D got MICA ‘s acceptance on Christmas Eve!
^ MICA? The ED deadline long passed and ea shouldn’t be for another 2 weeks. Are they sending them early? By snail mail or email?
@CharredRose2023 my D did EA. We were not expecting to hear until mid January. No email or any other updates. The packet came in snail mail. Initial 15k scholarship but with the information that if she chked for competitive scholarship in the application that info will be sent later by April 1. Assuming all applicants EA and Regular will be considered for that
Heyyyy! Hearty congratulations to you and yours, @SomaRathore!!! Here’s to additional funding after April. What’s your daughter’s current top choice? (I know the rankings probably change often–ha!)
@nickscoby thanks! D is leaning towards Pratt mwp and MICA for now. She had plans to apply for RISD but I think she changed her mind about that one for now. RIT could be comparably affordable for us but i am not sure how the graphic/communication design there compares to MICA and PRATT. so far we have heard from all the schools she was interested in.
S got into MICA too via snail mail package. Not sure what day it came since we’ve been lazy about the mail with the holidays and it was all squished up with other mail. And $ too with possibility of more with the academic scholarships.
I really like how the admin counselor sends a personalized letter too - well played on their behalf. 
@ArtAngst that letter with the funny face totally did it for ? she found it so hilarious I have no idea why. It probably reflects the friendliness of the entire process and the school.
@ArtAngst our art department has started doing it too (probably copying MICA!) - this process is so stressful as it is, it’s nice to have folks put some human connection and warmth into it!
@ArtAngst so true. Prattmwp called home to congratulate and had a little chat!! Little personal touches that matter so much
When my D was on the admissions circuit a few years ago, I really felt that her MICA admissions counselor took the time to get to know her. They add a very special touch to the process! MICA is a terrific school but my D felt like Pratt was more her style so committed there and will be graduating in the spring. After all the personal attention I almost felt guilty that she didn’t end up at MICA!
Good luck to everyone as you make your decisions!
So great to here. All your posts and your process have been super helpful for my daughter, currently a junior. She attended Ringling pre-college and intends to return. Thank you so much for the update.
@JBStillFlying we are heading out to a similar boat of PRATT or MICA unless the financial offer flips the boat one side for us. PrattMWP is still a better offer but with a bit more from MICA the two will close up. We are planning to visit both in March sometimes (Texas Spring break time). Any views concerns (parent or kid) from your perspective and experience would be much appreciated.
Anyone else who has visited these schools or have something to say to help PLEASE chime in.
The kid still is still not sure and wont be until we visit but I get the feeling she is more bent towards Pratt just becoz its NY!
@SomaRathore the accepted event for Pratt Brooklyn is usually in early April; IIRC the MICA event will be in March before you get the final merit and fin. aid. package. Both are definitely worth attending and see if you can spend an extra day or two seeing sights in the area (not an easy task in NYC given the huge amount of stuff to do but you can at least walk around that part of Brooklyn and take in the vibe).
We had to wait for the MICA package to come in before D could commit so it was probably mid April or so. My D received some money in January with her EA accept but did get some extra merit as well in April. MICA would have technically been outside her budget by a couple thou. a year but we told her that the quality of the school was worth the extra cost. I’m sure NYC and the “campusy” feel of Pratt were major draws and she really liked the very structured approach to the curriculum.
I’d be very happy to discuss my impressions of both with you - just send questions my way or PM me.
@SomaRathore Feel free to take up @JBStillFlying on the offer to PM any questions…I did the same last year, they were very helpful and my daughter is a happy freshman at Pratt. I’m also happy to weigh in on any questions you may have. I think Pratt was always my D’s first choice although she humored me as I made her weigh the costs and benefits at her other acceptances, as well. MICA and Northeastern were probably right up there. Pratt’s proximity to our home was a big draw, as was the NYC thing. She’ll be entering the 2D animation major after this freshman foundation year and she figured NYC would be the best market for her, especially as she wasn’t willing to go to CA.
