<p>Of course I'm pretty biased, but in my opinion the greatest thing about RISD is the students. Sure, we have outstanding programs with terrific teachers in all fields of study, but it's the consistently high quality of the students over many decades that has kept RISD up there in the rankings. The faculty established the standards long ago and the students have always played a critical role in maintaining them.</p>
<p>The peer group at RISD is outstanding. The incentive to make good work is robust in a place where almost all of the students are bright, talented, reasonably well-adjusted and eager to make a life for themselves doing something they love.</p>
<p>Good luck to all applicants, wherever your interests take you!</p>
<p>thank you for that, taxguy.
my comfort areas are painting and printmaking. i've been hoping to look into sculpture...and i'm in the process of discovering photography. speaking to one of the contacts they have there (portfolio review), the place isn't entirely devoid of painters...and they "have a good foundation program," which is what i applied for.</p>
<p>i've been to the pratt campus. it is something to think about. but, i'm less idealistic about location. that's also an interesting facet to their program...their..."weeding" process. that's an exciting challenge (naively put).</p>
<p>sounds like risd's "the place to be." though, the quaintness is...dunno...i've had my fill in vermont. cities tend to spark certain insights...that i never find in quiet places. but who knows, right?</p>
<p>palpableint, if you were thinking that Providence is akin to a rural area, get rid of that idea. For one thing, it's quite urban but not of course a metropolis like NY. For another, it's not that isolated. When my daughter was at RISD, she managed to get to NY quite often, in fact a couple of her courses were centered around art or design issues in NYC. True, it's 3 hours or so by bus or train to NY (1 hour to Boston). Finally, truth be told, at any major art school you are going to be soooooo busy, you're hardly going to be able to breathe sometimes. It's a demanding course of study, whether at Pratt, RISD, or another school. I should mention, though, that RISD prides itself on the fact that is has the largest number of classroom/studio hours per week -- but then again, time in class is less than half of the total time you will devote to your art and other studies. At the same time, you're in the same boat with several hundred other classmates, and a lot of learning about and doing art is a collective or interactive enterprise.</p>
<p>Does anybody know how big the Cooper Union envelope is supposed to be...i read 13 x 17 on the website....but i also have an old hometest that says 12 x 16.....just thought i'd ask because i know they can be extremely stingy about these things.</p>
<p>the envelope i was given was 12x16. but the envelope has a large capacity. it's thick...maybe around 2 inches. i'm not sure though. they also said they won't consider any work larger than 22x30 (i think those were the dimensions).</p>
<p>well not necessarily......not if you wanted to design ur envelope ahead of time.....is it just a plain old brown envelope that i could buy in a store .....or is it something specific to cooper?</p>
<p>the envelope.......has........the applicant's name and bar code even, on top of the outer side. and the address to cooper is already typed out so that you don't have to bother to address to them at the post office..</p>
<p>good luck. don't forget to read all the instructions CAREFULLY- like me haha</p>
<p>for those of you who applied ed ...did you find the time limitations especially challenging...i mean they've only give me 3.5 weeks to complete the whole thing ...plus i have midterms and portfolio interviews at other schools....i think my biggest worry at this point is that i won't finish in time.-i'm so stressed /;</p>
<p>I really don't understand why people make a big deal about Cooper Union. Yes, I know that the tuition is FREE and it is VERY hard to get into because of that. HOWEVER, they have some high fees coupled with the highest room and board and food costs( being in NY) in the country. If you factor all that in and compare it to other schools that probably would give you a partial scholarship, you aren't that much ahead. In fact, attending SUNY Purchase or Mass art might be even less expensive overall.</p>
<p>Moreover, the school is REALLY small. No real social life to speak of and the facilities are just OK. I don't personally think that they are as good as other major art schools and art programs such as Syracuse. Thus, I don't understand the hype about this school.</p>
<p>Taxguy, I agree with you. We investigated Cooper, including visiting. The (false) expectation that this is a total free ride definitely is an attractant. From what we learned talking to a couple of current students when we visited, it is also an extremely cut-throat program. I suspect that it's not at all a bad program but it's not a great environment to nurture cooperation and teamwork, which are in fact quite essential to success in many art/design professions.</p>
<p>Oh, and michaelangelina, don't get too stressed out! I was just in your shoes couple weeks ago..and the hometest itself can play with your mind. drive you nuts..</p>
<p>managing time is the basic part of this hometest (from what I have perceived). well, ed students had the full winter season holiday season break, so I guess that wasn't so bad. are the hometest questions and questionnaires the same as ed applicants? </p>
<p>manage your time well.......! I hope that you will get in to cu, if that is your first choice of art school </p>
<p>The thing is....it isn't really my first choice.....but i've been wondering if my work is good enough to get in for about two years. I mean i would definatley consider going if i was accepted, but my parents hate cu so it would be really a tough descison. </p>
<p>i'm actually considering not applying...i've had interviews all weekend- so i'm just starting now....i only have about 22 or so days to complete the whole thing....ah! but i do have some really good ideas</p>
<p>what to do. what to do.</p>
<p>and i know cooper isn't the best school but theres just something magical about it (if you asked me)
the first time a visited the reviewer loved my art and it was snowing...it was just such a beautiful night---so this affects my vision of the school a lot</p>
<p>i think i'm going to try to finish the home test...though i'm pretty sure i won't be able to </p>
<p>the questions are something like this
1. tactical
2. self portrait from perspective of animal
3. boundries defined by light in a public space
4. trace the history of a word
5. 6inches vs feet
6. map a grandiose idea</p>
<p>i agree about phone calls with cooper union admissions staff...they don't have much patience and i find them to be so unhelpful. if i were u i would send an email about the misunderstanding and ask if it's still poss. to send in your actual work.<br>
good luck</p>
<p>Cooper doesn't show up in the USNews rankings because USNews only ranks MFA programs in the arts. So there's no way to do a direct comparison with Parsons. In term of overall rankings of MFA programs in fine arts (not by specialty), Parsons comes out roughly in the 80th percentile (tied for 28th out of 138 programs that are rated).</p>