Una L & Mavis L Admitted into Parsons
Top university in the US
Parsons School of Design was founded in 1896 in the United States. It is a world-renowned art and design school that ranks alongside the Istituto Marangoni, the Central Saint Martins, and Paris ESMOD as one of the world's four major clothing design colleges. In the QS World University Rankings, Parsons School of Design ranks second in the world and first in the United States.
Geographical Advantage
The Parsons School of Design is located on Fifth Avenue in downtown New York City. This perfect location allows students to easily access the latest high-end fashion trends in the United States, and will helps students reach their goals of becoming world-renowned designers!
Unlimited Resources
Chanel, Condé Nast, Disney, DreamWorks, Google, Mark Jacobs, Marvel Comics, Times and the United Nations Headquarters all give priority to graduates from the Parsons School of Design, and offer unique internship opportunities.
Two of the students who are studying at Dulwich International High School Suzhou received offers from Parsons. One with a major of interior design and the other majoring in clothing design. In addition, both of the students received annual scholarships of $9000 respectively.
They are Mavis L and Una L
Can you introduce yourself briefly?
Una L: I am Una L from Dulwich International High School Suzhou. I have received offers from the Parsons School of Design at The New School, the Pratt Institute as well as the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I have also received offers from universities in the UK: the University of the Arts London, the University of Edinburgh and Kingston University London. The Parsons' scholarship is nine thousand dollars a year, Pratt is eighteen thousand dollars a year and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago is twenty-one thousand dollars in total.
Mavis L: I am Mavis L from Dulwich International High School Suzhou. I have received offers from the Parsons School of Design at The New School and the Pratt Institute. Parsons' scholarship is nine thousand dollars a year, and the Pratt one is eighteen thousand dollars a year. I have also received offers from universities in the UK: Central Saint Martin’s College of the University of the Arts London, Edinburgh College of Art and Birmingham City University.
Why choose this major?
Mavis L: Most people think Interior Design only refers to the residential design or hotel design. However, in fact, the major of Interior Design also includes lighting design, stage design, or even a small space in a pencil case.
Una L: When I was in Y10, I started to study art and went to a lot of exhibitions. I found I was very interested in 3D. At the beginning, I wanted to learn pure art but then I watched a documentary called "Anti-Fashion" and realized that clothing isn’t only a decoration for the body, but is also a form of self-expression. I can see great possibilities in clothing design. Therefore, I chose it as my major.
When did you start planning to go to art school?
Mavis L: I didn't choose art when I was in Y10. I chose basic subjects such as economics, physics, and chemistry. However, I found that these subjects didn’t allow me to express my ideas and creativity. Then my teacher recommended that I should study art. I have no art experience before I decided to learn art in high school, so I have recorded some of my daily thoughts since my second year of high school, thinking that I can use it in my portfolio. Meanwhile, I started doing university research.
Can you share your learning experiences?
Una L: I would recommend to my schoolmates to start portfolio preparation very early, because the length of time that you spend on your portfolio can influence the quality of the final product. The second point is that I hope that juniors can seize every chance to make art works for their portfolios. When I was doing my "CIE Project" at the time, I didn't think it would become one of my "Parsons Challenge" works and I didn’t expect it to relate to one of my clothing exhibition projects. Thirdly, I recommend to anyone applying for universities in the US that you can use photography as well as painting to make your portfolio.
Mavis L: The biggest difficulty when preparing a portfolio is the selection and presentation. The Portfolio for universities in the UK is more biased towards professional-related works, but for universities in the US it is not necessarily professional-related. For example, students who are applying for graphic design can also include indoors, 3D, models, photography, and even clothing for their portfolios. As to the selection of materials, it is not necessarily limited to life, but also can be imagined without boundaries. For instance, I have a project that used a model of tofu to express people’s reactions towards stress and their current life state.
What extracurricular activities have you participated in?
Mavis L: Before I decided what I enjoyed, I tried all the activities. In the first year of high school, I joined Dulwich International High school Suzhou's model United Nations community. In the second year of high school, I joined "Wings Plan", which is a charity organization. I found a lot of tasks to do relating to art design. I also discovered that the knowledge learned from books is very different to the application of it during activities. I realized my own shortcomings through these activities. Therefore, I decided to explore more activities at university.
Una L: I volunteered to help out during Shanghai Fashion Week and talked to a designer while I was doing my volunteer work. He told me that designers need to manage their time as well as their design sensibilities. Dulwich International High School Suzhou has provided me with a lot of opportunities to improve my design abilities. The skills I've learned will help me become a better fashion designer in the future. For example, I joined the school yearbook community and worked as a leader in the school design department during my third year of high school. While working on the yearbook, I have learned a lot about team working and developed my communication skills
How did you complete your application?
Una L: With regards to the paperwork, I wrote a lot of stories about my personality. For example, when I was a child, I was very introverted and had many problems communicating. I simply didn't know how to communicate with people, so I kept a diary and wrote in it to express my mood in order to communicate with myself. Later I found a more concealed way. I think art is a third language that is different from words. I can use it to express myself effectively.
How can you define yourself?
Mavis L: If I had to use a single word to define myself, I think the word would be "extreme". My motto is "Study hard, play hard", when it comes to finding a balance between learning and entertainment. Many people choose to study for two hours and relax for an hour. For me, however, I probably want to see all the movies I want to watch. Then I can concentrate on learning after completely relaxing. In this way, I don't think about the question like "When should you take a break?" while studying. The word "extreme" also runs through my entire life. When I chose art, I gave up Economics and Chemistry. For me, there is only one path, there is no other way to go.
What do you want to say about Dulwich International High school Suzhou?
Mavis L: My art instructor gave me a lot of help when I started my art course. I think Dulwich International High school Suzhou’s art curriculum is more like foreign art courses than other courses in China. Teachers want to see the source of inspiration and the development process behind the finished product, rather than just a perfect finished product. Even though there were many failures during my research, my teachers gave me encouragement and support, for which I am very grateful.
Judging from the activities of these two students, it is not difficult to find that Dulwich International High School Suzhou has provided many platforms and opportunities for them to develop their dreams and provided a powerful springboard to the world's top art schools, allow them to jump higher and better. In addition to art education, Dulwich International High School Suzhou helps students find themselves and discover their strengths and builds their confidence.
Congratulations to Una and Mavis, we wish them every success in the realization of their dreams!
