<p>bleachedsnow, I agree with SCHedgie’s thorough answer above and I don’t want to intrude (too much) on his excellent thread, but in one of your other threads asking this question you said,
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Have your parents changed their mind, and did you submit a commitment deposit to CSULB while you were waiting for your USC financial aid appeal? I am hopeful that the CSULB option, which posters uniformly advised you to take in your other two threads, is still open to you. You will not be able to take loans in the amounts you are suggesting - even IF your parents pay the tuition portion - without a cosigner. As a freshman you can get $5,500.</p>
<p>I thought I’d add an opinion because I’m an engineer who also holds a separate Art Degree and ending up with two children pursuing art - one studio Art, the other at USC/SCA.</p>
<p>Yes - the return on investment on an art degree in pure monetary terms is not great for many grads. Downright horrid for studio artists. But in my family (which had few means) I brought up to believe education is about the process, not the “end job.” And certainly a person with an Art degree who is saavy can look beyond that art to see where it might apply. For instance, art has an application in industrial design. In advertising. Even in the medical fields.</p>
<p>I think we limit students by telling them that they are defined by their degree and the ubiquitous stereotypes surrounding them. Certainly I did engineering and art simo because I loved math and science, but was immersed in art on my free time and couldn’t choose. Luckily my college said I didn’t have to and allowed me to do both in tandem.</p>
<p>Still - I’m not blind to the fact that engineering “paid” off the loans. But that was then. The world is different now. And it does take a bit of ingenuity to determine how to survive given a set of choices. But there are definitely more options than before.</p>
<p>Is it worth it to take on significant debt? That’s up the each family and the ability of the student to monetize what he/she is learning. Our daughter wanted SCA and we determined if she was accepted we’d find a way to pay for it. And yes - we braced for the sticker shock.</p>
<p>Happy, healthy and fulfilled is a good start - not a degree program or a university you hate for four years but took simply because it will give you employment. The latter is why so many people switch jobs or count the days until retirement when they can do what they love.</p>
<p>So yes - ROI is low for artists - but mostly for those who view art from a limited vantage point. IMHO. I do know that at my older daughter’s school, there is a mandatory class that works through the issues of how to make a living from Art. Perhaps that should be in the mix at USC if it isn’t already.</p>
<p>But I’ll concede, if parents are at risk of losing their future security by taking on massive loans, or have few assets, or can’t handle the monthly payments, then loans probably aren’t a good gamble in this economy. It just depends.</p>
<p>CSULB offers bleachedsnow’s preferred major, USC does not. From bleachedsnow’s above-linked thread:
It seems more a pursuit of prestige at any cost than a pursuit of dreams.</p>
<p>I misinterpreted what my parents said about how much they pitch in by about 5k. My parents told me that they would contribute 40K A YEAR, and I would have to handle the rest. So I’ve been applying to a bunch of scholarships, getting a job, taking out loans, etc. They also said that they’d cosign my loans. (I feel overwhelmed by the support to be honest TAT)</p>
<p>It’s sort of a mixture of both prestige and dreams. CSULB is a broke, broke school where only 63% of the students graduate within 4 years and it’s hard to get the classes you need to graduate on time. And it’s only gonna get worse. If I somehow decide to switch majors, I wouldn’t really have any options at CSULB. It’s only really well known for it’s art department. Not that the other departments are bad, but a lot of their budget goes to the art department.</p>
<p>If I decided I wanted to switch majors at USC, it would be a lot easier for me to switch. The courses at USC are a lot more flexible than it would be at Long Beach, so I can take a whole bunch of classes from the SCA’s Animation Division without actually being a major in it. I’ll have a lot more options. And the networking is a lot better at USC than at CSULB. A lot more internships, and connections mean a lot in the entertainment industry. I could end up switching into the Animation Division. Or I might end up getting accepted as a transfer student to my dream school, which is Art Center College of Design. Right now, I’m just going to apply for a ton of scholarships and hope for the best.</p>
<p>That is a $22,000 gap per year - a lot to cover as a full-time student. Will your parents cosign loans? EDIT- I see you updated that they will. I am worried you will find yourself without a school in August (and I am still hoping you paid that deposit at CSULB) if you can’t come up with all that money.</p>
<p>P.S. When will you find time for all those internships if you have to work 30+ hours per week to cover the bills?</p>
<p>I didn’t pay the deposit, because I felt that taking up a space at CSULB when I might not even be going there was wrong and would deny a student on the waiting list a chance to go. (Damn my values!)</p>
<p>My parents agreed to cosign my loans (God bless them). I’m just applying for tons of scholarships right now to help cover it (although there’s no guarantee). Perhaps getting a scholarship hunting group together would help out in my search? I’m thinking about knocking some college credits out of the way during summer of freshman year by going to CC. With a little luck, I might end up graduating early and save myself big bucks :)</p>
<p>I know that I’ll be leaving USC with debt. There’s no way around it. I just want to keep that debt below 40-50k.</p>
<p>Remember that once you matriculate to USC, all cc units must be preapproved - you can find the preapproval form on Oasis. Good luck.</p>
<p>I don’t know your specific situation bleachedsnow, but don’t let this forum get you down. Debt is relative and very personal. 5K in debt is insurmountable to some, 50k others, 500K others. Risk is relative and personal. On this forum it seems everyone is getting financial aid and merit aid, leaving others wondering if anyone else actually pays for USC. People do pay for it. There is also a strong objection to taking on loans, but a singular message can’t be applied to everyone, it is just the loudest on here. Sounds like your parents are willing to pay the cost of a UC+. Same formula we put on ours, we are willing to pay 40k. Rest of it is his to figure out how to pay. Can we rescue him? Will we co-sign loans? Sure, but we want him to take some responsibility for choosing this school but also get the benefits it provides like you mentioned. Worse thing would be to spend 4 years at a school regardless of price stuck in some major you don’t like or having to stay in undergrad 6 years because changing majors costs that much in terms of time (and added dollars), and have no connections when you finish. If you want to go to a school like this and think the investment and/or debt is worth taking then that is your decision to make. If you are taking the plunge then do it and feel good about it - put everything you can into making it work. Good luck!</p>
<p>Sure will! I’m gonna try to be best friends with the people at the financial aid office and the career center! God knows I’ll need their help to get through this. I don’t ever want to drag my parents’ credit score down by being late on payments!</p>
<p>Do USC professors grade on curves?</p>
<p>^ Completely up to the professor. Some yes, some no.</p>
<p>Depends on your school as well. Marshall is required to curve to a 3.0. I’m not sure about the other schools but I think viterbi curves to a C.</p>
<p>When you say curves to a c, what exactly do you mean by that? Is it hard to get an a?</p>
<p>Viterbi has no general curving policy. It might be by department. I know that basically no CS profs curve. ‘You get what you earn’ (arguable, especially on team projects)</p>
<p>basically engineering professors seek to make the lives of engineering students a living hell.</p>