Applying to Design School...do I have what it takes?

[Jeremiah1223]

Hi everyone at conceptart! this is my first post and i'm really happy to be here : )
OK, so i'm in a VERY strange position and I really hope that some of you may be able to help. in short, i'm 25 yrs old, i have a MA in History of Art from the U of St Andrews in Scotland, but have always wanted to pursue industrial design, and more specifically furniture design.
i've reached a point where i've finally decided to take matters into my own hands and apply this fall to the school i've always dreamed about attending, RISD. the problem (well, the first problem) is that I don't really know if i'm qualified. I know that I'm amazingly creative and inventive and can express my concepts (for furniture, product design, etc) verbally and, in many cases visually with models or something of the sort, but i'm not an amazing artist/ illustrator (good, but not exceptional) so my 'portfolio' may not be as impressive as less creative/more 'artistic' individuals (to be honest, i still don't really understand how a portfolio needs to be set up, what should go in, what should be excluded, how things need to be photographed, etc)
my second problem is that I'm a poor 25 yr old selling just enough mid century furniture to make a living ( PasternakAntiques.blogspot.com) so i'm afraid of the possibility of getting into the school i've always dreamed of and then not having the $ to pay for it. I really don't want to take out student loans, so my only real option (that i know of) is grants and scholarships and i honestly don't know how many would be available to someone 7 yrs out of high school.
i look forward to your responses!

Jeremiah, ME
jeremiahpasternak.blogspot.com

[Jeremiah1223]

also, I should note that i'd be applying as either a freshman or as a transfer student going into my second yr, NOT as a graduate student (for obvious reasons).

[JBCLC]

Um.....I don't think that anyone can help you if you don't provide examples of your work that you say "isn't so good".

I'm no expert at all; but if you can express your ideas with models....., well, maybe you can take some kind of sculpting or modeling class instead?

Why don't you give examples of your work in both the 2D and 3D mediums?

(Maybe you should start a sketchbook here.)

[Mirana]

Seconded...show us the work. If you don't have a website click on "Go Advanced" next to the "Post Reply" button and you'll see a little paperclip in the icons. Click on that to upload image files. Then close the window, click on the paperclip again and choose the images to post them to the thread.

There are a couple of things you can do. Check out the Scholarship forum for ideas but in general...Look up scholarships for: Gender, minority, nationality, employee related (for you or relatives), and age. You might find some scholarships that consider you a returning Adult and thus more funds. Also contact the school of your choice and ask about not only their academic and portfolio scholarships, but those available to international students. My school had a whole sub-set of money available to JUST international students so...it's worth looking into.