Fulbright for Interaction Design: Tisch ITP vs RISD vs CMU

muaddib86
Sat, 16 Oct 2010 06:09:40 +0000

I’ll be applying for a Masters in Interaction Design, and my applications essentially boil down to this: the Tisch ITP program at NYU, RISD’s Digital+Media program, and Carnegie Mellon’s program. I got a Fulbright scholarship so cost is no issue.

I’ve heard a lot of good and bad things about NYU (the PhD prof I’m currently working under told me absolutely NOT to go there, but then he taught in Theatre), but I really want to live in or around NYC. The opinion on their ITP program is generally positive, as are the rankings, but then people say that NYU is generally a cookie cutter institute mostly coasting on its prior repute.

The problem with RISD is that it’s a pure Art\Design school - I don’t know how it ranks overall, and I was looking forward to taking courses from disciplines other than Design. Since I’m ultimately seeking to pursue a PhD later in Media Sciences\Visual Culture, I don’t know how an art school degree (even from a top tier one like RISD), will help me get there.

CMU is great rankings wise, excellent academics and campus, but then Pittsburgh isn’t exactly the city for me (very dull). I would really appreciate any information\insights into the above schools and their programs.

Thanks in advance for the help!