RISD Class of 2013?

industrialmchn
Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:37:55 +0000

I am more able to discuss MICA rather than RISD as my daughter is a rising 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, not just Science, like most people believe. MICA is part of an inter-collegiate program in Baltimore. Many of my daughter’s friends take Math and Foreign 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 artwork. Go to both college websites and look at the student work. See what speaks to you best and your own goals.

A recent MICA student worked on Tim Burton’s movie, Coralie, drawing storyboards. Mica’s painting department is exceptional, they have a studio in Florence where the students can study. According to U.S. News and World Report, their M.A. program in paintings is ranked with Yale.

My daughter loves her classes, professors, friends and she has had both sophomore and junior year, 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. Freshmen live together in the Commons, a large building with apartments and a green common area. 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 RISD students on the green heckled the visiting H.S. students. 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 is probably still a great art school, but it just doesn’t try anymore because it is resting on the laurels of its former reputation and is overwhelmed with too many applicants.

Baltimore is full of interesting things to do, lots of history, art, opera, etc. The harborfront has a huge Barnes and Noble in an old factory, there is a Hard Rock Cafe etc. If students have any free time, which is rare, they party at Johns Hopkins, Annapolis, Goucher and Loyola. But they love to party best, dressing up and going to the student run Cabaret, where artists get crazy.