should people pay more for a better school?

RoaringMice
Mon, 04 Feb 2019 18:42:23 +0000

For graphic design, it’s the strength of your portfolio that gets you jobs, not the reputation of your school. And even witth school reputation, it’s in no way, shape or form about the reputation of the school as a whole/its academic rep - it’s about the reputation of its design department. Graphic design employers are looking at your portfolio, and want you to have had strong internships in the field (which also helps with your portfolio.) The portfolio and work experience far outweigh the academic reputation of the school. Likewise, most GD employers don’t ask about your college GPA. It’s about the portfolio/work experience.

Generally speaking, so long as the school you go to has the strength of coursework to give you a strong portfolio, and professors with deep connections in the field (which they normally have in a decent GD program no matter where you go, as most professors in the field are practitioners), you are fine.

To speak beyond these generalities, I’d need to know exactly which schools you’re talking about. If you’re arguing, say… RISD versus East Nowhere State U which doesn’t have a strong GD department, then depending on the amount of loans you’d need to take out, I might send you to RISD (if RISD is $240k in loans, I would not.) But if you’re talking RISD versus MassArt, and MassArt requires far less loans for you, I’d send you to MassArt.