Overview of my visit to Pratt

<p>I visited Pratt Institute on May 18. 2005. This is a summary of my visit.</p>

<li>Academics: Pratt is one of the oldest stand alone art schools in the US dating back to 1888. It is certainly the biggest art school with almost 4,000 students ( about half are undergraduate). It is widely considered to be one of the best art and design programs in the country. Many of their programs are ranked in the top 10 such as Interior Design, Archtecture,Industrial Design and Communication Design to name just a few. Pratt has an amazing number of majors and offerings. For example, you can major in Communication Design that has three different concentrations ( writing, illustration, and graphic design). They are also one of the only Computer Graphic Programs around with 4 different emphasis such as 2D, 3D, Interactive Media and pure fine art with experimentation. If it is art or or design related, Pratt probably has a major in it. Moreover, unlike other stand alone art program, Pratt has some strong liberal arts because they have a creative writing major, which actually seems like a very strong, interesting major.</li>
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<p>Most of the professors at Pratt have their own businesses or had their own businesses and are considered top notch professionals in the field. Many, in fact, have writen some of the major books on the subject. Pratt also gets many notable visiting lecturers in their specialties.I should note that all professors must have office hours and most are very accessible to students. Moreover, you have professors teaching students and not generally TAs despite having a big graduate school.</p>

<p>Despite all this, It is slightly easier to get into Pratt than that of some other top notch art programs. Average SATs are about 1115 and average weighted GPA is 3.4. Pratt student teacher ratio, according to them is 11:1 with class sizes approximating 15-16 kids according to the tour guide.</p>

<p>I asked many kids about Pratt,and they all love the academics of the school. I should note that they did warn me that Pratt does try to weed out kids during foundation year. expect to be worked very very hard!</p>

<p>Another great thing is that Pratt allows you to take courses from many diffrent areas. You are not locked into a major or into set course offerings. This allows a great deal of flexibility for students to design their own education.</p>

<p>Finally, I and my wife viewed some of their finished work. My wife is a commercial designer of some former fame. She thought that the work produced was very professional and creative. She did like much of the work product of the students. However, we don’t know if this product is typical of most students or was a result of what is the best of the best that was posted on studio walls and hallways.</p>

<p>I should finally note that according to Pratt, 87% of the student body returns for their sophomore year. This is almost has high as some ivy schools and just a bit less than that of RISD. Certainly, it indicates that many students like their programs enough to come back.</p>

<p>As you can see, I have spent a lot of time on the academics, the reason is that this is the stand out feature of the school. As a stand alone art school, I would rate Pratt’s academics as an A or A+. </p>

<p>2.Parking: We were able to find parking both on the street and in parking lots ( for a small fee). I would n’t say parking was easy,but, hey, you are in Brooklyn. Overall, we were able to get parking without paying for it. I would, however, NOT suggest that you take a car to school. There is some vandalism, and you can get around taking the train. Overall, I would give the parking situation a C+ with a recommendation not to take a care to school unless you are a commuter.</p>

<li>Food: I actually liked the cafeteria or should I say two cafeterias. One has some hot entrees such as turkey cutlets, port loin, roast beef etc and a salid bar and sandwich bar etc. The other cafeteria has pizza, desserts, Starbucks coffee etc. You pay for what you eat. This is not an “eat all you want for one price deal,” which can be pricey. My wife had a nice salid with some good grilled chicken and grilled salmon. Bordering the campus, students tell me there are lots of quality restaurants to go to that have tasty food and is reasonably priced. Overll, I would give the school food a B or B+.</li>
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<p>4.Dorms: Frankly, dorms are dorms. These weren’t a standout. However, they do have several different types of dorms. You can get one type that has a bathroom for 4 students. However, the students must clean the bathroom. You can also get dorms with communial bathrooms with custodians cleaning them. All dorms have refridgerator and microwave and wireless is in most dorms. Starting fall, wireless will be omnipresent especially in all the dorms. Each dorm as a drafing board for each student, and housing is guaranteed for all years at Pratt as long as you turn in your housing form in a timely manner.</p>

<p>I would give the dorms a C or C+</p>

<p>5.Non-artistic facilites: Pratt has a nice indoor gym with 5 tennis courts, basketball courts, 200Meter running track, stat of the art weight room and nautalus type of equipment and lots of stationary bikes and tread mills. I would give this facility an A; however, there is one glaring weakness: there is no swimming pool. Pratt also has a nice student center with pool tables and similar stuff. Overall, I would give the non artistic facilites a “B.” If only they had a nice pool!</p>

