My Community College Counselor is a lazy idiot - Help with Interior Design Schools PLEASE!!?

Question

I live in the Los Angeles Area and am looking to transfer from a Community College to a University or Cal State Spring 2009 (hopefully sooner).

I am looking for a reputable school for Interior Design that I can obtain a BFA in Interior Design/Architecture. I looked at CSUN but they offer a Bachelor's in Family Science which I thought was weird. Of course there is OTIS and PARSONS which I would love to get into but couldn't ever afford.

What options do I have? I need to stay within the area or at least within the State of California as I do not want to pay out of state tuition.

Any advice on schools, financing, scholarships?? I barely have a 3.0 GPA and after this semester it may go down a bit but I do have talent and already am building a pretty decent portfolio. Please share your thoughts....I need advice in a bad way.

Also, do designers have much success with certificates only?

Answer 1

I can't tell you too much about the quality of the specific programs, but a lot of the CSUs seem to have some kind of program. San Jose State is the only one which specifically has a BFA in Inerior Design, but both Fresno State and Sacramento State have BA programs in it, and San Francisco State has a BS in Interior Design (I can't imagine why it's a BS, but it is). Also, Chico State, Long Beach State, CSUN and San Diego State all have options for Interior Design within other majors. Both Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly SLO have a BArch, but nothing specifically in Interior Design.

There doesn't seem to be much at any of the University of California campuses. UCLA has a wonderful architecture school, but your GPA probably won't get you in there.

On the private side, the University of San Francisco offers an Interior Design program. Yes, it is a lot more expensive, but realize that most people have substantial financial aid anyway, so I'm not sure the difference would be as much as you think it would be.