I just attended my first advisory board meeting for The Fashion Institute of Technology’s (FIT’s) department of Advertising and Marketing Communications. Impressive and misperceived are my first takeaways. The school gets something like 3,500 applicants for 125 spots. So the student academic quality is high. And the faculty looks first rate. They combine what appears to be a solid mix of real working experience (at least 10 years) with the theoretical. They don’t come at you with academic BS. Their feet seem solidly planted on earth. Proof of the pudding was a presentation put on by 6 students duplicating an awards contest (they came in a respectable 4th) run by an advertising group. While the presentation content was strong, what really got me was the skill of the presenters: poised, articulate, and smart. Plus, they clearly worked their buns off. I wouldn’t hesitate to put some of these kids in front of my clients. I love getting my perceptions changed for the better. This school deserves more attention.