OCAD University
OCAD University is a established in (unknown). The campus is located in and hosts students with an endowment of .
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28 Student Reviews of OCAD University
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Our first design and build class after Covid was great. Great in spite of the fact the that lead woodshop studio tech, a former student has no formal training or certification. The student tech was seriously lacking in knowledge of hand or power tools, furniture design and did not know to set up machines properly. The student monitor was flamboyantly incompetent and hurt herself 2 times requiring medical help each time. Once on the router table where she had no training, no tech support and I believe the student monitor was alone in the shop. The second time she stabbed herself unintentionally requiring more stitches. In spite of all the wood studio’s technicians lack of true woodworking experience and levels of incompetence the class designed and built unique and conceptually inspired furniture as per our class syllabus. To keep the students safe and on track their professor showed up a day early and left a day late. They held the final critique in a photo studio and the Industrial Design (ID) director attended and was pleased with what he saw. Since they photographed everything their professor gave the ID director all the pics with the intent he would OK and help and with an effort to submit a presentation the international publication Dezeen (an online architecture, interiors and design magazine based in London, Eng.) who often shows student work. The OCADU ID director did nothing to support the furniture design professor or the students. Since then the design departments of both U of Toronto and Metropolitan U. have exhibited student work internationally on the Dezeen’s international platform.
Also the student technician and the student monitor while being paid to be there are often working on their own projects that were primarily personal. Often they do not look up from their personal work and the polite Asian foreign students will not interrupt. Hence not getting the help they were hoping for as weak as it may be. Since all of the latter woodshop people were trained by the untrained there assistance cannot be trusted. Both the the student tech and the student monitors store personal work and possessions all over the shop. Side jobs, large and small work from up to 6 semesters ago that constantly needs to moved out of the way of exits, machines and workbench space. They will harassing anyone that touches their extracurricular work as they lord over and disrespect all in the shop via selfishly utilizing valuable space.
Absolute s**t hole. The biggest waste of money on education I’ve ever spent in my entire life. Do.NOT. Go. Here. Its the worst.
OCADU may have been a great art school a century ago. But it’s crap now. No campus or programs really. Decaying buildings empty with broken furniture. Those in charge from administrators to advising are clueless and seem to enjoy getting paid to not work. Profs are a random collection of underqualified part timers who are unhappy when they do show up. It’s just a really badly managed school on the skids. The vibe is bad public high school meets Chernobyl. Go anywhere but here.
OKAY: I applied to OCAD University through my highschool, in 2019, the year before the Covid outbreak. I was accepted and planned on moving to Toronto for my studies. At this point in my life, all I wanted was to experience the world and move out on my own. I had dreamed of attending OCAD U throughout my time in highschool. I was so excited that I had been accepted to art school in a new city.
It was that summer that I found out that Universities would not be in person, because of the pandemic… I was devastated, though I still intended to make the best of my “two weeks” online. I looked at the program guide and attempted to figure out what courses I needed. I couldn’t figure out how to use OCAD’s website as it was very unclear. I had friends and family try to help me, but no one could figure it out. I couldn’t get a hold of anyone on the phone. It was hard to do all of this from my computer at home instead of speaking with someone face to face. I emailed the student help center and eventually they helped me by selecting my classes for me – a great way to start the year.
I began my classes that September. To say the least, I was surprised by the lack of organization on behalf of the University. As the weeks went on, the lockdowns progressed to stay at home mandates. I continued to attend my classes as I became more depressed and unmotivated. Honestly, the quality of the online classes were very low; I could have obtained the same information through watching a youtube video on the subject for free. I noticed attendance in my classes dropping. No one had their cameras on. The work I was handing in was pathetic. I felt so alone.
I became so depressed in the first year of covid, as did the majority of my fellow students. I lost all motivation and slowly stopped attending classes.
