miyamoto81 Posted April 6, 2012 Posted April 6, 2012 What?! $4000 PER YEAR for living expenses, in SF?! Ummmmm, maybe if you like, don't pay rent, or eat out, or take the Bart anywhere, or have any kind of life. Or buy art supplies. That's a ridiculous assessment and totally not true. We've talked about this - San Francisco is an awesome, beautiful city. The whole bay area really, is just totally gorgeous in many ways. But like any major metropolitan area, it's not cheap. And you need a car. The one downside about SF is that the public transportation isn't great, especially within the city itself. I can tell you first hand that paying $275 in rent - in San Francisco - is just not going to happen. Even if you are looking at a studio apartment, outside the city - or even a room in a house/condo somewhere, I would expect to pay anywhere from $600 - $1000+ depending on the neighborhood. And that's on par with if you move to the NYC area as well. I mean, I'm not trying to spell out doom and gloom, but you should have realistic expectations for this. Unless of course you've got the hook up from the real estate gods - in which case I will be totally happy to line up some sacrifices to them for a little good fortune myself! Oh, of course, the retail job is going to be in addition to what i get with the school/art field. Stipends and loans don't cover all the expenses of grad school. SFAI only estimates living expenses at around $4000 per year to live in SF. i need more than that to live in alabama per year, and i dont know if there is any neighborhood in SF where i can pay $275 in rent like i do now.
ereid Posted April 6, 2012 Posted April 6, 2012 Hey guys! I finally got my rejection letter from VCU Painting today in the mail. Best of luck to all the other VCU applicants who have been waiting on some news.
Itsem Posted April 6, 2012 Posted April 6, 2012 What?! $4000 PER YEAR for living expenses, in SF?! Ummmmm, maybe if you like, don't pay rent, or eat out, or take the Bart anywhere, or have any kind of life. Or buy art supplies. That's a ridiculous assessment and totally not true. We've talked about this - San Francisco is an awesome, beautiful city. The whole bay area really, is just totally gorgeous in many ways. But like any major metropolitan area, it's not cheap. And you need a car. The one downside about SF is that the public transportation isn't great, especially within the city itself. I can tell you first hand that paying $275 in rent - in San Francisco - is just not going to happen. Even if you are looking at a studio apartment, outside the city - or even a room in a house/condo somewhere, I would expect to pay anywhere from $600 - $1000+ depending on the neighborhood. And that's on par with if you move to the NYC area as well. I mean, I'm not trying to spell out doom and gloom, but you should have realistic expectations for this. Unless of course you've got the hook up from the real estate gods - in which case I will be totally happy to line up some sacrifices to them for a little good fortune myself! Oh Golly No! I'm not that naive. I was using that as a reason why I CAN'T quit my retail job. I know that I will be paying around double what I pay now for rent alone. And having a job to supply this money instead of a private loan is the best option. Most schools cap hours at 20 per week to work anyway, if they even have jobs. That's not nearly enough to live off of. So I'm going to have to supplement any income from an school/art field job with another job anyway, and why not just keep a job that is guaranteed when I relocate with flexible hours, overnight shifts, no responsibility once I leave the building, etc so I can concentrate on making art. It has worked for the past four years of undergrad.
miyamoto81 Posted April 6, 2012 Posted April 6, 2012 Good - I was reacting more towards what SFAI was telling you. If they are really going around telling prospective students that it only costs $4k per year to live in SF - well, that just seems irresponsible on their part. And I agree with you to an extent that working is better than taking out loans - however, I will also say that there might need to be a balance in that. I'm looking at the same juggling should I go to a program that's not fully funded. I think that I will end up trying to work part time and taking out enough loans to offset not working a full time job. I would just be careful not to over extend yourself in work until you know the full rigors of what your program will be like. You don't want to burn yourself out at both ends, or more importantly, work yourself too hard so that you aren't realizing your full potential in your program. I say this as reassurance for myself as well. Believe me, the prospects of not being able to survive financially while doing my MFA has had me lying awake at night, trying to work it all out in my head. I know it's not an easy decision in any direction. Oh Golly No! I'm not that naive. I was using that as a reason why I CAN'T quit my retail job. I know that I will be paying around double what I pay now for rent alone. And having a job to supply this money instead of a private loan is the best option. Most schools cap hours at 20 per week to work anyway, if they even have jobs. That's not nearly enough to live off of. So I'm going to have to supplement any income from an school/art field job with another job anyway, and why not just keep a job that is guaranteed when I relocate with flexible hours, overnight shifts, no responsibility once I leave the building, etc so I can concentrate on making art. It has worked for the past four years of undergrad.
