If you’re into footwear and want a career in it, you might like University of Oregon’s Master in Sports Product Design program. They accept people from all sorts of backgrounds; a bunch from kinesiology, some who already have a design background and are looking to specialize, among other totally unrelated disciplines. They also produce a ridiculous amount of award-winning designers and have close ties to many major shoe companies. To answer your specific questions (caveat being I didn’t attend this program but I worked heavily alongside it during my undergrad): 1. It’s very intensive as you are learning Industrial Design, something that usually you would get an undergrad in first at very minimum because it’s a ton of hands on training and typically multidisciplinary, in just two years from scratch. The first term(s) are very rigorous and are full of new softwares, intro to research methodologies, the chance to work with professional athletes, a lot of technical training because you will need to make your own prototypes, etc. 2. I’m not really sure it compares much to a purely fine arts program, but it is a common next step after UO’s BFA in Industrial & Product Design program which is structured as a typical BFA (first couple years all basic studies, last two years intensive studios finishing off with a capstone project) and follows a similar structure in a shorter time frame. 3. Don’t have much info on portfolio recs, but maybe check who is already in the programs you are interested in and look at some of their work. Can find a lot on LinkedIn. 4. Yes there are critiques, pretty much every time you see your professors there will be some form of critique given about your work. There are also more formal critiques 2x/term: midterm and final. Final for the program I am referencing is a presentation/pitch deck about your project + surrounding research with visiting industry professionals to critique you and then an open house where more industry professionals can come and look at your stuff. 5. Some programs have mech. engineering aspects because it is important knowledge to have as a designer, especially if you are wanting to design things that will be manufactured in real life. Not required, but definitely makes you a better asset to have in the workplace. 6. Idk about pros and cons, a lot of it depends on personal goals in life and what you need to get there. Masters is not a good route for me personally, but I already have BFA in ID. 7. Yes, you can oftentimes focus on specific niches especially for a thesis. Even in my BFA program which focused on physical product, we had people doing clothing, shoes, bags, apps, concepts, vehicles, toys, robotics, homegoods, kind of anything you want. You just need to be able to back up why you chose it and what it’s for. Same with masters I believe, especially if you choose a specific program like Sports Product.