At the time I wasn’t aware that there was a process for dropping courses, I had no idea that I could defer my classes. Again, it was so hard to actually get in contact with anyone from the University. Every time I opened my laptop I ended up in a fluster of tears, and a *slight* fit of rage. I had no idea how to download my Art History textbook, all these codes, new webpages, and passwords. Not to mention that the instructions were practically impossible to follow.
That winter I stopped attending my online classes. I emailed student advising, explaining my situation and asking for help. They advised me to defer until the following year, and so I did.
The next year I moved to Toronto thinking class would be in person. At the end of the summer OCAD U released a statement that in person classes would be postponed for another month. I moved to Toronto for no reason, and the University told us too late to cancel. By the time the month was up, classes were still not in person. The next semester I had one in person class on Tuesday evenings at 6pm. 5 students would show up. Pathetic. I felt bad for the professor but honestly… we weren’t learning anything.
The following year of last Fall of 2022, I was enrolled in one in person painting class. I had moved back to Waterloo and took the train to Toronto every Monday. I dropped my courses for January and decided I would apply to the University of Waterloo. My experience at OCAD U was disappointing. I waisted three years, and learned almost nothing. One painting class my professor asked us why we weren’t very good at colour theory. We said it was no longer mandatory and he went on about how OCAD is ridiculous. Even the professors don’t want to be there, and you can tell. Honestly, classes were a joke. AND I’m paying 6000$ a year for this crap?!
There are no discounts offered for students. No buss passes. No free materials, you have to pay for every single thing you use on top of tuition. There are no sports teams. The campus is hideous. The inside of the new building is concrete, and the primary coloured doors everywhere? What were they thinking. WHO was in charge of design? The “OCAD U Foodcourt” is full of sketchy people seeking shelter, which is understandable… but when the majority of students are young women, or non binary, it doesn’t feel safe for that to be the Universities Food Court.
I once went to a guidance councillor for help because I was so frustrated with the online system. I had just moved to a new city and was l alone. I booked an appointment online and when the day came, I went on a wild goose chase to find the building that I was given directions to. When I got there, security stopped me and asked me many questions about who I was. After many minutes of questioning they escorted me to the offices where I sat and waited. Finally the counsellor called me over and I explained about how difficult it was for me to access my online textbooks and navigate the website. He literally said to me, “I can’t help you”. He made me feel stupid and didn’t offer anything at all. I walked home and cried the whole way.
What a pathetic “support system”.
I got to know a few people at the school. It just so happened that all three of them had had the same experiences as me. Academic probation, failed courses, and lack of motivation. I felt so relieved to hear that I was not the only one. Every student I talked to about my struggles agreed that they had had the same struggles
Most of my peers have continued at the University because they wanted the diploma from OCAD U. I on the other hand have decided not to continue my “studies” at OCAD U for lack of any learning at all.
I applied to OCAD University through my highschool, in 2019, the year before the Covid outbreak. I was accepted and planned on moving to Toronto for my studies. At this point in my life, all I wanted was to experience the world and move out on my own. I had dreamed of attending OCAD U throughout my time in highschool. I was so excited that I had been accepted to art school in a new city.
It was that summer that I found out that Universities would not be in person, because of the pandemic… I was devastated, though I still intended to make the best of my “two weeks” online. I looked at the program guide and attempted to figure out what courses I needed. I couldn’t figure out how to use OCAD’s website as it was very unclear. I had friends and family try to help me, but no one could figure it out. I couldn’t get a hold of anyone on the phone. It was hard to do all of this from my computer at home instead of speaking with someone face to face. I emailed the student help center and eventually they helped me by selecting my classes for me – a great way to start the year.
I began my classes that September. To say the least, I was surprised by the lack of organization on behalf of the University. As the weeks went on, the lockdowns progressed to stay at home mandates. I continued to attend my classes as I became more depressed and unmotivated. Honestly, the quality of the online classes were very low; I could have obtained the same information through watching a youtube video on the subject for free. I noticed attendance in my classes dropping. No one had their cameras on. The work I was handing in was pathetic. I felt so alone.
