Now, before I get into this, let me just put it out there now that I’ve already accepted OCAD’s offer. I haven’t heard from York yet, but in the end, OCAD was the better decision for me. Had I been able to avoid the daily three-hour commute, I probably would still be waiting. But after speaking with one of my friends who attended York for Schulich (a highly esteemed business program), it made me realize that if a commute was going to potentially compromise my motivation for school, then it wasn’t worth it.

Yeah yeah, you can give me the shpeel all you want about how if I was motivated enough, I should be able to deal with it. But forgive me, I’m not a superhuman. I’ve already gone through university and, honey, as much as you’d like to think that the excitement will be enough to get you out the door and travel three hours everyday for four years, you’re still gonna have those days where you don’t want to go. And those days will be more plentiful if a long commute is a factor.

Anyway, to get back on topic, I ended up attending the event, wanting to learn a bit more about this place, and let’s just say that… any decisions I made about going to OCAD did not stem from this event. At all.

I arrived at the main building about 15 minutes before the event was scheduled to begin… for Faculty of Design students, anyway. Faculty of Art students had their’s early in the morning. It took a while to settle in with so many students bringing their parents and friends.

When a speaker finally came up to the podium, the first thing she spoke about was her “expectation” that compared to the art students, design students had a tendency to be tardy and that she was happy that we were able to “prove her wrong.” Really? Surely you could’ve thought of a better way to start off the presentation than to make a rude generalization that has nothing to do with why we were there in the first place.

After some general statements about the school, the president of OCAD, Sara Diamond, took to the podium, talking more about the school, the various programs, recent changes and developments, and, of course, their accomplished alumni.

Oh boy, are they ever hung up on the success of their alumni. I think 70% of this entire presentation must have consisted of name-dropping. Sure, a few might not hurt, y’know, the key ones that every high school student who has taken art would recognize. The Group of Seven, for example. But is it really necessary to go on and list 20 names in a row of your accomplished graduates? To put it blankly – no1curr.

And god, the number of times I’ve had to hear her stress the phrase “breadth of knowledge.”

You see, OCAD has recently changed their name to OCAD University (which makes no sense because OCAD stands for Ontario College of Art and Design). And while OCAD had university status for a while now (even when I was still in high school), somehow, it became necessary to rename the school as they moved towards a more academic-based curriculum. And I guess with the stress on OCAD becoming a “legit” university, students are now required to take courses in Liberal Studies, and therefore, getting that “breadth of knowledge.”

After President Diamond, someone, who I believe was one of the professors at the school, started talking about the programs in the Faculty of Design. Now, I suppose this is standard of any info session, but really, this is all really basic stuff that you can easily look up online and, in fact, probably has been researched by 95% of the students there because they applied for the friggin’ program! Tell us something we don’t know!

The only thing I actually was mildly interested in during this portion was the mini slideshow of projects and finished works. Now the issue here is that, once again, they are hung up on their alumni. Yes, so-and-so was able to create some great thing and he/she happened to graduate from OCAD. But you know what students really want to see? STUDENT WORK! Looking at the work from these accomplished alumni was okay and all, but when the student work finally came up, they just zoomed right by it. I can’t speak for the entire room, but if there’s any artwork I’d like to see in that presentation, it would be examples of what current students are able to create at this institution.

A small thing I would also like to note is that during this entire presentation, the professor kept wandering away from the podium and the mic, causing the sound to cut in and out. A student also asked a question about a particular program and, while the point of this event is to find out more information, there’s no need to have a conversation between the two of you when you have an auditorium filled with people waiting to get on with the presentation.

After this professor, another one came up to speak about the Faculty of Liberal Studies. This was an utter waste of time. Why was it necessary for you to go on the course calender and pick random courses to only read their course description? Also, why was it necessary for you to go on the list of faculty and pick them out to only briefly explain what they teach before going on to the next one? How about discussing the required Liberal Studies courses that first year students have to take and what they’re about?! This was probably the most half-assed part of the entire event.

Ironically, the next speaker was someone who, if I remember correctly, is but a humble manager of the labs and studios at the school. He gave the best presentation of all. He was informative, funny, and organized. What he said was actually interesting and relevant to what we needed to know. No complaints here.

