Since my last thread on this same topic, I have done more thinking about exactly what it is I want out of college. Now that I have more information to give you guys, I'd like to go over the subject again so that I can get more useful suggestions.
First off, I'm looking to study full time at a university. I would prefer to go to a state school in California, where I can pay in-state tuition, or to a cheap private school, preferably on the West Coast or New England. I would prefer to have an on-campus dorm and a meal plan if I can get these things. I'm reliant on a Pell Grant and whatever grants, scholarships, and loans I can scrounge up, as I'm an impoverished Job Corps student and my family doesn't have any money they can afford to give me. This means I need low tuition and financial aid.
I would like at least a bachelor's degree. I want to major in graphic design, video game design, animation, architecture, or an engineering field. My big thing is that I want to design things for a living. I have a wide array of interests, so there are a lot of different design fields that interest me, from being a graphic designer working on advertising or a video game designer or animator making games or movies, to designing buildings or planes or cars. The big thing is that I am designing new things.
What I need is suggestions of what colleges can meet all these requirements I have in mind.
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Caltech
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Is Calpoly any good for an Architect?
Can you do your first two years in a community college getting an Associates in Science, then transfer it over to a four-year college/university? It'd probably be cheaper.
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Architecture is a tricky major. In many schools, you would be in a 5 year B.Arch. degree program rather than a B.S. or B.Eng. That could make it more difficult to get into or get out of if you are not sure that is what you want to do (although early enough in the program I'm sure it's possible).
I recommend going somewhere that you can keep your options open. Once you start studying a subject, you may find you do not like it as much as you thought you would, and that other subject you had to take a course in becomes your new favorite.
Most of the UC schools will be well-suited to this sort of flexibility, I imagine, although I don't know much about the specific campuses to be able to give recommendations.
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Look at your major and your earning potential too. I know it's boring as heck to consider a less exciting field because of pure monetary considerations, but you want to be reasonably sure you'll be able to earn enough money to pay your debts off and live a good life.
I had a lot of fields I could have entered, and a lot of insterests, but I went with computer science and engineering because I knew I would be able to find a job across a good number of fields, just about anywhere with that degree. I have another good friend to went with accounting for the same reasons. We both indulge our artistic creativity as much as we can, and have the money to be able to spend a bit on it, because of our boring practical careers.
It's not worth it to do something you hate everyday, but if it's something you think you could enjoy, although it's not your dream job, it might be worth considering.
When in doubt, go for the broader major that will let you still steer your career toward the job you dream of. Video game programmer degrees are a LOT narrower than Computer Science degrees - why pigeonhole yourself unneccesarily if you don't have to?
Good luck!
Look at your major and your earning potential too. I know it's boring as heck to consider a less exciting field because of pure monetary considerations, but you want to be reasonably sure you'll be able to earn enough money to pay your debts off and live a good life.
That's why I'm considering Architecture or Engineering.
Can you do your first two years in a community college getting an Associates in Science, then transfer it over to a four-year college/university? It'd probably be cheaper.
That depends on the availability of on-campus housing, and could be complicated if I choose to become an architect.
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If you can, try to talk to / email / contact people in some of the fields that interest you. Explain why you're contacting them and ask for their advice. What's their favorite thing about their job? Their least favorite thing? What did they do that they're happy they did? Is there anything they wish they'd done differently in their carreer? What's a typical day like?
Get an idea baout work loads, the ease of finding a job, things to look for in a college program that indicates quality, pitfalls, etc. :)
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Looking in on this thread 6 years later, it's kinda interesting how different and how similar the actual trajectory was.
I'm actually still in school, but I'm a graduate student now. I got my BA in Geography and Urban Studies from San Francisco State in May, and moved straight into the Master of Urban Planning program at San Jose State. Which I don't think I expected as a trajectory 6 years ago.
Can you do your first two years in a community college getting an Associates in Science, then transfer it over to a four-year college/university? It'd probably be cheaper.
This is actually what I ended up doing, though I have an AA in generic Liberal Arts, not an AS. I actually kind of had to do it that way. My high school GPA was pits and I didn't take half the entry requirements. I emailed San Jose State about applying, and they straight up told me I didn't qualify for any CSU and needed to go to a community college, so I spent two years at De Anza and don't regret it. Especially since the day came where I got my acceptance letter to San Jose State.
Architecture is a tricky major. In many schools, you would be in a 5 year B.Arch. degree program rather than a B.S. or B.Eng. That could make it more difficult to get into or get out of if you are not sure that is what you want to do (although early enough in the program I'm sure it's possible).
So funny story about that. In my graduate program, we have a ton of architecture majors, because they can't find work in the field. More and more projects are happening without hiring an architect, so some are switching over to planning.
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Is Calpoly any good for an Architect?
You know, I actually got accepted to CalPoly SLO as a Geography major, but didn't attend because SFSU had Urban Studies (which sucked as a program, by the way). History vindicated me once I picked up a double major in Geography, as SFSU's GIS resources far drown out SLO's, and GIS is what got me into graduate school and got me a job, but for a while I wondered why I made a choice like that.
That's why I'm considering Architecture or Engineering.
That depends on the availability of on-campus housing, and could be complicated if I choose to become an architect.
I didn't even survive community college leveln Engineering courses. That field was not for me.
And on campus housing is absolutely terrible quality and filled with drama and conflict, while costing 50% more than off campus housing. So many of my problems at SFSU were solved by living in an in law instead of campus housing.
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Wow, it was cool to read through this thread and then see the recent update. Congratulations on all your hard work, Kelsey! I remember you from the Kirthfinder thread, which is what made me check out this one.
This made me go back and see how long I've been on these boards, and it blew my mind to see that I've been posting on here for over nine years!
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