Parsons School of Design
Parsons School of Design is part of the larger university of The New School in New York City. Parsons is committed to social justice and environmental sustainability and you feel it throughout the campus with it’s LEED certified buildings and student works highlighting social issues. It is also a school that makes full use of its New York City location with a great number of students working in their chosen industry while a student. In fact the illustration student who led the tour had a part time job to create all their graphic and social media for a touring band, and he will be working full time with that band after graduation. Another high mark for Parsons is that 81% of their graduates work in their chosen field after graduation, thanks to a very active and well used office for career services and experiential opportunities.
As part of The New School, students can also take full advantage of courses and activities at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, and the College of Performing Arts which includes the Mannes School of Music, the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and the School of Drama. These are all exciting options for creative students interested in music and performing arts, though time didn’t allow to tour these programs so we’ll save that for the next trip.
Parsons is divided into five schools:
School of Art, Media, and Technology (AMT) – Undergraduate BFA is offered in Communication Design, Design and Technology, Fine Arts, Illustration, and Photography.
School of Fashion – Undergraduate BFA is offered in Fashion Design.
School of Constructed Environments (SCE) – Undergraduate BFA is offered in Architecture, Interior Design, and Product Design.
School of Design Strategies (SDS) – Undergraduate BFA is offered in Integrated Design, Strategic Design and Management (BBA), and Urban Design.
School of Art and Design History and Theory (ADHT) – Graduate MFA students only.
All students in a Parsons BFA program must take a comprehensive Freshman Foundation Year of five courses: Drawing and Imaging, Space and Materiality, Objects as History, Sustainable Systems, and Time. In addition to these courses students also take five additional courses (Inflections) in areas of interest to them. All courses focus on building skills needed for competent designers and the coursework is centered more on technology and becoming proficient using digital tools, and less on hand drawing.
Applying to the BFA programs at Parsons requires submitting a portfolio that highlights your creative voice and how you art represents that voice. They are less concerned with the technical proficiency of your work and more interested in how you “think like an artist”. They want to see the inner workings of the process and that your ideas match your work. In addition, there is the Parsons Challenge in which you must select a work from your portfolio and expand on it visually (which can include video) and write a 500 word essay about the work, how it reflects you as an artist, and how it was developed.
The student body at Parsons numbers about 4,000 undergraduates and acceptance is competitive. 25% – 75% of students receive merit scholarships based on the strength of their portfolio and application. Parsons is also a test optional school.
Our tour guide said: the best part of attending Parsons was both the career center and the academic advisors who really care about you, your coursework and your success.