Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art

Date: Jan 08 2008
Major: Art & Design Department (This Major's Salary over time)
Cooper Union is, at the end of the day, a great school. It is small, so if you get depressed,overworked, or even sick there is usually someone who takes notice. This is great in those situations, though there are times you wish that you could just be a cog in the wheel so to speak, but this is very rare, and you can always just go to the NYU Library when you feel that way. The staff is almost always a gangster/specialist in their field and are usually open to experimentation as long as you are doing work. I would advise that you try to live to close to campus, though this is becoming more nebulous for art students with the Long Island City Studios. My one MAJOR critique leveled at the school is that it doesn't do what it professes: Advance science AND art. The interaction between engineers and artists is tenuous. A lot of the art students are also sometimes too Luddite-ish for my taste. This environment leads to a bit of alienation (more so than usual), if you are making work that is intra disciplinary to some extent, especially if you are getting your feet wet and trying to experiment. The past comments about a social life are pretty true. However, to be blunt, this isn't what I went to college for. If you get in the right section in Freshman year, you will make some of the greatest friendships ever, if not, you'll have to wait a year.