<p>//I only wish I could have gotten my daughter to see Pratt through my eyes.//</p>
<p>Have you tried seeing things through her eyes?</p>
<p>RainingAgain, Yes, I have, which is why she didn't apply to Pratt.</p>
<p>I have a friend attending Pratt. He seems to love it and actually transferred to Pratt from another school. </p>
<p>He's in graphic design there and the work that I saw emphasized both traditional drawing skills as well as work on the computer. Although his work seems to confirm that GD is solid at Pratt, I never got to visit Pratt when I was applying to schools, so I can't speak about the campus.</p>
<p>Just thought I'd chime in. :)</p>
<p>artparent--Have you had much contact with admissions or administration at Pratt? My daughter attend Pratt's Pre-College and applied to Pratt, but she is now at RISD. I was disappointed in my experiences with dealing with Pratt's admissions representatives and with administration. They did not seem to be too interested in my daughter or very helpful even though they offered her a scholarship...which I think they offer to everyone. The scholarship offer was made solely on academics rather than on her portfolio (they had not received it when the offer was made), which I found very odd for an art school. (Her Test scores were low (or average) and her GPA was decent.) Hopefully things have changed in the last two years.</p>
<p>ktwofish, I think things have changed at Pratt. My daughter's experience has been very personal and she found her admissions rep. very helpful.She had a long interview and e-mailed through out the admissoins process. In contrast, our experience with RISD admissions has been all of zippo. When we arrived at the admissions office for our tour (actually we were met OUTSIDE the admissions office) we were given a map of the next place we were to meet - sort of like a scavenger hunt . We never even got a glimpse of any admissions person. RISD does not give interviews, which seems perplexing to me for such a small school, and my d received admissions notification a week late. I am sure the lack of attention on the part of RISD is not a problem for them and clearly the applications just keep rolling in, but clearly we got more attention from Pratt.
As far as the scholarship money goes, I think you do your daughter and all our daughters a disservice. I know kids who actually have gotten rejected from Pratt as well as those who were not offered any money. Perhaps Pratt knew of her portfolio work from her early college experience there, and clearly if she gained admittance to RISD she is talented. RISD clearly has far more competetive admissions than Pratt, but the idea that everyone is offered scholarship money is false.</p>
<p>I am glad to hear you had a better experience with the Pratt admissions process. I must admit that we did not deal with the RISD admissions office very much. I have not read any Pratt posts from students who did not receive a scholarship. Don't get me wrong....I was very pleased that they would help with the cost of attending their school. I am still wary of a scholarship offer from an art school that does not consider the portfolio, though. </p>
<p>In the end, it is more important that your daughter is happy with her choice of schools and it sounds as if she is....congratulations!</p>
<p>My daughter is still deciding between Pratt and RISD, and will go back to look at both. One thing I have learned during this college admission process (and it is my first as a parent - 3 more to go ! ) is not to make generalizations based on a small sampling of opinions ; if that were the case one would assume that the student body at RISD consisted of wealthy (and based on my tour - white ) females and I know this is not true.
As far as the portfolio goes... as I asked before is it not possible that your daughter's work was known to the admissions staff due to her Early College experience at Pratt ? My daughter was offered money from MECA based on the work she did at the EC there without her portfolio being completed.</p>
<p>When my daughter received her scholarship from Pratt before her portfolio was submitted, I was told by a Pratt admissions rep. that they do not make scholarship decisions based on the portfolio. Again...strange...</p>
<p>Please do not be offended by my comment about Pratt giving out numerous scholarships. It is a fact, and it is not a bad thing! SCAD and Ringling also gave my daughter scholarship offers. SCAD is also well know for giving scholarships, but they do so for academics and for the portfolio separately.</p>
<p>Check out Live Journal's RISD community...2 students who have been admitted to RISD say they have received $20,000 and $17,000 scholarships. Interesting...I wonder if they really mean aid.</p>
<p>ktowfish,</p>
<p>I know RISD gives merit awards to NFAA competition winners, so it is possible that they are merit winners.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Originally posted by artschoolmom</p>
<p>ktwofish, I think things have changed at Pratt. My daughter's experience has been very personal and she found her admissions rep. very helpful.She had a long interview and e-mailed through out the admissoins process. In contrast, our experience with RISD admissions has been all of zippo. When we arrived at the admissions office for our tour (actually we were met OUTSIDE the admissions office) we were given a map of the next place we were to meet - sort of like a scavenger hunt . We never even got a glimpse of any admissions person. RISD does not give interviews, which seems perplexing to me for such a small school, and my d received admissions notification a week late. I am sure the lack of attention on the part of RISD is not a problem for them and clearly the applications just keep rolling in, but clearly we got more attention from Pratt.
