Parsons Challenge

All BFA, BBA, BA/BFA, and BS applicants must submit the six-part exercise described below.

Where do you live? What are your everyday activities? Where do you go? What have you overlooked? Discover something new within your familiar surroundings and daily life—an object, event, activity, or location.

Interpret your discovery from three (3) perspectives in any medium and in three (3) statements of approximately 150 words each. Projects may proceed from image to text or from text to image. Each interpretation should represent a different perspective or point of view.

Visual media may include drawing, video, photography, sculpture, 3D work, collage, and digital images. Each written statement should explore your creative and imaginative process and contribute to the work in both form and content.

Your work will be evaluated on both your writing and your visuals and the relationship you create between the two.

Submission Methods for the Parsons Challenge

Applicants can submit their work through any of these methods:

1. Online Submission with Application. This is the preferred method of submission for the Parsons Challenge. You can upload and submit your six-part Parsons Challenge (as individual JPEG, TIFF, GIF, PDF, or DOC files, each no larger than 2MB) as part of the online application. Further submission instructions are provided in the Additional Requirements section of the online application.
2. URL Link. Please supply a URL link to your work with your online application. The linked page must already have all the artwork that is a part of the Challenge when it is submitted. Parsons recommends using Blogger and Flickr; it does not recommend using MySpace, Facebook, or deviantART.
3. Mail. Parsons accepts submissions in the following formats: cross-platform CD-ROMs or DVDs or slides. Be sure to label your submission “Parsons Challenge,” and include your name. (If you are sending your portfolio and Challenge on a single CD or DVD, be sure to label each accordingly.) Save each image as a JPEG no larger than 2MB. Do not submit PowerPoint presentations.
   
   All mailed materials must be accompanied by a Materials Cover Sheet, and in the Supplemental Forms section of the online application.
   
   If you are applying to Parsons Undergraduate BFA, BBA, or BABS programs, please include the Parsons Undergraduate Materials Cover Sheet. If you are applying to Parsons Undergraduate BABFA program, please include the Parsons Undergraduate BABFA Materials Cover Sheet.
   
   Please note that original artwork will not be accepted. Parsons is not responsible for any original artwork mailed to this address.

Mailing Address for Supplemental Materials

Parsons Undergraduate Programs
Office of Admission
72 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10011