and the saga continues ... Cooper applicants

<p>CONGRANDULATIONS! (too excited to type it correctly!)</p>

<p>That's exactly the situation I would imagine it happening to people! sitting bored on the couch, random phone call that is probably some neighbor or a telemarketer, but..</p>

<p>That is really fricking wonderful, expecially for you, because it was the only art school you applied to and you didn't want to go to the other schools as much. haha, it's so great that one of our group got in after we did all that talking about it, I was really hoping that after all this, one of us would get in. good for you. if my RISD letter is an acceptance we'll be going to school 3 hours away from eachother :]</p>

<p>man I still can't believe this! go and tell the people at the cooper unuon livejournal group!</p>

<p>Congrats!!!!! I'm so happy for you!!!! Phone calls, when they're awesome and good, are always so nice to receive.</p>

<p>hey angelina - I have 2 qestions for you --</p>

<p>what's in the cooper envelope? just curious about it.
and do you have a livejournal or blog of some sort?</p>

<p>hello again...hey thanks- you guys are the best (;</p>

<p>actually i didn't get the envelope just yet...only the call (which is good enough for me)
and no... i don't have a live journal...though i do have a live journal account (sorta)...i just made a username so that i could see the cooper union forum haha...i suppose i should post something there though hmmm.... maybe i'll get on that now</p>

<p>talk to you again soon.....i'll let you know when the envelope comes around</p>

<p>oh, haha, I forgot you didn't have the envelope yet.</p>

<p>with livejournal - the 'friends' function lets you connect to other journals. it's just an easy way to maintain contact amoung a group of people.</p>

<p>congrats. hope it all goes well for you. and everyone else.
(sorry...i don't know anything about delaware.)
take care, folks.</p>

<p>This is a horrendously stupid question...but on live journal (on the cooper site) how do i make a general post......i see how one can respond to these posts...i just can't find any way to to make one myself haha</p>

<p>also.....do you think if i sent an email to that woman who called me ..and if i asked really nicely and explained my case...she might give me back my sketch book...haha i want it so badly</p>

<p>ahh, I had the same problem, I cant figure out how to post on the cooper group either! I am 'in' the group and I read it, but can't post.. don't know.. well, you could respond to one of their messages and ask them.</p>

<p>hah, I started missing my sketchbooks too (sent 2 because I bring different-sized ones different places) so I didn't use one for a while.. but then I remembered that I had this one I bought in London 2 years ago and was afraid to use because the paper is so nice but I just started using it out of desperation and now I am happy I did that.</p>

<p>I have no idea what Day Glesson would say about that but what have you to lose? hah. so just call her and see what happens. I've heard stories about Cooper people being a little cold when people ask questions but I'm sure she'd be more than happy to do something for somebody who actually got accepted. (they probably have annoying people who have no chance of getting in calling them day and night..)</p>

<p>My daughter met a Cooper Union admissions/professor at our tour of Sarah Larence. He looked at her slides and said "You should apply to Cooper Union". I don't know if that means much. ANy thoughts? What does the home test include? Are there any sights that show what students have done for the home test?</p>

<p>hm, Sarah Lawrence. My friend is waitlisted there.</p>

<p>If an admissions person from Cooper told her to apply, she probably should. At Cooper I suppose that one person is as picky as another, so if he liked her stuff there's a good chance that other people at Cooper also will. But there could have been something about her work that this one guy liked in particular, for whatever reason - but I still think that she might want to seriously consider applying next year.</p>

<p>I'm wondering, though - why was she looking at a liberal arts place instead of an art one? Because she's more interested in writing or history and art has thus far been more of a side interest? So I think it depends also on how she feels about art - at Cooper it would be all art all the time, so ask her if she'd be willing to commit to that.</p>

<p>The home test is six projects. They send you the directions two weeks before the test is due back. There are six little sets of directions, usually very vague - they want to to research and think for yourself. They change them every year. If you want to see what people have done, try googling 'deviantArt + Cooper Union.' DeviantArt is a free art site that a lot of art students put their work on, and I've found about a dozen people on it who are applying to Cooper or who are students there already. Also try the Cooper Union livejournal community: <a href="http://www.livejournal.com/community/cooperunion/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.livejournal.com/community/cooperunion/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>I hope this helps. If you want to now exactly what the questions were, I still have the papers and I could type them here.</p>

