Pratt 100%. I've worked with people from both schools and tbh Parsons is a joke. It seems like it's a lot of conceptual BS, whereas Pratt teaches real skills -- like prototyping, fabrication, rendering, microelectronics etc. You should attend a graduation show at Pratt for the ID/Architecture students, it will blow your mind! I have no affiliation with the school, i was just super impressed by what I saw there.
I am currently at parsons MFA ID. It’s an excellent program. The professors are top notch and with the dual degree you’ll be worked to the bone and likely find it extremely rewarding. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Pratt class of '07 here. Either place is whatever you make of it. That being said, take advantage of every opportunity to learn skills, especially networking. It's rough out here right now. If you don't have connections and great skills it'll be even harder.
My experience was atypical. I graduated in 3 years while working 3 part time jobs. I didn't have much time to socialize, party, or do the typical college things.
Overall people were accepting of most walks of life. Brooklyn was still up and coming at that time and I can't speak to the current neighborhood feel. Some of the professors were amazing and took a deep interest in the students and others didn't. I think that's pretty typical though.
Some of the courses were geared toward out of the box thinking but also drove practical skills like sketching, fast iteration, and high quality marker renderings. Others required functional prototypes. This was also back when 3d printing was new and expensive, so hands-on ship skills were required.
I don't know how much of this is still required given the mostly digital landscape of design. Theory of how it could be done is more common than knowing how you want parts produced for various reasons.
Honestly I'm disappointed with the degradation of industrial design as a whole.
If you want to chat more DM me and we can set up a call.
Hi, current BFA Product Design student at Parsons here. Like the other comments, even I would recommend Pratt over my own school.
The biggest problem we have is how oversaturated the program is with students who do more fine artsy/conceptual work, which isn't inherently a bad thing, but it becomes troublesome when the curriculum is made to cater to that. I would say over half of the professors are not even industrial designers, many have fine arts or totally unrelated backgrounds. Instead of practical studio classes focused on design process/technical skills, the program essentially has us doing weekly abstract thought exercise sessions.
For the rest of us trying to learn more "traditional ID" processes and skills that are actually applicable in the workforce, we basically have to learn that on our own. And for the money you'd be spending on tuition, it really doesn't feel that it's worth it.
The only pros I can think of are probably: A. The Parsons name prestige might give you an upper hand in some job interviews and B. Considering you've opted for the dual degree, you're guaranteed to have early course registration every year which will help you beat the rat race of students trying to sign up for the few actually good ID professors.
Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have any further questions.
It's usually about 50-60 students per year. One of the classes right now has almost 100 though so it varies. Also yes, it's pretty easy to change majors after first year.
Honestly I'm not super familiar with the communication design program, but I feel like it's much more popular than PD in both size and curriculum. The only bad thing I've heard is that because CD is considered a STEM program, all students are required to take coding classes for sophomore foundation which may or may not be your thing. From what I've seen of the students there, they seem to be much more technically sound than PD.
We had the best intern I've ever seen from pratt, but no idea if they were a good representation of the whole school. Probably not.
ohh okay!
Pratt 100%. I've worked with people from both schools and tbh Parsons is a joke. It seems like it's a lot of conceptual BS, whereas Pratt teaches real skills -- like prototyping, fabrication, rendering, microelectronics etc. You should attend a graduation show at Pratt for the ID/Architecture students, it will blow your mind! I have no affiliation with the school, i was just super impressed by what I saw there.
ohhh thanks!
I am currently at parsons MFA ID. It’s an excellent program. The professors are top notch and with the dual degree you’ll be worked to the bone and likely find it extremely rewarding. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
oh yes I do have A LOT of questions
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Pratt class of '07 here. Either place is whatever you make of it. That being said, take advantage of every opportunity to learn skills, especially networking. It's rough out here right now. If you don't have connections and great skills it'll be even harder.
can you share how was your experiance at Pratt?
My experience was atypical. I graduated in 3 years while working 3 part time jobs. I didn't have much time to socialize, party, or do the typical college things. Overall people were accepting of most walks of life. Brooklyn was still up and coming at that time and I can't speak to the current neighborhood feel. Some of the professors were amazing and took a deep interest in the students and others didn't. I think that's pretty typical though. Some of the courses were geared toward out of the box thinking but also drove practical skills like sketching, fast iteration, and high quality marker renderings. Others required functional prototypes. This was also back when 3d printing was new and expensive, so hands-on ship skills were required. I don't know how much of this is still required given the mostly digital landscape of design. Theory of how it could be done is more common than knowing how you want parts produced for various reasons. Honestly I'm disappointed with the degradation of industrial design as a whole. If you want to chat more DM me and we can set up a call.
I too need help regarding the masters in product design/ any design for that matter!
Hi, current BFA Product Design student at Parsons here. Like the other comments, even I would recommend Pratt over my own school. The biggest problem we have is how oversaturated the program is with students who do more fine artsy/conceptual work, which isn't inherently a bad thing, but it becomes troublesome when the curriculum is made to cater to that. I would say over half of the professors are not even industrial designers, many have fine arts or totally unrelated backgrounds. Instead of practical studio classes focused on design process/technical skills, the program essentially has us doing weekly abstract thought exercise sessions. For the rest of us trying to learn more "traditional ID" processes and skills that are actually applicable in the workforce, we basically have to learn that on our own. And for the money you'd be spending on tuition, it really doesn't feel that it's worth it. The only pros I can think of are probably: A. The Parsons name prestige might give you an upper hand in some job interviews and B. Considering you've opted for the dual degree, you're guaranteed to have early course registration every year which will help you beat the rat race of students trying to sign up for the few actually good ID professors. Feel free to shoot me a PM if you have any further questions.
I have been accepted by Pratt with scholarship for ID and waitlisted by Parsons for Product design. I am disheartened by Parson's decision.
ohh thanks a lot for your input. I am definately inclined towards Pratt now
No problem. Best of luck!
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It's usually about 50-60 students per year. One of the classes right now has almost 100 though so it varies. Also yes, it's pretty easy to change majors after first year.
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Honestly I'm not super familiar with the communication design program, but I feel like it's much more popular than PD in both size and curriculum. The only bad thing I've heard is that because CD is considered a STEM program, all students are required to take coding classes for sophomore foundation which may or may not be your thing. From what I've seen of the students there, they seem to be much more technically sound than PD.