<p>the following was posted by Michael Hayes who is a Assistant Director of Admissions at Parsons and originally was posted on the Parsons community on Livejournal, hopefully this will answer some questions.--jennifer</p>
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<p>Hello all,</p>
<p>I am pasting an entry I posted last year. There are a few edits about dates and times, but the information is the same. I will not be able to give individual feedback here, or review portfolios (we get thousands of requests). However, when I can, I will try to sum up some of the most frequently asked questions.</p>
<p>Oh, by the way, I am an Assistant Director of Admissions here at Parsons.</p>
<p>Hello everyone. Sorry I don't get to stop by this website every day, but I will try to answer some questions that seem to be a trend here and in our daily info sessions that we have at the college. I will be a little straightforward (and maybe blunt) so you really have the best understanding. Trust me, we really love it when you all do really well. It pumps us up and we enjoy it! I hope what comes off isn't sounding too negative, but I think it helps to clarify what something is by stating what it is not. We really want you all to do your best, and we are rooting for you!</p>
<p>There is an upcoming Bachelor's Degree Chats this fall which you may participate in. If you are in our Database, you will receive emailed invitations. Also, we will be going to National Portfolio Days. Here is a list of cities where we will be: Parsons</a> The New School for Design: Off-Campus Portfolio Days and College Fairs . I still need to add Baltimore and Hartford to that list! At these chats will be representatives from faculty, Admissions, Financial Aid, Student Housing, or International Student Services, so this is your chance to talk to everyone in one night. If you are not in the database, watch the Apply - Undergraduate pages of our website. </p>
<p>HOW WE DECIDE: The admissions committee make its decisions in the same manner in how it decides on scholarships. Since Parsons is a place that invigorating, thought-provoking, exhausting, inspiring, illuminating, and it challenges both skill and intellect, we make our decisions based on those two. It is about a 50-50 balance in the portfolio/ Parsons Challenge and academic records.</p>
<p>Academically, we definitely prefer a GPA of 3.0 or above: the higher the better (academics are rewarded). Still, we respect and appreciate it if you have taken a challenging academic curriculum. While we do not have an "equation" where we just plug in numbers, someone who have taken several AP classes and has a 3.3 will probably be looked upon more favorably than someone who has taken a much less complicated road and has a 3.7.</p>
<p>The Portfolio: We want both craftsmanship and creativity. While much attention in the past to portfolios has strictly observational work, i.e. figure, still life, landscape, there have been changes in recent years that take into account creative and conceptual work, and the ability to communicate your ideas. You should be able to express yourself in a visual medium. If you are doing a figure or vase, it is nice if you can be creative, be imaginative, be unique. Can you do interesting things with shape, value, , line, lighting, composition, etc., etc., etc? Still, that does not mean you are released from technical competence. Please draw well.</p>
<p>Let me tell you a little story to explain a little more about what I mean (some of you may have heard this already if you ever came to Parsons and met me). I watched a TV show in the middle of the night, and it was about dancers auditioning for a major, multi-million dollar, jazzy, modern, hip-hop production in Vegas. Trust me, this is going somewhere : ) . The girls were warming up, looking Vegas, looking fabulous, and doing there thing, the girls were performing jazz, modern, hip-hop. Then, thee Choreographer walks in. Now, she was an old time Broadway, no-bull type. She looked like the little old lady from the Incredibles - and sounded like her, too. She walks in, looks at them, and says "NO, Ballet! You're audition is in ballet." They asked why, and she told them that if they had mastered the fundamentals, the movement, the elegance, the grace, the control, the strength, the discipline, she could teach them whatever she had to. If they didn't have those things, she could not teach them anything. Therefore, in a sense, we want to see "visual ballet," we want to see fundamentals. Still, that certainly doesn't mean in our case that everything would have to be "classical." Just be sure to focus on principles, and find imaginative ways to use them.</p>
<p>If your portfolio is 50% traditional fundamentals and 50% creative and conceptual, that is OK, but it is even better if the two can be merged. Avoid using photos, unless you use them only as source material and create something wonderful from them. If you are copying photos, we are seeing what the photographer saw, how they composed, what they were thinking - not you.</p>
<p>We do not have a set of drawings you should do, nor do we have a formula we are looking for. One accepted portfolio may look completely different than another. We want you to be the innovators, the leaders, the creators, the people future students talk about someday as their role models; therefore, we don't want a formula approach.</p>
<p>Where people will go wrong: they focus too much on their special field (fashion designers, pay special attention : ) ). It always go back to fundamentals. With a little explanation follow this (ie there IS a difference between architects and illustrators), you should be most concerned with demonstrating solid principles. Fashion designers love to show all of their fashion drawings that they have spent many nights and weekends doing. With very rare exception, it is best that you do not submit fashion illustrations. Like the ballet choreographer, if you can show that you can understand color, line, texture, form, etc etc etc, you can be made into a fashion designer. It is like taking a great athlete or musician and teaching them a new sport or new musical style. Think Deion Sanders playing football and baseball, vs. someone who might have played baseball all their life but isn't very athletic; or Eddie Van Halen taking guitar lessons from jazz great Stanley Jordan - who could run circles around Eddie Van Halen on a guitar : ) If you are accomplished academically, you likely learn new subjects better than those who have not put as much effort in that area. Although, sometimes math can be a challenge no matter what for the dyslexic ones!!! There are a lot of talented dyslexics in the art world. Isn't it wonderful?</p>
<p>There are some slight exceptions to this rule. Naturally, architects and interiors designers are a little different, but should be accomplished artistically and design-wise. Photography people (a direct entry program) should be working in a photographic medium - but paintings and drawings are welcome. Design & Technology leans more into a scientific area than the foundation majors, so if you don't draw like Michelangelo, you should not be deterred.</p>
<p>In fact, no one has to draw like Michelangelo. Have some solid abilities, have potential, if you haven't gotten some formal training, it is highly recommended you get some.</p>
<p>The Parsons Challenge: At this moment, I just want to add one thing. For your benefit, this Challenge is not about you. It is about how you see outward into your community, how you look at things in the world, how you analyze things, but it is not a biography about you. Also, it is about one thing from three different angles, three points of view, philosophies or concepts. New York City, is not one thing, nor is your city.</p>
<p>I hope this helps! Unfortunately, because of the thousands of inquiries, we only review portfolios through the established channels (National Portfolio Day, on campus reviews, and in interviews).</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Michael Hayes
Assistant Director of Admissions "</p>