<p>Looking at the web site it appears that the new building is being used also for the art department. The new building wasn’t finished when we toured. If this is true, it would be a vast improvement over the prior facilities. We probably should have done another tour before making decisions…oh well. Switters is that the case, the new building is also being used for art?</p>
<p>Ohhh my mouth is twitching I can not stay quiet, I hope switters won’t upset about spilling beans
switters’ had grand tour of EVERYTHING happened to be there picking up portfolio not knowing the kid was accepted!!
Grand-tour from the snooty Cooper duper!!!
And he is the favorite of adcom!!!
there I said it, gawd you know, I am so excited because noone in CC I met-met ever got into Cooper, and he seems really what I have been wishing Cooper should look in fresh out of HS kid, (time again old timers are different requirement/ expectation wise) you know, theories, making of, academics, history, not just putting this and that and call it art. </p>
<p>yes, new shiny building is used for art, even for CE class that my kid goes Saturday but parents are barred from entry by hefty security guy. So I haven’t yet seen what’s in there.
My understanding is that they ditched most of LIC studios and made room for everyone in either foundation or shiny building. I remember before move to LIC, barren wasteland-sh workplaces but it had this flavor I was initialy hooked onto.
I can only snoop around when students’ show is on or some friends/ family day that is open to public, I can not wait real Cooper duper report from either switters or loveblue.
My kid says his favorite room is still the Peter Cooper site behind the clock of the old building. I have never able to see it inside, only by his drawing. Like, Disney’s great mouse detective. You could see behind of the working clock. I think phantom Peter sleeps there at night.</p>
<p>hey smarty, that was sort of weird statement, you made decision not to apply or gotten in but not to go? you and your kid(s?)have been bit of mystery, no offence.
People often get turned off by lack of this and that or only going for selectivity, good intended folks (i.e.taxguy and D) could care less about Cooper, which actually is smart move if you want paying job after UG.
someone here said we want something we can not have, in my case that is so true.
there is nothing I can do about it, I just go talk to Peter in the park and eat out good ramen once in the bluemoon. ( east village is now the ramen capital)</p>
<p>My responses here reflect my responses to our searches financial aid packages and tours, I have been requested not to divulge my child’s search process and I am honoring that. I know there’s a certain anonymity here but it’s the principle I guess. And my kid is pretty firm about this and so I’ve restricted myself to my personal responses and reactions. That’s why no personal info.</p>
<p>artsmarts- yes, there seems to be a lot of art in the new building. very cool printing facilities, very cool machine shop. The accepted student tour was in the new building mostly. The first time we went in November I had a very different impression. I didnt see facilities at MICA, or WashU- my s said both were very good. </p>
<p>The studio space at cooper seemed pretty good too. There were senior shows up in both old and new building. I liked what I saw, my S loved what he saw. Even with supporting him in NY regarding living expenses, cooper offers the most financially. He intends to go to graduate school, and hopes to do summer workshops and so on during the years up to grad school. </p>
<p>He talked to lots of students while he was there. I get the impression that most work really hard. Of course it could be that the ones he talked to are the hard workers, since it was an incredibly gorgeous sunny Friday, and they were there working. But definitely got the impression that it is not a party school.</p>
<p>Bears, quit showing off about my kid (but thanks for the kind words). He wasnt the favorite of the adcom, people were kind and welcoming. Im guessing favorite favorites get accepted first round.</p>
<p>The whole financial aid / merit award / stafford loan thing is such a headache</p>
<p>Since I am an “independent student”, I am not applicable for a Direct Plus loan. They only exist for “dependent students” and “grad students”…neither of which I am</p>
<p>With my financial aid / merit award / stafford loans / federal work study program / and VSAC (Vermont) grant…I have 32k of the 37k I need for tuition.</p>
<p>But wait…theres more</p>
<p>Both myself, and my cosigner, have been denied a loan at every bank we have tried getting a private loan from. I am still 5 grand short of tuition, plus on top of that are living expenses / have to buy a new laptop (mandatory, even though I own the thing personally already) / pay rent / buy health insurance / books, ect ect</p>
<p>So basically…I am royally F****D (excuse my asterik language):)</p>
<p>what happened to your GF? she going too?</p>
<p>Excellent. Sounds like they’ve really made progress with the new building. And yes, Cooper is not only a good deal financially, but it is a great school even with the old facilities. I think all the students there do work hard or they don’t stay. It’s a demanding school but I think that he’ll do great because their screening process is also so demanding so the kids are pretty much eliminated in terms of not being able to handle the workload. And no, not a party school by any means.</p>
<p>When I lived in New York we would often get parents showing up looking at rentals (we were in Manhattan) for their kid who had just gotten into NYU or Columbia or wherever and the general look on the parents faces was one of utter shock having just looked at a studio the size of their bathroom back home which was renting for $3,500 a month (and no, I’m not exaggerating but you can find cheaper places outside the city proper). From what I hear the kids at Cooper sort of stick together and group up for apartments which is good also because they’re all under the same pressure to work so I think it would be a focused household.</p>
<p>Sorry AWbacon the reply above was to Switters not you.</p>
<p>So sorry this isn’t working out more smoothly for you. Will keep fingers crossed for you to find a way.</p>
<p>My gf was not accepted.</p>
<p>I know now’s not the time to go all crazy republican…but c’mon Obama. My bank (which I have done business with for my entire life) was happy to loan me the money…until the laws changed and they were no longer ALLOWED to. Now its all nameless / faceless corporations deciding my future, as opposed to the people who know me by name and know I have had over 4 loans, all paid in full and on time, from their bank.</p>
<p>I am moving to France! I swear to god 
They pay for your whole education there. US…bah…Richest nation in the world my arse!</p>
<p>oh…and I will find a way to make it happen. I am sure somewhere, someone needs a nice new kidney :)</p>
<p>Nooooooooooooooo</p>
<p>Not the kidneys AWbacon…please don’t…now France, there’s a thought but isn’t that free education part of their socialist government…and yes, it is free as long as you can get in, sort of Cooper Union as a country! Thanks for adding that smiley face, I was worried for a moment that you meant it about the kidneys :o</p>
<p>Forgot something
part of their socialist government…LOL!
