the problems:
1: the add drop lasts just one week, this means you have only one chance to decide if you can or want to take a class you know nothing about. if by chance the two calsses you are debating between happen to fall on the same time block you are fucked because you will not have another chance to go check the other one if you attend one of them. bsically this means what you get is what you get and thats that.
2: you must be rich, but not only rich and have lits of cash lying around so that you can pay 40K a year for school plus 40K a year to live with out having a job, there are no scolarships available for regular white people like me. so if i did not have the cash upfront RISD would not accept me.
3: i have 33 credits to complete this year. on top of that i may have another 3 credits (if i can find a class that has room) for free. 18 credits + 6 credits are grad crit and thesis classes. that is more then 2 thirds. 3 credits are an obligatory graduate seminar (there are no photo grad seminars), that pose no real intrest to any one who is not a multi media artist, especialy not for someone who is not an artist at all, but only a photographer. so that leaves you with 6 credits for elective classes, 3 of wich must be taken as winter session classes. i will be taking a guided study (wich is not really a class, since there are only technichal and beginner level calsses in winter session) and now i am only left with 3 credits - this means i have only one class i can choose to take this year. and this better be an intresting class. just one class for the whole year.
4: there is one photo class that is not a techinchal class. history of photography. i cannot take it due to scheduleing restrictions. other then that there are no graduate level classes offered by the photo departament.
5: all classes are help in a high school type regime with hnmework and papers and all kind of attendance restrictions, with spelling counted in to ones grade along formatting errors in your academic styling of a paper. this means that any resreve mental capacity you might have left is spent on trying to deal with a class you are not really intrested in but must take and that reqiuers you to know things you never learned how to do in a formal way. yes there are many official classes out there to help you improve your english and writing skills, mespecialy if you are an asian student and english is not your first language. but they are out of regualr hours and do not give you any credit, and have even yet more homework and even strickter rules.
6: resoucrses are limited, or usless, i have all the gear i need at home. the one photo class that is a theory class, is one that i have at least 3 times, (and once more in english in america), i hate mac computers and think learning on a mac is silly and counter productive. faculty memebers apaprt from a select few are not readily available for help or questions, and those who are would have been so even if i did not go to RISD.
the conclusion: i love RISD, it is a great school with a well planned and though out system that is friendly to the student, forthcoming with help and abundant with knowledge and learning material. i am so very happy to have the opportunity to go to RISD and will absolutely dedicate every minute i have to completing my MFA there.
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