ArhEmBea

MassArt's a public school. From what I can tell, their printmaking department's pretty traditional though.

I love Boston and can rave endlessly about how awesome it is to live here, in spite of the cost, but if it comes down to having to work so much to support yourself while in school versus having to work less, giving you more time to dedicate to your MFA program, I'd say go with the latter. Syracuse's program is pretty good, isn't it? I think you'd appreciate having more time to work on your art in the long run.

Moving in with some friends outside the city.

I can't imagine trying to work more than full time while in school. I worked full time while getting my undergrad, and it SUCKED. Do you have a website that shows your work?

The cost is staggering. I'm still slightly panicked I won't be able to swing it... I'm afraid I won't qualify for the GradPLUS loan and will have to pay the difference out of pocket. Good luck!

I'm going.

I went to UMass Boston actually, not Dartmouth, for undergrad. The program at UMB isn't great, plus I worked full time through undergrad, so my big treat to myself would be to take my two years of grad school to devote to art making after working so hard through undergrad. Not sure how much of a treat it is when I'm wigging out over the possibility of $100,000 of debt (UG and GR) when I'm done. It is a lot of money and quite intimidating for someone who's been supporting myself since I was a teenager. The SMFA's program is way better suited for my type of work, and the whole interdisciplinary thing makes me giddy since I love trying new media and new things in general. I love the program over there, have since I decided to apply, so now I just don't want to not go. The facilities at UMD do seem nice. They keep saying they're revitalizing New Bedford, but in reality that whole area (NB, Fall River, etc) is one of the dumpiest parts of Massachusetts. New Beford is an hour's drive from Boston, if you're lucky with traffic. I'm depressed enough I have to move out of Boston; not working in Boston or being there ever might be too much for me. Not sure if it's $100,000 too much for me though. I'm currently trying to convince myself I'll get a faculty job in a public university right away and be freed from the loans after 10 years... YEAH RIGHT. I did get to talk to one of the grad students at UMD when I visited, and she seemed pretty into the program there. Of course, I didn't ask her if she applied to other schools or whatever either. It seems like the program's very loosely structured (like, a LOT of independent work time), and the studios are even smaller than SMFA. So, I don't know. Good luck to you too. I feel like we need it haha.

I am struggling with exactly the same choice. I was all about the SMFA, but lumping all that loan debt on top of my undergrad loans is currently giving me panic attacks. I went to UMass for undergrad and am a little tired of it, but it's sooooooooooooooo cheeeeeeeeap. Then again, I had to give up on my dream school for undergrad because of the money and kinda feel like I will hate myself if I do again. IT SUCKS.

Yes, a good friend of mine, and it looks like he's going to take it. It seems like a pretty good deal...

I didn't get 10k either.

Yeah my friend's already referring to me as the live in nanny haha. I'm depending on a work study gig to cover my car and any other living expenses though. I think work study pay generally depends on what job you can get. I work at a university right now... the student workers in our office make more than most of the others, but then they do more work than, say, kids sitting around the library all day. I don't think Boston got quite the recession bitchslapping other parts of the country did, so you should be able to find something decent, I think.

Not entirely true. A one bedroom in the area will cost you close to a grand, but I've seen some studios in the Mission Hill and Jamaica Plain areas around $800/mo with utilities included (this is important during the winter). I'd recommend looking before August 1, though. A lot of college students move into the Boston area in for the fall and prices do seem to go up a bit. I've lived in JP for the past few years and love it, but I'll be moving out to the suburbs to live with some friends while in school (my rent is babysitting for them, so SCORE). Jamaica Plain is the best place to live, but there are other affordable neighborhoods not too far away... Dorchester has some nice parts (public transport isn't great though), West Roxbury, Hyde Park, Roslindale... you'd have to take the T or drive in, but it's a lot more reasonable than living in town. Even Quincy and Southie aren't too bad.

I only received the e-mail regarding the scholarship information too. Most schools I believe are getting their financial aid packages (the need based stuff based on your FAFSA) out late March/early April. The maximum federal loans available for grad students is about 20K per year, and then you can apply for outside loans or the plus loan if you're credit worthy (I'm not, so that'll be interesting). I'm not sure how much grant money is available to graduate students... I'm hoping some to cover the gap between federal loans and the scholarship. I've been working full time but will be quitting for grad school, so I'm hoping they take that into account when considering my need.

Ditto... I'm really curious how much they typically give out.

31 here too

On GMail, junkmail is called "spam."

I got my call around 4:30. I was starting to get nervous since I thought my interview went really well, and I really love the program over there. I don't think I met anyone while I was there from this forum... which one were you (and everyone else)???

Is everyone planning on bringing a lot of new work with them?

No, haven't heard either... maybe they tell us when we show up. BTW, I live in Boston, so if anyone needs some dining options or things to do options, lemmeknow.

I am so glad someone brought this up. The SMFA interview on Saturday's an all day thing. My grown up shoes hurt my feet if I wear them that long, so would sneaks be acceptable, do you think?

Ha it's really not that bad figuring things out when you're "this old" (30!).

The RISD information session I attended included a panel of graduate students... a good portion of them had earned degrees other than their BFA (BAs or whatever), and a good portion also were working in media different from what they'd been doing prior to working on their MFA. The gal who showed us around the printmaking facilities told us she'd barely included any prints in her portfolio when she applied; she also suggested that little outside the portfolio has much of a baring on whether you're accepted or not. I'm not sure if that applies to all schools or just RISD.

I'm really excited about it. I chose three advisers whose work seemed most closely related to the direction I'd like to go with my own work. I'm really looking forward to chatting with them.

Yes, you should choose from one of the faculty advisers for next year. The list of their names can be found at the bottom of the page: http://www.smfa.edu/mfa

Not a word!