irieridin

From what I understand Yale bases your tuition on what your parents make, so depending on where you're coming from you could rack up an equally sizeable debt from yale. @rachelgold you might just want to talk to a current painter at columbia as well as to jackthecrow or someone else at yale, they'll obviously both be biased but at least then you'll get a better sense. For any of us not going to those places it's pretty hard to judge, other than the word on the street, and our impressions of the faculty and their work. It's not that easy to tell anything from an interview, my advice comes from knowing quite a few Yale grads, and so, far from hating on yale, i'm just giving you a sense of what people here in NY are saying. Ultimately it's gonna come down to what you make of your program and city. Especially in NYC it's all about your own hustle, and the resources and people to connect with are endless. Bummed that I'm leaving the city myself.

@jackcrow - Not sure what you're gettin' at - I didn't make an account to promote Columbia, just saw that post and had some thoughts. Signed on to here to see where people are going and to see who might be in my class- interesting forum. Yale is undoubtedly great too. I really don't care either way, going to RISD, and I'm sure that being there you know more about yale. Rachelgold I'm sure you'll kick ass either place you go. Finances are important, but really who cares if you're 40 grand in debt or 60 grand in debt, if the school can give you a better leg up and connect you to more people I think it'll pay off.

Columbia. Both great schools, but in my humble opinion the columbia faculty is currently a lot stronger and their energy is still on the up. Yale would normally seem to be the place to go for philosophical growth and resources, but I know a few artists who have recently graduated from there and weren't unduly blown away. I had a friend interview there this year and she said it was nothing like older yale grads said it would be like. no real probing or critiquing of the work, and as someone who welcomes a strong reaction and critique, it did seem to her like they've lost some of their legendary spark. You can move to bushwick and have great people to learn from and grow as an artist simply among your peers, but a good school will a) provide truly inspirational faculty that will push you hard, and help you get on your feet. On both those counts columbia would take the cake for me. Nice work on those acceptances, you have a good choice to make.