<li>Buildings and other artistic facilities. Pratt is a school of contrasts. They have these great academic offerings but have many buildings that are old and not maintained well. RISD by contract has nice, old buildings with the emphasis on nice. With Pratt the emphasis is on old. Bathrooms had paint pealing. Tiles in a number of places needed repair. I even saw some studios where the professor posted notes warning the students to remove all art work due to the leaky ceilings! I will say in Pratt’s defense, there is a lot of construction going on. Pratt is indeed trying to repair many of these problems. However, I do wonder what is taking them so long! </li>
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<p>I do tend to stick my nose where it doesn’t belong ( I have to stop doing this).Bathrooms were somewhat clean but didn’t have that nice deodorizing small found at Carnegie Melon. Also, all toilet paper was one play instead of the nice two play. This does indicate a bit of “cheapness.”</p>

<p>In addition, their marketing and management needs a lot of improvement. For example, when I first entered the campus asking the security guard “where visitor parking was,” he gave me a curt, surly answer. There was no warm fuzzies there. Moreover, when we entered the admission office, which was on the second floor, there was no sign of welcome, and no sign to the admission’s office. Moreover, the admission’s office secretary was very curt and also not really warm and furry. Try visiting RISD or Rochester Instutite of Technology. You will get a very different atmosphere. I think the problem is due to bad leadership at the top. However, if you check out the administration office where all the “muckity mucks” work, you will see very elaborate, well designed offices.
Frankly, I think the president has been president for far to long at Pratt! They need some new blood and better marketing, and I would bet an improved administration.</p>

<li><p>Diversity: You are not going to get any more Diverse place than Pratt. Not only are kids from many states,but we met folks from foreign countries as well. For example, we went into a graduate interior design studio with 4 students. One came from Florida, one from Isreal, one from England and one from Australia. They noted that there are a number of kids from foreign countries. Pratt does have a world wide reputation in a number of design fields.</p></li>
<li><p>Miscellaneous: Pratt does have one other thing that makes them stand out from schools like RISD, MICA etc. Pratt actually has a nice campus. Yes, they have trees and bushes too. I saw kids playing frisbee and drawing under several trees. It’s a decent sized campus too considering that the school isn’t as large as many private schools. Moreover, there are all kinds of neat sculptures around the campus. This is a very nice touch.</p></li>
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<p>Pratt’s tuition at currently $25,000, while hefty, is a bit less than that of many private schools especially that of RISD, CMU, Syracuse and many stand along art school. Thus, even at $25,000 per year, they are sort of a bargain (gulp) They do, however, charge lots of different fees that will total around another $600 per year, not counting health insurance.</p>

<p>I should note that Pratt does have some combined BFA and MFA programs, which can save a lot of money for those who will go on to graduate school anyway. They currently have combined programs in art and in art education, Design and architecture and theory, critism and history of art, Library science and Juris Doctor, and other programs.</p>

<p>Finally, Pratt adheres to the idiotic policy of a number of schools of not allowing AP credit unless you score a “5.” Be aware of this policy. Moreover, even transfer credits are limited. </p>

<p>Bottom Line: I loved the campus and the huge array of academic choices available. I also liked the end work product that we witnessed. I did not love the area that they are located in (although they do have a Manhattan campus for some programs) and do have a gated campus with lots of security and didn’t like their lack of maintenance on buildings. The administration seems to need improvement too with some marketing training for all employees. I guess it’s a good thing that they are near a train station that will take kids to Manhattan. </p>

<p>Obviously, these are my musings from one visit. You may have a different impression from your own visits.</p>

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<p>I made this post when I was tired. I have noticed some typos. </p>

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<li>I should have said "There were no warm fuzzies herer," when I was talking to the security guard.</li>
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<p>2.In discussing the bathroom, I should have said,"
I do tend to stick my nose where it doesn't belong ( I have to stop doing this).Bathrooms were somewhat clean but didn't have that nice deodorizing smell found at Carnegie Melon. Also, all toilet paper was one ply instead of the nice two ply. This does indicate a bit of "cheapness."</p>

<p>As usual your review was well thought out and right on the mark. My D is just finishing her foundation year and is really loving it. As far as why maintanence on buildings moves slowly... many buildings are considered historic landmarks by NYC on the Pratt Campus and all kinds of special codes have to be followed, though it would be nice if they could speed up the process. Something else that my D has liked as far as its location....many of the profs often have students meet at various museums for their classes, such as MOMA, the MET etc. This works out great for Art History classes and English (alot of avante garde foreign films in NYC). The diversity has been great, for Passover D is bringing home 4 out of state and country kids. We found absolutely no problem with parking. When we pull in we just tell them my D's dorm name and we park right in that lot for the day. Worked out great yesterday when H had to go with D into Manhattan, just parked by her dorm and took the subway. Good Luck with your D.
Cama</p>

