The Parsons School of Design

Date: Jan 30 2011
Major: Design Arts - Industrial Design/Graphic Design/etc (This Major's Salary over time)
Ok so here's the truth about Parsons (coming from a small town girl who never even visited the city until she went to college there). There are kids who are way snooty and arrogant, from what I've noticed it's mostly the fashion students but not limited to just them. But then there are also some decent people. It just takes a lot longer to find them! Expect a lot of foreigners and people who don't speak english fluently, which also makes it difficult to make friends. Expect to walk A LOT, so wear comfortable shoes for awhile until you get used to all the walking. Expect the professors to require you to run all over the city to go to museums, art stores and hardware stores so learn how to use the subway system. On the weekends everyone goes to parties in Brooklyn and other places which honestly, is not the safest thing to do in this city. Many of the students have fake IDs also so that they can buy alcohol and get into clubs and bars. So if you're not a partier or willing to risk your safety, expect to just hang out in your dorm room and do homework. Occasionally they hold movie nights and stuff like that in the dorms but not many people go to them because they're too cool for that. The course load is a lot but if you prioritize and don't procrastinate, you won't have to stay up all hours of the night. The latest I had to stay up doing work was probably 12 am. Let's see what else…expect to have to go grocery shopping, do laundry, and clean. Overall I think I am getting a very good education here and i think it is well worth the money. Facilities are pretty high tech and well maintained. The cafes are nice also, except Cafe 55 (located on 13th St. in Arnold hall 4th Floor) is extremely slow, so if you're in a rush don't expect to get a quick meal there. Attendance policy is crazy- 2 lates equal 1 absence, you only get one excused absence from each class, if you have more then 1 then you will be in danger of failing the class. Oh and lastly expect to be crammed into elevators and expect to wait a very long time for them so leave yourself extra time to wait so you aren't late for class. That's all I've got for now. In case anyone is wondering, I'm a freshman and passed my first semester with 3 A's and 3 B's and I'm now onto my second semester.