@missis @artdreamer I agree that fewer art majors in a university setting vs. an art school can limit networking opportunities, funding for the art program or class options. So it’s important to see if that is an issue on a school by school basis. People should determine how many students graduate with an art degree, see the actual number/variety of class offerings, and try to find out whether the school supports the program with enough funding. Also, does the school support the arts with other programs and have a community that is good fit to your student’s needs? D attended NYU as a studio art major. While she was there, the school put a lot of money into creating amazing studio space for all seniors and initiated a scholars program for selected seniors that involved gallery shows curated by graduate/ PHD students. Also, D was able to be part of vibrant arts community that included actors, animators, musicians, and film makers. D was able to take additional classes in stage make up, work on movie sets and even act in several student films. When we looked into Tufts /SFMA six or so years ago, it was not a thriving program. Few people finished the degree. That may have changed, but I’d certainly ask for those numbers.
@uskoolfish Thanks for the info! In addition to Tufts/SMFA, my D also applied to NYU Steinhardt (along with Boston U, Wash U St. Louis, and Carnegie Mellon), so we’re very interested in hearing that your daughter had a good experience at NYU. On the art school front, she applied to Parsons, Pratt, MICA and RISD. Of those, so far only MICA and Tufts/SMFA have announced their admissions decisions, so she is still in waiting mode before deciding from her options. I had also heard that SMFA was struggling not long ago, and now is in a period of transition since it merged with Tufts. Up-to-date information would be essential to evaluate the current program.
@missis My D has also no any info. from Pratt and Parsons yet, except for an email from Parsons asking for my D’s TOEFL test score three weeks ago.
James Chen, Parsons started releasing decisions late last night, so perhaps there is news in your D’s portal now, or or else it should be coming soon. Last year the Parson’s responses came out in waves over about a week.
So the Parsons decisions are in and it looks like the site is overwhelmed. I don’t have a good feeling about this…
Early this morning the site was working, but then when Parsons sent out emails around 7:00 am, it froze. Maybe due to all the applicants trying to check at the same time.
Kiddo has been trying for an hour. Yes, definitely a lot of demand for results!
On the Parsons thread someone just posted: “A representative from the admission office told me on the phone that the website will be up again in probably an hour or so”
Thank you! (It is still down, but I know that in geek-speak “an hour or so” might mean 24 hours. 
Waitlisted. 
@missis Darn! But she’s got acceptances at Tufts/SFMA and MICA, correct? And Pratt a possibility as well? When my older D applied to schools, she got waitlisted at some schools she thought she was more likely to get into and then was accepted into some of the most competitive ones. The college process can be a toss up and hard to know how it will go!
Yes, she is really sad about it. But honestly, art school is one place where, if they don’t get you, it could be a really bad scene. But she just really loved the New School the times she visited. It’s what sold her on the idea of art school!
Fingers crossed for Pratt. She really really liked that school, but who knows? It’s kind of a gamble either way. Any idea when they are giving decisions?
@missis All we’ve heard about Pratt is that they will send out an email and snail mail “by 4/1”. Nothing more specific than that. Last year Pratt began emailing their decisions to applicants on 3/22 through to the end of the month. In addition to Pratt, my D is waiting to hear from RISD, NYU, BU, and CMU before weighing the pros and cons of various schools and offers. She hasn’t visited Parsons, Pratt and NYU, so we may be taking a trip out to NYC in April.
@missis And I just saw that the year before they started sending the decision emails on 3/16 and continued through the end of the month, so I guess it can happen anytime from now on…
Good luck to your D, @artdreamer! It’s such a crazy and stressful time.
Congratulations to those who got accepted!! I’m very very happy for you I was just wondering if anyone applied to the Visual Arts/Fine Arts programme at CalArts? I handed in all my application materials on January 7th and still haven’t heard back from the admissions team. I’m getting really really nervous as April approaches real quick, hope this isn’t bad news… I have acceptances/financial aid from other art schools as well (MassArt, SAIC, VCUarts, MICA, and a few UK schools), but I think CalArts is a really amazing school, would love to go there! Fingers crossed! (Just to add, I’m an international student!)
I didn’t apply to Parsons, but many of my classmates did and looks like a lot of people on this thread did too! So congrats to everyone who was accepted!
I’ve personally been very interested in MICA, as they gave me 35k/year so far, still waiting on the final financial aid information. However, I’ve researched a bit and found that MICA’s average financial package is around 25k/year? I’m really worried that I won’t receive anything else when final scholarships come out in April. Do you think I could still get some more aid or is that pretty much it for me?
I know I got a pretty generous award already and I’m super thankful, but it’s personally still not enough for me to afford it. Does anyone know if MICA or art schools in general are willing to price match? I got 50k/year from CCA and while I didn’t consider CCA as anything more than a safety, their offer has made it pretty tempting.
Anyways, sorry for the rant! I’ve been super stressed as many of you probably are and I hope y’all are doing better than I am right now hahaha
^Regarding price matching of scholarships look up “financial aid appeal” processes for the schools you’re looking at. I know MICA (and most others) specifically do not price match but some may.
Also are you sure that your CCA scholarship was 50K PER YEAR? I mean it sounds too good to be true to get a scholarship above full tuition—would think it’d be more like 12.5K for four years.
@pthalo My D’s art teacher told her that in the past some of her students were able to successfully negotiate an increase in MICA’s offer if they had a stronger offer from another school. There’s no guarantee, of course, but it’s certainly worth a try.
@CharredRose2023 Thanks for the info about price matching! And yes, I double checked my financial aid package from CCA. To be more specific, I was awarded 48k/year in scholarships and grants, and 10k/year in loans. So you’re right, I didn’t get a full tuition scholarship.
Also, I don’t think I said that I received 50k/year in scholarships from CCA, just 50k/year in “free money” (scholarships and grants). Maybe when I say 48k/year in scholarships and grants I shouldn’t include federal aid? Without any federal grants, just CCA merit scholarships awarded would be 38k/year. Sorry for the confusion!