throughout your stay at UC and NOT just in your freshmen year.

Also, with the switch to semesters, the digital design program is being combined with the graphic design program to become more of a visual communications program. There will, however, be some courses offered in motion and animation and other digital subjects. It is my understanding that they will NOT be offering 3d modeling after the switch over. Thus, don't expect any training on game design or other types of 3d modeling, which is somewhat incorporated into the curriculum currently. Maybe this will change in the future.

Good luck.

karkri

taxguy - thank you for all your insightful posts on UC DAAP. You sound like you are very much "in" on all the happenings in DAAP. My D just got accepted into the Arch program in DAAP. Of couse she has to decide between other schools (UMich, UIUC, ND, WUSTL) for Arch and also whether she wants to do Arch (she's vacillating between Arch & Civil Engg).

Anyway, my question is with the impending switch from Trimesters to Semesters at UC, what would you think will be the impact on the overall quality of the DAAP programs? For e.g. you mentioned that digital design and graphic design programs will be combined into one visual comm program. Similarly are there any proposed changes for Arch program, for better or worse in your opinion?

BTW, we're in-state (actually in-town:-) for UMich.

taxguy

Karkri, First, Congrats on your daughter's admittance into UC's architecture program. It is a very selective, tough program for admission. The architecture program is also reputably well- respected by architectural firms.

I don't know much about the architecture program, per se, since these kids have a very different program from other design majors. In fact, even their foundation year is different.

As for the quality of the programs, UC is trying very hard to have the same quality of programs after the conversion. Obviously, with the elimination of quarters, this will mean less courses need be taken and less to choose from. However, all other courses will be longer and provide more in-depth information. Thus, I don't think there will be much difference in quality between semesters and quarters.

In addition, the semester conversion might actually be beneficial for coops since many employers want kids working there for more than the usual 10-12 week coop. With semesters, they can have kids there for up to 15 weeks.Thus, the bottom line: Don't be concerned about the semester conversion.

What is concerning,however, is the budget. Many state universities have budget cutbacks,which do affect quality. At many state universities, classes are bigger and their are less offerings. This is particularly true for California State universities,but it also is true for many other state universities.This is one reason for the merger between graphic design and digital design, although, in all fairness, these two majors do have a lot of commonality. How this will play out at Cincinnati for other majors and especially in architecture is anyone's guess.