<p>My daughter has been accepted to both Purchase college (SUNY) in graphic design and Pratt institute in communications design as a transfer student for her sophomore year. Putting aside the financial differences, how do they compare academically? I looked at the course load and Pratt has a very a heavy load - up to 18 credits per semester, made up of several 2-credit courses. This could mean that she'd have to take up to 7 or 8 courses per semester. This seems like a really heavy load. I don't want her to be set up for failure, yet it seems like a good well-rounded curriculum Purchase, on the other hand, also seems very good, their facilities are amazing, but the course load seems slightly less rigorous. Thanks for any insights here.</p>
<p>Wondering if your daughter made a decision about Purchase vs Pratt? My daughter has been accepted to Purchase for graphic design and is trying to decide between that and a school out here in California. Biggest concern is whether the school will empty out on weekends. The school here has a more traditional residential campus, but their program isn’t as good. She’s having a tough time deciding.</p>
<p>We’ve decided on Purchase, mostly for financial reasons, but partially the heavy academic load at Pratt. I also wasn’t thrilled with the neighborhood there, but that wasn’t a deal-breaker. I was disappointed that I didn’t get any responses here. </p>
<p>Purchase has wonderful facilities, “conservatories,” they call them. We were/are concerned about the makeup of the student body. From what I hear, a lot of them are the “fringe” kids, or the kids who were misfits in high school, lots of drugs, but this goes on everywhere, I think. A large percentage of the kids are gay. This doesn’t affect our decision, but it could for someone else. I hear that there’s a lot going on on-campus, but there’s not much to off-campus, there’s no real town of purchase, except take a bus to down-town white plains and go shopping and to a movie or something. Manhattan is only 35-40 minutes away, and I expect that would be an enticement for some. On the other hand, I would hope that the kids are too busy to be running away every weekend. </p>
<p>Basically, I guess we’re shooting in the dark. Hope this helped you somehow.</p>