Have known a few people from France and I am not joking about it being like Cooper Union in terms of colleges, as long as you can pass the exam and get in you’re home free more or less! This is not such a bad thing to my mind. I think AWbacon it’s a shame that the loans fell through though, why is that…more regulation on individual private loans?</p>
<p>awbacon: Will the change in how loans are handled that’s coming in July affect your loans? I know I’m at risk to be denied for loans, so I’m waiting until then. My understanding is that people expect the feds to be more liberal in their student loan acceptances (for those PLUS loans, at least) than the banks are.</p>
<p>Or is it possible to take out a personal loan for the $5,000 assuming the loan was denied because of the restrictions until then on student loans. Most car loans are much much more than that. Of course interest would accrue immediately which might not have happened depending on what sort of loan it was but…seems there must be some way</p>
<p>Ok day job done
Sorry switters but I need something warm and shiny to bask my sorry bear skins in and little draemon and famkid taking too long to decide, though it’s none of their fault.</p>
<p>Smarty, you are scaring good folks!!
my friend is getting out of 2BR real closets eat in kitchen real bathtub $1,200 month in the edge of Astoria to downsize after kid off to abroad. 20-30 min to Midtown.
We have lived in this shoebox rent stab walkup since said middleschool catchment battle days and still somehow managing, can walk to Met, MoMA, 92Y, Whitney, Guggenheim, Jewish, City of NY, Cooper Hewitt, Frick, etc etc. I know those people who spend on rent more than I ever make in month, if not two but folks, NY is livable even you don’t make six figure.
People live here, have families with bunch of kids, babies are born, bikes learned to ride, hamsters and gerbils kept if not dogs or cats, everyday normal people commute 1-2-1/2 hours so they could have sunlight or closet or sink in the bathroom. It is doable, much better than Tokyo once you get over the grime.
Though Cooper kids tend to gravitated toward hip side of Brooklyn, now the most happening borough. doubled tripled up. Remember, hip cost you money and mental energy.
I would rather have 24 hour generic supermarket, drugstore to get last minuets stuff and capitalism big bad book seller B&N (my library/ study after-hours closes at 11PM) in few blocks radius than weird performance venue or tattoo parlor.</p>
<p>Bears,
I’m not trying to scare people, just give a realistic assessment of living there. If you’ve been in a rent stabilized apartment for some years you’re so lucky. But for someone moving into New York now those sorts of places aren’t available unless you sub-letting secretly. Yes, it’s certainly possible to find deals but for most people living outside New York what you pay for what you get is a shocker and I think it’s wise that they consider that and be aware. I guess the smartest thing would be to go on an internet real estate web site rental section and take a look but remember that in many cases those photos are taken with a “fish eye” (photogs is that the right word?) lens that makes the places look bigger than they are. Look are the square footage and the walk it out in your house to see how big it is. So it’s wise to assume you’ll be commuting, the up side is that the trains are terrifically easy and often and fast.</p>
<p>AWBacon please keep in touch so we know if you’ve worked out that financial gap…</p>
<p>artsmarts: Your NYC housing info seemed spot on to me, even though I havent’ lived there in 15 years. You can even see it in the dorm rooms – compare pictures of the Parsons dorms to uh, any dorm not in NYC. </p>
<p>I make my children laugh by telling them stories of the apartments friends lived in just to be in Manhattan. I knew a guy who lived just off Washington Square park. His apartment was a sort of narrow hallway with a galley kitchen on one side, a bedroom exactly the size of a single bed mattress plus 6" width, and a “bathroom” that had a commode, a drain on the floor, and a shower head in the wall. It was <em>smaller</em> than an airplane bathroom. You shut the door to shower, and the water would drain into the floor drain and away. Instead of the bathroom sink, you had to use the “kitchen” sink. You could actually put one foot in the bathroom, one in the bedroom, and “straddle” the living/dining/kitchen. And he paid <em>tons</em> for that, in 1995 monay, just so that he could live alone instead of having roommates. It may be an extreme example, but as you know, the cost per square foot in some parts of the city is outrageous. Yes, you can commute, but then you end up …commuting a lot.</p>
<p>I love the apartments scrabbled from old tenements on the lower East side by Cooper where the bathtub is in the kitchen with a board across the top so you can use it during the day. Ahhhhh yes, but when you’re a young artist it’s all romance and dreams.</p>
<p>However, I do believe that for the first time in many years there has been a drop in rents, not a lot but a drop because of a building boom in new highrises just recently which didn’t sell and now the market for rentals is a little glutted so I think there are better deals available but deal is a relative term when you’re coming from the Midwest or other areas. So I just think parents (and students) should be prepared. Those who were raised and/or have lived in New York for many years sometimes don’t realize how shocking it can be.</p>