poppysfriend Posted April 7, 2012 Posted April 7, 2012 Oh Golly No! I'm not that naive. I was using that as a reason why I CAN'T quit my retail job. I know that I will be paying around double what I pay now for rent alone. And having a job to supply this money instead of a private loan is the best option. Most schools cap hours at 20 per week to work anyway, if they even have jobs. That's not nearly enough to live off of. So I'm going to have to supplement any income from an school/art field job with another job anyway, and why not just keep a job that is guaranteed when I relocate with flexible hours, overnight shifts, no responsibility once I leave the building, etc so I can concentrate on making art. It has worked for the past four years of undergrad. I currently live in San Francisco and yes, rent is similar to that of Brooklyn -- around $600 - $1200 a month for a single person... Although I disagree, you don't need a car. The city is small and very bike friendly, and there is a great bus system. Having a car is more trouble as there is no parking anywhere. While rent is expensive, other costs of living are not. You don't need to heat your apartment, and eating well and going out are not inflated like New York. Comparatively though, in my opinion, SF doesnt have a very exciting art scene, most young people you meet are involved in the tech world. There aren't that many alternative showing opportunities for emerging artists. SFAI doesn't have an incredible reputation anymore (it was hot in the 70s and 80s) and to me doesn't seem worth the money you will be taking out in loans and cost of living in San Francisco.
ten-of-swords Posted April 7, 2012 Posted April 7, 2012 Hey guys! I finally got my rejection letter from VCU Painting today in the mail. Best of luck to all the other VCU applicants who have been waiting on some news. Meee too.
Studiohound Posted April 7, 2012 Posted April 7, 2012 (edited) I too live in SF and I pay $800/month for a 2- bedroom shared apartment. SF is expensive as far as rent goes, but I agree with Poppy's post. One does not need a car and it is easy to keep costs low in terms of food and fun. SFAI has definitely lost the luster of its heyday in the 70-80's and it suffered quite a bit when CCA expanded. Most Bay Area artists don't think that highly of SFAI these days. Edited April 7, 2012 by Studiohound
jldstudio Posted April 7, 2012 Posted April 7, 2012 I was accepted to University of Maryland (full ride + stipend) and to Hunter (my dream school). I really have no idea what to do. If you have any insight it would be GREATLY appreciated. I am also considering Maryland! Turned down Tyler, that was hard to do, but the other schools are offering much better aid. Still a little stuck between UMD, USF and Davis..
miyamoto81 Posted April 7, 2012 Posted April 7, 2012 Ok - I will admit, I am used to New York - and no one has a public transportation system like NYC does. However, all the times I've been in SF - especially if you need to get out of the immediate city - a car has always been useful. Do you absolutely need one, no probably not. But it's not like NYC where you could totally survive without it. Though, I agree that having a bike would probably be more practical. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
ten-of-swords Posted April 7, 2012 Posted April 7, 2012 Still haven't received anything from RISD, not even a rejection. Also found out another friend of mine from undergrad also got waitlisted at SVA. It feels like a ton of people are waitlisted. Doesn't give me a lot of hope.
patience Posted April 7, 2012 Posted April 7, 2012 Anybody attending Hunter this fall feel free to PM me (I´m going for painting). Would love to "meet and greet" a couple of you before the program starts. Thanks!
Itsem Posted April 8, 2012 Posted April 8, 2012 Finally...notification from my last school. Waitlisted at Brooklyn College.
Itsem Posted April 8, 2012 Posted April 8, 2012 How did they contact you? Still nothing on my end. Snail mail.
frez83 Posted April 9, 2012 Posted April 9, 2012 Snail mail. Oh okay, I thought that might be how they contact people. Thanks for the info! Do you think you will hold out to see if you come off the wait list? Or are you still just leaning towards your two offers? Good luck with your trips.
Seeking Lost Kite Posted April 9, 2012 Posted April 9, 2012 has anyone gotten a financial aid offer from SVA? Yeah I got a postcard with the link to a website to check my status. my.sva.edu
cxxxxxx Posted April 9, 2012 Posted April 9, 2012 Yeah I got a postcard with the link to a website to check my status. my.sva.edu is this the scholarship? or extra to that?#
Yankease Posted April 9, 2012 Posted April 9, 2012 Is anyone else still waiting for notification from UCI? (UC Irvine)
ten-of-swords Posted April 9, 2012 Posted April 9, 2012 Had to call RISD today to ask what was up. I knew I was rejected, just wondered why I had received absolutely nothing from them. Turns out they sent my rejection letter to a wildly wrong address. Way2go, RISD.
X-X-X Posted April 9, 2012 Posted April 9, 2012 And may I ask where do you look for the news after logged in? Thank you. Yeah I got a postcard with the link to a website to check my status. my.sva.edu
Itsem Posted April 9, 2012 Posted April 9, 2012 Oh okay, I thought that might be how they contact people. Thanks for the info! Do you think you will hold out to see if you come off the wait list? Or are you still just leaning towards your two offers? Good luck with your trips. I'm going to see if they will tell me how far down on the waitlist I am; also going to see if I can come a visit while I'm up in NYC anyway. But in the letter they said they would let me know a final decision by April 30th, and my other two schools want answers by May 1st. But they are on spring break right now, so all this will have to wait until next week.
Song Posted April 9, 2012 Posted April 9, 2012 (edited) Alright, after being on waitlist for RISD - I finally got an acceptance! About the SVA financial aid - I checked the MySVA site, but there was no offer there... Edited April 9, 2012 by Song OutWest 1
sympatico Posted April 10, 2012 Posted April 10, 2012 It's nice to be able to ignore this website (still trying to reboot my creative drive).
X-X-X Posted April 10, 2012 Posted April 10, 2012 Alright, after being on waitlist for RISD - I finally got an acceptance! About the SVA financial aid - I checked the MySVA site, but there was no offer there... Congrats! And none about scholarship on my SVA site neither.
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