After that though, I had enough and left the auditorium. I wanted to tour the school a bit but I was already stuck in there for over an hour’s worth of crap and so I briefly walked around the Sharp Centre before heading out with a couple of my friends.

Overall, it was disasterous and very disappointing. This stupid, poorly-organized presentation made me seriously question whether OCAD was right for me at all. And honestly, it’s a little concerning when a school so focused on communication isn’t able to do that very well. I don’t know if I was spoiled by the “professionalism” at Mac, but this was a failure of a first impression and I hope that this will be amended later for both my sake and theirs. I can tell you right now that if they want to present themselves as a “real university,” this is not the way to do it.

YSDN

+ wide range of design-related courses available, as well as other courses offered by the university
+ joint program with Sheridan, a reputable institution known for art & design
+ traditional university environment that I’m already familiar with; more structured environment
+ required internship = awesome opportunity to gain job experience and maybe even network with professionals in the field
+ summer classes available without extra charge
+ very reputable design program - student work is amazing and have won craploads of awards
+ can apply for scholarships that are available for both institutions
- tuition is easily over $2k more than OCAD’s
- York is far from my house = would have to spend at least three hours a day just commuting
          – classes also take place in Sheridan = will have to commute to Oakville as well
-  extra travelling = more money spent on transit and more time spent commuting
- campus is in the middle of nowhere
- campus located in a rather unsafe area – security issues
- strikes seem to be a trend in this place – wasting time and money for all the students
- York’s reputation as a whole is… very mediocre to say the least

OCAD

+ located in downtown Toronto – not only easy to access with a much shorter commute, but also in the cultural centre of the city
          + near Chinatown, Kensington Market, Queen Street, etc.
+ specialized institution in art & design – of course it’s reputable in that respect
+ different type of learning environment = new experiences; learn more
+ year-long thesis in final year = awesome opportunity
+ more opportunities to work with other students in related fields and establish connections
+ free admission to the AGO w/ OCAD student ID
- facilities seems to be more dated
- not as much of a variety in terms of courses available, especially in regards to courses unrelated to design
          – liberal arts courses seem to be a joke, but are required (though I could probably avoid a good few of them through transfer credits)
- less professional than what I am used to (especially after the disasterous Create Your Future event I went to last weekend; more on that later)

I’m probably forgetting a few things here, and I should probably note that not all the points made here are weighed equally. At this point, I think the tuition and commuting is enough to convince me to attend OCAD over York. Sure, YSDN seems to have the better program for me, but that’s not to say that OCAD’s is bad at all. In both cases, a TON of work will be involved, which would mean hours and hours spent in the school’s studios and labs. I think the last thing I would want to worry about is the amount of time wasted in travelling that could have been spent more efficiently.

Also, I am not made of money. I am already in debt from the student loans I’ve taken out for my last degree. Also, considering that I am going to need a new computer for this program (an expensive Macbook/iMac at that), that’s easily another $2k or so – $2k that I could use towards this new computer instead of MORE tuition (YSDN).

I think, in a way, I’ve already made up my mind. But considering that there’s still time, I will wait on YSDN’s response before I make any decisions. Who knows? I was convinced that YSDN was the only place for me at one point. Maybe that conviction will come back.

When I was applying for schools during my last year of high school, I didn’t seriously consider OCAD as a choice. While it is a specialized institution for art and design, there isn’t much else offered with exception to the selection of courses offered by their Faculty of Liberal Studies.

The main reason why I didn’t even consider OCAD at the time was because of that. In my senior year of high school, I wasn’t only taking art courses. I also had maths and sciences up my sleeve since I wanted to keep my doors open to other fields of study. I kept this mindset even into my first year at Mac, taking first year calculus, computer science, and a few other things that were fairly unrelated to the humanities, let alone graphic design. In hindsight, this really was unnecessary since I knew what I wanted to do, but I still felt that I should have the maths and sciences for backup, just in case.

