Hello,

I'm new to this forum, nice to meet all of you. 

I am currently studying Art (with strong interests in graphic design, photography, and architecture) at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in NYC.

I am planning on applying for a foreign exchange program in the upcoming year, and wanted to see if anyone had any opinions about which would be better for Graphic Design/ a great experience for an aspiring artist / design in general.

Right now I've narrowed my choices down to:

Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam, Netherlands

 http://www.gerritrietveldacademie.nl/en/graphic-design

and

Malmo Art Academie in Malmo, Sweden

http://www.khm.lu.se/?q=en

From what I've gathered, Malmo seems to offer a much smaller, intimate environment (similar to Cooper) that is heavily focused on theory, critique, and practice. I don't think they are particularly known for Graphic Design, however their program also seems to be very generalist. Each student gets a key to a private studio which he/she has access to 24/7.

On the other hand Rietveld has more traditional model for education with departments and the like, including a Graphic Design department. And of course Gerrit Rietveld was an architect and designer, making the correlation stronger.

I was hoping to get input on whether anyone has heard anything --- good or bad --- regarding these schools, specifically pertaining to design. Any information or experiences anyone has had with these institutions would likely help. I am already taking a slew of Graphic Design and Architecture courses at Cooper, therefore I am looking for an experience I could not get at my home institution. 

ALL of the options for foreign exchange for Cooper Students are listed here:

http://cooper.edu/art/off-campus-programs/foreign-exchange

Feel free to peruse this list as well and if anything sticks out as a top-tier experience for Graphic Design, please let me know.

Thank you

Raining7