What Would You Ask The Architects of Boulder's New Digital School?

What makes this program so much better than a masters? why pay $25,000 for a design “certificate”.

Agreed. The premium seems a little high for a certificate. $25,000? They better clean my house while I’m in class.

Also, how would I be expected to survive having to take of 60 weeks off of work? Regular 9-5’ers can’t enroll if they have to balance a job with these courses. I’d love to see the same program offered at nights and weekends.

The workshops may be an option, but are they just stripped-down versions of the program?

Whoa! $25k for a certificate program and no degree from a top notch public U? That doesn’t seem right.

“The team will be made up of today’s digital leaders and industry giants.” Gotta do better than that, who?

“60 weeks?” During the day, at night, both? I got to work to keep the family fed.

What are the employment opportunities after I graduate and invest the 25K? Wow. Looks like an amazing program. Who doesn’t want to learn from industry leaders?

none of you people seem to understand the program. it’s not about the certificate, it’s about learning the skills. even a masters doesn’t mean shit in advertising if your book sucks. and i’ve never seen a hyper island portfolio that wasn’t awesome.

I like the “How can working professionals utilize this program while maintaining their full-time job” question

I think people don’t seem to understand the program because there is no tangible information available on it. Actual course listings? Maybe a course catalog, or a description of how the program will be organized? The site is pretty slim on specific details and the e-mails I’ve sent haven’t been returned. Maybe others have had better luck.

So, my question(s) would be:

- How will the program be structured over 60 weeks?

- How many classes/credits are required to complete the program?

- Where can people go for more information?

I agree with many of the above comments. There is not enough info on the site right now to persuade someone to shell out $25k. We need a value proposition, not just a “we’re going to rock your world” proposition with no details.

Yes, I know it’s backed by some serious digital badasses but I still want to know what I’m going to be doing for 60 weeks. Any school would have to do that.

Also, how about a few more specifics on financial aid. What sort of stuff am I eligible for and what am I not. Is this a public or private program in the view of the govt? Is this classified as a graduate program? This doesn’t matter to me but to Uncle Sam that determines what loans / grants / aid you get. Since it kinda is a CU program and kinda isn’t I’m not sure. Also, linking to the FAFSA form is less help than hitting me in the face if I don’t know what kind of aid I can get.

RETURN YOUR EMAILS! This shouldn’t be a question, but a command. Their contact us form was broken the first day it was announced on here so I sent them an email with my question and a mention that the form was broken. A week later…. nothing. Maybe this can be the first week’s case study on what not to do.

Where the fuck is this thing actually going to take place? So far the answer is “in Boulder.” OK. Well let’s say I was applying to this program and wanted to move to Boulder to be closer to the facility, maybe even within walking distance. Where would I move? Maybe a 10-mile radius of possible locations. Something, anything. Please.

Ok, I know that sounds like a bunch of bitching, but honestly I’m really excited about this program (pending details) and would love to apply (pending details.) So please, Egotist, get some details for us. Thanks.

“none of you people seem to understand the program. it’s not about the certificate, it’s about learning the skills. even a masters doesn’t mean shit in advertising if your book sucks. and i’ve never seen a hyper island portfolio that wasn’t awesome.”

Wow, brilliant. I know it’s about learning the skills. Do you think that we expect the $25,000 is some free pass to get wherever we’d like to go? Do you even understand this program with the lack of details so far? We know this is a learning experience. We’ve been asked to ask questions on what BDW is and what it offers to us. So that’s what we did!

I’m surprised that this program is being administered through the Journalism/Communications school. CU also has the ATLAS program which (nominally) explores this area. They also have computer science which, if it were smart, would have taken ownership of this subject. I think this is an attempt to “jump on the bandwagon” and it seems a little late and half-baked.

The skills developed by this program are so much more important than any masters degree. People coming out of this program are going to be so valuable and have such a highly developed skill set.

Jim: i take it you’ve never taken a course in ATLAS… its shitty. i was more qualified than ANY of my teachers. i feel like they were learning flash the day before teaching it to us.

weird. kids spend way more money and time just working on their books. two years and a bag full of money for 15 ads.

these cats are bringing an amazing program to denver. we’ll get tons of talent out of the deal.

BDW is half the price and half the time of most portfolio schools out there and one will come out with much more then 15 ads. It’s all about the skills you have and that is what BDW is going to teach.

Yes, CU has the ATLAS program and computer science, but these are completely off focus of what it takes to be at the top of the creative, tech, and business industries. BDW is focused on all three of these areas where ATLAS is simply teaching students programs and having them create an irrelevant project.

Who is teaching? How competitive is it to get in? How many students will attend? Do I have to know how to code? Or design? What about internships? Can I attend Hyper Island classes too? What if I have no experience in digital? What are the benefits of the workshops vs the program?

I think its great that advanced programs are being offered in the denver area. This kind of opportunity is going to be beneficial not only for the local talent but also to bring new blood. 25 G is a chunk but in contrast to moving expenses, time and tuition involved with an MFA program, it might be a good opportunity for Denver creatives.