man....highly competitive field. no corner cutting! Look...contact a couple of graphics outfits, find a top dog and ask if he or she would grant you an informational interview. go in with GOOD questions, be sharp and milk them for all the input they will offer. they are always busy, BUT, they are also smart and anyone with the savy to request pre-degree informational interviews is a little smarter than the avg goober! reach out. They can give you real, bedrock, usuable information. the experience is great fun. I've spent time with a senator, two congressmen, the endowing founder of The National Museum of Women in the Arts, a currator at the Smithsonian and several major artists.
