<p>OH BOYY ...</p>
<p>So I got accepted into MICA, SAIC, Pratt, and Parsons ... :D</p>
<p>I know this question is overhyped ad everything but I couldn't find a thread on this forum that compared all four of these schools ...</p>
<p>What are the strong points and weak points of each school (major or program wise)</p>
<p>Connections? Internships easy to get? Jobs easy to get after graduation based on connections?</p>
<p>Environment and dorm life? Social scene? General overall kind of ppl attending?</p>
<p>Sorry I know this is a lot of questioning, but I really need to know from a very honest point of view ...</p>
<p>Oh and also, I am considering majors in illustration, graphic design, fashion design, communication design, and jewelry design … basically any type of design and perhaps architecture …</p>
<p>Anything BUT fine arts …</p>
<p>MiniYoo told me MICA is mostly focused on Fine Arts so you probably don<code>t want to go to MICA.
Parsons is mostly good for Fashion Design so if that</code>s what you`re really interested in
& SAIC is supposed to be a really good school as well, I guess it depends on where you want to go in terms of location and what you want to really focus in.</p>
<p>“MiniYoo told me MICA is mostly focused on Fine Arts so you probably don`t want to go to MICA.”</p>
<p>This is NOT true. Their Fine Arts program is good, but so are their Graphic Design, Illustration and Fibers programs, especially GD with Bernard J. Canniffe, one of the most respected professors in that field in the country.</p>
<p>D is just finishing her Junior year at MICA and has been happy so far.</p>
<p>Biggest negative for MICA is ti’s not in the safest location, but it does have a busy social scene since the vast majority of stundent live on or very close to campus. </p>
<p>And MICA is very generous with merit money: D gets about $20K per year.</p>
<p>Oops, sorry 
I have yet to receive any financial aid or scholarship information from MICA yet, it did say it<code>ll come by April 10th so hopefully, it</code>ll come soon!
& I actually randomly came across some reviews from years ago about the same thing with the location on some review sites of the school and I think that`s what kind of started turning me off MICA and the fact that I really like the idea of New York better.
Do you think the MICA graphic design would help if I wanted to go into advertising or would it just be better to go to Pratt or SVA because they have a separate program for that?</p>
<p>Skyl…</p>
<p>The body of graphic design work you do while in college is what will open doors. You can develop solid graphic design skills at MICA that will be applicable to advertising.</p>
<p>I do understand the draw of NYC, particularly the proximity for internships. D has a friend who graduated from Pratt in GD a couple of years ago. He got good merit money and now has a successful career in Manhattan.</p>
<p>I would wait for all the aid offers, then play the schools off against each other for the best deal, especially in this economic climate.</p>
<p>Yeah I’m also waiting for financial aid to come back …</p>
<p>Right now my decision is between MICA and Parsons … but my mom really wants me to go to Parsons because my dad said that MICA’s programs aren’t very organized …</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, people love MICA.
My choice is between Pratt and MICA.
Pratt gave me 14k a year and I’m wanting to see what MICA offers.
I’d like to visit one schol before I decide, so I’m really trying to pull my mom into going to Pratt on the 18.</p>
<p>Art education-wise, I’ve heard ppl say that Parsons has better programs, is more well-known, and hooks their students up with internships and jobs all the time because of good connections …</p>
<p>I’m not sure MICA has all these advantages esp. with the finding jobs part …</p>
<p>I can’t afford visiting any schools right now because of financial problems, so I just have to pick one and then go visit the school for settling down …</p>
<p>I just got a book from MICA with all of the classes they offer and it’s VAST. Tons to chose from. I haven’t visited SAIC / Pratt / Parsons, but considering you seem to be contemplating numerous majors, MICA is nice in that they offer electives / the opportunity to not just be stuck taking classes that only pertain to your major.</p>
<p>No the area isn’t the safest of places, but no city is. As long as you’re smart about it and don’t go walking around with your Mac Book and iPod blasting haha.</p>
<p>Is MICA known for generously offering full-rides to their students? Because I’m kind of in a financial dump right now … and I don’t want to use all of my family’s money on me, with two younger siblings …</p>
<p>Parsons offered me $23,000 in financial aid –> breaks down into like $15,000 scholarship and like $8000 in loans that will obviously have to be paid back after graduation … do you think I could call their financial aid office and ask them for more money? Just like explain my situation and be like I really wanna go to your school but I don’t have enough money … do you think they’ll offer me more?</p>
<p>If you compare Pratt Institute and MICA, which one is better?</p>
<p>BTW, I’m still waiting for my MICA financial aid info to arrive … I heard they started mailing them out starting April 10th … ?</p>
<p>Can’t speak to the need based aid, but MICA’s approach to merit based aid is to spread the money across more students than giving full rides to fewer students.</p>
<p>At MICA, you do not declare a major until sophomore and even then there a General Fine Arts (GFA) major that lets you take classes from any area.</p>
<p>Who have already visited Pratt, Parsons, and MICA?</p>
<p>How were your first impressions and overall reaction to the tours (compared to each other)?</p>
<p>Who have already visited Pratt, Parsons, and MICA?</p>
<p>How were your first impressions and overall reaction to the tours (compared to each other)?</p>
<p>I visited MICA with my D last week for the scholarship finalist thing. We both liked MICA quite a bit and are anxiously waiting news about scholarship/aid. Pratt has offered my D about half in grants/scholarship (around $22K), and RISD has offered her nothing ($6 or so in loans!). Our financial situation is pretty dire, so my D’s decision is largely based on that. Anyway, I’m getting off topic. I do want to say that we were both very favorably impressed by MICA, both by the students going (interesting, pretty diverse) and by the program. Buildings were stunning and the ‘campus’ such as it is is very nice. The immediate area is fine safety-wise. It would depend on your personality; my D is pretty focused on her work and wouldn’t mind sticking to campus and targeted public transportation (eg to harbor area, very nice). MICA is very open to taking classes outside your own specialty, and as someone else said the course booklet is terrific. Also, all the students said it was no problem taking classes at the other colleges, and that after the first year, many students did that. So, depending on your personality - if you like to mold your own courses, if you like the academic freedom - MICA could be really good. As far as placement afterwards, well, that would depend on your area of specialty. My D is only interested in painting at this point (the main reason she wants MICA, which is ranked number one in painting)–not that practical, where ever she goes!</p>
<p>Apparently Parsons is world-reknown while MICA is only known by art ppl in the US …</p>
<p>A school’s reputation will have no affect on what you personally get out of a school, though. Even before getting rejected, I knew that RISD was not a perfect fit for me despite the fact that it’s commonly considered the Harvard of Art Schools. I need a more open curriculum and more wiggle room to experiment / try new things; MICA also has a more rigorous liberal arts program than RISD.</p>
<p>Not saying anything against Parsons (I haven’t even visited), but choosing a school based of ‘reputation’ is really only setting yourself up for failure. Definitely decide on more important factors: course selection, environment, student life, etc. This is where you’ll be living for the next four years of your life, a school’s good reputation isn’t going to miraculously make life amazing there haha.</p>