Admission Requirements

Lighting Design (MFA) Application Instructions

Deadline

The Admission Committee will make a decision on your application only after all the required materials have been received.

Applicants who wish to be considered for a Dean’s Scholarship must submit a complete application packet by January 10. Applications received after January 10 will be considered on a rolling basis.

Required materials

You may download these instructions.

Parsons graduate programs use a self-managed application process: You submit your application online and then mail any supplemental application materials, preferably in a single packet, to the Office of Admission. The Materials Cover Sheet, which can also be downloaded from the Supplemental Forms section of the online application, should accompany all mailed application materials.

Applicants must submit the following items to the Office of Admission:

1. Application form: Complete the online application.
2. Application Fee: Pay the $50 nonrefundable application fee. A credit card is required to submit the online application.
3. Official Transcripts: Submit a sealed original copy of your official college transcripts with your application packet. If that is not possible, instruct the institution to send the transcripts directly to the Office of Admission. Photocopies are not acceptable.
   
   International Transcripts:All applicants with international transcripts must submit an original transcript from each institution attended outside the United States, along with a certified English language translation. Applicants who wish to transfer academic credits earned at non-U.S. institutions must also have their transcript(s) evaluated by World Education Services (WES), our preferred provider, or by another member of the National Association of Credit Evaluation Services (NACES). A course-by-course evaluation report must be prepared for each transcript. Please start the evaluation process as early as possible, including the submission of all required documents to WES (or another provider), in order to ensure the timely completion of the evaluation report. In addition, an admission counselor may require a transcript evaluation by WES or an NACES-approved evaluator if it is deemed a necessary part of the admission decision process, even when applicants to not want transfer credits applied to a program of interest. Instruct the provider to send the report to:
   
   Parsons The New School for Design
   Office of Admission
   Graduate Programs
   72 Fifth Avenue
   New York, NY 10011
   
   If applying online for transcript evaluation, search for “New School Parsons" when requesting our institution.
   
   If your provider is unable to send the evaluation report directly to the school, please obtain a copy and forward it yourself to Parsons along with a Materials Cover Sheet.
4. Résumé: Provide a brief résumé (CV) listing your relevant work experience, travel, exhibitions, etc., including dates and positions held. This must be submitted online.
5. Statement of Interest and Intentions: This essay must be submitted online.
6. Recommendations:Submit two letters of recommendation from faculty members with whom you have studied or from people with whom you have worked professionally. Your references may submit their recommendations online or you may forward sealed original letters with your application packet.
7. GRE: If English is your native language, submit your scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) and general tests (Verbal, Quantitative, and Analytical Writing).
8. TOEFL: If English is not your native language, submit results of the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language). The minimum score required for acceptance to the program is 580 for the paper-based, 237 for the computer-based, or 92 for the Internet-based exam.
   
   Students required to take the TOEFL can obtain further information from the Educational Testing Service.
   
   Note: A GRE or TOEFL score is required for all applicants. International students who are native English speakers, or who received a bachelor's degree from a university where English was the primary language of instruction, or who completed ESL level 6 at The New School, must submit a GRE score in place of TOEFL.
9. Portfolio: This must be in bound-book form and no larger than 9” x 12” (A4). It may include drawings and photographs of projects and samples of other artwork. Submit your portfolio by mail accompanied by a Materials Cover Sheet (also available in the Supplemental Forms section of the online application). Do not include slides or digital media, and do not use excessive packaging.

NOTE: The School of Constructed Environments offers students wishing to combine studies in lighting design and interior design a unique double major. In the MFA Interior and Lighting Design double major, a three-year, 102-credit-hour curriculum, students develop an in-depth technical and aesthetic understanding of the relationship between light and interior design. Interested students should apply directly to their primary program of interest- Lighting Design or Interior Design- and address their candidacy and qualifications for the double major in their Statement of Interest and Intentions.