The State University of New York Purchase College

Date: May 10 2010
Major: Art & Design Department (This Major's Salary over time)
When I was applying to schools, I was very interested in the art & design program at Purchase, but put off by a lot of the negative things that other rewiers had to say. I'm so glad I trusted by gut and came to Purchase. If you're interested in the art & design program, please read this and take my word for it!

The art & design consevatory at Purchase is fantastic. You may have heard talk about Purchase having really crappy academics. These people are most likely talking about the Liberal Arts program, which isn't fantastic from what I've heard. Purchase is mainly focused on its conservatories, which are some of the best in the country, hands down.

Students in the art conservatory are very self-driven. The faculty are all artists themselves and/or have years of experience under their belts. The first year program is comprised of 4 intense studio classes: Drawing 1, Design 1 (Carol Bankerd is the Dumbledore of design), Sculpture 1, and Extended Media (if possible, get Casey Hooper. Especailly if you're interested in design or printmaking.) The work is intense, but if you're modivated enough of an art student, you'll get through with not too much trouble. There's a pretty heavy workload the first year, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was designed to weed out anyone who isn't dedicated enough. So if you don't mind spending hours upon hours working in the visual arts building, even if it means working through some weekends, this is the place for you.

Also contrary to everyone says, not all the art students are pretentious and rude. Very few are. The majority of them are very friendly and helpful, especially towards first year students.

Like I said, the art program is great. So if you're accepted, congratulations! As for the rest of the school…

Food: Eh. Not wonderful, not bad. You'll get pretty tired of it, but there's plenty of places to order from. There's tons of places to eat in White Plains too.

White Plains: Not very exciting. There's plenty of places to shop & eat in the downtown area. I wouldn't venture into many other parts of the city. I'd say the Purchase bus system is 98% reliable.

Dorms: Pretty decent.

Campus: Pretty much a disaster now, but hopefully will look a lot nicer once construction's done.

Feel free to contact me with any other questions!