<p>I flip back and forth a lot with deciding my top choice school… RISD has been on top for me a lot of the time. But I am starting to wonder if RISD is considered the best because of it’s self promoting elitist attitude? I just don’t want to overlook another school just for the fact that I was merely accepted into RISD. Just a thought. Is there something that really does make RISD the tip of the top?</p>
<p>It depends on your major and what other schools you’re comparing to RISD.</p>
<p>And it depends on you and what you are looking for.
ie location, atmosphere, vibe with students, facilities, resources etc.</p>
<p>Also depends on the financial aid you are given by various schools.</p>
<p>That’s a very individualized question because it could be the best and still not be the best for you and vice versa.</p>
<p>I don’t think you go to art school for the great math department so ranking of art school, IMHO, are based on many criteria that have little correlation to the quality of work produced by students and their success afterwards.</p>
<p>Look at what matters. What school will make you the best artist you can be, teach you how to make a living at it and help you launch your career as a professional artist? That’s the best school.</p>
<p>madaboutx states, "I don’t think you go to art school for the great math department "</p>
<p>Response: Actually, some do want to double major if possible. Wash U St. Louis provides that their art and design students can double major. </p>
<p>Again, what is the best school is VERY subjective. Each person has their own goals. You need to specify your goals and what exactly you are looking for before anyone can make a valid suggestion to you. Although RISD is probably the hardest stand alone art school to get accepted to, it still might not be the best school for you based on a number of factors , some of which are discussed in prior posts.</p>
<p>^
To be fair, nobody who seriously studies art (and has a 3 to 4 studio workload) would have time to devote themselves to a subject such as Math, which would also require serious study to do well in.</p>
<p>greenteatime…have you visited your top choices? If not, now would be a good time to do so.</p>
<p>Thank you all! So many responses so quickly! :)</p>
<p>Well, yes I have visited RISD (as well as other places I have applied) and I did LOVE the location and the feel of the campus and students, etc. I guess I am just worried about the financial aspects… I feel really doubtful that I will recieve money from RISD if I get in, and I will have to start as a sophmore, where KCAI offered me Junior status and a nice scholarship. If RISD gave me no money I would be at least $120,000 in debt compared to KCAI only being about $40,000… I guess I’m just wondering if RISD is great enough that it is worth significantly more debt? I forgot to mention that I will be an Illustration major. RISD and MICA have continuously been my top two choices, but I tend to feel slightly stronger about RISD. A couple of my professors have advised me to go there if I get in and the money will be worth it, but when I thought about the drastic difference between KCAI and potential RISD debt it just made me drastically rethink that…</p>
<p>I forgot to answer your question from earlier. Risd is good, really good, for several areas. Risd is considered to be the best school for Graphic design, among the best for illustration, industrial design, photography, and maybe sculpture. However, Mica is considered to be the best for painting, illustration, among the best for sculpture, Graphic design, and drawing/printmaking. SAIC is considered to share Mica’s title for best painting school, as well as being among the best for Fashion design, sculpture, photography, and film/video. Pratt is considered the best for interior design and industrial design.</p>
<p>Furthermore, have you already been accepted to Risd? How do you know that you will be a sophomore? If you have to go for full pay, definitely don’t go to Risd. There’s no way I could recommend for somebody to go to school to be put 120k in debt. And then there is interest so it’ll actually be even more than that. That’s what a doctor pays back. That kind of debt is crippling. And it’s the only form of debt that will never go away. Plus, it would make the idea of graduate school impossible for you. What if you want to get an MFA some day but cant because it would be way too much money?</p>
<p>Actually, where you go should depend on your major more than the reputation of the school. Risd is among the best schools for illustration but it isn’t considered to be even second best. Mica and Uarts are considered to be the 2 best illustration schools. </p>
<p>And I really do sympathize with you on this. It’s a really stressful point of your life when you have to decide where to go. But even if all your teachers recommend that you go to Risd even if it puts you in, 120k debt I still wouldn’t be able to endorse that.</p>
