jimster

Hi, I went to the admitted student day at Parson's yesterday and talked to several professors and students. They all agreed that MFA DT and ITP are very similar, but the curriculum at MFA DT is more structured: a well balance of thesis studios, academic electives(research and writing intensive), support electives(technical support), and collaboration labs. At ITP, you can pretty much take whatever classes you want to fulfill the 60 credits requirements (except the few requirements at first year and the 4-credit thesis project). Thats what ITP is MPS, not a MFA degree. Also, MFA DT offers a 3-week intensive bootcamp to teach you technical skills before the first semester begins. 1) ITP is more recognizable because the program has a long history (it started at the 70s). On the other hand, Parson's a world renowned Art and Design school. 2) MFA is considered as the terminal degree in fine art / design. With a MFA degree, you are qualified to teach at most US universities. 3) Actually it is the other way around - ITP holds more students than MFA DT. Both program occupied a whole floor. 4) I think people at the tech/new media field will recognize both programs. For job opportunities, it really depends on your projects, your skill set and your network. You probably can find both ITP alumni and MFA DT alumni working at same company like Frog and Google. The bottom line is both programs are great and they are not rivals to each other. If you want a MFA degree and a more structured curriculum, go to Parson's. If you want a more fixable curriculum, go to ITP.

I don't think ITP will offer me any funding since I am on their waitlist. If they ever take off me from the waitlist, I may contact the Financial Aid office. But it will be hard to bargain any grant/funding from the department since every accepted student already received their financial package at that time. From I heard, you either get notified by late April/early May or few weeks before the semester begins.

Have any of you made a decision yet? I am pretty much decided on Parson's. The is no point for me to wait endlessly for ITP while Parson's gave me scholarship to go. Also, Parson's MFA DT seems more design-oriented than ITP; ITP is more tech/engineering-savvy in my opinion.

ITP seems very competitive this year.

@ thesurreystudent I am accepted to Parson's MFA DT with 20% waiver. How about you? Have you made a decision yet?

From what I heard and the research I did, ITP seems pretty easy to get in (accept around 100 students per year). More people are on the waitlist this year than ever before (according to the Result Search). Does anyone know what happened? More applications or the class size is shrinking? Or simply because more people reported to the Result Search? Unfortunately, I've been placed on the waitlist also....