<p>Too bad I didn't know your daughter's name. WE could have met, taken her out to lunch, and had a tour with her. OH well.</p>

<p>Yesterday would not have worked. D and H had to go to the Israeli Consulate ( a whole other story), but if your D decides on Pratt or if you need anymore info let me know, perhaps we can e-mail.
Cama</p>

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<p>This is Pratt's response to my review:</p>

<p>I was very interested in your overview of Pratt and will be sharing this
with my staff and the other officers at Pratt. I appreciate the feedback
and intend to get a "Welcome sign" up and also speak with the
receptionist. We are currently discussing how to get admissions out of
this space, how to get funding for a new student services building, and
are working hard to address all the deferred maintenance issues that
went unaddressed for years before this president arrived.</p>

<p>Our acceptance rate, for your information, is 47 percent this year, and
the reason lots of students get accepted is that Pratt has the largest
freshman class of any of the art schools. Most are very small. However,
US News contains the acceptance rates of all the independent art
schools, and Pratt is one of the most selective. (I wasn't sure if that
information came from a student but thought I should clarify.)</p>

<p>I really appreciate the perceptive comments about Pratt, both positive
and negative, and I can assure you that we are working on all of the
negative. I will even mention the 1-ply toilet paper issue.</p>

<p>thanks so much.</p>

<p>Judith Aaron
Vice President for Enrollment</p>

<p>Pratt Institute Office of Admissions wrote</p>

<p>I just read a report given to Pratt's Senete that an external review noted that Pratt has about 180 million worth of maintenace required for all their plant facilities, which means buildings. They are currently spending 3 million on emergency maintenance, and according to the report, 5 million each year on capital maintence ( which is to make up for part of the 180 million). Thus, I don't see how Pratt will ever get out of the deferred maintenance hole that they are in, absent major contributions by donors. This is a very SERIOUS problem in my opinion. I don't think that I emphasized this problem enough in my review. You really need to visit the Pratt campus and evaluate the state of the buildings. This is something that you may have to live with for several years. In all my reviews, I have never seen academic buildings in as bad shape as that of Pratt. However, I can't judge how this lack of facility maintenance will affect educational quality. I would think that it could have a far reaching effect if there is a lot of further deterioration in facilities.</p>

<p>I was wondering the same thing. How can students enjoy Pratt with such poor facilities? Maybe they just get used to it.</p>

<p>They need to post this as a sticky thread here</p>

<p>hi taxguy, I've really enjoyed reading your views and insight about your visit to Pratt. I'm going to visit Pratt next week, and I'll look out for what you've pointed out! It's also cool that you got a reply from someone at Pratt!! lol at the tissue paper... :)</p>

<p>Whoever wrote this sounds like they work for the school, in my opinion, but I'll ask anyway.</p>

<p>How's the writing? I looked at the faculty on the website and I wasn't terribly impressed with the reviews their books have had and it seems geared toward poets.</p>

<p>My daughter will attend Pratt this fall after a year long search which included Cal Arts, Otis, UC Santa Cruz, UC Irvine, and RISD. We visited Pratt in April and she felt very good about it. We live in a very small (15,000) college town in northern California so this will be a great experience for her, not to mention she is leaving her identical twin in Cal. Pratt certainly has its share of problems (old buildings being one) but it is NYC and we were very impressed with the faculty when we visited. She was accepted at RISD as well but they had no funds to offer. She did the Cal summer school of the arts at Cal Arts last year and loved it but ultimately decided NYC is the only place to be as an artist. We'll let you know how it goes.</p>

<p>Indigoink noted,"Whoever wrote this sounds like they work for the school, in my opinion, but I'll ask anyway."</p>

<p>Response: I started this tread and wrote the review. Let me be very clear: I do not work for Pratt and have no affiliation with the institution in any way. I am simply a parent of a child that is considering it. I have also posted reviews of RIT, CMU and RISD that you can read.</p>

<p>Interestingly, after my review of Pratt and even after Pratt responsed, my daughter took a tour of Pratt and didn't like it. She didn't like the foundation studios and the deferred maintenance of the buildings. Interestingly, the same sign that we saw about leaking roofs in some studios were still there!</p>

