My daughter is applying to colleges right now. She took a summer course at Pratt in interior design and loved it. She's thinking of going there for her BFA and going directly into the workforce. However, she also likes the idea of going to a liberal-arts college with a strong visual-arts department and then getting an MFA in interior design. Is one option better than the other? Does she NEED a graduate degree? Thank you all!
lauriejgs
Sep 15, 14 4:22 pm
That is helpful. Thank you. See, my bias is for her to go to a liberal-arts college and not art school. However, I know if she goes to a liberal-arts college then she WILL need an MFA in order to be an interior designer, since LACs do not offer interior design. I'm just not sure I'm right in this case.
lauriejgs
Sep 15, 14 4:22 pm
CHI-GMP, where did you go to school?
Sep 16, 14 12:54 pm
Where is she going to plan on practicing because there is only a few states that actually license interior design because most states don't license interior design at all and anyone can be one the same way as it is with any unlicensed design professions (practicing lawfully, of course).
One should know the difference between a license and a certification from a legal perspective.
License means it was issued by a municipal/county state or federal agency. Certification may be issued by non-government entities.
Volunteer
Sep 16, 14 2:04 pm
Check out Virginia Tech; they have architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, industrial design, and building and construction management. She could change majors if she so desires and never change schools. A degree from a small liberal arts college typically is not worth the time or tuition. Not to mention many small liberal arts colleges are cutting back, merging, or going out of business altogether.
lauriejgs
Sep 22, 14 8:50 pm
She plans to work in NYC, where we live. Right now she's only considering Pratt, RISD, Syracuse, or RIT for interior design--not interested in going south!!!
Volunteer
Sep 23, 14 8:26 am
In that case we are not interested in having you here!!!!!
lauriejgs
Sep 23, 14 2:39 pm
I have mentioned SCAD to her, as well as schools in other parts of the country, but she is adamant about staying in the northeast, and we're okay with that. Volunteer, I appreciate your info about Virginia Tech and meant no offense by saying that my daughter doesn't want to go south. It's just that her entire family is up here and she likes to ski. I do appreciate all of the suggestions, though. Right now it's more a matter of which school in the pool she's looking at than adding to that pool--if I even suggest it, she freaks out.
Non Sequitur
Sep 23, 14 3:03 pm
Take the cheapest (or the one with the most available scholarships) school in your region of choice... no reason to take huge debt chasing a int-des diploma.
Volunteer
Sep 23, 14 8:00 pm
The best design program may well be the most modestly priced. Excessive tuition only means you've been had. Look at the Ivy League engineering programs; very expensive but not as nationally ranked as many state schools"
Beepbeep
Sep 23, 14 9:50 pm
Also Cornell and Syracuse have Interior Design programs.
Non Sequitur
Sep 24, 14 10:42 am
18k a year!
Is there not a community college alternative?
Non Sequitur
Sep 24, 14 2:49 pm
^ thanks for the clarification.
where I practice, int-des tuition is 1/5 that of architecture and takes a quarter the time to complete.
My daughter is applying to colleges right now. She took a summer course at Pratt in interior design and loved it. She's thinking of going there for her BFA and going directly into the workforce. However, she also likes the idea of going to a liberal-arts college with a strong visual-arts department and then getting an MFA in interior design. Is one option better than the other? Does she NEED a graduate degree? Thank you all!
That is helpful. Thank you. See, my bias is for her to go to a liberal-arts college and not art school. However, I know if she goes to a liberal-arts college then she WILL need an MFA in order to be an interior designer, since LACs do not offer interior design. I'm just not sure I'm right in this case.
CHI-GMP, where did you go to school?
Where is she going to plan on practicing because there is only a few states that actually license interior design because most states don't license interior design at all and anyone can be one the same way as it is with any unlicensed design professions (practicing lawfully, of course).
One should know the difference between a license and a certification from a legal perspective.
License means it was issued by a municipal/county state or federal agency. Certification may be issued by non-government entities.
Check out Virginia Tech; they have architecture, landscape architecture, interior design, industrial design, and building and construction management. She could change majors if she so desires and never change schools. A degree from a small liberal arts college typically is not worth the time or tuition. Not to mention many small liberal arts colleges are cutting back, merging, or going out of business altogether.
She plans to work in NYC, where we live. Right now she's only considering Pratt, RISD, Syracuse, or RIT for interior design--not interested in going south!!!
In that case we are not interested in having you here!!!!!
I have mentioned SCAD to her, as well as schools in other parts of the country, but she is adamant about staying in the northeast, and we're okay with that. Volunteer, I appreciate your info about Virginia Tech and meant no offense by saying that my daughter doesn't want to go south. It's just that her entire family is up here and she likes to ski. I do appreciate all of the suggestions, though. Right now it's more a matter of which school in the pool she's looking at than adding to that pool--if I even suggest it, she freaks out.
Take the cheapest (or the one with the most available scholarships) school in your region of choice... no reason to take huge debt chasing a int-des diploma.
The best design program may well be the most modestly priced. Excessive tuition only means you've been had. Look at the Ivy League engineering programs; very expensive but not as nationally ranked as many state schools"
Also Cornell and Syracuse have Interior Design programs.
18k a year!
Is there not a community college alternative?
^ thanks for the clarification.
where I practice, int-des tuition is 1/5 that of architecture and takes a quarter the time to complete.