Pratt Institute

Date: Aug 15 2006
Major: Architecture (This Major's Salary over time)
I am a parent who has just sent her 16 year old HS student to the Pre-college program for summer 06. What a dissapointment and what a rip-off!!!! The instructors were horrible. She had a loser who teaches at Parsons and has that Parsons attitude, yet taught the class as if it was elemetary school. My daughter was doing more advanced work in 6th grade! There was a minority racist teaching architecture that we don't even think was an architect ( as was stated)and made several inappropriate comments to the entirely Caucasian class regarding the placement of "one of her own" as the head of the AIA, never mentioning what he actually did to achieve that status, only that he was African American( which nowadays seems to be enough to get one anywhere). Next was a graduate student Art History teacher who was boring as hell and didn't even know how to get around the city for museum field trips, let alone teach these kids anything. At the end of the month-long nearly $4000 program, my daughter does not even have one portfolio piece to show for it. She is a very talented kid, an honor student, a recepiant of many awards, and is involved with Student council and leadership positions. The lack of any work is certainly not because of her lack of interest or enthusiasm. To top it off, her Ipod was stolen and no one helped he do a damn thing about it. She maqde calls to the Director, Jason Kellermyer, but he was completely unconcerned. The architecture teacher's son saw who stole it but they did not come with my daughter to fill out the report so securitry did not belive there was a witness. Security at Pratt is made up of a small army of moronic monkeys that must have come from the zoo up the street are are completely untrained to do anything like take a proper report or give proper advice. The department is heded up by a nasty piece of wrk named Frank Crisa who apparently is a retired police officer still on a pension from the NYPD while making a salery at Pratt for doing NOTHING but being useless and nasty and not at all interested in any crimes happening on campus. When I told him Pratt was my daughter's number 1 college choice before this incident and now I'd never send her there, he told me in his very gangland-like manner " I could care less!" I am considering getting an attorney to try and recoup some of the money we had stolen from us to attend this joke of a pre-college program. Oh yeah…supposedlyu there were 75 "schlarships" to attend this program based on "merit". My daughter asked avery person she met if they got one ( since she only got $500, the lowest amount…they mislead you into thinking if you do eveything they ask and you get a scohlarship, it will be for full tuition - $1650, but after sending in a bunch of non-refundable money and missing out on other programs she was only able to get "the lowest amount based on a point system" according to Jason Kellermyer. My daughter asked at least 85 kids if they got a scholarship and not one did…hmmmm…I wonder who got "the money". Everyone who saw my daughters slides were so impressed they thought she could get in to college right now. So…who did get the "full scholarship" and where were these 75 recipients? I think this program is set up to get as much money from unsuspecting individuals while lying through their teeth and providing substandard, cheap instruction. DO NOT SEND YOUR CHILD TO THIS PROGRAM!!!! there are many many pre-college opportunities pout there that HAVe to be better than this. Prsatt pre-college is a huge SCAM!