<p>Well, I should get my letter tomorrow. That would have given it four days to get here.</p>

<p>Also, I am seeing Bob Dylan tonight. (!)</p>

<p>..concert will probably go on a while, so at school tomorrow I'll be really tired, AND neurotic about the letter. Man! What kind of day will THAT be?!</p>

<p>I will post the word, good or bad.</p>

<p>KMAL, a long discussion of the agonies and ectasies of the Cooper Union hometest started on the following thread, then migrated to the current one: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=26560%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=26560&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>It's a test of will and talent both.</p>

<p>Thanks for taking the time to reply. My daughter is interested in art as a major even if she goes to a liberal arts school. Her worry about Cooper Union is not having a campus or college life. But the art suits her perfectly.
Thanks for the web sites.</p>

<p>KMAL...
FYI...my daughter was encouraged to apply to Cooper Union by an admissions rep. at a National Portfolio Day. She was accepted to RISD by their early notification date (end of January). She threw away the Cooper Union hometest when it was mailed to her since she was accepted to her first choice school. We had the same reservations as you...no campus...no housing after freshman year, etc. She is very happy at RISD. I hope you take a visit.</p>

<p>I think I'm most likely to end up at RISD. I have never heard anyone say they weren't happy there. loved Providence...</p>

<p>weile, my daughter attended RISD, too. I would ask her every once in a while whether she thought she'd made the right choice, and invariably she said she had. She also thinks the RISD degree opens doors. But of course so much of what you really ultimately do has to do with your own efforts and abilities, not the "credential" alone.</p>

<p>Someone said to me that RISD has become focused on computer work and graphics. Do otherws think that is true? My daughter is a painter. Also the ones who said there kids got in. What were grades and SAT's like? Or did you think it was mostly based onportfolio? Also does RISD have a home test? What was that like?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

<p>RISD does have a home test in addition to a portfolio. There are three pieces that must be on 11 by 17 I believe( but check this out on RISD's site). You also don't get the originals back. Maybe they post these in the museum if you get famous.</p>

<p>Anyway, one of the pieces must conist of a bicycle. The bike can take up the whole picture of be part of the picture. I think one is a still life and one is any random piece of the student's choice.</p>

<p>RISD is an across the spectrum art school. It is very strong in painting and sculpture. It is very strong in applied design programs (illustration, industrial design, graphic design, film/animation, etc.). Take a look at the discussion in the "RISD" thread for some more information: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=343%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/forumdisplay.php?f=343&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>RISD also has a "home test," but it's very simple and straightforward compared withe the Cooper test. Three pencil drawings on 16" x 20" white paper, one an "interior or an exterior," one "a bicycle," and one any subject of the applicant's choosing. Drawings can be abstract or representational or whatever, but only pencil on paper. They've had that same test for 25 years, and in effect you have unlimited time to work on those drawings, so you don't have to go through the terrible ordeal that the Cooper students go through. It took my daughter a couple of days for each one.</p>

<p>My daughter had good grades (including several AP's in math, English, etc.) and test scores (SAT I about 1350). They also required SAT II writing. Not sure what they're requiring with the new SAT's.</p>

<p>Admissions at RISD is probably at least half portfolio, but they do want students who can express ideas in writing and orally and have good basic academic skills. (My daughter thought her math skills were also quite helpful in her major, industrial design, as they definitely would be in architecture.) Perhaps a better way to think about it is whether a student with a weak portfolio can get in with only good grades (no) or a student with weak core academics can get in with a super portfolio (probably not). But they are looking for artistic potential, not just achievement. It helps a lot if the student is good at drawing (figure drawing) and has a good eye for perspective, color, etc.</p>

<p>My daughter had good grades (3.8) but her SAT was only average (1050)...the story of her life...great, hard-working student, but a poor test taker. She did not take the SAT II writing test. RISD gave her a placement test during freshman orientation to see if she was ready for Engish Lit. & Comp. She was offended they were testing her, but I told her not to worry. They placed her in Eng. Lit. & Comp. after the placement test.</p>

<p>As the others have said, the 3 drawings are RISD's "home test." My daughter spent days on each drawing...and it "killed her" to fold them and put them in the envelope (RISD's rules). They had the bicycle drawings hung in a gallery during freshman orientation--very interesting to see the different approaches and styles. I suggest you attempt to submit everything by the December deadline to get an early answer on acceptance. Waiting until April is excruciating!</p>