I became so depressed in the first year of covid, as did the majority of my fellow students. I lost all motivation and slowly stopped attending classes.
At the time I wasn’t aware that there was a process for dropping courses, I had no idea that I could defer my classes. Again, it was so hard to actually get in contact with anyone from the University. Every time I opened my laptop I ended up in a fluster of tears, and a *slight* fit of rage. I had no idea how to download my Art History textbook, all these codes, new webpages, and passwords. Not to mention that the instructions were practically impossible to follow.
That winter I stopped attending my online classes. I emailed student advising, explaining my situation and asking for help. They advised me to defer until the following year, and so I did.
The next year I moved to Toronto thinking class would be in person. At the end of the summer OCAD U released a statement that in person classes would be postponed for another month. I moved to Toronto for no reason, and the University told us too late to cancel. By the time the month was up, classes were still not in person. The next semester I had one in person class on Tuesday evenings at 6pm. 5 students would show up. Pathetic. I felt bad for the professor but honestly… we weren’t learning anything.
The following year of last Fall of 2022, I was enrolled in one in person painting class. I had moved back to Waterloo and took the train to Toronto every Monday. I dropped my courses for January and decided I would apply to the University of Waterloo. My experience at OCAD U was disappointing. I waisted three years, and learned almost nothing. One painting class my professor asked us why we weren’t very good at colour theory. We said it was no longer mandatory and he went on about how OCAD is ridiculous. Even the professors don’t want to be there, and you can tell. Honestly, classes were a joke. AND I’m paying 6000$ a year for this crap?!
There are no discounts offered for students. No buss passes. No free materials, you have to pay for every single thing you use on top of tuition. There are no sports teams. The campus is hideous. The inside of the new building is concrete, and the primary coloured doors everywhere? What were they thinking. WHO was in charge of design? The “OCAD U Foodcourt” is full of sketchy people seeking shelter, which is understandable… but when the majority of students are young women, or non binary, it doesn’t feel safe for that to be the Universities Food Court.
I once went to a guidance councillor for help because I was so frustrated with the online system. I had just moved to a new city and was l alone. I booked an appointment online and when the day came, I went on a wild goose chase to find the building that I was given directions to. When I got there, security stopped me and asked me many questions about who I was. After many minutes of questioning they escorted me to the offices where I sat and waited. Finally the counsellor called me over and I explained about how difficult it was for me to access my online textbooks and navigate the website. He literally said to me, “I can’t help you”. He made me feel stupid and didn’t offer anything at all. I walked home and cried the whole way.
What a pathetic “support system”.
I got to know a few people at the school. It just so happened that all three of them had had the same experiences as me. Academic probation, failed courses, and lack of motivation. I felt so relieved to hear that I was not the only one. Every student I talked to about my struggles agreed that they had had the same struggles
Most of my peers have continued at the University because they wanted the diploma from OCAD U. I on the other hand have decided not to continue my “studies” at OCAD U for lack of any learning at all.
Do not even think about going here. There is no campus, no community and not even a bookstore or a place to work. I think after a few years here you will realize nobody is at school ever. Adminstrators hire random part time teachers who may not even have degrees to teach random courses and if you ever have a question there is nobody to answer. How is this place even open?
I came to OCADU with the expectation that I would learn IT or computer/technology skills having already earned a BFA 20 years ago. OCADU has dozens of individuals to assist with English writing skills – a valuable resource – but no one to assist with applications like Adobe Creative cloud, photoshop, premier pro etc.
We can have the greatest art concepts imaginable but if we don’t have the skills to translate these great concepts into digital technology, movies, URLs, media recordings etc then there is no point going.
I am looking for a different institution for September 2023 and I suggest you all the do the same.
3 courses this term, it states classes start on Wednesday, September 7, 2022, and I have no idea what’s going on because only one class has provided a course outline.
ONE COURSE OUTLINE!!?? How does this set students up for success? It does not.
