Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design

I\\\'ll be perfectly honest. I\\\'m not normally the kind of person to leave reviews, but at this point, I am completely frustrated with this school and its lack of action or even empathy. As a 2021 graduate, I was very excited to go to MIAD. The student housing is nice (but expensive!) and the instructors are generally understanding and compassionate, with very few exceptions. Most have been understanding with COVID and all. Student life is fairly active and it\\\'s very easy to connect with other art students with similar interests. The food has gone downhill in recent years, if you don\\\'t have a meal plan from the student housing, I\\\'d honestly just suggest bringing your own lunch (cheaper and probably better than what they sell). Third ward itself is a decent place, though parking is ridiculous. Living here was an okay college experience. As for the curriculum, a lot got reworked in my time here, so I can\\\'t exactly say if it will be the same for future students. Some classes prepared me better than others, but none gave any real-world connection opportunities like I\\\'d expected. Here\\\'s what bothers me though. The administration does not care. And I mean that. If you have an issue with how something is run and provide feedback for how to fix it, they will ignore it and say later that they did all they could, given the circumstances. That\\\'s just not good enough for a college of this level. MIAD knows they could do better and refuses to do so. 2021 was an opportunity for change and a breakthrough in how the Senior Thesis projects are presented, but it has to be one of the hardest losses in the school\\\'s history. I can\\\'t help but feel as though a different, more competent school could have handled this situation better. The instructors and students are nice, but they can\\\'t fix this administration.

It's simply ~alright~. Students have access to cameras, studios, the woodshop etc, but with the tuition and additional course fees, sometimes I wonder exactly where all of this money is going, especially when students still have to go out of their way to purchase additional required supplies for classes. The school has an issue with queer and poc inclusivity, especially in the IAD and ID majors. Some of the professors are also inconsiderate of utilizing people's preferred pronouns. Other than those few, overall, I feel like the professors are open and understanding of their students. It's the decisions of the administration that are mostly questionable. With the current social climate (BLM protests, etc.), I'm hoping the school is making necessary adjustments to suit the needs of the minority population.

The Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD), in my opinion, is a little bit below average for a school. To talk about the cons, if you are someone who wishes to go to a University / School where a lot will be handed to you I would strongly suggest not going to this school. There are some connections that are made for you but they are likely with companies that you are not going to want to work for. Anything outside of those connections are ones you will have to make on your own, there are people who are around to give advice on these things but as hard as they try to help I have found their help to sometimes be very outdated. The facilities are staffed but usually have at least one piece of equipment that is broken (student error). The student body seems to be growing much larger than what the already very crowded facilities allow for, which hasn't been too much of an issue yet but I worry for the future. The cafeteria is about the size of a dorm room with very few options to choose from, there is usually always a vegetarian option though. People often work weekends or go home, so if you are looking for a party school I would again stay away. There is no greek life or sports but being an art school, I would say that is to be expected. The majors don’t get along with each other. I have noticed a good amount of the professors I have worked with to be outdated with their suggestions and some have a hard time giving any feedback whatsoever. Having had professors like this is the biggest reason I give MIAD a “below average” rating, as this is the most important aspect of college. To talk about the pros, being the small and “underdog” school that it is can work to your benefit if you learn to play it as such. Companies, in my experience, have jumped at hiring a hard working student, from a small school no one’s heard of, who busted their ass getting in the door rather than scooping some intern from a list that a university handed them. Milwaukee is a cool, beautiful, and very service industry based city, tons of festivals to enjoy if you find friends to go to them with. Summer is definitely the best time to be around though. The facilities at MIAD have some good equipment but like I mentioned above, can be broken due to a student's misuse pretty often so relying on them is hard. They do have check out centers where you can check out equipment you may not own. Photography studios to be checked out. There is a Blick across the street for supplies. It's a good school for someone who can make connections and things happen on their own and really just needs access to the tools and equipment to get there. If you are looking for anything more than that, I would suggest looking elsewhere.

The Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design is an incredible, creative campus. Everybody there wants you to succeed and to find your passions. Faculty are always there to help you plot out a path to get you to the future career and life of your dreams. MIAD is the best school that I ever could have picked for a creative degree and the connections that I will make along the way.