There were also some very specific things I wanted to study that OCAD didn’t offer. Language courses, for example. Being quite the anime fan back then, I really had my heart set on learning some Japanese. And during my time at Mac, I studied Japanese for 3 years, all of which I enjoyed (usually moreso than most of my other courses). This is also why I had applied for YSDN, but not for OCAD six years ago.

As for impressions, I didn’t know too much about OCAD other than that they were a specialized university. I didn’t hear any good nor bad things about them back then and had a very neutral impression of the school, which probably didn’t help in my decision to not apply at that time either.

In any case, despite my lack of history with the school, under current circumstances, it is now one of my top choices, and likely the institution I’ll be attending in September. After all, I’ve had my “university experience” already and am putting my main focus into studying design. If I do end up attending OCAD, it is going to be interesting and quite possibly terrifying.

I’m not sure how strong my portfolio was in comparison to other students, or what YSDN was looking for at that time. I thought I would have some sort of advantage since I had some web design work in there, but the biggest issue, I believe, was the portfolio discussion. This was the opportunity you had to talk about your work and demonstrate your passion for design and why you wanted to be in that particular program. Being the awkward kid with barely any social skills back then, I had completely bombed this portion. The interviewer asked me questions about my work and about design, and I tried my best to think of the right things to say, but I probably didn’t make much sense at all. Being a nervous wreck at the time didn’t help as my mind was completely blank once the interview started. It really was a complete train wreck.

Not many people know this, but I had reapplied to YSDN during my first year at Mac with plans to transfer, but because of the crazy work load I had to deal with, I ended up procrastinating and leaving the questionnaire and essay ’til the very last minute. There was a very bad snowstorm that day and even though I got to the post office before 5pm, I didn’t make it. There was a sign on the counter staring me in the face that read “Closed early due to snowstorm.”

After that, I had dropped the idea and decided to stay at Mac. And it was a good decision! Initially, one of the big reasons why I wanted to transfer out was because my first year was incredibly difficult to take in. I was living away from home, leaving behind most of my friends, and I was having lots of trouble meeting new people (being the awkward turtle I was). It was very depressing, to say the least, and this also affected my grades, which didn’t make things any better. Luckily, my best friend, who’s a year above me, was already attending Mac and she helped me keep my spirits up. So while I wasn’t studying what I wanted, I really did enjoy my time at Mac. Being there did help me come out of my shell a bit more and I feel a bit more competent in social settings, and this helped me infinitely in the portfolio interview I had with YSDN about two months ago.

… Which I will discuss another time!

So, let’s start fresh! This will just be a blog about whatever’s relevant to digisumi in general – whatever that even means…? And if we’re starting from the beginning, I should probably introduce myself.

My name is Anna. I went to university after high school, thinking that I was going to get into the school’s Multimedia program and eventually do what I had an interest in for several years up ’til then – graphic design. Anyway, long story short, I didn’t do so great in my first year and couldn’t get into the program. Instead, I wound up in the field of Classics, and while I also enjoyed being that program, it wasn’t what I wanted to do.

I had debated transferring from Classics into Multimedia for a good 3 years at Mac, though the problem was that I would have to start from the bottom if I transferred. That seemed okay to me at first, but it gradually became less and less appealing when considering what I was going to get out of it with the amount of money spent on this one degree. It wasn’t until around the middle of my 4th year that I had decided to finish with Classics instead and pursue a diploma/second degree in design.

And here I am. Back at home. I’ve applied to a bunch of institutions earlier this year, but the main two I have my eyes on are YSDN and OCAD. I’ve received my acceptance to OCAD, but have yet to hear back from YSDN. In my mind, the two institutions are pretty levelled in their pros and cons so I do want to hear from YSDN before I make any decisions.

I’m excited to finally start doing what I wanted to do all these years, but I am a little apprehensive about what’s to come. And that’s what this blog will be here for – not only to post cool shit, but also to keep me sane. In other words, this blog is more for my sake than anyone else’s. It’s me keeping a reference of my experiences, for myself. If any of this gives some insight to others, then that’s awesome. That’s why it’s a blog and not a handwritten journal sitting on my shelf while collecting dust.

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s past my bed time and I have yet another day in that soul-sucking office tomorrow to look forward to. Good night!