Tuesday, January 14, 2014

9 Things To Look For Before You Join An Interior Design School

If you have decided to join an interior design school then even before you start looking for options, here are some pointers to look for so that you get started with the right company of professionals to guide you.

Not every point in this list is a must have but the more the better because if you are going to pursue a career in interior design then a degree from a reputable school will have much more value if you wish to apply for a job as an interior designer in a respectable firm.

1) First get acquainted with who's the faculty for your course. Is the faculty a senior professional who's already practicing as an interior designer in the real world or a professor at a senior post with experience of teaching at this particular institute? The faculty and their experience will have a big impact on the teaching quality and knowledge they possess about the real world practices.

2) Is your "interior design course degree" approved by industry standard accreditation?" Here are some of the well known accreditation which weigh the value of your degree in USA.

  • The Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) (formerly FIDER)"
  • Another Accreditation which is considered reputable is by the "Higher Learning Commission".

3) Does the college provide a scholarship or any kind of financial aid for students? This will be a great help for outstation/ International students. Some design schools will have financial aids in a variety of forms such as

  • Federal financial aids
  • State aid program
  • Private loans
  • Scholarships and grants
  • Tuition reimbursements

4) Does the design school help you in getting a placement with a professional interior design firm once you finish your course? This is not an absolute must but will save your time if you wish to pursue career as a professional once you finish your entire course. Many times design schools and colleges have contracts with big firms in the interior design industry to send students who have done exceptional work in their curriculum because this is a win-win-win situation for the school, the student as well as the interior design firm.

5) Does the school campus provide hostel facility? This will be a great help for outstation and international students.

6) One of the most important aspect of picking up the best interior design school is to check for it's reputation amongst students. This will have a big impact in your future career options if you wish to pursue a job in this field. Students graduating from a reputable institution will definitely have an upper hand in any field. You can always talk with students who have already graduated from the particular school and get to know about their experience and the kind of impact they had in the interior design career because of the degree they got from this school.

7) Also spend some time in finding out the class size and course options and what the course will cover; this will give you a good idea about the depth of the course. If possible have a professional interior designer assist you in this area so that he'll be able to better judge the course outline. The smaller the class size the better it will be for the faculty to pay personal attention to every student in the class resulting in a better understanding of the subject on a one-to-one level.

8) Does the design school conduct lectures/seminars from other popular and successful professional designers to get a better understanding of the subject of interior design? Many times colleges also have study tours to actual site locations so that students can learn how to apply the knowledge from text books in the real world scenarios. Getting help from real world examples can help grow creativity In a big way.

9) Does the course include use of 3D modeling software for designing interior spaces? You can't live without computers in future and that's a fact. It's necessary that right from the beginning of your education you get familiar with 3D modeling software available in the market. Check with your selected course curriculum if they have such a training included.

No comments:

Post a Comment