Maldoror

Does anyone have any insight or experience they can share about UW Madison's program? Thanks!

Have you actived your student ID? You'll be able to check financial aid status on the student portal once it's processed.

You will receive an estimate of how much loan you are eligible once you complete the fafsa form. https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa I submitted mine last month and the amount of loans are different for different programs. Say for SAIC I'm eligible for 20k federal loan and 20k private loan (higher interest rate, at 5.2%), then work study is about 8k. Also, If you ended up needing more loan you can work with the program's administration office to work out the exact amount.

mica's acceptances were out today.

Thank you for pointing that out! I don't have a career... I just have an old car and many useless skills. I shouldn't've assumed that I'd magically get a job after graduation and start paying debts.? I shall think again tmr after I restored my rationality. I agree with you on the benefit of being in a small cohort. I actually prefer a smaller groups, but 3 might be too small a group? I feel that more peers means more connections, I personally find exchanging ideas with studio mates inspiring, and that sort of conversations/discourses are part of mfa programs.

I actually don't agree with that assessment. Getting a MFA cheaply is not bad but often, one can say that many MFA programs seem to be cake decoration. But then again it's like gambling. If you are confident that you can go to huge places in the contemporary art world then don't go cheap with the MFA (you could do more than one but...). Thank you for all the helpful inputs! Right now I’m mainly trying to make a decision between UMN and SAIC. UMN provided a very generous funding package and is a 3yr program. They have a summer artist residency program in Berlin which is a plus as I always wanted to study abroad. My concern is that the cohort is very small... The same concern applies to UIC as well. Though it means better student to faculty ratio and maybe more focused? SAIC on the other hand has a larger cohorts and a vibrant community. It’s more theory based so it’s a better fit for me. I’d like to have a gallery career in the future and I feel like I could benefit from going to the “right” city and studying in a reputable program? Teaching is a more sustainable way to maintain a studio practice, but from my conversations with a couple of grads from both schools it felt to me that secure a stable position in academia is extremely difficult. I survived with very little money in undergrads, worked many part time jobs to support myself and my parents. I didn’t have any student loans but it was such a stressful experience that I don’t wish to repeat. It’s probably unfeasible to work that many jobs in grad school anyways… The current student loan interest rate for grad school is at 4.3%, with a 50k loan I'll need to pay $311/mo for 20 yrs. This monthly payment can be saved by not partying, not smoking, eating 2 meals a day and not have a dog. Idk…I mean… am I still in my right mind?

Hi everyone, I got accepted into SAIC, UMN, UIC, and Alfred (interviewed with CMU, MICA and Austin and still waiting to hear back). So all of these programs offered a tuition waiver and a living stipend except for SAIC whose financial package only covered 50%-60% of the tuition. Realistically speaking, going to a funded program will allow me to keep paying mortgage on my condo so that my parents have a place to live... However, SAIC is my dream school and I feel that I might regret in the future if I went to a different program due to funding. I come from a financially challenged background so I'm wondering if it's worth taking out a 50k student loan to attend SAIC? The 50k would pay for the remaining tuition, housing and health insurance. Any advice or suggestions will be appreciated!

was Interviewed in January and it's been radio silence since then...

I wonder if this is the same school... I also received an offer from a program this morning and was asked to make a deposit by next week. I felt a bit anxious as I didn't expect to make a decision till end of March...