<p>I finally got my daughter to take a tour of Pratt. She REALLY didn't like the school to both my and my wife's dismay. My daughter is a "sheltered" southern girl. Thus, her perspective maybe different from other prospective students. What turned her off was as follows:</p>

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<li><p>The area: She really felt unsafe in the area. The iron gates that surrounded the school also didn't give her any warm furries of safety. We also were able to drive right into the campus without anyone checking on us or seeing if we were terrorists.</p></li>
<li><p>The plant maintenance: My daughter hated the amount of deferred maintenance that seemed to permeate every building. There were a lot of deteriorated buildings and facilities. She didn't like the small bathrooms with broken tiles and peeling paint. She found the dorms to be acceptable except they were old and decrepit, and needed the same maintenance. Even the student center,which had lots of treadmills and other equipment, was dismal and not airconditioned. Maybe the student center is airconditioned when school is in session during the year.</p></li>
<li><p>Stand alone art school thing: She really didn't want a stand alone art school She likes the idea of associating with non-artsy types. She might make an exception for RISD because of their tight assocation with Brown and nicer facilites,but Pratt was just to much of a turnoff for her.</p></li>
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<p>Despite our emphasizing Pratt's great programs and choices of majors, she definitely was too turned off to Pratt. Thus, I guess that is one less application to be filed.</p>

<p>Taxguy,
oh well... too bad I guess my D won't get to meet your D. With her stats your D pobably would have qualified for alot of fin aid. My D was a counselor at a sleep away camp this summer and said she can't wait to get back to school, or as she puts it "the civilization that is the city".
In fact my D will be going back early as she is on the Hall Council for her dorm and will be welcoming new transfer students. I guess so much is how things are perceived, when I brought up your D's concerns to my D, the things your D had issues with weren't even a concern for my D. She says she is learning so much, loves the profs and programs and the diversity of students she has become friends with and of course she loves the area and does not see any issues with safety, feels that the connections Pratt has to offer is superior and will be looking for a paid internship next summer so she can stay in the city. Though I should also add that my D is from a NY suburb and did alot of peer traveling while in HS and dormed and took classes at SVA when she was 16. Her comfort level might be different then your D's in regards to city life. Keep us informed and good luck to your D.</p>

<p>Cama</p>

<p>Taxguy,</p>

<p>I'm brand new to this forum and want to thank you PROFOUNDLY for your very detailed reviews of various schools. I hope you DO write a book based on your research.</p>

<p>My son just recently finished a summer pre-college program at Pratt. It was a wonderful experience for him, and I'm quite sure that Pratt along with SCAD and RISD will be up near the top of his list. We have a lot more research to do (Syracuse, RIT, CMU, maybe Cincinnati based on your review, and a few others).</p>

<p>But I digress. I just wanted to say that the repairs at Pratt are coming along well. The campus looked MUCH more appealing in late July than it did in early April, when we first visited, which I believe was also around the time of your visit.</p>

<p>While the Clinton Hill area is "funky" and maybe kind of shocking to out of towners, it is a very safe and comfortable place to live (I lived in the neighborhood for more than 15 years). There is a massive redevelopment project scheduled for the nearby Atlantic Railyards awaiting approval. In 10 years (I know, by then it's way too late) this neighborhood will be golden.</p>

<p>Sorry your daughter gave it the thumbs down, but sometimes a snapshot at the wrong time makes a lasting impression.</p>

<p>BTW, I know that SCAD is not at the top of your list, but if you visit, I predict you'll have a VERY good impression.</p>

<p>Cama and Taxguy
Thank you both for a great informative dialogue about Pratt. My D is a new freshman there - throughout the spring I read with great interest the ongoing conversations between you - they were very helpful. So far my D loves Pratt! She's from Houston - so is somewhat of a southern gal but dreamed of college in NYC all through hs. I'm happy to say college life in NYC has not disappointed her - The orientation was great - she's my 3rd to go to college and this orientation was right up there with the others we attended - at UT Austin and Duke! So pat on the back for Pratt and the orientation planners. The campus is amazing - much less construction than my H remembered from their visit to Pratt 2 summers ago. Most importantly, all the Pratt personnel from the President down to her RA were peppy, positive people that were thrilled to be part of Pratt. Thanks for all the info - you both provided. It really helped.</p>

<p>Good Luck with your D's first year and welcome to the Prattler family</p>

<p>Hi Caro's mom! My D is also a freshman at Pratt (from California) and she is loving it. She is buried in homework and socializing and not getting much sleep but she loves it. She's already saying how boring it will be to be home at Christmas in our small town! What is your D's major - mine is painting at this point.</p>

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