She LOVES it there. She’s found a great group of friends and loves her classes and the neighborhood.
I think the dorm she’s in is pretty industrial but I don’t think you should weigh the dorm in too heavily in choosing a school given that you’ll be changing living situations the whole time.
I promoted MICA a bit to her as I felt they had a more liberal arts college vibe to it and she has a lot of interests outside of art. But she’s managed to find outlets for her interests in the surrounding areas (e.g., she joined a women’s choir in a nearby neighborhood as she missed her music classes).
Good luck with the decision!!
@JBStillFlying @NYart15 @ArtAngst you folks have been of immense help at every step through this.
D doesn’t want to apply to RISD anymore. PRATTMWP always been her first choice ever since she talked to them at the NPD and after acceptance she dropped the Risd from her list. Brooklyn deferred her so we are not banking on that.
SCAD and UofARTS are coming quite close to cost of MWP until now. Haven’t heard of any money from
Tyler and Massarts yet. And waiting for more on MICA. So for now MICA and MWP seems to be top two choices.
I am assuming the grind of the foundation year to the same for both the schools. She is not much interested in liberal arts other than anything related with art or her major (CommunicAtion/Graphic D). She is pretty much an introvert so my concern is which school of the two will she get more exposed to the work field and how big are the connections? How do they compare with internship and finally placement. I know a lot depends on how the student finally stands out and the portfolio and she will put all the effort in those. But besides that…
Her personality is one of the reasons we are wanting the MWP over Brooklyn too. It will be better for her to transition slowly to a city from this small town we live in down south.
Communication from both schools have been excellent so far. Concerned warm and friendly. A big plus for her to be able to get comfortable to the unknown.
What do specifically need to look for when we visit in terms of the program? What details into the program?
We probably can’t attend the acceptance day tours for either schools unless they fall in that time when we go. MWP is April. We have to make both the schools during that same week.
Apologies for the long post but hearing it from any one with experience def helps more than anything else. I feel so scattered at this point!
Thanks again for all of your time!
With MWP I’d look over the curriculum and compare it to Pratt Brooklyn just to make sure that when she transfers she won’t be compromised or have to play “catch up” in any way compared to the ComD kids on the main campus (Don’t believe this would be the case, btw, but it’s something I’d do). Then I’d look at the facilities, dorms and surrounding town. She will receive a lot of personal attention from the smaller environment which is a PLUS, and the cost will be lower than for Brooklyn - another PLUS. If upon visiting she sees herself there - then your journey might be over.
With Pratt ComD you don’t get around to the upper division graphic design “specialty” courses till junior year and by that point she’d be on the Brooklyn campus. Fresh year is spent in art and design foundation, and sophomore year in core ComD courses, typography, illustration, and maybe a studio elective or two. As long as all those studios are taught “the Pratt way” she’ll be fine.
For professional development, I’d look into what they offer at MWP but from what I can see most of the activity run by Career Advancement pertains to upper div. students anyway. My D didn’t really start to use the career advancement office on the main campus till this year (her senior year!). They were excellent at advising on resume format and design and she attended meetings and portfolio reviews with various employers this fall. For the most part, she’s simply been too busy with schoolwork to utilize career advancement aggressively. However, she’s actually been employed since spring of sophomore year in various projects in the Brooklyn area so I haven’t been too concerned. After sophomore year, she managed to get a summer job working for the creative director of a web design company back here at home, while maintaining her Brooklyn work remotely. All these opportunities came by word of mouth either through classmates or contacts here, but her portfolio has been received pretty favorably by her employers. I think the Pratt kids emerge with pretty good skills.
One thing we encouraged her to do was to enhance her design skills with classes in coding. So when she was home here for that web design job she also took courses in Java and HTML at our local cc. A bit of extra money but I think it really helps her resume. So much of this work is digital now! This upcoming semester she’s taking more coding at Pratt because she now has time for it (!) and got priority as a senior to register for this oh-so-very-popular studio. She’ll learn the standard platform which is more resume-enhancement, and will be able to add the pieces to her portfolio.