I think this post secondary institution is a sham. You don’t learn anything relevant necessary to make post modern/digital art. I resent paying money for no service and I can say this having earned 2 degrees from western Canada and 2 healthcare diplomas.
There is no bloody structure at OCADU an you have to “self teach” yourself pretty much everything contributing to stress and mental unwellness.
I noted that the one course that does have a course outline recommends 3 books that are not available in Canada. I ordered one used book online and I am afraid to purchase the other 2 books at a cost of 180.00 in case this course lacks structure and guidance.
I attend school to learn. I know I need to learn computer/technology skills and these skills are not offered here.
I am so disappointed and I regret enrolling for this year.
All my profs seem to be underpaid sessionals as well.
If I could go back in time, I would convince my younger self not to go here. OCADU is more concerned with keeping up the deceptive facade of being “one of the best art schools in Canada” then they are with anything of substance.
Go here if you like spending thousands of dollars to do what amounts to mindless busy work.Go here if you like dirty, overcrowded studio spaces and uncaring professors. Go here if you don’t want to learn any technical skills whatsoever. 0/5.
The biggest mistake I made was not reading the reviews and doing some research about OCAD before going there. I can guarantee you, that had I looked into this school prior to joining, I would not have gone there at all. The reviews left by students should be a warning to anyone thinking of going there. Overall, I can confidently say that OCAD was a huge waste of time and money for me and I regret my decision about going there.
When touring the building for the first time, it already felt very dull, depressing and unfriendly, which was a big red flag (that I sadly ignored). One of the biggest lessons to learn here is to TRUST YOUR GUT FEELINGS. You will probably be right. And if something feels “off”, it probably is. Remember, what you see at OCAD is what you’re going to get for the next 4 years.
The social atmosphere at OCAD is nonexistent. People are not interested in socializing or going out of their way to talk to/make new friends so you will feel lonely all the time. It’s a very small school so there are barely any clubs for students to join which makes bonding with others more difficult. OCAD being a commuter school also means that people immediately leave after their classes are over, so don’t expect anyone to hang out with you afterwards. During group projects, there is no sense of collaboration between peers. There is always competition/tension between classmates, and even your OWN groupmates sometimes. People don’t want to help others because they think someone might “copy” their work or “outdo” them if they become too close of friends. But that is the real nature of these “studio” classes.
You will be forced to take courses that are not relevant to your program as a part of your degree “requirements”, a waste of $$. They also have many restrictions on what courses you can and can’t take, for ex if you are in ED, you will be able to take a course in pottery and animation, but not something like history of architecture, which might actually be helpful to you. If you try to reach out to them for help, you will be ignored or told that there’s nothing they can do. Course registration was always a nightmare since year 1, a very disorganized, chaotic and downright unfair registration system. Being waitlisted for courses you are REQUIRED to take is ridiculous if you are paying them $8k in tuition each year. Required courses often only have 1-2 sections at a time which fill up very quickly and if you don’t have a fast computer and reliable internet connection, GL with your course registration. And no, they do not accommodate you by “creating a seat” for you once a section is full. So, most people are unable to graduate within 4 years and have to spend more time than they should at OCAD, taking the courses that filled up years before.
OCAD is pretty ugly not to mention dirty, for an institution that calls itself the “#1 art and design school in Canada”. Washrooms are always unclean and out of order, it’s very disturbing what you will find in there sometimes. Graffiti and vandalism on walls/furniture are very common throughout the entire school. OCAD is not the most accessible school either. Elevators only go to certain floors and not others. No ramps, or assistance for wheelchair users. There are not many places for students to sit and work, let alone collaborate with others. You will spend 15-20 mins touring the entire school just to find a place to work. You will eventually find an empty classroom, only to be kicked out minutes later because a class will be starting in there soon.
OCAD does not do the whole internships and co-op placement thing so students have no idea what it’s like to be working in their field and if they will enjoy it or not. They act like they are too good for work placements when in reality their graduates are unemployed and can’t even secure decent jobs. Don’t think they will help you with job support/advice after you graduate. You are on your own. I graduated within 6 years (thanks to OCAD’s terrible admin) and I have no idea what I am supposed to do now or how to go about finding a job. My degree feels very useless to me.
