AboutSean Trapani Expertise I am a professor of advertising at the nation's largest art and design school. I teach general advertising courses, copywriting and brand theory.
Experience I have 15+ years ad agency experience as a copywriter and creative director. My experience covers general agency work, such as consumer print and broadcast, as well as specialized communications such as directory advertising, recruitment advertising and employee communications. My work has received dozens of awards, including ADDYs, Silver Microphones, Tellys and others.
I am a Senior Communications-Advertising major this year. I have had many bumps in my college career resulting in me taking 7 years to finish my BS, and my cumulative GPA being 2.4 (granted I preformed very well in my major courses). I do have some highlights on my resume. I interned at a regional magazine in the circulation department, I worked in direct marketing for local businesses marketing products at trade shows. Though my dream is to be a copywriter in an ad agency, I am excited to put something under "Experience."
Now that I am graduating I am sizing up my achievements and feel I am below most other applicants. I know that I have to go to school in order to offset my undergraduate grades, but I always wanted to go to the UK after graduation. I thought why not go to portfolio school/grad school in the UK. I have been looking at reputable schools and I wanted to know does it make a difference that I went to portfolio school in the UK? Wouldn't that make me stand-out to agencies? And not just in a bad way. I have come to love creating ads, the whole process. I feel it fits my personality and it's taken me 7 years to realize it. Is it too late?
Thank you,
Kara Nuckles
Answer Hi, Kara
Being a copywriter or art director is not like becoming a chef, for which a training pedigree in a European country would be seen favorably in contrast to a US school. I teach at a college that attracts students from around the world to study marketing and advertising - in fact, it's a bit of a joke in academic circles that "marketing" is our last great export in the US. This is consistent in more traditional colleges and graduate schools, as well.
That said, unless you are trying to work for a UK company, there is no reason to go to a portfolio school in the UK. With the exception of account planning, which was pioneered in the UK, the US portfolio schools are far more highly regarded worldwide.
