Hi,everyone!

I've been accepted into several MLA 1 (3 yr) programs and I think I will be choosing from UVA, Berkeley and RISD.

I'm from China, so can't go to the open houses. Need more information on each of these programs, please.

UVa offers $9250 for the first year and the tuition and fees are lower than the other two, so it's the most affordable obviously. I heard their program is very solid and they have relatively a small number of students (12-15), so might get more attention and resources at UVa. But the school is located in a small town, I'm worrying about getting internships, or it might cost me extra $ and a lot of energy to relocate in a big city in vacations to get internships. Also personally, I prefer to live in a big city, don't know if the preference will stay the same when I get to America.

I was thrilled to get Berkeley's email since I never expected to get in the program. I think the location is perfect and the school has a strong reputation, so if I cannot get a job in the US, Berkeley's name might help me a little back in China I guess. But then I heard Berkeley puts more emphasis on theory rather than design. Besides the living expenses at Berkeley is really high. It seems not much Chinese got into their program so cannot get much information about what the program is like.

RISD was originally my dream school for its reputation in art and design. The concerns are 1) too expensive, might get funding but covers little tuition; 2)too many Chinese in the program already  3)the design is too artistic and unpractical.....I don't know if it's true.

Thanks in advance!