Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Fashion Designers
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Northeastern and Endicott.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Mount Ida College, Fitchburg State, and Lasell.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider Endicott, Bunker Hill, Northeastern, and MassArt.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Fitchburg State, Greenfield Community College, Northern Essex Community College, and Fisher.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Northeastern, Endicott, Lasell, and Mount Ida College.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Lasell, Mount Ida College, Endicott, and UMass Dartmouth.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at Northeastern.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Northeastern, Lasell, Endicott, and MassArt.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at MassArt, Lasell, Mount Ida College, and Northeastern.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Framingham State College • Framingham, MA
Studying Fashion Design (completion in )
• 1/23/2012
"I think more field trips to production facilities and hands on experience with production machinery and equipment would have helped me design patterns that were production ready, and I would have avoided having to produce so many prototypes."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | If you want to be really competitive in the Fashion Design field, you would do better to attend F.I.T. or R.I.S.D. Go to a school that has better access to fashion professionals who have extensive industry experience. |
| Program Reputation | I attended this college about 25 years ago. I do not know what their current rating is. | |
| Program Quality | 5 | Framingham State College is a small state school and does not have a competitive Fashion Design Dept. I did not learn draping at all, and I did not receive enough pattern making experience. |
| Instruction | 5 | The design, pattern making, and sewing classes were well taught. But they lacked draping classes, fashion illustration classes, and fashion production classes, and they had no internship program or other hands on training. |
| How Difficult | 5 | I had a fair amount of sewing experience going in, so I did not feel challenged in that area. The design classes and pattern making classes were more challenging for me personally as I had no experience in these areas. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The design, sewing, and pattern making classes were mostly hand on; but as I mentioned, they need to acquire more industrial equipment for hands on use. It would have helped my career greatly if I had already had experience with industrial sewing machines, sergers, button holers, and fabric saws. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | My school did offer night classes and summer programs. I did not participate in these - I was enrolled in a full time day program. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | There is a lot of room for improvement in their facilities and equipment. There was no industrial production equipment for students to use. It would have been really useful to be familiar with production machinery and techniques in order to minimize the need for multiple prototypes. |
| Social Life | I lived off campus and worked full time to pay my way through school. I did not have any extra time to participate in social or athletic events. | |
| Placement Services | 1 | I was not able to find a position through my school. I found my first job in my field on my own through a lead from a roommate. |
| Alumni Network | No alumni networking or support was offered or available at all. This would have been extremely valuable in finding job opportunities and placements. |
Massachusetts College Of Art/Design • Boston, MA
Studying Fashion Design And Sculpture (completion in 2005)
• 3/6/2012
"This was a good education on paper. The experience wasn't that pleasurable, though."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | no | I think there are better schools with better job placement. Additionally, other schools are more lenient with their academics and make it more enjoyable. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | While I didn't find this program particularly amazing, it does have a good reputation. I think this is because it is the only publicly funded independent art school in the US. |
| Program Quality | 5 | The staff in this program was very rigid. Additionally, they were not particularly cutting-edge. |
| Instruction | 5 | The instructors did not seem to be particularly well-connected. The program was also too slow. |
| How Difficult | 5 | The programs were varied depending upon the instructor. Too many courses were focused on students following particularly specific instructions rather than producing great work. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | There was a lot of hands on learning. There was too much book learning for an art school, though! | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 3 | They had an extremely strict attendance policy, which is not conducive to creativity. They should have made night classes easier to schedule alongside day classes. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | The entire school could have used an overhaul. Particularly, the sculpture facilities needed work. |
| Social Life | 1 | There were not enough fun student events. Almost all the events were gallery openings, which are not that fun. |
| Placement Services | 2 | I received no help with this. It could have been much better. |
| Alumni Network | 1 | I have not heard from an alumni network. Ironically, this is something I'd be interested in. |
Massachusetts College Of Art And Design • Boston, MA
Studying Industrial Design (completion in 2008)
• 3/11/2012
"I was challenged throughout my college career and graduated with distinction. Professors were understanding and went the "extra mile" to help me succeed."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | Many students seemed happy, and with a large student body social opportunities were plentiful. Convenient central location in Boston. |
| Program Reputation | 7 | They have a very highly ranked arts program, and a high graduation rate. |
| Program Quality | 6 | Long hours made projects exhausting. Many assignments were a powerful learning experience. |
| Instruction | 7 | Instructors provided heavy workload and individual attention to students. |
| How Difficult | 5 | It's not considered the most difficult major. I found course work very challenging and time consuming. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | Very hands on, more studio time and less lecture. Many design projects required the construction of models. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | I was able to switch multiple classes to accommodate my part-time job. Depending on the major, many sections of one course are often offered. |
| Academic Facilities | 5 | Very good studios for design majors. Professors are easily contacted through email. |
| Social Life | 6 | Many friendly open people. People with similar interests were plentiful and easy to relate with. |
| Placement Services | 5 | The school provides career placement and very good career-building programs to students. |
| Alumni Network | 7 | They provide emails to all upcoming alumni events. There are also mailed newsletters for many events. |
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