One big piece of advice: encourage your D to max out her credits each year! This is something that really won’t matter her foundation year because they are doing that anyway, but will matter once she’s starting to choose her schedule. A full load at Pratt is something like 12 credits but you can take as many as 18 for the same tuition fee. My D has taken 17-18 every semester. It’s meant more, intense work but she’s graduating in four years with minimal extra expense (just those comp. sci. courses at the cc two summers ago, which weren’t all that much, and then a one-credit LAC she opted to take last summer at Pratt in order to complete all her academic requirements before senior year; she also qualified for Pratt summer housing in the Willoughby apts. and continued her project work for area businesses). D’s advisor has been excellent in encouraging the max load and even front loading with as many requirements as possible, even given that D was ahead of the plan due to some AP she brought in. As a result, she was able to take a slightly reduced load this year, allowing herself more time for her senior projects, as well as have time for some fine arts electives she’s had her eye on (but didn’t have time for) and that coding studio. In contrast, some of D’s classmates have been slacking off a bit and taking an easier course load during the year, then making it up in the summer or even putting off graduation. That adds several thousand more to the tuition bill each year! Not to mention that merit and need-based aid don’t even apply to the summer. Those kids must have extra money to blow.
Let me know if you have any specific questions and I’ll try to answer those as best as possible.
Happy happy New Year !
@JBStillFlying thank you!! Those are some really precious information and I have copied and sent to D.
Regarding the program at mwp I have had some talk with the adm counselor when she called home to congratulate D. She told us that it’s the exact same program. But we will confirm that again.
Makes sense to take more classes and then make space for others. D had planned it out that way in high school too finishing up taking summer classes and all having a lighter load now but with classes she wanted to take. I am assuming from your information that this will be possible at the junior and senior year. We have to see which AP credits will transfer. We really do not have any extra money. The lower tuition at mwp certainly helps but it’s still a stretch for us and in two years the expense will Increase in Brooklyn so maxing our credits is a good thing to know.
Happy to know they get help with finding placement during and after. That has been one of major concerns with her becoz she is no way a go getter kind. Takes her time to find that comfort zone to even go talk to someone.
We are going to find out as soon as they open (MICA and MWP) about how we plan our trip. I don’t know how much they can show us on a random day but it will still be better than nothing and hoping enough to get a feel. She is quite inclined towards Pratt just becoz it’s Pratt and she knows she will come to the city in two years. However gettin a chance we don’t want any regrets and take her to mica anyway. Thanks!!
"I am assuming from your information that this will be possible at the junior and senior year. "
Senior year more than junior. Junior year is when you start to take the upper div. specialty studios for your major. Most junior years anywhere - High School and College - are pretty intense 
There’s no harm in visiting any school you are accepted to. A visit is not a commitment. So yes, definitely go and kick the tires. Given the expected expense of a private art-school education, we told our D that she would be doing this, even if she wasn’t wild about it, simply because we wanted her to be sure of where she ended up. Art schools have a lot of transfers-in and out so it’s really clear that many kids don’t do the proper due diligence (including figuring out if it’s even affordable) before committing. These trips can also be quite fun, as you get to visit new places.
Good luck with her decision!
So D applied EA to MICA and she received an email letting her know that her letter of recommendation is not on file. She contacted the teacher and hasn’t heard back and now has to ask her guidance counselor to write on her behalf. Problem is, she no longer attends the school where the teacher and counselor work. Ugh. Such a hassle.
Just venting . . .
@nickscoby 
so sorry to hear that!
If it was via commonapp we actually have encountered a few issues with it during the application process. D has asked her teachers for recom back in September and they had submitted them right away but for some reason our Naviance (teachers submitted via Naviance ) and commonapp failed to connect. I contacted commonapp help via chat and they asked us to request the teachers to refresh and resubmit again. The teachers had to refresh quite a few times and resubmit quite a few times before we could actually see it in commonapp that it got submitted. Happened to another kid in our school with a diff college but they just had the teacher email the college directly I hope it works out for you all!