Paris College of Art (reviews)

DO NOT GO HERE
It will be futile, a waste of your money, your energy. Your career that you’ve built in your home country (or whereever you are) will shortly be in the toilet.
I can’t be bothered to go into detail here but I have countless personal anecdotes as well as other ex-student anecdotes on my belt to advise with.
I also have images. Those will be key in your decision making if you’re thinking about throwing your life away to move to Paris right now.
Please believe me, it will save you so much grief.

I spent a year with PCA, and I am happy to be done with them.

To highlight good things first, there are a handful of individuals at the school who really truly care about the students. The school also does a miraculous job of bringing together talented students from all over the globe. The students alone made the degree worth finishing.

Other than that, I can’t say much else that is good about PCA. The facilities are not good enough. As you’ve read already: no heat in the winter, ceiling panels that break and fall during class because of leaks in the ceilings, faulty printers, cramped studio spaces…

I was part of the Interior Design Masters Program, and it felt like year one or two of an undergraduate degree. I did not feel challenged (besides my patience), and much of the work that I did for PCA was hijacked by professors with too-strong viewpoints. There is no accountability in regards to grading practices, so students are often graded by the personal preferences of the professor, rather than by the quality of work. For an art school, where creativity is King, this grading procedure is dangerous and counterintuitive.

The school makes tons of promises to incoming students but fails every time to make these promises a reality. There is little to no help with finding a job or an internship after school. And CAP students, or students employed by the school, are overworked, underpaid, and disrespected. CAP employment is mandatory for undergrads and optional for grad students. CAP is recommended to students to help offset living costs in an expensive city like Paris, but the school holds 70% or more of your earned money until after you’ve graduated. Regarding VISA help, the school makes big promises about offering appointments and consultations for all your VISA questions but has a lot of trouble following up. My VISA appointment was cancelled 4 times in a row when my VISA deadline was just 3 weeks away.

To prospective undergraduate students, PCA is not where you want to place your effort and love for your work. You will not receive the same treatment in return.

To graduate students… pick anywhere else, unless you want to be treated like a child rather than the accomplished and talented professional you are.

Many of the professors are either uneducated or simply not interested in teaching. Some classes are spent watching YouTube videos put on by the professor instead of being taught anything of value, other professors clearly don’t know anything about the subject they’re teaching and are unable to help improve our skills. Many classes are just spent making moodboards with very little hands-on technical practice or real world advice.

The school claims to help with employment and internships- they do not, this is entirely false.

The heating doesn’t work, so the winter was spent in the cold until they could be convinced to bring in space heaters.

Very disappointing program and the school clearly has no interest in helping students succeed.