As far as the scholarship money goes, I think you do your daughter and all our daughters a disservice. I know kids who actually have gotten rejected from Pratt as well as those who were not offered any money. Perhaps Pratt knew of her portfolio work from her early college experience there, and clearly if she gained admittance to RISD she is talented. RISD clearly has far more competetive admissions than Pratt, but the idea that everyone is offered scholarship money is false.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>When I had contacted them, RISD admissions folks both on phone and email did seem rather snippy and inflexible.</p>
<p>This is coming from a person admitted into WashU, which is in the higher strata of colleges and from whom you may just expect attitude. Surprisingly enough, I actually met the dean on a one on one basis there before applying. The dean personally reviewed my work during our talk.</p>
<p>Similarly, SAIC's Director of Admissions personally stayed in touch with me while I was considering their school and they were quite gracious in their scholarships ($16,000 merit)</p>
<p>For these reasons, I never applied to RISD and I'm happy with my choice.</p>
<p>ktwofish, I was not offended by your comment; I just found it inaccurate. Not all applicants to Pratt receive merit scholarships. I think if my daughter had read that post she (as all other 2006 high school graduates-more scrutinized ,more competively stressed than any other high school class in history ) would have said, "ouch"!</p>
<p>[Artschoolmom]
"In contrast, our experience with RISD admissions has been all of zippo. When we arrived at the admissions office for our tour (actually we were met OUTSIDE the admissions office) we were given a map of the next place we were to meet - sort of like a scavenger hunt . We never even got a glimpse of any admissions person. RISD does not give interviews, which seems perplexing to me for such a small school, and my d received admissions notification a week late. I am sure the lack of attention on the part of RISD is not a problem for them and clearly the applications just keep rolling in, but clearly we got more attention from Pratt."</p>
<p>~~~~~~~~</p>
<p>Our experience with RISD was all that and worse. Application and catalog was never sent despite 2 phone calls, only school my son applied to that did not have a digital portfolio option, same exact "wild goose chase" atmosphere on open school day back in November, and terse, if not hostile correspondence from the admissions rep, who criticized my son for having a "confusing" hyphenated last name. Even during a portfolio day at the local community college, the RISD rep kept dozens of people waiting in line forever, while other college lines moved along quickly. Virtually no correspondence until the (late) notification letter last week. rejected, but, then again, not really disappointed, considering.
Mercifully accepted at 6 other programs (CMU, RIT, MICA, SCAD, and two different programs at SUNY Purchase)... and all with substantial grants.</p>
<p>I'm writing about how impressed we were with our visit at Pratt (see below), but first let me say (just because it's different than some of the other experiences people have been writing about) that we had a great tour of RISD, starting with a long information session with an admissions officer and a long tour of every building, going up and down hills - and have you found that on these tours the student guides love to take stairs up six flights instead of the elevator?!</p>
<p>That being said, my son did not get into RISD, though he was accepted at the other colleges he applied to (Pratt, UArts, MassArt, SVA, still waiting to hear from one more) and will most likely go to Pratt since he will be majoring in Industrial Design, and it does seem to be the place to go for that (besides RISD, of course) and because he loves NYC. </p>
<p>I was extremely surprised and pleased when we visited Pratt. We're from the NY area, and I knew it wasn't going to be a great section of Brooklyn (in fact, my husband grew up in Brooklyn, and he had never even been in that section)! But the campus is enclosed, and is really charming. Since my son loves NYC he will probably be taking the subway into the city any chance he gets, but from what I hear about foundation year, he may not get many chances with all the work he'll be doing!</p>
<p>More importantly, the quality of the work seemed excellent. When we walked through a hallway that had freshman art hanging on the walls, the mouth of every prospective student on the tour just hung open, and they had a look of "I don't think I'm going to get in here." The admissions officer who gave the tour saw their reactions and said that the work was done at the end of the first semester, and since most of the students were taking 6 hour art classes every day for the first time, they didn't come in there drawing like that, but after a couple of months their worked improved dramatically. This is not to put down any young artists accepted to Pratt - your work obviously is good if you got into such a highly respected art college - just to make a point about the quality of the education.</p>
