Editor’s Note: This is part eight of Caitlyn’s ongoing series about her day-to-day experiences attending fashion school at FIDM in Los Angeles. The purpose of this series is shed some light on what fashion school is REALLY like – it’s a lot different from what you saw on The Hills!

In case you missed the earlier entries, get caught up by reading Diary of a Fashion School Student: Introduction, Majors and Schoolwork, Housing and Having a Dog at College, Ten Awesome Perks of Attending FIDM, Classroom Attire, A College Girl’s Guide to Los Angeles, and Fashion School 101: A Comprehensive Guide to Fashion School Majors. Whew!

Many of you have asked how I came to attend fashion school, and what the application process was like. So for you curious readers, here’s my prequel.

Table of Contents

A Little Background

After my sophomore year of high school, I visited my sister at school in Orange County. (She was pursuing a Ph. D. at the University of California at Irvine.) During my trip, I decided to tour FIDM on a whim. Up until that point, I had been considering politics, journalism and law as possible career choices. The fashion industry was always my passion, but I didn’t realize you could have a career in fashion without creating actual garments.

This is precisely why, when I toured The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, my whole world changed. Seeing the school opened me up to 15+ fashion school majors that didn’t involve sewing. The was no arguing with the resources, campus features, and location. As soon as I set foot on campus, I immediately knew that the school was a perfect fit.