<p>So my dilemma is that while I got in all the design schools I was aiming for, I have trouble deciding where to go. I haven't visited the campuses yet, for I lack the time to do so, so I don't really know which school is right for me. I have chosen to major in BFA Illustration for all FIT, Parsons, Pratt, SVA, and Mason Gross at Rutgers. I took Rutgers out because I decided I did not want to stay in NJ, and SVA because they didn't sent me any scholarships I was hoping for.</p>
<p>Parsons, however, gave me basically 30~31k in scholarships, Pratt 19k, and FIT just generally has a cheaper cost of attendance and tuition. I'm stuck in deciding because even with these scholarships, my family would still be struggling to pay the fees. I want to make sure that if I'm going to go to an expensive school, it would be the right deicison. Any word of advice or information would be helpful! Thanks!</p>
<p>In addition to tuition and fees, did the schools send you an estimate of what the estimated living expenses will be? In the NYC areas, this could be very high. Pratt has nice dorms with a more traditional campus feel than the other schools. For the other schools, find out (contact the Housing office at each school) where you’d be living and the potential difficulty locating a place after freshman year.
Beyond freshman year, be sure that you factor in all of these costs, then potentially include rent, food, internet costs, utilities and household items if there are no dorms for you.</p>
<p>Don’t rule out Rutgers if your family would struggle to pay the fees. Don’t take on too many loans.
Art/Design is not a degree like accounting or CS that will likely end in a high paying job out of undergrad. </p>
<p>In addition to talent, an art grad has to be aggressive about marketing themselves, as so much of the higher paying work is freelance. That also means that the graduate has to learn the basics of being self employed.
Starting off with debt can be a real career killer for an artist. I know too many terrific artists that have had to take secretarial, barista or other non art-related employment, so as not to default on their loans.</p>
<p>If you want to really save money and you’re looking for a really good education in art, FIT is really going to be your best bet. I’m not familiar with Rutgers but FIT has a pretty fantastic Illustration Program (I’m an Illustration Alumni). You can also bounce from Illustration to other 2 Year programs as well. </p>
<p>What I know now… Choose the school that has the highest per student endowment and the lowest acceptance rate. </p>
<p>Schools that have a lot of money in the bank, or endowment, is money earning interest for you, while you attend. Are going to be cheaper and give you a better chance at landing a scholarship. More students will apply but fewer will be accepted. Watch out for schools that have a high acceptance rates. High rates of acceptance dilute the quality of the student body.</p>