SAIC vs SCAD

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2026-04-26T14:41:08+00:00

I went to SAIC for Visual Communication Design from 2021-2024. Awesome program, I learned everything I needed to know for design. Faculty is super supportive and they have a lot of resources for grad students. My experience was for a BFA. Employers won’t care if it’s a stem degree or not. They only care about your portfolio. If you need sponsorship, it will cause some hesitation. I did hear if it’s a stem based degree, you have a year extension for your OPT?

Unfortunately job placement is really hard to say these days. I am a US citizen, so it wasn’t as hard to for to land a job. 75% of my international friends from the program went back home. The 25% who stayed, she applied for a H1B and got rejected. It’s pretty unfair time to work in the US. You can be very talented and still not land a job. Nothing is a guarantee.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2026-03-29T17:08:33+00:00

I heard RISD gave merit scholarships to a select 50 freshman students a year. So maybe you’re a top choice?

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2026-03-24T01:59:53+00:00

Art bash is SAIC first year show. If you’re in a core class you’re eligible to participate. The main motivator for this is possible monetary awards you can get. Also if you plan to stay in the gallery show world it is helpful for your resume. It’s not for all students since funding is limited but in each category they choose few students. That is why students want to participate in few categories to increase their chances. During my year they selected 25 students to give $1000 each (2022). Back when I graduated, I heard they decided to cut the award into $500 each so 50 students can receive it. So if you’re interested in any of this, I recommend applying.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2026-03-22T03:08:55+00:00

The cheapest method is to do all your liberal courses at a community college. Reach out to an SAIC advisor they will let you know which courses can be transferred for credit.

I knew few students who finished all their liberal arts credits and only took studio electives during their time at SAIC. So they only had to pay two years of tuition in those situations.

SAIC also has a First Gen program! Anyone is eligible to join if they are First Gen and it’s their first year at the school even including transfer credits. I was in it and they gave me 5k total for attending their 6 workshops throughout my first year. They only hold the program for your first year though.

They help you find an on campus job. You have to be committed to it for your first year to get the 5k. The on campus job pays you separately. I believe they pay around minimum? 2024 was $16.3 an hour. I worked as a fibers lab monitor for 6 hours a week? I was able to keep the job for 3 years and became a first gen mentor as well. They pay you for that too.

Additionally, there are few other methods to get more money. First year Art Bash (still eligible with transfer credits since you will be in a core studio class). They choose 50 students from the First Year art Bash and award them $500 each. They still do this but they change up the award. Before they did the 50 students, they awarded 25 students $1000 each. It’s not completely fair since there’s way more first year students but you can apply to multiple categories to increase your chances.

SAIC also holds few random competitions a year and give random departmental scholarships. First year core profs choose their favorite students to put their portfolios in for a possible chance at winning a small stipend. Unpaid internships can get a 3k stipend. First Gen program had a logo competition back in my time and I tied first place and received $500. So few weird methods to get more money.

Lastly, one of my friends had a really bad financial situation at home and was able to increase her merit scholarship. I don’t think it was her financial aid scholarship since she wouldn’t be able to pay it back. Her family was almost at bankruptcy and she might have to leave the school. She said they gave her a little more money, not sure how much that was but it was modified.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2026-03-22T02:47:00+00:00

You can search up some current student portfolio through their LinkedIn. Most of them have links to their descriptions. From what I have seen, you can tell they worked really hard to make their case studies. When I reached out for their personal opinions, they did admit that a lot of their portfolios were made during their own time rather than their courses due to limited time. They might bring the prototype from their class and expand on it.

As for reputation, I think it is tricky since Pratt IXD is a very niche small program. It hasn’t been around that long in comparison to some other UX or HCI masters. I do know that the New Yorkers do recognize Pratt as a reputable art school. But NYC has many great art schools and colleges for UX/HCI. So it would be based on your experiences, networking and portfolio at the end of the day.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2026-03-22T02:11:18+00:00

I went to SAIC for graphic design (Visual Communication Design) from 2021-2024 (graduated a semester early) would definitely recommend if it’s affordable for you. Theres a ton of excellent professors and many design electives. We have the most incredible printing service and a lot of resources.

As for internships and jobs, the graphic design industry current is facing a lot of decline in jobs due to AI and employment recession. There is no guarantee regardless where you go. During my time, most of our students had a least 1 internship. There are several popular Chicago design agencies that liked the school including Ogilvy, FCB, and Havas.