<p>I think there are pros and cons in that many of the faculty are part-time and not always on campus. The up side is that they are professionals in the field, working in NYC, so they have all that experience to pass on. The down side is that because they're not on campus all time time, they're not as accessible. However, the internship opportunities in NYC sound ideal. Of course, that's how the school makes it sound - time will tell if things pan out that way - but the oportunities are definitely there.</p>
<p>My d is a high school junior and we are visiting Pratt next Monday for a tour and appointment with an admissions counselor. She suggested my daughter bring some of her artwork for review even though she does not have a complete portfolio. Any suggestions to bring up in the interview if my d seems very interested in the school? We also just brought up the summer pre-college program to her and told her that would be a great opportunity to get a taste of what college life at Pratt would be like. Has anyone here who is currently enrolled or planning on enrolling in the fall attended the summer program? If so, I'd like to hear what you thought of it. There are also a few other schools we will be visiting in the next few weeks that I have not seen much mention of. Most are universities that we were told have strong art programs including Drexel, Towson, Univ. of DE, and possible James Madison.</p>
<p>I'm surprised that Drexel never gets mentioned on this board. They have a coop program that rivals RIT's, similar programs and incoming student profile, as well as an architecture program that RIT does not have.</p>
<p>Having said that, my son decided against it, mainly because it's "campus" such as it is, is so non-descript and inferior to nearby U. Pa, that it had the distinct feeling of being "not as good". Couldn't seem to get past that, despite what appears to be solid programs and a great career oriented coop program.</p>
<p>BTW, my son went to Pratt pre-college and enjoyed it thoroughly, but opted against applying there also (too "artsy" in his opinion, though he liked the courses and made good friends).</p>
<p>What we like about Drexel is their coop program. We're visiting on Friday and have been forewarned that there is no campus, basically just plain buildings and concrete. I know it is right next door to U Penn which I hear is beautiful. We'll find out when we see it. We do know several kids who are students there now and love it. Is your son an architecture major? I hear Drexel has a good program. My daughter is thinking of illustration or maybe even illustration along with art therapy. That's what makes a school like Pratt and possibly Drexel so attractive. Glad to hear your son liked Pratt's summer program.</p>
<p>I would also check out MICA</p>
<p>so I got in to cooper union. i only applied to three schools, SCAD, MassArt and Cooper, and everyone kept telling me I should have applied to RISD...but I got into all of them and made all my plans for going to boston, and then I found out I got accepted to CU. I thought it was a joke at first and I couldnt believe it until I got the letter in the mail. But I'm happy. I dont even go to an arts highschool either. </p>
<p>The only thing is that I've heard so many mixed reviews about the school. After I got accepted I tried to find out everything I could because when I first applied I hardly even researched the school because I didn't expect to actually get in. </p>
<p>So if anyone goes there already or went there, let me know about how the school is. I'm going to visit on monday for the reception dinner. </p>
<p>so...hard work for me...I have a feeling the amount of time I spent doing that hometest is going to be nothing compared to the freshman workload. </p>
<p>And honestly i pretty much dropped out of my life for a month to finish it. I hardly left my house and spoke to no one. haha</p>
<p>but now that I think about it, i had more fun thinking about those projects than on almost any other art projects i'd ever done, they were so complex and fascinating. </p>
<p>.cmc.</p>
<p>Congrats, fisticuffs.</p>
<p>Cooper sounds like a great school! I had some friends who had applied, but I don't think they were accepted. :)</p>
<p>Do you have any of your work for display online? If so, post a link.</p>
<p>fisticuffs,</p>
<p>What are the mixed (i.e. bad) things you've heard about Cooper?</p>
<p>You might also ask around in Cooper's livejournal community.</p>
<p>Good luck with you future!</p>