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Skweeder

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Everything posted by Skweeder

  1. more like a year Fall + Winter... tuition and whatnot: the paper they gave me showed that 57 536$ a year (Fall/Spring 15 credit term...MFA studio total)... If we were in Canada it could be around 5700 tuition per semester and much lower in Quebec!
  2. To be honest it's my first round as an MFA applicant and as an international student (who apply in USA) with a significant other it's a big pressure not to be a "top pick" not because of pride or anything but simply because of funding and the aftermath of such sacrifice... theres also a limit to how much sacrifice a couple can endure for one of the partner's dream: the idea of fully self fund my MFA gives us a huge shiver down the spine... as price bracket regarding loan expectancy and capacity to repay is very different from country to country it's near impossible to pay if your not a "top pick": 57000$US a year and more from one's own pocket for an MFA is practically a career leap of faith... attached to a huge boulder. If being "top pick" wasn't linked to finance I guess most of us wouldn't even care (I know I won't... I'm actually really happy I got in: but will decline because I've been told I shouldn't expect a penny even on need-based basis as an international student... that actually killed it for me). Thus being "top pick" in my mind doesn't even guarantee your career as an artist as a see further down the road it means having less loan to repay, less interest to repay and more time to make some kickass art. Which is what being "top pick" insure in my mind: more time post MFA on my art career. Thus getting that "full ride" thing has a lot more perks than an ego trip after the MFA... I don't really care about marginal value frankly: My art will suffer more if I was in debt and have to neglect it working full shift at the McDo. Personally, i'd rather steer away from an MFA for which I'm a bottom tier candidate with 0 funding and concentrate for next year. But I also think that faculty won't look at you as a lesser artist if you've been wait listed, you got in without a scholarship or anything: they simply want all their students to succeed even if your the underdog... As an artist i'd rather be more stressed and anxious if I was the "golden boy" of the faculty.
  3. Thanks for the reply Micheal... but sadly I have no idea if that apply to international student: all the reply I have from SAIC financial help is: International are eligible for trustee and merit scholarship (which comes from admission... so my take on that is that if you were a recipient for merit or trustee scholarship you'd know by now) but they also insist that international student are not eligible for federal aid but they keep avoiding the question of need-based financial aid unfortunately even if I blatantly specify it. I don't know if federal help and need-based help are the same thing from SAIC financial help standpoint. I guess I have until April 15 to inform them if I change my mind about going! I thought that by filling out their international affair declaration of intent they'd send me more stuff regarding finance.
  4. His "mind the gap" performance is pretty cool... maybe he wasn't in the suitcase as the video cut! I have no idea what the security though in their head... wtf an indian guy popping out of a suitcase: SURPRISE! seems like a setup for a skit of humorist Russel Peter who do a lot of indian joke. they do seem to like weird place/weird move thing... Personally if I win the lottery and go to SAIC i'd rather just stay focus on performance mixing with electronic textile works/robotics. For the past 4 years since my second year of BFA and my MA I've been working on enough other peoples exhibitions in kinetic sculpture, worked on a couple of government funded research project on technology for the university as research assistant (crazy possibilties when money is not a problem... it's no MiT but we do have a great Inter-university research center in Montreal called Hexagram for anything related to new media), been a TA for a bundle of new media courses ranging from interactive media to robotic and I just want to use it for my own stuff now... Heh even managed to get a grant from the art council to develop some works still in progress. I've been doing mostly performance based work during my BFA (So my portefolio is more a performance than a new genre one). Because of a hectic schedule from doing my MA full time while working 20 hours/week my practice took a huge break - only manage to do 2 collective exhibition a year during my MA ... was so busy that I only managed to apply to 2 schools this year (it was also rather last minutes... but as SAIC had the only performance program it was a no brainer at that time). So I though that either I get in SAIC and explore that in september with them or just take a year to finally do something with all those skills for myself and knock on more doors next year for a more affordable options while securing both TA jobs and scholarships or even get the interest of a research group in the US... I wasn't aiming for the full tuition because that's like winning the lottery and so many subjective factors gets taken into consideration but I was at least hoping for a decent financial package .
  5. Grats mimoma! For a while I though I was the only on Gradcafe applying there... lol. I'm still waiting to hear from them on any form of financial whether merit or need base help. Ain't no way I can have a 100k US loan without killing my credit in the long run. Although really happy being accepted I'm still wondering how I can pay for it without any scholarship whatsoever.
  6. Great point testing, I was also accepted in performance at SAIC and it didn't occur to me to wonder about the bond between other student and the teacher as it's looks like a small faculty - I took for granted that it would be close or at least really warm and cordial as I have yet to hear any complains from past Alums (mind you that I only got in touch with 2). I asked a couple of questions to past Alums and one really insisted on the great bonds he made with differents teachers from different faculty such as Lin Hixson to Eduardo Kac. Maybe Micheal can dwell more on the matter than I do; because I have yet to visit the school or get a feel from it. Like you I'm still wondering if I'll go and compare my options... really curious about SAIC and the opportunity growth or I can simply work on my practice and exhibit a bit more this year and do a round 2 next year. Both option are interesting so I'll still have time to think. But in the meantime I don't know about you but I'm really interested in the Abandoned Practice Workshop; I'm planning to go there as a non credited course in case I choose not to go to SAIC.
