I just got accepted into VCU Brandcenter Art Direction track and Miami Ad School (Miami location) and I am looking for opinions and thoughts on both the tracks from current students or industry professionals. What is the reputation in the ad industry? Pros and cons?

likeuplifting
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This is easy. Brandcenter, no contest.

likehelpful

You know what, different agencies hire out of different schools. It's a fact. Find the places you like and look on LinkedIn where the creatives came from.

It's your life, and this is very subjective!

likesmart
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Go to VCU Brandcenter. I'm a recent MAS graduate, and the administration is a mess at MAS. MAS-MIA is one of the worst locations,, besides NYC, that you can attend to get your portfolio. You'll have better education and support through VCU Brandcenter. The administration at MAS has done NOTHING to support recent graduates during this pandemic. Pippa and her MAS administration are bunch of money-grabbing scumbags that does not care about the students. Get your money's worth and go with VCU Brandcenter.

likeupliftingsmart

Also a recent grad...go to VCU. MAS administration is horrible and the lack of support is astonishing.

likehelpful

I went to MAS in San Francisco. I had the time of my life. I made lifelong friends. I traveled the world. I grew as a person and as a creative. And I currently work at my dream job.

With that said, MAS is a crapshoot. It can work out for you, or you may get horrible teachers and apathetic classmates. I would go to VCU.

likeuplifting

Just focus on making the best work you can, even if your teachers aren’t great. Consider it practice for when you have to make great work despite your creative director not being great.

Also DM me if you want any free tutoring/or just to chat Ad stuff

I’m a former MAS student and I’d 100% go to VCU if I could redo my education. Without hesitation. MAS teaches students how to be scam award idea hungry creatives and everyone I’ve ever met from VCU have been some of the most strategically sound creatives I’ve ever met. No question. Go to VCU or regret it for the rest of your life.

likesmart

I will personally track you down and slap some sense into you if you don’t go with VCU.

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Many. Not all.

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Here’s the major difference. MAS is a largely unstructured educational environment where as VCU is a very structured educational environment.

I went to Miami Ad School and have done very well in this business. I was also closer to the top of my class than the bottom, and there are more people from
my quarter who have not done so well. So take what I have to say with a grain of salt.

MAS means well, but this is not an academically rigorous experience. If you want to make it something big, you can. There’s an enormous amount of opportunity. But it’s on you to figure it out and make it happen.

They have a deep network and and if you work hard and put in the time to build a good book early, you will be rewarded with Top tier internships in any and every major market in the world. That’s the core benefit of MAS. Their entire second year can be internships if you want them to be* (*if you can get accepted by the agency)

I absolutely loved living in Miami. It’s culture is wonderfully unique. As a non Spanish speaker, I only scratched the surface but was still exposed to a deep and wide mix of culture. It’s also beautiful. It’s also extremely distracting and if you’re not disciplined you’ll do what so many have done and waste their time hanging out and going to the beach. Like I said, it’s very unstructured. It’s on you to make it happen.

I’ve also taught a few MAS classes and know first hand they don’t prepare teachers well and cycle through them at a high rate. They pick talented creatives, don’t get me wrong, but MAS is not academic it’s practical.

You learn by doing and being critiqued. Over and over again. No one really teaches you how to be an art director, they teach you to be creative. Deep down that’s what they’re very very good at.

They inspire young people to stop being passive and start actively creating.

I would go back in a heartbeat if I had to do it all over again. In the end, it’s up to you. I encourage you to reach out to alumni of both and ask questions. Feel free to DM me if you’d like. Happy to chat more.

And congratulations on becoming an art director. Welcome to the club.

likehelpful

I know so many smart, funny, clever, wonderful people who went to Brandcenter. It’s no contest, Brandcenter is literally the best of the best. I went to VCU undergrad and just having THAT on my resume is worth something. It’s a great school with a great reputation that will 100% get you a job afterwards.

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Everyone who “applies” gets into Miami Ad school. Not everyone who applies to VCU gets in. That in itself should be pretty self explanatory about the standards between the two.

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VCU, wife’s a recruiter at a top NY agency and VCU grads get looked at 10x more than Miami ad school students. Brand center is a complete program that really preps your for the industry.

likehelpful

I went to Miami Ad seven years ago, and I was able to study directly with Ron and many of the other teachers that started the school. It was perfect for my needs; I started my career with a year of internship experience. I met my now-wife on quarter away. But from what I’ve seen and heard they spread themselves too thin, got money hungry. I get the sense it’s like the McDonald’s of ad schools now.

If you get in, I’d say VCU. If not, you can still succeed at MAS. Just need to be a self-starter. At the end of the day you’ll be judged on your book, not the school on your resume.

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Run far far away from MAS, especially the Miami location.

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I ojoji. Ninth

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Yeah to piggy back on what I said before...MAS is a joke now but without I would have never learned about this industry or gotten the connections I have now. However, I had to work so so hard, especially since I was paired with incompetent students who wanted everything handed to them without working for it (not to mention incompetent teachers). Still working super hard and I find looking at other good student books help.

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Miami Ad School. I went there and it changed my life.

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brandcenter, do it. great alumni network and fantastic guidance on how not to think

smart

If you want a higher chance of getting into Wieden then join VCU. Not even joking

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Damn what happens if you just go through an undergrad ad program and not portfolio school?

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Agreed! You can go to Pratt or SVA as an undergrad and get art direction work at some of the best agencies in the country. Portfolio schools are phenomenal but it’s unfair to expect everyone to afford a masters or portfolio school, when there are tangible and lauded four year degrees for that career track.

VCU

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If you don’t need to, don’t. It will not guarantee you anything except crippling debt that will take 10+ years to pay off depending on your situation.

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No! Sorry. Not that at all. I see a ton of people that work at my agency who go to a 4 year college for advertising / marketing / design or something related, then on top of that go to Ad school and to me it just seems unnecessary. I think if you already have a 4 year degree and knowledge of advertising, spend time on your own getting your portfolio in better shape if it is not. You will save a ton of money. If you have no experience at all then yeah that might be a better option but I believe if you put enough of your own work into your book you don’t need to go to a second set of schooling. Your going to graduate and then get a job starting at around 40-50k and you will probably have a ton of debt unless you already have money saved for school. So yeah I guess my advice would be only go if you have no schooling and background at all and are clueless but if you know what you’re doing and already have a degree then I would suggested fixing up your portfolio your self and networking a lot on LinkedIn. There are still a lot of people who go to ad school and can’t find jobs it doesn’t really guarantee you anything.

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