Comparison of MICA with RISD

industrialmchn
Wed, 03 Jun 2009 15:29:46 +0000

I am more able to talk about MICA than RISD as my daughter is an upcoming junior at MICA. MICA students have a huge choice of liberal arts classes. My daughter is taking many History and Literature classes. However, they can also take courses at Johns Hopkins which has a terrific liberal arts curriculum. MICA is part of an inter-collegiate program in Baltimore. Many of my daughter’s friends take math and language classes at JH as they are not offered at MICA. Also, my daughter chose MICA over RISD based on one very important factor: student work. Go to both college websites and look at the student artwork.

Artists have told me that RISD’s education is more about training designers. The people I know who went there do things like, repair hot air balloons, design furniture made from found wood, etc. A recent MICA Student worked on Tim Burton’s movie, Coralie drawing storyboards, another won the Society of Illustrators award. MICA’s painting department is exceptional, they have a studio in Florence where the students can study. According to U.S. and World Report, their M.A. program in painting is ranked with Yale. Also, look at the on campus crime statistics for both schools.

My daughter loves her classes, professors, friends, and she has a brand-new spacious apartment that includes a kitchen, living area, bathroom and 3 single bedrooms with ceiling to floor windows. The dorm also includes all-glass studios, as well as a snack bar. The Walters Art Museum is within walking distance, and Baltimore has many other museums, like the Baltimore Museum of Art, and a fabulous aquarium.

The course work is very demanding at MICA and is not for the faint of heart. My daughter took 6 courses last semester. Her digital media class was from 4PM to 10PM.

When we visited RISD, the admissions office was surrounded by students waving us away from the building. We were not permitted to visit any dorms, and the RISD students on the green heckled the H.S. students visiting the campus. We had the impression that so many students apply there, that they were sick of all the applicants. MICA is very transparent about what they offer students. They are second and so they try harder. The President is a former RISD president, and the vice-president is the president of the association that accredits art schools. We were frustrated trying to get a feel for RISD, its professors and classes. I think RISD doesn’t try anymore because it is resting on the laurels of its reputation and is overwhelmed with applicants.