关于UI申请的一些看法
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WINTER
交互设计知多少
WINTER
今天接触的一位学生想申请UI专业，这个专业在美国注重的是外观设计。提供UI专业的美国高校分两种，一种是综合类院校，一种是艺术类院校。综合类院校，史老师看了各大高校的专业情况，发现很多都开设在计算机学院或者信息学院，有一部分开设在继续教育学院。对于计算机的基础也有要求，需要具备一定的编程。
01
卡耐基梅隆大学 · HCI
我们来看看卡耐基梅隆大学的HCI硕士项目，作为一个独立的department存在。它开设的核心课程如下：
(Seven Core HCI Courses)：
05-600 HCI Pro-Seminar: Communications in HCI
05-610 User-Centered Research and Evaluation (UCRE)
05-651 Interaction Design Studio 1
05-650 Interaction Design Studio 2
05-630 Programming Usable Interfaces (PUI)*
05-631 Software Architectures for User Interfaces (SSUI)*
05-671 HCI Project I (15-unit spring course) and 05-672 HCI Project II (48-unit summer course)
另外一所大学，佐治亚理工学院的HCI专业也值得介绍。该专业设置在College of Architecture建筑学院, 但是课程是由计算机学院、人文与传媒学院、心理学学院4个学院共同提供，可以看出，交互设计专业涉及到的知识领域广泛，申请者也是分别来自计算机、心理学、设计等专业背景的学生。M.S. in HCI项目有4个研究方向：Interactive Computing (IC) 互动编程、Digital Media (LMC) 多媒体、Industrial Design (ID) 工业设计、Psychology (PSY) 心理学。项目涵盖的面非常广，Research较强，有很多探索的可能，不一定非要往UX设计的方向发展。不过该校偏研究，录取的学生背景都非常强大，也有很出色的作品集。HCI录取中国学生相对较多，建议分数够且软背景不错的同学可以大胆尝试。
NO.3 萨凡纳艺术与设计学院
另一类学校偏艺术，比如全美最热门的25大学中的萨凡纳，该设计学院被卡普兰周报誉为“最热门的艺术学习中心” ，有两个项目，一个项目课程内容涉及视觉传达、设计调研、人机工程等设计学基本应用知识，同时还有交互设计理论、信息架构等UX相关课程。另一个项目主要学习内容为游戏设计，主题课程均为游戏相关，但部分课程内容也涉及界面设计、交互设计、网站设计等。该项目课程涉及编程。毕业生一般选择当游戏设计师、交互设计师、网页设计师等。
NO.4
加州艺术学院
再比如旧金山的加州艺术学院，老师大多数来自于硅谷两家重量级设计公司-IDEO以及Adaptive Path，因此整个课程会偏向于studio，对学生的语言能力要求也较高。
NO.5
帕森斯
另外一所值得考虑的艺术学院当属帕森斯设计学院。它的校园主要坐落于纽约格林威治村。该校为世界著名设计学府之一，根据SQ艺术与设计大学排名，帕森设计学院为世界排名第三，美国排名第二。
纵观提供UX/UI/HCI的各类院校，不难发现，申请要求大多围绕雅思/托福、作品、文书、WS、WES认证等。托福要求一般从80-100分，综合类的大学要求较高，很多需要达到100分以上，有个别的大学还有要求单项不低于25分，比如卡梅。作品集也是有些学校需要，有些学校不需要，比如卡耐基梅隆大学不强制要求，但是如果提供会考虑。比如加州大学尔湾分校如果提供作品集可以替代GRE。帕森斯一定要求提供portfolio。还有一个材料是大家容易忽略的，这份材料是WS，学校之所以要求这份资料，主要是想考察 申请人的思维、对于story的构思和陈述故事的能力以及写作能力，最常见的是南加州大学。
学制
史老师遇到同学们问到最多的是关于HCI/UI的学制问题，MA或者MDes一般是一年制，MFA一般是两年制。每所大学会有略微差别，请同学们务必到官网查询curriculum这一栏。
文书
Personal essay
You’ll answer five open-ended questions, one recorded in video form and four in written form (2,000 words max):
What draws you to the field of interaction design at this time? Your answer to this question should be recorded in a video, up to 90 seconds maximum length. Be sure to include your definition of interaction design, and show us your personality in the video.
The MDes program at CCA helps you develop professional leadership skills. Describe a time when you demonstrated professional leadership in collaboration with others to create change. What did you learn about yourself as a leader in the process?
The MDes program at CCA collaborates with community partners. What’s your approach to building community or engaging with a specific community? Please provide a specific example, whether it’s informal (e.g., planting trees in your neighborhood) or structured (e.g., ongoing volunteering with a nonprofit or NGO), and describe the outcomes of your work.
What complex problem or social challenge inspires you to bring your design skills to it? Please describe why you selected this particular challenge and what drives you to propose a solution. How will you know your solution is a success?
Describe how you’ve overcome a situation in the past by using a mindset of curiosity, framing, iteration, communication, collaboration, and measurement. How did it help you grow?
作品集
Portfolio
Portfolios don’t need to be in a specific field; in fact, a strong graphic or industrial design portfolio will be looked on more favorably than, say, a weak UX portfolio.
We also look for your aptitude in tackling complex social challenges and engaging with community, perhaps through volunteer work in nonprofits or exploration of how design might better address critical social challenges. In addition to academic and professional work, applicants are encouraged to include personal work.
The portfolio can include up to 25 still images, video, time-based media, or interactive media. If you submit video or time-based media, submit a three-minute sample reel that the review committee will watch in its entirety. The three-minute sample reel should be labeled clearly with the title, date, running time, and description of the work it contains. Technical specs are as follows:
Images (up to 5 MB each)
Videos (up to 250 MB each)
Audio (up to 30 MB each)
PDFs (up to 10 MB each)
Links to media from YouTube, Vimeo, and SoundCloud are also acceptable
祝同学们顺利拿到心仪院校的offer！
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