What a friend would tell you
What Pratt is looking for
Portfolio quality is everything. Pratt evaluates your creative work first and your transcript second. Show range, process, and a point of view in your portfolio. Architecture applicants need spatial thinking and drawing skills. Beyond the portfolio, show how you see and interpret the world visually, not just what you've achieved.
What students wish they'd known
Art school tuition ($55K+) with art school salaries on the other end. Studio culture means 60-hour weeks are normal, and burnout is common by junior year. Brooklyn is inspiring but expensive, and Pratt's financial aid does not always close the gap. Career outcomes vary wildly by major: architecture and industrial design place well, while fine arts graduates face a tougher market.
Pratt might be a fit if...
- You want rigorous design and architecture training in Brooklyn with New York's galleries, studios, and firms as your extended classroom
- You are ready for studio culture where critique is constant and 2 AM in the shop is a regular Tuesday
- You see art and design as a profession, not a hobby, and want industry-connected training
Pratt Admissions Strategy
Application Info
Plans: EA, RD
Deadlines: EA November 15 · RD January 5
Deadlines: EA November 15 · RD January 5
Test Policy
Test-optional
You choose whether to send scores. A strong score helps your case; a weak one is better left off.
Demonstrated Interest
Not Tracked
Not tracked. Skip the info-session circuit and put those hours into the application itself.
Interview
Optional
Yield Rate
42%
42% of admits enroll, which is typical for a selective school. Waitlists here move every year.
Want the strongest possible application to Pratt, plus better odds and merit offers everywhere else you apply?
Join the free one-hour workshop from two Harvard grads who have helped 3,000+ students get in. Parents welcome.
Cost & Financial Aid at Pratt
$81,200
Sticker Price
$22,000
Avg Merit Aid
Need-aware admissions. Meets need: Partial. 88% receive financial aid.
What you get for it: Pratt spends about $28,000 per student per year on instruction and student resources, roughly 2x the $15K national average. You see it in class sizes, faculty access, and research budgets.
What Pratt Graduates Get
$54,000
Avg Starting Salary
93%
Employed or in Grad School
38%
Graduate in 4 Years
The 4-year number is the on-time rate; the 6-year rate (74%) is the one schools usually advertise. A wide gap means many students pay for extra semesters.
Pratt Campus & Culture
The Campus
Pratt's 25-acre campus in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, is a gated green oasis in one of New York's most culturally rich neighborhoods. The campus features a mix of Romanesque Revival and Victorian-era buildings, including the 1887 Main Building with its signature clock tower. A sculpture park winds through the grounds, and the campus sits blocks from the Brooklyn Museum, Fort Greene Park, and the G/C trains.
The Social Scene
Brooklyn creative community, art-focused culture, limited Greek life
Pratt Traditions & Trivia
Sunrise Bridge Walk
At the start of each year, the president leads students on a walk from campus to the Brooklyn Bridge to watch the sunrise together, a tradition meant to connect the Pratt community to the city around it.
Pratt Quest
Every fall, student teams race around campus in an app-based scavenger hunt, sprinting between buildings and solving clues while learning every corner of the Brooklyn grounds.
Academics at Pratt
What Pratt is known for
Rigorous art and design education, Brooklyn location, top design school
Most popular majors at Pratt
Standout programs
Architecture, Graphic Design, Fine Arts, Industrial Design
How the curriculum works
Liberal arts core (30 credits), studio work, major (36-60)
Recommended high school courses
4 years English, 3 Math, 3 Science, 2 Social Studies, Portfolio required
Notable Pratt Alumni
Robert Redford
Studied art at Pratt before turning to acting
Betsey Johnson
Fashion designer known for her eclectic style, Pratt graduate
Ellsworth Kelly
Abstract painter and sculptor, attended Pratt on the GI Bill
Jeremy Scott
Creative director of Moschino, Pratt fashion design
Eva Hesse
Pioneering sculptor, Pratt graduate who redefined postminimalism
If you like Pratt, also consider
Rhode Island School of Design
Peer art and design school with more traditional campus in Providence
Cooper Union
Free-tuition art and engineering in Manhattan, much more selective
School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC)
Comparable art school in Chicago's museum district
Parsons School of Design
Manhattan-based design rival with stronger fashion and business design