Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Looking for Replies

One of the first questions I ask students when starting a new class is "Why did you pick this school?"

I always get a variety of answers: it was close to my house; I went online and found it: one of my friends goes here. With so many ad schools and colleges to choose from, how do students narrow down their choices and then ultimately pick which one to go to? Is it location? Reputation? Tuition?

I would love to hear from any student out there either currently at an ad school or those long graduated. Please reply and tell me how you decided to go there in particular. If you had to choose again, would you make the same choice?

9 comments:

Joe Nafziger said...

The Bookshop (www.thebookshopads.com): affordable, took place in the evenings after my real job, and was honestly the only place I knew (because I had no idea what I was doing at that point).

Dave said...

Hi, I'm a Miami Ad School CW student in my final quarter. My home school is the San Francisco campus. I would say I am absolutely pleased with my decision to come here.

My decision came down to the Creative Circus and Miami Ad School San Francisco, and what helped me decide was that San Francisco is a stronger advertising town and Miami Ad School has its Quarter Away program (I did 2 quarters away, one at Crispin Porter and the other at Saatchi+Saatchi, London).

Hope this helps! Email me if you have any other questions. davegordon3[at]yahoo.com

Danielle Edberg said...

I'm just beginning to look at advertising grad schools, and I've been pretty overwhelmed with information so far. Blogs similar to yours and Twitter have been great sources of direct information, but I'd love to hear more from students and people who have already gone through the process.

Nat said...

First, just wanted to say "Hi Cecilia!" I've been following your blog ever since you skyped in to speak in our class with Carol.

With that said, there wasn't ever a second choice ad school for me. The Creative Circus stole my heart in undergrad, and research after I graduated only reaffirmed all of the good things I heard.

The people there are so beyond nice. Everyone is always ready to help you in any way they can; I think the one thing that sets the Circus apart from other schools is that everyone truly wants everyone else to succeed. I will be graduating in June, and I can honestly say that my small quarter is truly like my second family.

Being a little global nomad, you'd think I'd be drawn to a place like Miami Ad School, but I really like that everyone graduating from the Circus has been in Atlanta. It's kind of like we're all from the same hometown.

If you look at agency CDs, a lot of them have the Creative Circus on their resumé. It's reassuring.

While I do sometimes regret the name of the school, I will never regret the amazing opportunity and learning experience that has been The Creative Circus.

Hope this helps. :)

Eric said...

I'll second Joe on the Book Shop, for most of the same reasons. I knew I wanted to go into creative the day I went to my first Ad Club meeting as an undergrand in Minneapolis. There were two great full-time portfolio schools in town, but when I graduated I couldn't really afford the tuition and put portfolio school on hold for a taste of the working world.

A year later, I moved to CA following up on a desire to experience life on the west coast. As luck would have it, I found out about the Book Shop soon after. While their workshops offer minimal classroom time and resources compared to the big schools, the affordability and evening classes fit my lifestyle. It probably isn't for everyone, but if you're focused and driven enough to put in right amount of time outside of class, it's a fantastic program.

After about a year and a half of classes, I'm pretty close to having a version of my portfolio together that I feel confident in taking out on the job hunt.

wilfredo said...

I went to the Art Institute of Orange County. A lot of my decision had to deal with the location with the school because its in orange county but also close enough to the LA area. I think art schools are really all the same its really what you take from it and make from it.

i am a robot said...

I chose Miami Ad School in Miami because they offered a Masters program, and I had seen more of their students in the awards annual than VCU. In retrospect, I realize this was because MAS had been around longer and had more students. Had I realized that, it might have changed my decision, but Awards and Masters were the two big factors.

j.smithjr25[at]gmail.com

p.s. whatsup dave! I swear I'm not stalking you

Rosie said...

Hi Cecilia,

I would first like to say that I really enjoy reading your blog. Providing a comment here is the least I can do for all the valuable insight you've shared with your readers.

With that said, I'm currently taking classes at the Art Center at Night Program. I chose this option because of the school's reputation and because some of their instructors in the night program are the same ones in the full time program (we even received some of the same assignments). As much as I would love to do the full time program, I can't afford it right now (I barely managed to pay for my undergrad tuition loan AND parent-free :D).

Later this year, I plan on transitioning over to The Bookshop. The reason for this is a combination of location, reputation, and scheduling reasons.

If I had to choose again, I don't think I would have changed anything. I feel like I'm getting the best of both worlds, especially since I take each assignment seriously as if they were given by the client.

Hope this helps!

Anonymous said...

Hi Cecilia,

I just graduated with an undergraduate degree in design and am currently working for one of the larger ad agencies in the country.

Pursuing ad school after college is not an optimal career move, and both my university design instructor and I agree that these common ad programs are formulaic.

Your blog is very informational. Thank you.