labmouse

Concordia. Although living in NY could be great, where else can I live, learn to speak French while studying Art and not have it cost a mint?

I've just gotten off of Concordia University's waitlist. Concordia has an international tuition of 10k. Even if I don't get any funding, with living expenses, I wouldn't need to take out more than 20k to go to school for a year. The program is 2.5-3 years long, with me looking at 60k max in loans. I'm in contact witht he school and will find out more about my aid package tomorrow. Parsons has name recognition in the US that Concordia(which is in Montreal) does not have. I have 16k in scholarships, but that leaves me with 18k to cover tuition and 13-17k for living(including food, housing(mostly on campus since I'm really far away to apartment hunt)transportation and insurance). Parsons is a two year program, with me looking at between 31k-35k a year, a worse case scenario of 70k in debt when I'm done. I have been thinking about each program more and have been wondering if I should go with the better aid package, since I'm planning on teaching.

I can't get anything additional in aid. looks like I'm going to Parsons (or Concordia..I love Montreal)

I got into Concordia! I'm not sure if I'll take it, three years for am MFA, maybe funding after the first year via scholarships and bursaries? I have to call tomorrow to get a better idea of the financial picture. If I do decide to go then French lessons this summer!

It looks like it will be Parsons!

I don't think that I will be able to go to SVA at all. I've tried to extend the date that I have to pay the deposit and it's a no go. Although I am an Independent Student and currently unemployed, I would only get more loans. Today I heard back from the Chair of the department, who is a lovely person and put a lot of care in his response to me. There is no way I can afford to carry loans of that caliber. Thankfully, I was accepted to Parsons.

I'm seeing what I can finagle for funding before I commit. I might wind up at Parsons instead.

I think it depends on your discipline. I'm in Fine arts and Parsons was quite generous, whereas NYU gave no funding at all. Hadley, I've been looking at alternatives to New School's grad housing in an effort to save a few dollars and also to have a bit more privacy. It seems that the school has a lot of Open singles/doubles and triples.

graphikchik, Thanks for the words of encouragement. I am partially worried about negotiating correctly. I don't want to alienate the people, but I do need to ask before it is too late.

I feel positively nauseated by the financial aid process right now. The school that is currently at the top of my list in terms of program and prestige is only offering 5k in aid, the rest is loans. I'm going to try to negotiate, but it feels like I have a large stone around my neck as I attempt this. I might have to just accept another school.

I am waiting on my financial aid package from SVA before I make my final decision. I am in the Computer Art MFA.

Thanks for the Article. I have been wondering who I needed to contact about negotiating additional funding.

Ouch. Sorry to hear that. In the worse case scenario, you could try and cover one year and apply for outside funding like the Jacob Javits Fund for your second year. That's my overall plan to help minimize my costs for Grad school.

Pointedears, is there any way you can negotiate funding or any mention of funding for your second or third year? From what I recall of Cal Arts, they're not too big on letting grad students teach, but maybe you can get work study aid in another way? So far, everywhere except for NYU has offered funding of some sort. I guess that I am just very hesitant to say to anyone "Go ahead and incur over 100k in loans."

I was just reading the results board, did anyone get anything from NYU this year in Aid? It seems like no one was given financial assistance, no grants, scholarships or anything.

I got my acceptance on Saturday 3/29 and I'm in Florida.

OEE, I heard from SAIC Video & New Media about two-three weeks ago. Which department did you apply to?

Thank you Pointedears, Graphikchik and Portafoy! I am having a tough time with deciding. One of my professors really likes MCAD, but when I called to try and get contact infor for professors or potential mentors, I once again have to go through the one person from admissions who does not like me for some reason. (I try and tell myself, he's super busy with the other graduate students, but I just get this bad feeling) Maybe tomorrow he'll get back with me. Other than the phone/email tag, in the next week or two I should receive my financial aid offers from SMFA and SVA. SVA is definitely being mailed on Friday. SMFA doesn't know if it's this week or next and is disinclined to give further details. Although SMFA might have a great package, SVA had more approachable Fin Aid people. I need to give SVA an Answer by the 17th. Good News: Parsons is extending their deadline until May1st. Tomorrow I'll call SVA and see if they are doing anything similar. if so, then I can make a nice, calm decision without stressing myself out during finals.

Congrats stomachcramps on SVA! Have you visited yet? I only got to see Computer Arts and I loved what I saw.

Right on, Pointedears! My Dad has been saying "Is it really worth it?" all week. At this point after everything that I have gone through, I am not backing down and I know although my parents are worried, they will come around when they see my dedication.

Right now with my current financial aid offers( between $0 and $16k, waiting on two more) I might wind up footing the bill for between 37k-11k a year for tuition. I also have a sizeable amount of student loans from undergrad. Although this seems like a ridiculous amount to be in debt, but I think it really depends on what you are going to do afterwards. I know that I am becoming an academic and my professor has been encouraging me to got to the most prestigious school that will admit me. I didn't really want a house out in the 'burbs anyway...:wince:

I think for some of us it's a clear choice of where to go. I'm having some serious difficulty with picking my final location. I've all but given up on RPI, and Concordia might take me off of the waiting list after I have to respond to everyone. This leaves the actual schools that I got accepted to: SMFA, SVA, MCAD, Parsons and NYU. NYU was not a compatible fit for me and gave no funding, so it's out. Now, things aren't quite so obvious. MCAD has teaching opportunities, lower cost of living and really nice facilities. I would have my own studio space, which is beneficial for when I do installations. I did not have any interactions with the faculty or mentors,even when I flew out to visit the school, which makes me very wary. I get a feeling like the admissions department was concealing something about the school, as I was only allowed to take a short tour, whereas the other schools were more generous with their time and allowing me to contact faculty. I'm not worried about the weather so much(I do have concerns about being snowed in for multiple days), but the school seemed really un-diverse, which bothers me. SMFA also has teaching opportunities, is in Boston, a city that I know pretty well, the computer lab is okish, the studio spaces are nice, I have met with some of the faculty and the structure of program is interesting to me. SMFA is also tied to Tufts, giving me access to Tufts resources. After this past week, I got more options that shakes things up. Parsons has a great reputation and like SVA and NYU, is in New York which offers a lot of opportunities that the other cities might not have. Parsons had a great grad community and the faculty that I met were interesting and candid. The program is strong and is slightly different than SVA. There seems to be a more technical and design focused edge to the program. The facilities for the program are a mixed bag. There is a large lounge-like space near the faculty offices that is kinda low tech, but would be good for meeting with other students, collaborating and there are large computer labs( Shared with the undergrads) in another building. Much like NYU and SVA, since these labs are not in some basement, they have windows, which is great, as someone who has been stuck in basements and windowless rooms. After my first semester I would be eligible to teach classes. Parsons has the highest tuition and the dorms are so expensive that I question whether I could live on my own and save more money. SVA has all of its grad facilities on one floor.(I rather not trek all over the place) The community is great and I don't have to share resources with undergrads. SVA is much like Parsons, except they do not have teaching assistanceships and have pretty swank facilities. All of the computers are replaced every two years and the department looks like it is well funded. The dorms are less expensive than Parsons. My current school massively underfunds it art department. This situation is a large reason for me hesitating with schools that look a little neglected. Any advice?

I got accepted by NYU Interactive Telecommunications Program. No funding though. That's ok with me though. I didn't think that it was a good fit for me anyway. Courage everyone!

Thank you and congrats xaviercugie and pointedears! at this point I have to talk to SVA and see what type of funding they have before I make a decision.

I will probably have a job, since grad school is insanely expensive, especially my last two admissions. /sigh I wish I had a bit more support from home.