<p>That is a really great answer Tim. Very informative and definately what I was looking for when I asked my question. I’m glad to know that I am not incorrect in thinking that 120k is not worth it! And I was glad to read that MICA illustration is one of the top two, as that has been tied for my first choice with RISD! Uarts I was aware had a decent program, but I got a weird BAD vibe with every encounter I had with the school. It’s a shame too because I live in Philly, but I just didn’t have a good feeling about it. Oh well. I already know that I am into MICA, which is good (just waiting on money!), and I should hear from RISD next week, so I guess we will just have to wait and see… Just out of curiousity, where do those ratings come from? Is it just a common knowledge, or is there some sort of statistical back-up?</p>
<p>It’s essentially a measure of reputation. It is according to who has the best long term reputation by students, employers, experts in the industry, and educators. If you think about it, the numbers are kind of a statistical fiction. So Risd students are essentially known to be incredibly hardworking, a little conceptual but typically mainstream, thus they gain a reputation in accordance with this. Beyond reputation, statistics concerning job placement/graduate school placement, overall happiness of student body, the state of the facilities, quality of teaching, and how strong the faculty is are thrown into the mix as well. Finally the selectivity of schools (their acceptance rates) are also considered. Schools release this info, and formulas developed by ranking organizations are applied to calculate this info. Schools release this info in an indirect attempt to advertize for themselves as being ranked highly has advantages. </p>
<p>But then there are schools that don’t care to report these numbers so rankings are inaccurate. Cooper Union, for example, doesn’t care to provide this information because their tuition policy allows them to consistently attract the best student body and a lot of applicants. So despite being drastically more selective than any other art school, possessing the best quality if students, attracting the most respected faculty, and having good facilities, Cooper typically goes unrated because they don’t care to release this information. Then there are schools who are rated very highly because of their graduate schools but have weak undergraduate programs. So the numbers always misrepresent the facts to a degree by default.</p>
<p>Good work Timkerdes.
Your posts here should be a sticky at the top of the forum. You have encapsulated the basics and it should be required reading for anyone starting an art school search. In fact I think if we all got our heads together (taxguy, wheaty and too many more to mention) we could write a book. Insiders Guide to Art School Admissions!!!
With the subtitle (And Schools Strong in Both Art and Liberal Arts)</p>
<p>And as to the million dollar question that greenteatime brought up about debt and value -
When my son was applying to schools it was a given from the get go: He could apply to RISD with the knowledge that if they did not give enough money there was no way he would be attending. We set out a figure in advance that was our maximum outlay. We would not permit him to take out loans beyond the max Stafford loans (about 25k). In my mind that is the cost of a new car and to me an education is far more valuable than a car. But anything beyond that is too much of a burden for a young person to carry when they are starting out and needing to pay rent and feed themselves. Throughout the whole process I kept reminding him it was very unlikely he would be attending RISD. But in the end they gave him a great FA package and the numbers worked. With my second son (who is in his application cycle now) we had the same conversation and it was NYU that I warned him would be the least likely to give aid and the least likely he would be able to attend. Guess what…they just gave him a guaranteed merit scholarship that makes it possible for him to choose it. It may seem like I am saying this to brag (and I am extremely proud of my kids!) but really I am writing this to say that there is no way to predict how the cards will lay when the whole application process is done. For that reason I recommend to anyone to have a good mix of schools in their list - Academic/portfolio reaches and financial reaches as well as safeties in these two areas. Do not cut yourself from trying for the ones that seem impossible because you don’t know how things will turn out.
Good luck greenteatime. I know it is hard to be in this in between stage where so much is unknown. Why do you think so many of us parents end up here on CC? It is a great outlet for those of us who have anxieties about not being in control of the future!!! Then we get hooked and stick around to be there for students like yourself when our kids have moved on and no longer need our OCD skills (if they ever did in the first place). :)</p>
<p>Drae I appreciate your experience and OCD skills! lol. I think I have gotten some pretty great advice on this thread. So thank you all! I think the way you explained how your son handled it is a great idea, and I think that is what I will do as well. I’m SO nervous right now!</p>