Going to OCAD also means a lack of services. You know, stuff that students who go to normal schools USUALLY have access to, such as a proper gym, bookstore, cafeteria, residence, doctor’s office, parking, etc. You won’t get any of that here. The “bookstore” is actually shared with UofT and OCAD only gets a small rack which is their “shop”. So now, you have to go to a whole OTHER uni just to get your stuff because they didn’t make one on campus. There is a “food court” across the street, but it is incredibly run down with a weird stench. Btw, there are also no sports teams/gym so you can’t get involved in any sports at OCAD if you are into that.
The quality of teaching at OCAD is very low. Professors can do the bare minimum and still get by somehow. The instruction you will get is equivalent to YouTube videos that you can learn from in your own time, and they are also FREE. For the most part, you will be teaching yourself skills outside of class. Most professors only held classes for the sake of “getting them over with”. You could tell there was no passion in what they were teaching. Some will be incredibly rude and will insult and embarrass you in front of everyone. You will have trouble understanding how they even qualified for the job. They will not show up on time, won’t give out course outlines prior to classes starting, and the majority of professors don’t even give out any grades until the END of the term, so you don’t know if you are failing or not. They will belittle you and treat you as if you are nothing. In your first year, expect to hear a lot of “you should drop out if you can’t handle it”. They also don’t give all new/incoming students any proper base knowledge, so some will come knowing more than others. By the fourth year, there will still be many students who will not know how to draft the most basic of things such as stairs correctly, which is incredibly embarrassing and disappointing, but can you blame them.
There is a lot more to say, but this review will be capped here. Picking your university is a big deal, so be very selective and careful when doing so. Choosing a school like OCAD is what you want to avoid AT. ALL. COSTS. Go to a real university that will help you learn and where you won’t just feel like you are sitting in a high school/middle school. Simply put, OCAD is not a good school. I wish I dropped out and gone somewhere else, but it was silly of me to keep giving them chances they didn’t deserve until it was too late. Please don’t choose OCAD.
OCAD U is no longer the best art university in Canada, please take a look at the world art university rankings, it is now between 105-115, it is not even as good as Japan, and China; they have some schools within the top fifty. I am shocked, OCAD located in the center of Toronto, and it enjoys great support from the government, also it recruits many excellent young students, but why does the quality of OCAD decline year by year, I have seen several OCAD graduation exhibitions, and their painting major is ok , other majors are really too general, design and emerging majors are a mess, and the majors that keep pace with the times have not increased in five years. Don’t know which educator leads this school, he/she keeps OCAD bad and kept small.
It seems like a mistake to come to OCAD. It’s a waste of money and time. Honestly, it doesn’t really help me develop my art skills. I don’t know why OCAD is treated as the best art university in Canada.
It seems like a mistake to come to OCAD. It’s a waste of money and time. Honestly, it doesn’t really help me develop my art skills. I don’t know why OCAD is treated as the best art university in Canada.
It seems like a mistake to come to OCAD. It’s a waste of money and time. Honestly, it doesn’t really help me develop my art skills. I don’t know why OCAD is treated as the best art university in Canada.
It seems like a mistake to come to OCAD. It’s a waste of money and time. Honestly, it doesn’t really help me develop my art skills. I don’t know why OCAD is treated as the best art university in Canada.
It seems like a mistake to come to OCAD. It is waste of money and time. Honestly, it doesn’t really help me develop my art skills. I don’t know why OCAD is treated as the best art university in Canada.
Not good.
OCADU can be good, but may be a mistake. The school is poorly run and the army of underpaid part-timers teaching courses at this overburdened commuter school are often ill-prepared and grumpy. It’s an art school trying to be a university and it’s overpaid administrators seem to have been trained in Stalinist Russia. Lots of neglect. But there are some great profs. Research you classes and teachers. Try not to anger the admin ogres. Or maybe just stay home.
