I’m 22, and I went to college at Savannah College of Art and Design for two years working on a photography major. I got pretty far, and my parents invested a ton of money in this education. I was very interested in photography, and I still enjoy it… but it is by no means my passion and I am not excelling in it like I thought I would.
Thus far, my options with finishing my photography degree are to finish it online through SCAD (I have moved to Houston but we have an “online campus”) or to finish at the Art Institute of Austin, which is the less expensive but less accredited option.
As for interior design, all I can think of right now is to go to the Art Institute of Austin and do it there. Since I have all of my core art classes done, I won’t have to start completely over, but at 22 that’s a lot of time and money I’ll be spending because I changed my mind.
I don’t know what to do. My parents do not support me any longer and will not be paying for the rest of my education, so this is pretty scary and confusing for me. I want to be successful, but I want to succeed at something I have a passion for and my passion has always been for interior design, my parents just wouldn’t allow me to go down that path when I had the option to. Now I know I should not have allowed them to discourage me from what was really my dream because at this point it’s harder to figure out what to do and how to pay for it.
The Art Institute can be a good school for interior design as long as its Accredited, preferably by CIDA. Go to CIDA.org and CCIDC.org to look at schools in your area that are accredited. This can really make all the difference when finding a good job. Most employers are going to look at students who have the right schools and knowledge behind them. Good Luck!