PAFA?

[beards]

so far on this forum it seems like everyone that has applied to PAFA was accepted, so is it the universal MFA safety school? I had never heard of it until one of my undergraduate professors recommended it last year.

Unfortunately for me so far I have only been accepted to one other MFA program (NYSS) and haven't received my funding package yet, and while PAFA may be easy to get into it's still very expensive (about 33,000 a year). They only offered me 14K in scholarship money so far, so I'd need 19,000 a year in loans just to cover my tuition let alone living expenses.

I know this wouldn't be as much debt as most people going to the big name schools like SAIC, Yale and RISD, but for me it's still a lot of money.

So I guess what I'd like to know is what people think: Is it worth accruing so much debt for a second tier school, or would reapplying next year be a better option? I know school's name and reputation are only a part of the equation of post-grad success, but coupled with the idea of 40k+ in loans I keep going back and forth on what my best option would be.

[helec2003]

if this is any indication:

in fine art grad schools on US News and World Reports.

PAFA is ranked #58

NYSS is ranked #81

take that info for what you will.

[Eraserhead]

I would say the reason PAFA accepts people is actually BECAUSE they are expensive. They're a "for profit" school and are trying to make money. As far as the "scholarships" these schools offer, I think of them the way I think of sale items at grocery stores. They already know what they're going to make after the price reduction, but people will buy it because it looks like it's a good deal. Usually it isn't, unless you know you really need that item.

I'm not going to say you shouldn't go to a place like PAFA but I'm not one to follow rankings too closely, either. I did a year in an MFA program that I found out (too late) was definitely not what I thought it was. So I say the most important thing is to find a school that really feels like a good fit for you and your work. Don't accept just because they "make you an offer you can't refuse" because you can and should turn it down if you don't feel like it's a good fit for you. The idea of a school's reputation buying you success afterwards is just misguided at best. It's the quality of the work and who you know. That's one thing expensive schools can offer if you take advantage of the networking opportunities and really rub elbows with the right people.

Also, I would humbly suggest being very specific about what you mean when you say "post-grad success" because there are different ways to go with that. If your idea of success is being a hot-shot NYC artist and being world famous and all that, then networking will be very important and you will want a big name school. But if your idea of success is more like getting a job as a professor, then you need a school that offers teaching experience which isn't always on the table at the big name schools. You may get to be a GA but never teach your own class. State schools tend to offer more in the way of Teaching Assistantships as compared to "big name" private schools, but that's not to say they aren't out there, either.