OCAD is literally the worst University in Canada. Not only its teachers are poorly qualified, disrespectful, inappropriate, misogynistic, racist, and abuse of student all the time, but on top on that when a student seeks help with the Dean of student after an incident with an inappropriate and abusive teacher, the Dean ignores the students request and sides with the teacher. All employees sided with the teacher, even though the student is a person with a permanent disability recognized and registered with the OCAD disability services.
And don’t even let me start on the poor facilities and equipment, the lack of everything in general, poorly managed classrooms, unequipped and unprepared classes, teachers who work there only because they were OCAD students at some point.
Staff are a-holes, in general, everywhere you go at OCAD there’s a full-time employee who seems to have a miserable life and gets it on any student seeking for help.
I withdrew from this University and I have attended Sheridan College in Oakville before coming to OCAD, I can tell, if you have the chance to run away from this immense lie, do it.
I was a student in the illustration program, a really badly created program that doesn’t even focus on current illustration market, they stayed still in the 1980’s with editorial illustration and mainly focused on graphic design. Not even their knowledge and teacher skills in graphic design are good. It’s seriously embarrassing to attend this school in the year 2018.
Run, Run, Run while you can. And if after all these sincere reviews, you still choose to attend OCAD, I guarantee you will remember these words. OCAD it’s the worst.
A big waste of time and money. DO. NOT. GO. HERE. Thank you for giving me no future OCAD.
it sucks!!! don’t choose OCAD if you have other options cuz it’s not worth the money!
full time profs are biased as they don’t want to hear different voices and misleading students in a way that what they talk about is the reality of the world. and they only pick 1 or 2 favorite students and help them set foot in the job market. the rest of us neither they don’t like you or simply they don’t have time for you ….and once their favorite students get the jobs the profs could also be introduced to the employer and do the project together…… full of left-wing s**t!! and brainwashing you
Overall, I found OCAD to be an incredibly negative experience. It has some value, such as the extensive list of schools available for exchange, and the breadth of hard skills you are taught in the first two years and then the change of focus towards more soft skills.
The program, however, is highly structured and doesn’t allow students the ability to self-organize and develop their own design process. Studios are wildly over-capacity, our ratio of space to students is 30%, meaning we are drastically lacking the amount of space required for studio based learning. Plastic, metal, and ceramic studio space is severely limited to the point of being dangerously over crowded.
There are lockers but no designated desk space for students in years 1-3. In your thesis year you might have a desk, but at this point the school is so overcrowded a lot of thesis students are having to desk share.
With lower level administration, I’ve had no problem getting answers and working with them or problem solving. The problem really lies with upper level administration. They are disconnected from the campus, and are focused on the external reputation instead of the internal realities. They neglect student needs to pander to board members and investors. One example of this is the recent renovation of the administration building, which was supposed to also host some student studio space, but was taken over completely by admin and left facilities used by students in a state of disrepair.
Professors are also having troubles with administration, and I’ve heard numerous professors talk about leaving OCAD because of their frustrations. Professors are not allowed to go on strike with OCAD because they are not technically part of a union, meaning they are not able to negotiate for better wages (and they are some of the most poorly paid staff, which is ironic considering Sarah Diamond (OCAD President) has one of the highest wages of university presidents in Ontario).
The grading schema is also a joke. Everyone gets a grade between 65-85. I’ve had a professor send an email to the class when students were upset by the grades, stating he marked low because the class average over the years was 65%, and if the average changed he would have to do paperwork and he really didn’t want to do paperwork, so he would just mark low instead.
OCAD also has one of the highest rates of mental health issues. The structure of the courses does not reflect this, and the school schedule is one of the most intensive in terms of amount of work required. Unfortunately a lot of the projects are not very meaningful, and are more busy work than anything.