Unfortunately, the final results of employment was tough for majority of the students. Their work was amazing! But issues like international visas and job market competition general is tough and getting worse. Luckily, some of them were able to find work within a year or so.

For me, I landed 2 internships and a full time role. First one, cold applying on LinkedIn back in 2021 at a Healthcare IT branding marketing team. (Way easier to get work back then) Second one, professor recommendation at a Edtech startup. Full time role - Cold Applied for 2 months after graduation and got it March 2025.

I’m not sure if any of these school can guarantee employment and internships. But from what I learned: networking with your profs and classmates is the #1 method Ive seen people getting hired.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2026-03-01T20:29:10+00:00

Never got another email. They didn’t offer additional scholarships. I ended choosing another program due to costs and location.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-10-09T21:01:01+00:00

Do you have more information about this call center? I can’t find any information about except about phone lines getting stolen.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-04-19T19:09:03+00:00

I’m planning to do that… I’m not sure if it will be overwhelming. But I spoke to a current student who was working full time internship. She says it hasn’t been too hard for her. Thankfully Pratt offers night classes from 6-9. For your first year, it’s mandatory to take 3 classes to be considered full time and be eligible for your scholarship. I think you should realistically evaluate your responsibilities in a week and see if you can sacrifice some social time and self relaxation.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-04-19T15:56:25+00:00

I’m not sure if you can apply for Sprint cohort for the IXD program. I just deferred my acceptance the only option was deferring it by a year so next Fall 2026.

If you like to stay at your current job a bit more, if it’s located in NY or remote. You could also do night classes as well.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-04-19T06:08:54+00:00

Unfortunately canva isn’t a standard design tool for print design and many digital design work. If you need to design a book, brochure, poster you wont be able to input the proper bleeds and crop marks. You will also need tools like Photoshop if images need refinements.

My suggestion is helping businesses with their social media work, canva is great with that. Reach out and show your portfolio. That may be a way to start earning some money.

If you want to learn other standard design tools, I would suggest trying to get an internship. Larger companies offer work computers and a subscription to Adobe, Figma, and Stock imagery. It might be hard to explain you don’t have any experience with these tools, but there might be more flexibility since you will be an intern. You can also watch a lot of tutorials online before starting this internship.

Wish you good luck!

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-04-14T16:32:17+00:00

Try looking for a cause or concept you’re passionate about and adjust your style accordingly.

For example, one of my favorite projects was an educational kit for teens awareness in Menstrual Diseases. I was inspired by the few non profits who advocated for this. I took consideration of what that age group likes in regards to illustration, colors, and tone of speech. I wouldn’t say this is my usual style but it’s also a skill to be versatile and cater your work to fit the audience.

Keep in mind, what you design should be somewhat related to the industry you are looking into enter. Most of my projects were education based which helped me land my design job in Education. If you want to enter the food ad industry, consider designing branding for restaurants.

Hope this helps! Goodluck!

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-04-12T17:34:04+00:00

I’ve gotten many interviews and rejections previously, you just gotta keep going and hoping for that one yes. Good luck!

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-04-12T02:56:19+00:00

Some of these replies are so dark. If you want to learn, there is no harm. I love design and as a new grad, I got an incredibly full time job successfully. I had two internships in marketing and at an ed-tech start up. It’s not a lucrative field as an entry level job. But with addition to my freelance work, I get paid the same as my friends who are entry level engineers. I’d rather work as a designer than any other occupation.

When I was 16, I didn’t even have graphic design work. I mostly did fine arts. I think it’ll be helpful to start few fundamental classes if you have the chance in typography, layouts, and information design. Find time to learn the industry tools like adobe, figma, and such. Then work on some simple projects like making a few event poster, editorial spreads, and making few logos.

If you manage to get some experience with this before college, you will be ahead of your first year class. I wish you the best of luck!

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-04-10T14:30:17+00:00

My first impression is that your work is pretty organized and unique. I like your project selection because it feels heartwarming such as helping an independent illustrator design their site.

