PhD Design/Visual Communication decision

[lacultpop]

So I got into two schools for a PhD in Visual Communication in London, England (London College of Communication and Royal College of Art). After two weeks of trying to make a decision mostly based on the huge difference in tuition prices, I chose to go with RCA and sent in my papers. The next day (which was the deadline to give RCA a decision), I received an email from my initial top choice Goldsmiths for an interview. Now I know that an interview doesn't mean you're in, but say I get into Goldsmiths, do I take it over RCA? Both are reputable schools and the tuition difference is another 20,000$. If I choose RCA, I don't think I can secure the funds in time and would have to defer for a year to apply for scholarships.

Help?!

[nongfuspring1]

It sounds like you have some really exciting options. The RCA has a fantastic reputation, so does Goldsmiths but moreso for its undergrad than its postgrad. An old supervisor of mine used to teach at the RCA and I remember him mentioning that it was something of an aspiration for most of the Goldsmiths undergrads to get into the RCA postgrad courses. Having said that though, I think the decision should come from how suitable you think the faculty are to your interests - one year isn't a long time to wait considering how long it takes to do a PhD.

Good luck!