The school is also predominantly made up of commuters, considering OCAD has no student residence buildings (they set up some students with U of T residence houses). This means that OCAD needs, to an even greater degree, studio space. But students are forced to limit the scale of their projects, or work from home or a different studio space and then bring their work to school by some means.
Lastly, the school is in a state of tension. Students are setting up protests, and it’s about to reach a breaking point. They have great branding and they are in a great location, but there’s not much more than that.
The school lack of resources, it only provide you with temporary low-paid jobs as interns, hired bunch of profs that have no real skills or professional practices (their work backgroud is usually facilitators in various offices, but has no real achievement in term of professionalism). Studio equipments are outdated, staff have no intention serving students well, you have to figure out everything yourself and follow their pace, no management at all, but really good at neglecting students needs, not helpful at all. Courses in the design program are not consistent, a lot of pretentious profs and staff, If you have other schools to go, don’t go here, all your money and hopes would be eaten up by the people working here.
This school is, unfortunately, the epitome of the neoliberalization of higher education. Studios are increasingly displaced for labs used for advertising courses. There is little to no public space for students. The library is competitive with a Jr. High School library. Everyone seems to have accepted art’s subjugation to financial capital and so no one really even blinks as this school throws students under the bus. It’s depressing.
terrible.
It’s a great school! The job opportunities are there you just have to take the initiative to find them. The staff are great- you just need to find the courage to get to know them. It’s a great school.
I am depressed throughout my four year studies in Industrial design program. I am an international student and I am doing very well for almost all of my courses. However, I am extremely lonely in the school because there is no space for students to do anything other than homework, or a comfortable place for students to sit down and have a good conversation. Some professors are seasonal and they do not put effort to be a teacher. More over some of teachers lack of the knowledge and respect to students from international background. The courses are good if you meet the good professor. Some classes are not worthy because the professor read from the powerpoint which they used since 2005 from the monitor. In terms of Industrial design program, I give it a 3 out of 5. We do not have access to fibre studio and jewelry studio. OCAD is trying to push students in ID to become more aware of the digital future and strategic design. However there is no foundation classes provided for students to learn basic business like statistics or economy. Also, because of the ethical regulation of this school (REB), ID students can not do research outside school. That means every project is basically think and test inside school with your classmates, even when you are designing for patients or children. Thus ID students have many limitation to learn what is first-hand user research.
The biggest money sink hole in all of downtown Toronto.
Ocad(Ontario’s College of art and design) is designed to rip your pockets asunder while giving you the least amount of education possible.
The curriculum is structured like a middleschool after activity painting class. Half of your time will be divided on essays and getting through the crappy assignments (e.g making stuff out of cardboard, or presentations on ‘form’) the other half will be spent doing barely applicable paintings. You will not learn much (if at all) from the assignments, infact, you’d be lucky to spend 3 hours on it and shelf it as soon as you get your grade. Worse, still, you gotta play lottery for the drawing/anatomy classes. You read that right, the PRINCIPAL course is filled up quickly (and I don’t mean, 3 days later, quickly, i mean, the day its available, within hours all the spots are gone) So you can (and most likely will) go a year where you do not have a single drawing course. (lived this, not exaggerating).
The professors are pretty mediocre, one or two good ones, the rest are obviously there for the cheque. Honestly, the best course I took there was one called Data visualization, it had very little to do with art but I learned so much and the teacher was engaging. Wish I could get that type of quality in my drawing courses.
The faculties are pretty good, lots of space for painting and wood shops, metal shops, glass shops, lots of places to play around. – Not worth upwards of 6k though. You can buy your own bloody shop with that money.
Job opportunities? Ha, you’d be lucky if you can draw half way decently after finishing this degree.
Skip this school friends, the only benefit I can think of is that I still get my student discount at aboveground/curries.
I like the fact that All/Most of Humber College teachers for Industrial design studies at OCAD…
really shows a lot when they play it up saying that OCAD student have there heads in the clouds- no suprize there why would any college WANT to refer you to a more reputable older better school F**K humber