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Best College for Web Design

scem0

scem0

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 16, 2002
7,028
1
back in NYC!
I'm a senior-to-be in high school and I have begun to do a lot of college searching. I am unsure of what I want to do career wise, but web design interests me a lot, so that is what I'm searching for colleges based on.

If you had asked me yesterday where I wanted to go to college, I would have said the University of Texas, but after some extensive research I have found that they have next to no web design classes, nor computer classes that looked enjoyable to me. I've looked at some other colleges including Pratt Institute and Berkeley, but they aren't very appealing to me.

I can't find any good websites that summarize colleges with web design majors :(, which is why I created this thread.

I'd really like for the school to be prestigious. There are a lot of colleges that have this major, and have classes I'd like to take, however they aren't well known. One of the reasons I liked UT was because it is a well-respected school. Same goes for Pratt.

Do any of y'all attend, or know of, a college that has a web-design major?

scem0
 
D

dopefiend

macrumors 6502
May 6, 2004
425
0
scem0 said:
I'd really like for the school to be prestigious. There are a lot of colleges that have this major, and have classes I'd like to take, however they aren't well known. One of the reasons I liked UT was because it is a well-respected school. Same goes for Pratt.

Do any of y'all attend, or know of, a college that has a web-design major?

scem0
Click to expand...

It really doesn't matter at all where you go, just the experience you have afterwards that counts in web design.

Go to one of the Art Institutes.

http://www.aii.edu/
 
Neserk

Neserk

macrumors 6502a
Jan 1, 2004
576
0
Do you need a college education to do web design :confused: Or maybe you are talking about the more complicated part of it.
 
themadchemist

themadchemist

macrumors 68030
Jan 31, 2003
2,820
0
Chi Town
Neserk said:
Do you need a college education to do web design :confused: Or maybe you are talking about the more complicated part of it.
Click to expand...

I imagine going to college can't hurt...After all, it provides a good back-up.

Honestly, I would recommend finding a place with a robust offering of comp. sci. courses that isn't a specialized art institute or computer-training institute. What you want is a "broad, liberal arts" education from a reasonably well-respected institution. That will give you the most options for the future, especially if you decide to change careers or go to grad school.
 
Neserk

Neserk

macrumors 6502a
Jan 1, 2004
576
0
themadchemist said:
I imagine going to college can't hurt...After all, it provides a good back-up.

.
Click to expand...


I think everyone should go to college. It is more about maturation and becoming a well rounded person than getting a job.
 
Rower_CPU

Rower_CPU

Moderator emeritus
Oct 5, 2001
11,219
2
San Diego, CA
Seems this is best suited for the Web Design forum...

As others have said, a "design" school is good for teaching aesthetics, layout, typography, etc. But if you're more inclined to the nuts and bolts of web application development (databases, web programming, etc.) then look at computer science.

It's rare that you'll find a program that blends the two aspects of what web design is all about. Sometimes it can come down to choosing between being more of an art director or a web coder - I try to straddle the two, though my art direction skills are definitely lacking, but I'm all self trained...

The point to all that - not sure there is one, but I'd take a moment to look at what aspects of web design interest you most and then check schools that support that interest. Good luck! :)
 
D0ct0rteeth

D0ct0rteeth

macrumors 65816
Mar 11, 2002
1,239
7
Franklin, TN
Most state colleges including Syracuse in NY have great art programs...

Personaly I would recommend majoring in graphic design at http://www.schoolofvisualarts.edu/ and buying a html book and learning web thru electives and on your own :)

Web Designers are everywhere.. every 19 year old kid believes he can design a website.. but good ones.. are impossible to find. If you graduate with a good portfolio and can show me two or three solid sites I'll hire ya any day.

If you want a true webdesign degree and are hard core for a art institute I would make sure it is Chicago.. as far as I know it would be the most "artistic" and "exclusive" of the group. Most of these trade schools lower themselves to the lowest common denomenator and will let anyone in. You tend to get forgotten in the crowd and left unchallenged. Therefore you don't learn or develop much.

- Doc
 
Horrortaxi

Horrortaxi

macrumors 68020
Jul 6, 2003
2,240
0
Los Angeles
Platt College? If you want prestigious, how about Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA? In any event I'm sure you'll do post grad work at the school of hard knocks.
 
scem0

scem0

macrumors 604
Original poster
Jul 16, 2002
7,028
1
back in NYC!
Actually I was talking about Pratt institute in NY :cool: :eek:.

But, I definitely see what y'all are saying about going either the artsy route or the computer science route. That is why i made this thread, to try to find colleges that cater to both needs, but it looks like that might not be possible.

If I had to go either route, I'd prefer the artsy route. If I went the CS route I'd end up having to take a lot of programming classes that I'm not interested in. That was the case at UT. If they had had any good courses teaching PHP, CSS, or even just HTML, then I would have had to take some programming courses first (C++, Java, etc) and I'm not interested in that kind of programming. I find it increadibly dull. I enjoy web design a lot, because it exercises your creative mind.

On the other hand, if I chose the artsy route I think I'd end up taking a buch of 'Intro to Art' courses and stuff like that, which would at least be kind of fun, instead of boring and annoying like the Intro CS classes.

The reason I want a prestigious school is just for my own prestige really. :rolleyes: :cool: :p. A local community college (Austin Community College) has a couple web design classes, a bunch of multimedia classes, and some other classes which I could definitely use in a career in web design. However, when you tell people that you go to ACC for college, it's like telling the person that you aren't dedicated or smart enough to get yourself into a decent college (even though ACC may be better than the 'decent college' for the field that you are in).

scem0
 
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