At a Standstill and the Deadline is in 2 Days

Applying to College
1

I am a High School senior and I would like to major in Interior Design(ID). I have no experience in this major because my high school does not offer any courses related to ID and I did not take any summer courses at any college related to ID(which would have probably helped me significantly, but they all seemed so expensive at the time.) I don’t know much about any firms that I would like to work at or where I would like my career to be geographically located. Everyone talks about New York City being to best place to go, but there must be other metropolitan areas that are viable options. Lastly, the general verdict from many firms and websites is that ID students who study in programs that incorporate science and architecture are more well suited for the work place instead of art-based ID students.

I have been accepted to the following schools:
New York Institute of Technology
Delaware College of Art and Design
Savannah College of Art and Design
Virginia Tech(I was accepted into my second choice major)

Wait-Listed:
Rhode Island School of Design

Interested in, but did not apply to for various reasons:
Fashion Institute of Technology (didn’t have all portfolio requirements)
University of Cincinnati (missed the application deadline, which is in December)
New York School of Interior Design (didn’t want to be locked into a major that I am unsure of)

My two most realistic/financially do-able options are DCAD and NYIT. My dream school is RISD. The top-rated ID school is SCAD. I’ll go through what I believe are the pros and cons of each choice. I’ll be putting the total Cost of Attendence next to each school. This is probably going to be long and I hope that someone here may be able to give me some advice before the end of this weekend. I probably should have posted this a week ago, but I didn’t know about this website until today.

DCAD - $27,000 per year
This is a two-year school and they have direct connections to Pratt(I don’t want to go to Pratt). I have heard that it is an easy school to do well in and I fear that some of the stuff that they teach I might already be proficient in. They offer an Associates in Fine Arts and from there, I would transfer to a four-year art school such as RISD and SCAD. The school is small and the ID program is on a microscopic level(they typically have 10 or less student per year.) They offer a Foundations Semester where students learn about each of the majors offered for about two weeks each. Foundations is important to me since I am unsure of my major. They also have a “Co-op” program where a student can choose to take a whole year to do internships either after their first year or second year at DCAD. This sounds very helpful and beneficial.

NYIT - $21,000 per year
This a four-year school and they offer a Bachelors of Fine Arts. They combine the architecture and ID students for the first year and try to teach the ID students lessons from architecture. I would have to commute to this school and it is approximately an hour and a half away from me.

RISD - $70,000 per year(no scholarships)
A four-year school and offers a Bachelors of Fine Arts. They have a Foundation Year for the freshmen, you cannot enter the school decided on a major. They are very rigorous and the ID program leans towards Interior Architecture, which focuses on renovating existing spaces.

SCAD - $35,630 per year
A four-year school and offers a Bachelors of Fine Arts. They too have a Foundation Year, however, I don’t believe it’s the same type that DCAD and RISD have. They are the top-rated undergrad school for ID and offer the ability to pursue a Minor, which is not common in art schools. I never attended a information session about SCAD, so my first-hand info is limited. My friend who did visit tells me they place a lot of emphasis on internships.

FIT - $18,000 per year
A four-year school that offers an Associates of Applied Science for the first two years. Students must then reapply to the Bachelors of Fine Arts program and receive that degree after two years. They are also a rigorous school. It is the most affordable option for me, however, the portfolio requirements are beyond my current capabilities. They ask for 5-8 pieces of original interior designs which can be rendered on a computer or hand drawn. They also request a 3D model. I asked the admissions office about transfers into the BFA program from NYIT and they told me that if I want to be accepted into the BFA, I MUST graduate from their AAS program.

NYSID - unspecified amount per year, you pay per class
A four-year school that offers a Bachelors of Fine Arts. They offer the most in-depth education for ID and are the top-rated graduate school for ID.

VT - $41,285 per year
A four-year school that offers a Bachelors of Science. They are one of the more well known science-based programs. I do not have much more info on this school.

UC - $38,952 per year(no scholarships)
A four-year school that offers a Bachelors of Science. They have a specific program called Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning which I have heard is rigorous. They have a strong co-op/internship program.

Thank you to whoever reads this.

2

What’s your budget? (What can your parents afford without taking loansw refinancing the hose, etc)

3

The FAFSA report says that my parents can afford to pay ~$4,000 per year. We would have to take out loans. I don’t think they would refinance the house because we just did that within the past 5 years.

4

None of your options appear to be affordable.

5

I know, that’s why job placement is very important so that I can start paying off loans asap.

6

Interior designs do not earn a lot of money, unless they are stars—like IDs to celebrities or IDs that have TV shows. You will be working for someone when you first get out of school. You cannot afford any of these schools (I am judging based on the low EFC from your FAFSA, but we really don’t know the REAL number that your parents can pay.)

A lot of community colleges offer ID. I recommend that you look at community colleges that offer that major, get your AA, then transfer to a four-year college.

7

Are you able to list scholarships if any that you have received for these schools? Or is the COA you’ve listed are after scholarships/loans have been applied?

8

Did you get any financial aid at all?

Can your parents pay $4,000 each year?

