<p>A current student from RISD called me today and said, 'I'd like to congradulate you on your acceptance to RISD,' which was the first I've heard of that. The letter hasn't came still, what the.. hell.. this obviously prooves that the postal system sucks, if they waited to call until they were sure I'd have the letter.</p>
<p>So I'm less worried about Cooper because RISD I'd be very happy with. besides the money thing, not getting in there would mostly be a blow to my self-worth. which I can get over. Still no word form Cooper but I'm just about sure it'll be rejection. so yeah.</p>
<p>well, I'm kind of happy now. glad that happened. I was so mad that nothing came today again. I have grown to hate the words 'nothing came.'</p>
<p>mm...weile. mebbe i'll see you there this fall.
i'm going to the RISD freshman open house on april 19th. just a final run-over...my parents want to assure that i'm approaching this college decision wisely. college is an investment. they're nervous. they still want me to go to UIUC. they don't like that "starving artist" picture...me eating my paint. hehe.
i'm laughing derisively. i'm an ungrateful child.</p>
<p>snail mail stinks. congrats congrats on your phone call! that's so weird. i feel like i missed out because i had that couple of minutes of holding this wad of papers that had those words printed across it. reading things just isn't the same. you have to read them out loud. and even then...it's not...quite...</p>
<p>yeah. just to add something...i guess risd gives a solid freshman foundation year. i'm wondering if that gives a reasonable amount of time to decide where you're headed. i mean. i paint now. but exposure to other media might completely change my course. and there's also the idea that i'll need to make money in the future (you know for food and living in general. i need some material purpose since i'm not a full-fledged nihilist.) i'm unsure about the degree of exposure a risd student gets to the full span of...media. (erm) i mean, we're all limited by time even with a plethora of opportunities. it'd be a comfort to go into it all with the right mindset.</p>
<p>shut up time. (i'll do a little miniature celebration dance for you and angelina and all the other people out there instead of blabbing.)</p>
<p>about foundation - the girl that called me told me exactly what you just said.. that you do get exposure during foundation. she said she started out wanting to do illustration, then switched, then switched again. I don't think they're as flexible as MICA during the whole four years but I think you get to try things the first year.</p>
<p>yes I will most likely see you there this fall! the only thing that could stop me gong to RISD now would be a cooper acceptance letter. But I'm very sure it'll be RISD and I'm quite happy with that.</p>
<p>as for needing to live, how about teaching? that's what I plan on doing if I can't make it otherwise.. because then you can use the school's facilities and you're still connected to other artists through the college.. sounds good to me..</p>
<p>I'm not a nihilist either - have you read Grendel by John Gardner? I think the message of that book is, 'nihilism - why bother?' (haa..) it seems like it would almost be more work to be a full-fledged nihilist than not to.</p>
<p>weile- wow, thank you soooooo much, that would be amazing.</p>
<ul>
<li>so now Ive visited both Cornell and nyu and i feel lost.</li>
</ul>
<p>After visiting nyu i thought i had ruled that program out. Now after visiting Cornell i feel as though there is no way i can go there either. Perhaps i'm being too picky? Like i said the work at nyu was extremely conceptual and poorly executed (at least what i saw of it), but the work at Cornell was virtually non existent. I'm not sure how accurate my gut feeling is but i sensed almost no artistic passion at all. Art seems almost to be just a past time for students at Cornell who are serious about the "ologies". Not to mention, Ithaca is just not where i belong. I definitely feel a little bit insecure about living in nyc, but, I would certainly rather feel a little be on edge than completely out of place and bored. NYC is where the art is. It's where i should be...right?</p>
<p>do you think i should reconsider boston university, syracuse university, or carnegie mellon?</p>
<p>i still have to visit cooper union (if the woman in charge of admitted students ever calls me back!)...but it's seeming to look like better choice the more i think about it.</p>
<p>I have a feeling you'll know what to do when you visit cooper. that will really clear things up.</p>
<p>I really liked it.. it was so small but not crowded.. everything was clean and well-kept and people were just working happily.. and this was a friday night.</p>
<p>i have this one other short memory - my mom and I went into a big bookstore at some point during the visit, because I wanted to look at the art books. I was going through the books and I noticed three kids who looked like art students sitting in the corner where two art book shelves met. I was bored so I started listening to what they were saying. they were just pulling the books off the shelves and talking about artists and things.. eventually one said to the others, 'isn't it funny that this is our idea of a night out - going to the bookstore?' then they all laughed about that.</p>
<p>that made me feel like I belonged there, or at least at a difficult art school. looking at art books in a book store is seriously a good time to me.</p>
<p>oh - I forgot to call Mrs Everett yesterday (dammit!) but today I will. must write note to self.. you know I could call my mom for Caitlin's email right now while I'm thinking of it.</p>
<p>I just called but she's not home - probably at work. I think I'm likely to get my letter today so I'll wait until I find out about that and then call.</p>
<p>Ok...that sounds great. THANKS! and good luck w/ ur letter. I really hope you've been accepted...it would be great to know i have a friend there.</p>
<p>and i know what you mean about looking at art books...i love to do that too...
