College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Mi.

[Cory Wolfe]

I'm curious if you guys know anything about this college.

College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Mi.. I noticed some fairly big names are in the alumni, such as the designer for the Ford GT and Chrysler 300. I've been looking into schooling lately and this campus appears to be good bet for the Automotive Design field and its not overly far away. Tuition and housing would run about $35-$40k a year, which would hopefully be covered by Financial Aid.

[ocnblu]

hmmm... where's Nos?

[z28luvr01]

Chris Pauwels (crispey2k) went/is going there and it seems like one of the better schools for what you are going for. I know he actually was taught by present (and former) GM designers.

[wskikevin]

CCS is an excellent school for Design of any sort. Alot of the GM, Ford, and Chrysler designers do come from there.

If you can get in, and stay in, you should have an advantage going forward.

[daves87rs]

Great place to go if you can!

[caddycruiser]

Same sentiments as everyone else so far. One of the top places for getting into this field.

Cost, credentials to get in, and so forth are the big steps, like any college.

Edited May 17, 2010 by caddycruiser

[balthazar]

I went there for 1 year.

The Ford GT designer was there at the time- I have pics of his school work, among others.

I can only give my impressions WRT CCS at the point in time I was there- things may be different now, but I seriously doubt the fundamentals of the industry and CCS have changed much -yes, even after the last 2 years of the auto industry.

I do not challenge the results if you graduate from there. The auto companies (globally) came TO THE SCHOOL and hired you upon graduation. That's pretty much amazing in ANY industry. And the education there is VERY good (AND exciting). It's a tremendous amount of VERY hard work, tho.

However... the school definitely has strong cutthroat elements, on numerous levels. Especially & importantly: school-to-student. What I mean is- the school admits FAR more students than it intends to graduate. Now- on one level that's understandable- they want to graduate the best. Good for them. CCS also liked to broadcast it's '100% placement' of grads- a real selling point and another crushing weight on the graduating class size. These 2 factors lead to one result- a monster termination rate.

Case in point: When I went in as a freshman- IIRC there were 124 of us. The previous year's graduating class was 12- and that was the largest class in recent consensus. You see the math there, right : 1 in 10 ?? Bad for you.

The take away: the odds are strongly stacked AGAINST you graduating in Automotive Design by sheer numbers; by design, AND likely when that happens - you will be left with a BIG CHUNK of credits that WILL NOT transfer to another major.

I went into VisComm and lost a lot of credits even after only 1 year. Imagine you are cut after year 2 or 3 {shudder}, and yes; that unquestionably happens.

It's a very expensive roll of the dice both during school & in the aftermath of termination : you had better be friggin' amazing.

[Blake Noble]

CCS has a PA location, in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia I believe, and they have a track for automotive design too. Why not try there if you're set on going? I'm not sure on how close Brookeville is to either city, but it could save you room/board costs if you could commute.

I had dreams of going there my Sophomore/Junior year of high school, but I researched about and discovered many of the same negative realities that balthazar mentioned above. $40k is not something you want to take a risk on throwing away.

Personally, I wouldn't dare limit my major to one very, very narrow and particular focus like transportation design. I can hurt your chances of finding work in another, similar field if there isn't an occupation open.

Also, another reality I've discovered is that someone with a major in the automotive/transportation design track actually has just as good of a chance at working for GM as someone who has a simple BFA degree with a solid, well assembled portfolio and a few years of working for another company under their belt. One particular designer I've read up on actually only had a BFA degree (his name escapes me at the moment though).

Edited May 17, 2010 by whiteknight

[Cory Wolfe]

I went there for 1 year.

The Ford GT designer was there at the time- I have pics of his school work, among others.

I can only give my impressions WRT CCS at the point in time I was there- things may be different now, but I seriously doubt the fundamentals of the industry and CCS have changed much -yes, even after the last 2 years of the auto industry.

I do not challenge the results if you graduate from there. The auto companies (globally) came TO THE SCHOOL and hired you upon graduation. That's pretty much amazing in ANY industry. And the education there is VERY good (AND exciting). It's a tremendous amount of VERY hard work, tho.

However... the school definitely has strong cutthroat elements, on numerous levels. Especially & importantly: school-to-student. What I mean is- the school admits FAR more students than it intends to graduate. Now- on one level that's understandable- they want to graduate the best. Good for them. CCS also liked to broadcast it's '100% placement' of grads- a real selling point and another crushing weight on the graduating class size. These 2 factors lead to one result- a monster termination rate.

Case in point: When I went in as a freshman- IIRC there were 124 of us. The previous year's graduating class was 12- and that was the largest class in recent consensus. You see the math there, right : 1 in 10 ?? Bad for you.

The take away: the odds are strongly stacked AGAINST you graduating in Automotive Design by sheer numbers; by design, AND likely when that happens - you will be left with a BIG CHUNK of credits that WILL NOT transfer to another major.

I went into VisComm and lost a lot of credits even after only 1 year. Imagine you are cut after year 2 or 3 {shudder}, and yes; that unquestionably happens.

It's a very expensive roll of the dice both during school & in the aftermath of termination : you had better be friggin' amazing.

Interesting. Financial aid is going to determine alot for me.

CCS has a PA location, in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia I believe, and they have a track for automotive design too. Why not try there if you're set on going? I'm not sure on how close Brookeville is to either city, but it could save you room/board costs if you could commute.

The only school I know of is in Philadelphia, so that is likely it. It's just as far away from me as Detroit is.