Private art school or public in-state (MFA poetry)?

[Fallingasleep2017]

Hey yall!

So I got good news for my MFA poetry applications-- I'm a Berkeley local and applied to SFSU's MFA program as well as CCA's MFA and got into both! I am having a lot of trouble figuring out what I should do. I'd appreciate as much advice as possible!

Right now I'm thinking about these things:

SFSU: is a LOT cheaper, and I'm getting a scholarship for the first semester; amazing staff; offers teaching certification included with degree; is located kind of far away so commuting will be a pain depending on how many days a week I am actually on campus [tuition is approx 7k per year]

CCA: private art school; offering me a more prestigious array of scholarships even though it will still end up more expensive than SFSU; no teaching certification; amazing campus, but i'll be surrounded by people who are mostly willing or able to dive into an insanely high tuition and idk how comfortable id feel being in that environment as a low income person of color [tuition is approx 40k per year, but i would basically be receiving 70% of my tuition covered]

I've also been traveling all month for academic events and its made it super hard to organize the pros and cons of each. Basically floundering a little!!!

Thank you in advance <3 

 

[heliogabalus]

SFSU. CCA may be prestigious (I don't really know) for visual arts, but it's not a top creative writing program. That is fine, and if it were a perfect place for you and your writing, I'd say go for it. But SFSU is better known to writers (esp. for poetry). Also, the teaching certification is key. You will come out of the program with a possible career-qualification. Most people getting MFAs do not and are in a panic when it's time to pay back student loans. If you feel you need to do an MFA, SFSU is, in my opinion, a much smarter choice.

[Fallingasleep2017]

5 hours ago, heliogabalus said:

SFSU. CCA may be prestigious (I don't really know) for visual arts, but it's not a top creative writing program. That is fine, and if it were a perfect place for you and your writing, I'd say go for it. But SFSU is better known to writers (esp. for poetry). Also, the teaching certification is key. You will come out of the program with a possible career-qualification. Most people getting MFAs do not and are in a panic when it's time to pay back student loans. If you feel you need to do an MFA, SFSU is, in my opinion, a much smarter choice.

THANK YOU. I needed someone to lay it out like this. CCA definitely has been drawing me in but at the end of the day I think id be foolish not to take SFSU. you're absolutely right.