also i've been on two of those friday night tours as well and i really did like what i saw. The building is almost enchanting..right? There's just something magical about it.
i really hope i get to take a tour...perhaps i might even have to opportunity to meet this caitlin you speak of (;</p>
<p>yess, it does have an enchanting feel! everything is so.. shiny and quiet. that's the word I was looking for really..</p>
<p>anyway, no letter again today! I called admissions and they said that they send the letters in 'batches' (apparently other art schools do this too..there are RISD applicants stll waiting too). so they said that if I still don't have it by Tuesday, I can call. ... AHHH.</p>
<p>well, I really would like to get in, but I think I'm immune to being totally crushed because the idea of RISD makes me happy. .. still want to get in though. I would know you AND caitlin there.. that would be cool. ahh, stop fantasizing, stop it now! must.. not.. fantasize!</p>
<p>and yes, you should meet caitlin. :] I did call around noon again but no one was home still, so I figure I'll just call a bit later when they're sure to be home.</p>
<p>haha, I could have guessed that..
I called her mom about five times today and no one was home, but then she called me back just now. she was all excited about everything Cooper-related. she told me, 'oh, I think you'll get in!' and I said.. um, well, I don't think.. it's so unlikely and I'm not counting on it..' and then she said, less than convincingly, 'Ohh, don't say that..' Man, why do people always do that? They really could just be honest and admit that I probably won't. but well. people want to be nice.</p>
<p>I'm not too upset today because I knew it was coming half a week ago. But I feel pretty stupid.</p>
<p>I know I will like risd a lot but my brain has problems with the idea of such a number of people being flat-out better than me. it makes me think I can't trust my own judgements on others' art and especially on my own.</p>
<p>do not take it too hard, Cooper Union acceptance or rejection can be based on so many different things and you never know why or why not. Some of the best people i know did not get in.</p>
<p>) ;
Don't worry, it really isn't the school you go to but what you do there. And don't take this as a blow to your artistic confidence- Cooper is weird. I have a video of tape of student work from a year my art teacher sent three students to cooper...and there was one other student who applied but didn't get in who's work was just amazing... i can't figure them out.
i'm just sad we won't be going to school together</p>
<p>yeah, I have to say that was one of the things I would have liked a lot - going to school with you and caitlin. well you know, we could still try and find time to meet - maybe in central park some weekend. (i fricking LOVE that park..!)</p>
<p>and yeah - what you do there is more important than the school. I've ben saying that to myself a long while so I should try to believe it. I will work very hard at risd. depending on where I am after the first year and how much cash I've drained, I might think about reapplying to cooper.</p>
<p>weile...
Remember...some of the most talented people didn't even apply to Cooper! I think you'll be amazed with the talent at RISD. College Hill in Providence is beautiful and visiting NYC will be great. Of course if living in NYC is your desire, there are other options... other schools... transferring...</p>
<p>Michaelangelina notes,"
do you think i should reconsider boston university, syracuse university, or carnegie mellon?"</p>
<p>Don't know about BU,but both Syracuse and CMU have great, well-respected programs. Also, you have a lot of options if you change your mind from one field of art and design to another. Also good is Parsons, RISD and for design, believe it or not, University of Cincinnati.</p>