Hi! I'm confused between the MFA program in both the colleges. Does Pratt prepare you for professional work at the same level as Nysid? Like is the hands-on training at Pratt comparable to that of NYSID? Also, Pratt is more expensive and i didn't get a scholarship, is it still worth more than Nysid?

Hi there!

Hi there! In response to your questions: Does Pratt prepare you for professional work at the same level as NYSID? 1000%. All the interior design professors at Pratt also have their own practices/firms outside teaching. NYSID had some professors with their own practices but some didn't have a practice/firm and so they were working as an employee at somebody else's practice/firm. But also I felt like the professors at Pratt were overall a lot more prepared, experienced, and professional than at NYSID. Don't get me wrong though, I also had some cool ones at NYSID but there were also some that just weren't really that knowledgeable about design... Also, a lot of my professors I had at Pratt also teach at the other NYC design schools (SVA, Parsons, etc...even NYSID lol) and according to them students in the Pratt interior design program overall were a lot more advanced and skilled. ;) Is the hands-on training at Pratt comparable to that of NYSID? Pratt is more expensive, is it still worth more than NYSID? From my experiences at both, I would say that they both have good hands-on training but they just have different approaches to how they train. Yes, Pratt is more expensive BUT... NYSID is really heavily centered around a corporate approach. Pratt is much more open-ended so they provide a lot more opportunities to explore outside just the corporate. For example, I had the opportunity at Pratt to do a lot of in-depth work on furniture/textile-making, sustainability/environmental work, and also partner with real organizations around NYC in my classes. NYSID also had some classes about the same subjects but it was a lot less in-depth. It was a lot more like just regular introductory lecture courses. But at Pratt they have the resources (machines, workshops, materials, etc.) so that you can make real full-scale projects. Another thing that I was able to do at Pratt that I couldn't do at NYSID was work with other students from other majors outside interior design. For example, I got to work with students (and we're even still friends haha) from the school of architecture like a team (just like you would do in the job force). I also made friends from other programs like fashion design, graphic design, and industrial design even when we didn't have any classes together. I met them at like the library or in the workshops or at some events or special lectures so it felt a lot more natural and also convenient cause I wouldn't have become friends with people outside interior design/architecture unless I went to like some special event in the city. But pretty much at like all events outside the school environment are only attended by people who are way older and so there's less in common to talk about or do and just not fun like with people your own age lol. My friends outside interior design seriously helped me so much cause they knew things that they learned in their own programs. Like seriously they saved my ass so many times. I even used some techniques I learned from them in my own thesis work! ​Finally, when I was applying for jobs after graduating, I was able to make my portfolio stand out a lot more from other applicants because of all the opportunities I had at Pratt. Why? Because I had a lot more diversity of projects and skills that I could demonstrate well in my portfolio. I really strongly felt like if I only started working after leaving NYSID then I would've only felt prepared to work strictly at interior design firms. But after I finished at Pratt, I felt so much more prepared to work in not just interior design firms but also architecture firms and even at organizations that weren't even architecture/interior design but had like special roles that I had the skills/experience for. Whichever school you choose though you will be able to find a lot of good jobs in NYC and internationally too. And also ultimately it's up to you to take advantage of your educational opportunities. But it's definitely a lot easier and faster to gain skills and experience when the school is able to offer more opportunities. ;)