Art School Students: Blood, Sweat, Tears, and Dollars

Published in

Art School, Smart School

4 min readDec 15, 2014

“Its hard being a full time student, a part time worker, and paying for everything on your own….school should be more feasible but it feels as if every year I am being pushed away due to economic standards. Either way it is difficult for any art student at TNS.” -Crystal Bahena

Crystal Bahena

Major: Fashion Design

Number of Credits Taken this Semester: 17

Hours per Week Spent Doing Homework: 20–30 hours

Ratio of time Spent on Homework Versus Free Time on Weekends (school: free time): 80:20

Money Spent per Project: $100+

Required Materials and Price: yes, too much to remember

Marta Motz

Major: Strategic Design and Management

Number of Credits Taken this Semester: 16

Hours per Week Spent Doing Homework: 10–20 hours

Ratio of time Spent on Homework Versus Free Time on Weekends (school: free time): 40:60

Money Spent per Project: $50–60

Required Materials and Price: Yes, materials for campaign posters and models ap.$70

Molly Friedman

Major: Fine Arts

Number of Credits Taken this Semester: 18

Hours per Week Spent Doing Homework: 20–30 hours

Ratio of time Spent on Homework Versus Free Time on Weekends (school: free time): 40:60

Money Spent per Project: $80–90

Required Materials and Price: YES A LOT — usually each prof expects you to put aside about $120 per class

Jen Edwards

Major: Illustration

Number of Credits Taken this Semester: 15

Hours per Week Spent Doing Homework: 20–30 hours

Ratio of time Spent on Homework Versus Free Time on Weekends (school: free time): 50:50

Money Spent per Project: $20–30

Required Materials and Price: Yes. Total supplies costing around 70$

Transferred from Lycoming College in PA — Can you compare your experience from your previous school to your experience at Parsons?

“It’s hard, because my old school was a very small liberal arts. It was in Williamsport PA, and there was essentially nothing to do on the weekends except go to frat parties and go to the movies. Here, everything’s a lot different. Obviously since it’s in the city, theirs infinitely more to do and many more people to see. That being said, I have found people at TNS a lot ruder and less likely to help anyone out than they were at my old school. There was a real sense of community and pride at my old school that I do miss sometimes. Here, everyone’s more out to get each other and beat each other than they are about building relationships and working together.”