I did my hsc last year and was having confusion choosing between billy blue and uts exactly like eloquence-
I've been 'tryign to get a feel' of billy blue for quite a while- i went to the workshop, open days etc, and they do have a very professional and 'real world' sort of atmosphere.. and I think it is pretty prestigious in the design world, especially for an up-to-date companies.
Alot of the lecturers are also ex-uts teachers.. and what seems more appealing was their confession of having teachers that are still active designing rather than retired ones thus guaranteeing an up to date design demands. And from the workshop i attended that seems to be true. (I also went to a catc workshop, and trust me, having an old retired lecturer is realllyyy boring)
Because the requirement to get in was an interview and a portfolio, rather than an atar, it also demonstrates a more accurate way of a competitive selection- wouldn't you know then that the students that got in are all creative people, rather than mathematical brainiacs?
They also
do emphasise alot on conceptual thinking; infact, it intimidated my survival a little ahah.
So, for those contemplating for next year, this is the pros and cons from my thoughts and perhaps opinions
Billy Blue:
-Fresh teachers
-Growing popularity and prestigious in the contemporary design world
-It's a collage dedicated to design..
-It gives out degrees (bachelor)
-Partnerships with the Swinburne university in melbourne and companies such as MTV
-Their website and printed ads look like a top notch designs lol
-All computers are the newest mac.. and I think its a requirement/recomendations for students too? (pro/con?)
-Depends on portfolio to get in
-It's expensive
-The place is rather small, although the interior is pretty cool (esp the graffiti wall), and north sydney is rather a hole..
-basically, it's a design forward college and seems impressive-
UTS:
-Awesome location (In the heart of city, alot of places to visit during breaks, convenient to find a job, close to usyd, etc)
-It's a university thus there will be alot of different clubs to join (this is somehow a huge pro for me haha)
-Also, this means that there will more (different/interesting) people to be-friended; not only the similar creative people but also law students etc for eg
-For companies that are not design-focused (or small random companies for eg) UTS may be preferred over billy blue since it will be more well known in general
-It is bigger than Billy Blue place-wise
-You can combine it with international studies which I believe, will give you many advantages
-The selection system depends on an ATAR mark rather than a portfolio (pro/cons?)
-It's reallyyy long; 4 years.. this is a major con, as apparently they teach from the very basics and spend alot of time on them as oppose to go through/condense them quickly like billy blue does- as a result apparently a lot of uts students transfer to billy blue according to the people i've asked and talked to
-This means you waste more time studying before finally working
-With HECS the fee is halved
Although in the end of the day, Uni/collages won't really determine how good you will be or how easily you will be employed as it really depends on your portfolio.
However, I ended up with choosing UTS mainly because of the convenience it gives me. (and I'm too lazy to make a proper portfolio just yet
) However, I do wish someone will give me more information on billy blue as well :S
