r_sam

So I've been accepted to an MA in Literature at Fordham, sans funding. I'd really love to go there, but really don't feel comfortable slopping another 30k/year worth of debt on to what I already have (I'd be doubling it), without any sort of savings to buoy me up. Would it be sensible/possible to defer from a year from Fordham to work in the city and save some? Anyone have experience with this?

In the application season for fall 2011 entrance I had intended toapply to 7 schools total (UConn, UW-Madison, UT-Austin, Yale, CUNY GradCenter, Fordham, andUI-Urbana) for an MA in Literature, American specifically. My intention is to go on towards a PhDto teach. Unfortunately, I didn't register for GRE subject testin Lit (req’d at all but Fordham. UVa is holding their decision for me until Itake it in April, how nice of them) in time to make many of their deadlines. So,I applied to Fordham and UVa anyway. I've been accepted to Fordham, but with no financialaid, and from what I’m hearing here, UVa’s MA doesn’t get aid either. I’ll be supporting myself entirely through an MA and at themoment I’m already saddled with plenty of debt from undergrad. I could,potentially, find a job in NYC and attempt the Fordham MA on half a shoestringbudget. It’d get me the degree if not much cash on hand. My question is: should I decline the Fordham MA, work andsave for a year while applying to all the other schools I had intended with a GREsubj test, and perhaps higher GRE general test scores in hand, hoping forbetter aid packages? Or just take the opportunity to start at Fordham, even ifthe financial burden may end up being substantial?

I've been accepted to Fordham's Rose Hill GSAS program in the Bronx. Some friends and I have been planning to live in Brooklyn for years becasue we know its cheaper than manhattan, but will it be feasible to commute from Brooklyn to the Bronx almost daily via Subway? I'm also considering bringing a bike to make the commute? Or should I just try to convince my friends to move with me to the bronx?