readyornot

I think at this point in the year all the admissions officers are working late to accomodate the 15th deadline. That being said, a phone call is rarely a bad thing in my opinion. She may be calling to chat about something specific, maybe to see if you still want to be on the wait list? Since everyone the world over has caller ID these days, I think you could just call the number in the morning, say you had a missed call, who is this? Without sounding like an idiot though of course...

I am leaning towards the CMU Dc program, so there really isn't a way to do part-time - they front load the first year with all of your core classes, then the 2nd year you take a few electives in DC and do an apprenticeship. The apprenticeship, admittedly, will very likely be paid but I'm not banking on it being more than $10-$15k (just to be safe). So even with IBR payments, I'm looking at approx. $500 per month in loan repayments after graduation. I don't know about anyone else, but I've been working for 4 years now and still don't put that much away in savings per month.. so where the hell is it going to come from then? I think that is what worries me. And having to pay student loans for up to 10 years .. and how that could screw me over since in 10 years ideally I'd be settled somewhere thinking about/having kids. Paying off loans while having children, a mortgage etc.. it just feels really really scary. Am I being a baby about this? And also PSLF is a great thing, but keep in mind it's just a law, it could get repealed at any time... (though knock on wood that's not the case, of course)

Is anyone else having an (admittedly delayed) freakout about the amount of debt they are about to sign themselves away to? I was lucky to receive some funding from some schools and think I know what my decision is, but am still finding myself staring at the spreadsheet that shows I will need $60k in loans over the next two years. Anyone have any words of advice? $500/month in student loan repayments for 10 years sounds absolutely terrifying to me...will it be worth it?

A few professors offhandedly mentioned research assistantships, ie if there was something you were interested in working on a professor with, it would be worth your while to email them to see if you could work on it with them. These apparently typically pay, but not super well - about $12/hour. Wouldn't be nearly enough to offset tuition, just something to help with living costs. I'm not under the impression that they do the standard assistantship for tuition remission thing. And was talking with someone in admissions about lack of funding, and she essentially told me they acknowledge that they aren't able to provide the level of funding that other upper tier schools can just based on their lack of funds, and that they know it's a problem - but that if the school is right for you it can all be managed.

For those that attended the open house today.. what were your impressions of the program? Will you be attending? Why/why not? Unfortunately, I came home more torn than ever. I love all of the transparency and flexibility of the program, but it is still so much more costly than the other options I am weighing. Do you guys all really feel comfortable taking on this level of debt knowing that your salary when you get out likely won't be that great? Living in NYC after graduation, making maybe $50k, and the NYC cost of living with approx. $500/month of loan payments...it beyond terrifies me.

Thanks for the info! You mention you are looking into getting an assistantship - I spoke with someone in admissions and they recommended I just look at the different sites for each of the Wagner-based institutes to look for opportunities. But I didn't see any listings on any of them. Are there other places you know of to look? Thanks!

They've got the general tuition costs here: http://wagner.nyu.edu/admissions/financialaid/. @Daviddgo I don't think 12 credits per semester is enough to graduate? Would you hit all of your required courses and electives doing that for 4 semesters? Wouldn't you need to take on 16 credits for part of them to hit the requirement?

I had the PER waived as well, though by the fall will have 4 years of nonprofit experience. I received some funding from them, but not nearly enough... and tried to negotiate to have them match funding from another school I was accepted to with no luck. Has anyone managed to increase their initial funding offer (or get some when they were originally offered none)? And also what additional funding opportunities are you all looking into? Thanks!

Just got GSPIA funding

For those accepted to the program - are you planning on attending? Does the program's big jump down in the US News rankings bother you at all?

Has anyone gotten more than a $9 or $10k from them? Seems like they have a lot less money to hand out just in general

Pittsburgh is actually my hometown so I will be bunking with my family for the weekend. But I think they can arrange for you to stay with a current student? There are also some hotels in the area.

I can't find the schedule for admitted students day on the site - has anyone seen? Is it a full day thing on Monday (ie for those of us who already live in NYC do we need a full day off work, or just a half day)?

I will be attending admitted students weekend (but just for the Saturday). Anyone else on this board going to be there?

For those of you considering attending/going to attend UMd, what are your impressions of their career services?