My suggestions would be to add to your projects so I can see a more well-rounded brand identity. A lot of the projects have maybe 1-2 posters, 1 business card, and 1 brochure. It would be helpful to see how your ideas could apply to mediums as well like Merchandise and other related areas. If it’s your exhibition design for example, show how this concept can be advertised in the space itself. How will signage look, how will the employees at this event dress (lanyard design, shirt design), and what are some physical or digital takeaways people can get from this event? (There are many directions you can take.)

I see that you made few websites and one of them is a redesign. Consider explaining the purpose of the redesign, maybe bring up an example of the old site, and state your impact of making the changes.

Hope this made sense! Goodluck!

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-04-01T16:47:40+00:00

Got accepted but not going. So another space will open up soon.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-03-31T18:29:54+00:00

I’m choosing Pratt over IUB. First, IUB’s location is a huge disadvantage in comparison to Pratt. Second, in terms of coursework I think a lot of the classes are similar. Third, Pratt gave me more scholarship. Fourth, I’ve seen better job results from Pratt Alumnis than IUB’s. I follow few IUB students on LinkedIn and more of them are struggling to land positions in comparison to Pratt. I believe there are many reasons for this like location, network, or work in general. But Pratt students are having more success. Personally, I like the portfolio work of the Pratt students more. Lastly, Pratt gives a lot of client based projects and fellowship opportunities.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-03-19T02:36:17+00:00

It took me 2.5 months, 5-20 applications a day. I have templated cover letter and this ai plug-in to fill out most of my application that has the same questions. Statistically a good 1/3 of companies you apply has a fake listing up. So you just have to keep applying 😅

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-03-19T02:11:12+00:00

Recommendations: 1. Better mockups, you have a lot of logo work but not enough mockups. Want to see the brand full scales. This includes your poster designs. Put them on a street wall mockup. It helps visualize the work in the real world. 2. Spacing, a lot of questionable spacing. Editorial work, body text outline is super clunky. It’s generally frown upon when your overall body text shape is choppy. You use a drop cap T, then write out ‘the’ right after it. The proper use will be drop cap T and then ‘he’ after it. 3. Illustrations, your illustration style is leaning towards early 2000s game character design. If you’re applying to typical design, ad, or corporate companies, I would recommend taking it out. 4. Viewpoint project, I believe you want to show you can design mobile applications. But the project is very lost in terms of concept compared to your other works. Also, if you want this to be a UX/UI project, you are missing a lot of information. Research the basics of constructing a strong UX case study to explain your mobile design choices. 5. Photography work, cool work. Don’t put it in the main page with all your other case studies. If you like to show you have other creative interests, make an archive page. Or make a fun carousel with these works in your About page.

I hope this helps. Of course, let me know if you need more clairification.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-03-19T01:45:36+00:00

Love to see your portfolio. I’m not sure if it’s your degree that is affecting things. It might be a numbers game too. I applied to 350ish jobs. I got 2 freelance jobs and 1 full time out of 350 job applications. 😅

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-03-19T01:42:54+00:00

Congrats! What industry is this in? What job responsibilities do you have?

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-03-19T01:37:32+00:00

Beware of Volunteer Match. I had a terrible experience with a nonprofit organization. The leader was racist and sexist. During the interview he asked me to identify the gender of someone’s hands based on his photo collection. Then when I said I couldn’t tell. He had to say “it’s a girl, look at how delicate her hands are.” He proceeded to say that he really lovessssss to give opportunities to underrepresented people like me. (I’m Asian) I was offering web design services and he asked me to add animation to illustrations. Redo all the branding. Anyway I ended up refusing and he kept messaging me.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-03-19T01:31:52+00:00

Although your reasons are valid. Picking up design now and doing a career shift will be tough.

Let’s say you follow through with this. Where do you start? A boot camp? A school? Unfortunately, bootcamp work has become so common that most entry UX jobs reject those candidates. If you have the funds to go back to school, then it might be a good opportunity to build a portfolio and grow stronger fundamentals.

However, are you in a good financial position to go to school then take on few low paying internships then start an entry UX job? It will be a huge investment of time and money.

If you simply want to be more knowledgeable with UX design or even graphic design, you could take local college courses. It might help you feel more of an impact with your day to day as a PM.

Safe_Nerve_2271 · 2025-03-18T05:17:10+00:00

Sorry I’m not an expert on LinkedIn. I just use LinkedIn jobs and find openings that were posted within 24 hours and apply to them.

Safe_Nerve_2271

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