Parsons Vs. Pratt Vs. NYU Masters program, which is a better school for finding work?

[MrPositive]

Hi all, I will be attending school in the fall for my MFA or MS. I am trying to decide whether the Parsons Design & Technology course is good or not in comparison to the Digital Arts Program at Pratt or NYU. If anyone has attended/attending these 3 specific Universities, please leave your feedback. Also let me know if you found work after graduating from that school & your experience. ideally, I would like to have a broad marketable education. Thanks.http://www.conceptart.org/forums/images/ca_smilies/membermade/lifedrawing.gif

The one you enjoy on your visit most that ultimately works best for your goals. In other words, I'd plan a road trip. :) But research the schools online and then go for a visit. Don't be shy either, ask every question you can think of (write them down first).

You can also start here:
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=285&t=748071

[taxguy]

I actually looked into both Pratt's MFA program in Computer Art and NYU's program in their CADA division. I even spoke to the previous head of NYU's program,which is located in the school of professional studies. Frankly, both sound quite good. If you were to check out the faculty noted in the Digital Imaging program at NYU, you would be very impressed with their background. However NYU's program results in an MS. This is not a terminal degree if you want to teach, while I believe Pratt's program does result in an MFA,which is a terminal degree.

I did wonder why NYU's program is in the School of Professional Studies and NOT part of the Tisch School, which is extremely well known. The administrator that I spoke with didn't give me a good answer about that. Moreover , many of the faculty at NYU's program studied at Pratt,which leads me to believe that Pratt must have a good program.Other than that, I can't tell you much about the two programs since my research terminated due to my daughter's lack of interest in studying in NY.

If you are interested in studying animation in NY, also check out School of Visual Arts in NY as well since it also has a very strong reputation in the field.

[treedee]

I'd have to agree... As a Pratt Graduate myself (Along time ago) Both are pretty decent programs in the Digital Media category. I took a Shake course at NYU awhiles back and it was a really nice course. I hear SVA has an amazing Digital Media department as well with great After Effects professors and Im sure Maya etc...I guess I'm prejudging since Im not sure what your looking to major but if any of those sound good to you, might be best to compare between the schools, take tours and ask questions. Good luck on the hunt...Go Pratt heads!

[DennisTheArtist]

Is there anyone here who found work after graduating from any of the schools mentioned? Please don't mention SVA because I have already ruled that school out having already gone there & not being happy with it.

[taxguy]

Dennistheartist, when I spoke with the previous head of the NYU program, he noted that most of his graduates worked in NY. Thus, I would say that some NYU grads did get jobs based on my discussion with him. He also noted that he did not have many connections with studios in California and wasn't aware of anyone working in animated films from the NYU CADA program.

However, please note that I am NOT an animation artist. Thus, this information is from a faculty member of NYU. I don't have first hand knowledge of this information.

[DennisTheArtist]

Here is one of my previous conversations with a Parsons Alumni from that program.

Me:
Question
"Hi K, I saw you went through the Design & Tech MFA program on the Parsons group board & wanted to ask you a question about the program. I may be going into the MFA Design & Tech program 2010 & was wondering if you know if a lot of the Alumni from that program found work after graduating? Is Parsons a good school? How did you feel about the chairperson or professors there? I went for a tour & got stuck in an elevator the first time I went there. Thanks."


Alumni Response:
"Hey -
Parsons is a fantastic school and in addition to the CD&T dept having great classes and professors, its also a great little community. I've continued to stay in touch, and sometimes work with past professors. Ultimately it comes down to your commitment and talent, whether or not you'll find a job. But having a degree from Parsons greatly helps, due to their reputation in the industry and from recommendations from fellow classmates and professors.
Elevators have always been an issue (even now that they are new)...due to the rush to get to classes throughout the various programs in the building. I never had any issues, as I'd enter via the 5th Avenue entrance/elevator or just get there before the rush.
The only other program I would consider comparable in NYC is NYU's ICT program, as I've worked and have many friends that have completed that masters program. "
~former student K

Well I guess at this point taken all the tours, taking to the Faculty, & receiving feed back from the Alumni I think that I can safely make a decision, although it's still a hard one. If anyone one else wants to add from their experience, please feel free to do so as well. Thanks to all who left there feedback.

[DennisTheArtist]

Update on Parsons, I started the program at the Parsons & the D&T MFA program is very demanding & time consuming. I have taken a lot of required basic programing, interface design, web design & lecture classes & school started a month early in the summer for me. I have like 1 class that I really like & that's the CG modeling for Maya. I hope that things will be better next semester as far as the classes I'm allowed to take. Thinking about transferring to NYU at this point but not sure too early to tell. On the positive side, we just had Lucas Films do a presentation here to recruit students. Also, one last quick note about Parsons, the student financial services office is a complete nightmare. This is the consensus I received from other students at Parsons The New School as well. So if you come here, have deep pockets to avoid dealing with them. Figured I'd post this to help others in their decision making. I wish I knew these things before I decided where to go.

[corpsebunny]

I went to NYU Tisch for undergrad and the Masters program at NYU CADA. Unfortunately the CADA program was pretty new when I went and they were still figuring out a lot of things out. But it definitely offered a really good variety of classes, the labs were well equipped and easy to access. The teachers were great and were all working professionals in the industry. The downside at the time was they forced us to take classes which were the equivalent of basic film history courses, which I'd already done in undergrad. But as I mentioned things have probably improved.

As for getting work, I know a lot of my classmates got jobs in the industry afterwards. I was already working as an animator in kid's TV at the time, so having connections was more of what helped me get work than anything I had on my reel. But what I learned in school was enough to help get me a job as a 3D animator, so I have to give some of the credit to them.

Good luck!

[dreamymike]

Dennis all 3 of the schools above are good. They all have a big challenge of making professionals out of students in 2 short years. Becoming a CG artist is like becoming a special forces guy or an actor - it's inherently difficult and they cannot guarantee 100% success rate. If you speak to someone very optimistic they will tell you that 85% of their students find work in the industry. If you speak to someone pessimistic they will tell you it's closer to 25%.
You can look at work produced by NY post houses: Psyop, Charlex, Click3x, TheMill and realistically ask yourself how close is your portfolio to that professional level? As soon as you can do something useful in Maya or AE you should try to get an internship in the company you want to work (they all love free high quality intern labor since budgets are getting smaller). It's not NYU or Pratt which is the final goal but postproduction houses. If you can be useful as an intern it's a good sign you can get a job. Having strait A's may or may not help.
Also notice shampoo and toothbrush commercials, music videos and effects. It looks very different than typical dragons, robots and ninjas on student demo reels...
I worked at NYU CADA, it's a very good program. Some grads are doing great at Blue Sky and various companies in NY and CA, some are not. It's a tough industry to get into. My suggestion would be:

1. Good traditional drawing skills.
2. Solid Maya or AE skills.
3. Good online portfolio
4. Internship (or two) at some of the post houses.
5. Stay in touch with classmates and professors (LinkedIn.com)

Good luck :-)

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