Parsons vs. FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) in New York?

[educo]

They were Parsons students. They just didn't graduate, which doesn't make them alumni. However, there are numerous others who did graduate and are successful, including the designers behind Vena Cava, Cushnie et Ochs, and Ohne Titel. I am pretty sure Alexander Wang dropped out b/c he was way ahead of everyone else and already had the resources to make it on his own.

I have a very obvious question here, but have you attended EITHER of these schools?

It's easy to judge a school by who went there and who happen to graduate but it's another story to actually have an opinion about the school because of EXPERIENCE rather than speculation.

Both Dior and I have been to both schools and obviously have strong opinions about both of them because we have been there, no amount of "look who went here vs look who went there" is going to change that fact.

 

[educo]

It's definitely more difficult to get into FIT. Parsons had an acceptance rate of 62% last year due to the economy, I'm guessing. FIT (as it is a state school) has an acceptance rate of around 40%. But you have to take into account that of that 40%, only a small percentage is for fashion design, since there is no foundation year for fashion.

Have you applied to either of these schools? What was the result of that?

IMO, having applied and been ACCEPTED into these schools, i would say it's alot more involved to apply for Parsons than it is FIT.

Parsons is looking for a Fine Art style portfolio with different techniques and experiments where as FIT is asking for is based on what major you want to be in. There is always a drawing test at FIT. Whereas I went and applied to Parsons and a couple weeks later, I was accepted.

 

[trend_monger]

I have a very obvious question here, but have you attended EITHER of these schools?

It's easy to judge a school by who went there and who happen to graduate but it's another story to actually have an opinion about the school because of EXPERIENCE rather than speculation.

Both Dior and I have been to both schools and obviously have strong opinions about both of them because we have been there, no amount of "look who went here vs look who went there" is going to change that fact.

I have not attended either school. I am a high school senior currently applying to art schools. I just applied to Parsons last week and am applying to FIT soon. I AM NOT judging either school by the number of its illustrious alumni (READ my earlier posts more carefully and you will not find any judgments made on FIT or Parsons based on its alumni). I think you are making assumptions about what I meant. I was merely curious about why one school seemed to be producing more hot, new designers. That is all...

The person I was responding to obviously wants to major in Fashion Design, so my response was tailored to that. If you had read his post, you would have seen that he was asking which school is MORE difficult to get into....not which one is harder to prepare for. I am aware of the admission requirements of both schools.

 

[educo]

I have not attended either school. I am a high school senior currently applying to art schools. I just applied to Parsons last week and am applying to FIT soon. I AM NOT judging either school by the number of its illustrious alumni (READ my earlier posts more carefully and you will not find any judgments made on FIT or Parsons based on its alumni). I think you are making assumptions about what I meant. I was merely curious about why one school seemed to be producing more hot, new designers. That is all...

The person I was responding to obviously wants to major in Fashion Design, so my response was tailored to that. If you had read his post, you would have seen that he was asking which school is MORE difficult to get into....not which one is harder to prepare for. I am aware of the admission requirements of both schools.

I suspected as such. Listen, I went to Saturday live when I was in highschool and that is not a good standard to judge design schools.

By questioning why Parsons churns out designers like a machine while FIT hasn't seen a design star is years is a judgment, simple as that. A judgment made without a single relatable ounce of experience in either school.

I don't care how many tours you have gone on at either school, you still have no idea which school is better...and you still have no idea which school is harder to get into. Just because Parsons admits more than FIT does doesn't mean a thing. They are a private school and they bank on people dropping out, it's just how it goes. Whereas FIT is a state school with much more restrictions on how the money gets distributed (in fact, while I was a student at FIT, the teachers made it a point to contact political officials in Albany because they were going to cut MILLIONS from FIT's budget).

The OP had asked which school would be more difficult to get into YET you haven't applied and been accepted into both schools! What are you basing your opinions on?? What are you basing your judgments on then? PURE SPECULATION.

Like I said BEFORE, Parsons is much more involved in its application process. You don't prepare to apply, you either apply or you don't, so i don't understand your comment on preparation. Being aware of admission requirements don't offer you anything but a list to follow, that's it. Like I said, I've been through both admission process and Parsons is much more involved, while testing and interview process is very involved at FIT.

Put it this way, if you had no experience in design school and need to have alot of guidance..go to FIT.

If you feel like you can handle it on your own, and keep up with the insane amount of pressure and have the money to do, then go to Parsons.

 

[trend_monger]

Once again, I was NOT making a judgment. At least, that was definitely not my intention. It is a fact that Parsons has been churning out more hot designers lately.

I don't care if you went to both schools, as you have mentioned several times already. Obviously neither YOU nor I are admissions officers, so we have no idea what really goes on during the admissions process. Everything you say is probably speculation as well. I was stating a fact: The acceptance rate is higher at Parsons, and that's really all I have to go on. I was not saying FIT is better than Parsons, or vice versa. Those were just my impressions of both schools when I was there. Personally, I would rather go to Parsons. Maybe I had a more favorable impression of one school over the other- but that does not mean one is better than the other. The school that is better for me is not necessarily better for everyone else.

Were you a fashion design major at Parsons? Or FIT? If you went to Parsons, did you go through foundation year and how was it? Also, is the workload at Parsons much heavier than at FIT (for fashion design majors)?

 

[educo]

^^ I was a fashion design major at Parsons and no, I didn't have to go through foundation because I have spent a year at CSM and 1/2 year studying at FIT. They classified me as a transfer student even though I wasn't in a degree program when I applied.

After finishing Parsons, i got admitted into the Textile Design program at FIT last fall.

The workload for Parsons is completely out of control, not to say that FIT was much lighter, but Parsons really takes the cake.