If you are eligible to file the FAFSA, you can borrow the freshman level student loan of $5,500. You might be able to work and save about $3,000 in the summer and school year. If your parents can pay $4,000, then the total you can reasonably come up with is $12,500.

None of the places on your list are affordable. I know that really stinks. But look carefully at the design programs at the community colleges near you. You should be able to get the first two years of your design classes there for much less money.

Do not let your parents borrow money for your education, and do not let them co-sign any loans with you. Your career field is likely to be very low paying for a long time. It would be very hard to pay off the loans.

9

None of the schools are affordable, sadly.
Are you instate in NY State? In that case you should be getting free tuition for NYIT or FIT, right? How do they end up being so expensive?
What are your stats?
Interior design is very specific and requires acquiring skills but also a perfect of the “habitus” of the various demographic groups likely to want to hire an ID.
In a week or so, there’ll be a list of colleges that miscalculated yield and still have space, you can try and see what colleges are on there.

10

Commuting an hour and a half each way is too much in the arts. You will have to put long hours in at the studio, and three hours of commuting when you add up both ways is too much work time to lose.

Have you looked into the arts programs at your nearest community college?

11

The COA that I have listed is after scholarships have been applied that I have received from the schools. The schools that are labeled “no scholarships” are ones that I have not been accepted to/not applied to.

12

@MYOS1634 the website does not list any tuition discount for NY residents at NYIT.

13

I don’t see how any of these are affordable. As a student you are very limited in the loans you can take out. I’d also suggest exploring the CC route. Perhaps you could use the CC time to pull together a portfolio that would allow you to transfer to FIT for your last two years.

14

I live in NY, specifically Suffolk County. Suffolk County Community College offers a very minimal Interior Decorating program. There is also Nassau Community College, which has a designated Interior Design program. However, A girl who goes to NYIT told me that Nassau’s program resembled interior decorating.

The reason NYIT is expensive is because it is not actually part of the State University of New York(SUNY) system and is a private institution. FIT is a SUNY school and is expensive because of the dorms. In New York, the Excelsior Scholarship program was enacted in 2017 and enables students to not pay tuition for SUNY schools. This doesn’t include housing.

I am hesitant to go to a community college because most schools do not accept design/art credits from lower ranked schools such as Suffolk or Nassau. The only reason that community college would make sense is if my grades are bad- which they are not.

I have heard people who transfer with all of their electives and liberal arts courses often go through an insane amount of work at the new college. This is because when at the art college they transferred to, they must now take strictly design and studio courses which is pretty much a death sentence.

@MYOS1634 I don’t know what you mean by stats. My grades? Also, where can/will I find this “miscalculated yield” list?

Since FIT is the cheapest of my options, the fact that I missed the deadline due to a lack of skills, and my strong desire to go there due to their tough course load, I’m thinking of now taking an online course that give me the skills that I need to apply. Essentially I will have to take a gap year.

15

stats= GPA/test scores/ any AP/IB/SUPA/CollegeNow classes?

Yes I meant with the Excelsior, the total costs shouldn’t be so high, direct costs should be room&board only at NYIT and FIT.

The list will be published in about a week on the NACAC website as well as discussed on CollegeConfidential .

16

FIT sounds like a realistic possibility. I can’t understand the process tho into the art program. But if your parents can only afford 4,000 you will possibly get more aid (which can go toward room and board). Have you run a net price calc? Maybe you can take a gap semester instead of a gap year – look into rollign admissions.

Do NOT do part-time classes until you figure out whether this would technically make you a “transfer” student. Some schools would categorize you as such and it would be a different application process and more importantly, give you different financial aid (less).

Did you look into SUNY Purchase?

17

FIT is the school that is the cheapest of my options and I have been talking an admissions advisor who told me i can take my gen-ed courses at a CC(such as Suffolk) for one year and then transfer into FIT’s associates program for one year. Like I said in my original post, FIT only accepts their own students into the bachelors programs. So then I would go to Suffolk for one year and FIT for 3. This would help me save some money.

SUNY purchase does not offer ID as a major. The two SUNY schools that do are FIT and Buffalo(I have not heard anything about the ID program there.)

Stats
GPA: 4.0 or 98.0
AP U.S. History: 4
A.P. English Language and Composition: 4
A.P. World History: 3
A.P. Micro Economics: currently taking
A.P. Macro Economics: currently taking

18

Thank you everyone who pointed me towards a community college. I think I have my plan completely thought-through except for how I’m going to fulfill FIT’s portfolio requirements of room design and a 3D model. I’ll probably take an online course or possibly ask my art teacher who does interior design as a side job to help me before the school year is over.

19

That’s a great plan. However, I think instead of asking your art teacher who does ID as a side job, you should go directly to the source. Contact an adviser at FIT to find out EXACTLY what you need to do, what you need to take, and what credits will transfer. Get an exact plan from FIT. You appear to be very resourceful, so I have no doubt you will research and find the right person at FIT to talk to.

20

Your plan is excellent but do check with FIT; in addition, if you do a great job at CC you can apply to the DEA major at Cornell (it’s accredited for Interior Design) - Cornell has lots of financial aid and takes a lot of transfers.