Summer Certificate Program (SCP) in English Proficiency

Apply online for Summer 2013 SCP Classes

Pratt Institute's Summer Certificate Program is designed to help incoming graduate and undergraduate students prepare for life in New York City as well as academic work in a North American art and design college. The eight-week session combines intensive training in language and academic skills with experiential learning, including visits to many of New York's cultural attractions as well as studio practice in such Pratt Institute subjects as Communications Design, Graphic Design, Book Arts and Photography. SCP students will adapt to the challenges of student life at Pratt while sharpening their language and academic skills through research, presentations, studio critique and writing. This program is designed to combine academic work with a rich, fun environment that expands students' skills and knowledge of art and design.

SCP Admission

The Intensive English Program's summer sessions are open to current and prospective Pratt students, to other international students seeking admission to colleges and universities, and to individuals interested in creative and personalized English-as-a-second-language instruction. The program offers students an excellent opportunity to improve their English language skills before the start of the fall semester each year. Students' English proficiency levels (as determined by the IEP faculty) may determine in which and in how many Institute courses they will enroll. Summer courses can help students become eligible to carry additional credit-bearing courses, or to become exempt from the Intensive English Program requirement altogether. Students who enroll in the SCP program are not required to take the English Placement Exam during orientation.

Please note: if you have been accepted for the fall semester and would like to get a head start on your English you must apply for the SCP I-20 prior to applying for your fall I-20. We strongly recommend that all students who received TOEFL scores below 600 PBT/250 CBT/100 iBT enroll in the Summer Certificate Program.

SCP 2013 Session Dates

• Move-in: June 6 (for students who choose to apply for on-campus housing)
• Incoming testing & OIA Check-in: June 7
• SCP Orientation: June 10
• Summer Session Classes: June 11-August 2
• Move-out: August 3 (for students who choose to apply for on-campus housing)

Please note: If you have been accepted for the fall semester and would like to get a head start on your English you must apply for the SCP I-20 prior to applying for your fall I-20. We strongly recommend that all students who received TOEFL scores below 600 PBT/250 CBT/100 iBT enroll in the Summer Certificate Program. If you decide to join us for the summer, please be sure to send your application directly to us before you complete the I-20 request online.

The Course

English Immersion Classes—24 hours per week  for 8 weeks (6 hours per day, Monday – Thursday)

The classes run for eight weeks and meet for six hours per day, Monday through Thursday. This is the ideal environment for new students who need to raise their proficiency level before beginning studio and lecture courses at Pratt. Students work on all skill areas—reading, writing, speaking, and listening—and participate in several field trips to some of New York’s most interesting cultural attractions. Classroom teaching is complemented by instruction in our Language Resource Center, which houses a variety of multimedia resources.

Reading and Writing

SCP students will read a wide variety of texts, including works of theory and literature, as well as newspaper, magazine, and scholarly articles. As students write several academic essays over the eight weeks, they learn to use various academic conventions, including argumentative, expository, and research writing. They will learn to develop and defend clear arguments and use formal citations while also gaining mastery over more fundamental skills such as correct paragraphing, grammar, and usage.

Listening and Speaking

Students will practice, prepare, and deliver several formal presentations on subjects relating to their work as artists and designers. They will also interact with a variety of native speakers, including specialists in various art and design fields. These interactions will range from informal one-on-one studio consultations to more formal studio critiques. In addition to these opportunities, students will practice academic skills such as notetaking and classroom discussion in order to develop their ability to comprehend academic
lectures.

The Studio Component

The purpose of the SCP studio component is to teach students about the structure of studio classes in North America, so that when they begin their graduate or undergraduate degree they are prepared for the cultural and linguistic demands of studio learning. Pratt’s SCP program features weekly projects and lessons led by graduate students from Pratt’s design and fine arts programs including communications design, bookmaking, and photography. These short, discipline-specific workshops are designed to help students develop their language and academic skills as they simultaneously practice a new discipline in a foreign language. Through their own creative projects, students will have an opportunity to develop their English skills under the guidance of the SCP teacher. Once students complete a project, they will participate in oral critiques of one another’s work under the guidance of their studio instructor and will present their best projects in a gallery show at the end of the semester.

Field trips during the summer session help students to adjust to life in the United States and learn their way around the city. Destinations may include museums such as The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art; tours of neighborhoods such as Brooklyn Heights, the Lower East Side, and Washington Heights; and visits to other attractions such as the High Line, the Tenement Museum, and the Louis Armstrong House Museum.