What is a tier 1 or tier 2 college/university?

[kwatanabe]

Originally Posted by TexasVines

1. the Carnegie Foundation does not rank universities they "classify" them into groups with similar metrics in different criteria and they specifically state in the FAQ section of their website that they are not ranking universities and that their classifications imply no similarity in quality of various universities only a similarity in those single metrics

for instance a private university of 8K students and 600 faculty might do 50 million per year in research and offer a dozen or more PhD programs while another university of 30K students and 1200 faculty might do the same amount of research and offer even more PhD programs....but the experience for the students at those schools especially at the undergrad level will be dramatically different in most cases

so while they would both be "research intensive" the experience for the students will not be the same

2. avoid UNT especially in the graphic arts (and many other programs).....their students in that program used to joke about it being a "fake advertising" degree

3. there is really no need for a 4 year degree for most people interested in the graphic arts as far as getting your foot in the door.....you will often have a better experience and job prospects going to a community college and just taking the courses they offer for graphics packages and the community colleges will often have the same or more recent versions of the software in their classes and labs

4. unless you are going to a very well respected art school where your actual artistic abilities that God has given you will be brought forth to their fullest and the faculty will have the connections to get those talents recognition art degrees especially in things like graphic design are generally not worth the money and you would be better served looking at the job postings for the types of things you wish to do.....seeing what software packages they wish for you to have experience with and then doing whatever it takes class wise and portfolio wise to put together the ability to walk into an interview ans show you have that experience.....you can always continue with school down the road if a 4 year degree becomes an impediment to advancement, but I seriously doubt that will be the case in graphic arts at least for a long time starting out your career in that field

Thanks, I will avoid UNT then. As for jobs most say they want a bachelors degree and experience.

[kwatanabe]

Originally Posted by lostfan13

RISD is the Harvard of art schools; I've never heard of RIC. If you have the portfolio and talent for it, RISD is where you'd want to go, despite its tuition. You know those reality shows on Bravo? Notice a commonality? Many of those contestants come from top notch schools like RISD. Top tier talent tends to gravitate there.

Graphic Arts is a field where you'll have to decide (quickly) what direction you want to go, simply because there are so many places you can take it.

As for my advice..

Go to an NE school- it's local, you'll save money and won't incur a huge debt if things don't work out. Paying out of state tuition for a mediocre school is going to be a decision that haunts you for a long time. There's plenty of unemployed artists out there, so you don't want to end up a statistic.

I'd say try to couple your major with a relevant (and marketable) degree. Computers is a good bet- computer aided design focus with some knowledge of programming will get you a decent job. It's a lot safer than splashing paint on walls, hoping to be the next Jackson Pollock.

Well I would like to create logos, do publication design, or even do that animated text you see on tv networks.

I have not thought of minoring in something else, what type of computer field is good? Something that is always in demand would be nice.