  7. Well in Quebec (Canada)... there is a way for international student to get the same rate as local student (It's an international student fee waiver) so basically you'd pay a huge 540$Can for a 15 credits semester (in Quebec)... with courses fee and everything (books and whanot) it adds up to around 900$ per semester. I don't know if it's a provincial only thing or for the whole country though. They are also very competitive I guess as not all my international friends benefit from it. For local student or international student riding on the waiver one needs at least 12000$CAN per year to get by (that includes tuition, courses, rent and basic expenses)... I have invested so far 15$ in loto ticket since the beginning of march... so far I've gotten 2 free tickets AND a big 2$. sooo promising
  8. Man other peoples who were not accepted became über famous such as: Hitler... errr bad example... well on the other hand if the Vienna Academy of Art did give the future fuhrer a break maybe tons of life could of been save and Adolph coulda rock it as dadaist performer under Wagner's inspiration... heh who knows (yet he could still be antisemitic but at least he would simply paint landscape and get wasted at the bar instead of planning the third reich). According to a teacher of mine, Jean-Paul Sartre allegedly hated so much Edgar Morin that the poor philosopher (Morin) couln't really publish... the guy later became a household name in french epistemology through his books "La méthode" (argh 6 books ranging from 300-500 pages each... what a pain but really insightful books): all this because in the end he survived being literaly trumped by a huge name such as Sartre. (couln't find any reference online but I trust the teacher as he seems to collect anecdotes on philosophers) Dedication is only an optimistic bullshit if you let those setbacks determine your destiny... although we're all in this boat for the MFA: being an artist comes first in the long run (with or without the institutional stamp of approbation... I guess history will be the judge).
  9. Seriously man you forgot about another way to get money post-MFA. I'll just become the Martha Stewart of Fine Art... I'll be the next Bob Ross (mind you that I don't have a clue how to paint... but that's a detail... just a technicality actually... hell I got a big 3 credits of painting (mandatory with mediocre results unfortunately... at least I know my complementary colors) in my whole BFA!.
  10. There's this fuctional movie titled "Starbuck" about a serial sperm donor who paid a trip in europe to all his close family member during his late teen years; he also fathered close to 533 childrens. Now IF you start a religious cult with a pyramidal scam model tendency with a sexual revolution undertone such as Raelians and/or Scientology with a tint of Kama Sutra... every male member of your cult can actually sell their sperm and give the money to the cult leader, who is only looking to fund his MFA, in exchange of enlightment!!! man, my financial problems are soooooo solved!!! USA here I come... (this model should work for eggs also... so the cult is also for the equality of sex! how grandiose is that)
  11. Start a sect and make my disciples pay for my MFA in exchange for salvation! While keeping my kidney! Buying lottery tickets is also my backup plan... Without substancial funding; the chance of me crossing the Canadian border to study in the US is like being hit by lightning.
  12. Man I wish I had applied to more Universities in order to get more leverage financially (maybe it's just a psychological mind game that's only inside my head which render me plainly inefficient today... those exhibition proposal ain't filling themselves magically) ... I guess there's always next year for this pavlovian dance! It does feel like a dating game where one raise his attractiveness through a speculatary bubble involving universities acceptance. Gettiing a BFA or an MFA or anything related to art only show your commitment to certain aspect to the art world... and heck 20 years of works IS commitment. I've known peoples with BFA who are not even producing any works anymore or even try to exhibit... which I find sad.
  13. He guys, I've been admited to SAIC without having to be interviewed (MFA performance): As I live in Montreal it is a relief but (I'll probably go visit the school because Chicago is an awesome place!!!)... any of you guys admitted to SAIC heard about scholarship or anything? 'grats to every1!
  14. He there an MFA at 47 ain't that bad... sometimes it's even better (I'm in my late 20's). I did my B.F.A. and my M.A. at the University of Quebec in Montreal and I've met some really good students in those age range: they usually have a great knowledge of art history and have different outlook on art (not always going for what is trendy... oouuuh!!! let's all copy David Altmejd after the 2010 biennale type of trendyness)... they are also very high commitment peoples. I've learned a lot from those peoples... mind you that they don't usually go to bar and party all night longs . One guy I met, Charles, was working as a government official (high paying job), had a PHD in economic, still gets great reviews for his doctoral thesis even 20 years later, got offered jobs as teacher and whatnot but turned it all down to start a BFA and simply paint and do installation. I found that great! I started out as super shy also but for those past 5 years (2 years in BFA, 2 years during MA and 1 years outside of all of those) I've been T.A. for so many hours and courses that it dosen't even make me flinch to give conference now... but I get some butterfly but I just tell myself it's love: jedi mind trick... although trying to picture the attendance in their underwear always crack me up! Actually going through an MFA is a way for me to get access to more government funding pertaining to art: we have a pretty good funding system in Canada: so far the conservative government didn't mess that up yet... but in the US the cost of attendance is crazy; it's almost scaring me!!! I'd get by for free or near free in Montreal. But he... who risks nothing gets nothing... the careful never lives!!! In any case as we are in art we can always made ourselves some alter ego... just responding by yes, no or toaster with a stoïc face might be a good option.
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