^ That happened to my D’s friend. Got through two years of an Art Degree and dropped out. What she loved became a burden.
It may be late for a quality pre-college program. For the program I know, they were starting to fill slots in January. Cleveland Institute of Art requires a portfolio, says apply by May 15 for aid consideration. Just noodling, I see Skidmore’s deadline was April 1. I suppose these programs could have some slots available, but this would need fast work. Edison has summer art, I believe.
“then I did the major homework researching where top companies hire from, the actual education received, expected salaries, career placement. Full Sail dropped off the list immediately (but it sure looked like fun while we were there!)”
@gouf78 , good post. This is what I suggested OP do with the art school. With enough digging, this information should be out there, especially now that for-profit schools are being revealed for the scams that they are.
Check summer art programs at community colleges near where she lives and near you.
I too am disturbed that so far all of the discussion has been about how badly she wants to attend this particular art school, and that there has been no mention of her long-standing interest in art/design/advertising. Does she have any kind of portfolio at all?
@maintainin, Any luck in getting your daughter’s SAT scores and GPA? If you knew those, you could hunt for guaranteed merit scholatships.
Maybe it’s just bc my ex’s new spouse and I get along better than my ex and I, but what about a call to step dad at a time he is likely to be able to talk, “Ok this plan is ridiculous, what can we do to find a better one?”
Just to clarify:
-
Not ALL for-profit schools are scams. SVA in New York, for instance, is for profit and has an excellent reputation for a bunch of things, not the least of which is graphic design. It’s whether the school is properly accredited, member of NASAD, AICAD (if applicable), offers a BFA/MFA track, etc that matters. You want to attend a program that’s recognized for its quality by academic as well as professional peers, and you certainly don’t want the credit NOT to be able to transfer to another program. The for-profit status may also affect availability of scholarships available to students due to lack of benefactors, funds going back to shareholders as opposed to students (stakeholders), etc. I just wanted to point out that it’s not as “cut and dry” as several here are thinking.
-
Many pre-college programs DON’T actually fill up till May. And many do NOT require a portfolio (unless you are applying for a scholarship but it’s probably too late for that anyway). Two places to try that are between OH and SD are SAIC (Chicago) and MCAD (Minneapolis). Both superb art colleges. SAIC actually has a variety running two weeks and four weeks throughout the summer. The son of some friends applied very late two years ago and was even given a bit of money. So there’s always hope.
Here are the links:
http://www.saic.edu/cs/high_school/summerinstituteresidencyprogram/
http://mcad.edu/academic-programs/pre-college/summer-session
[QUOTE=""]
I suspect some of the friends' plans for going there and getting an apartment may be falling apart anyway.
[/QUOTE]
This is another very good point. NO one knows for sure if the proposed roomies’ (one or two roomies?) plans will fall thru. Who knows, maybe her (or their) parents are also freaking out about costs. All the daughters may not be very forthcoming if there is possible bad news out there. Since no lease has yet been signed the other roomie (or roomies) may be putting off the bad news.
I can’t reiterate enough that the granny should NOT pay the full $15k upfront. NO WAY. The “other side” needs to demonstrate their willingness AND ability to borrow the $17kish for the first year FIRST (and see PROOF of funding to the school) before having granny write a $7500 check for the first year.
These other parents need to show the cards.
I don’t think your D’s college education should rise or fall on the basis of the grandmother, other kids, other people’s parents, etc.
Stick to the high road here. You want a place which will give your D the kind of education she is looking for, at a price you can all afford, which gives her some professional flexibility down the road since teenagers are likely to change their minds quite a bit. As soon as you wade into the “who takes the loan first” territory, or “are your friend’s parents willing to put down a deposit” territory, you’ve left the high road.
<<<
I don’t think your D’s college education should rise or fall on the basis of the grandmother, other kids, other people’s parents, etc.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
Well, the decision as to whether the dad can help with this school does rise or fall with the grandmother. The issue of other students and other parents does come into play because that could create a new drama.
the girl may sign a lease with a roomie, but then the roomie doesn’t follow thru at some point.
Keep in mind, that it is highly likely that you will also need to co-sign the apartment lease if she need a apartment for school.
oh my, yes! ^^^
But I suspect the custodial parents will get faced with that…but it’s likely something that they haven’t thought about. they probably just think, “she’s 18, she can sign the lease.”
I think that as certain aspects surface (custodial parents paying first, co-signing (or guaranteeing) the lease, etc), the Stepdad is going to say, “no”.
I have two suggestions - google linkedin and the name of the school and see the long gaps of unemployment and ‘freelance’ for these graduates.
See this article regarding for profit colleges (particularly art/design schools)
http://fortune.com/author/claire-zillman/
The Department of Education has a new rule for being eligible for federal student loans and predicts 99% of for profit colleges will no longer be eligible under the new rule.
What worries me about their claim for 100% placement is this unexplained phrase
“100% of graduates eligible for career services” - makes me wonder what makes one ineligible? It could be that 90% of the students are “ineligible” for career services so 100% of the 10% that are eligible are employed. I think they are playing with words.
^ and then throw in that only x% finish the program. Caveat Emptor.
And “eligible for career services” for x long implies you will need to keep coming back for them. It’s not “Our grads all get jobs and never need our help again!”
In all fairness my D’s art school offers the same to its grads. Pretty much all the ones we looked at do so as well (these were nationally ranked programs). It’s actually supposed to be a benefit of graduating from XYZ Prestigious College that their career services are so great they can offer life-long job counseling and placement to mid-life career-changers LOL. In reality, someone changing careers mid-life might have more luck by relying on the connections he/she has already established.
But the issue does bring up the subject of just how high quality are the professional connections of the school in the first place. For instance, if an institution boasts of life-long assistance to it’s alums but really only places its graduates in unpaid internships with little help in getting a paying job then those career “services” are pretty much worthless further down the road.
The point is…colleges can play games with their claims and really there is no recourse. It’s not like an outside entity can come in and demand details and proof.
this is like the hundreds of univs that claim things like: “85% acceptance rate to med school”…what they don’t tell you is that they heavily weed FIRST.
Maybe this school heavily weeds? Maybe after the first year, many drop out because the weeding process discourages them or they just don’t have the talent to “wow” the profs.
Yeah, @mom2collegekids there is definite weeding going on given the grad stats (60% of those who began school in 2010 seemed to finish, down 6% from those who started just two years prior. Maybe the disparity is due to small numbers and/or big growth numbers in enrollment - don’t know either way). The most current “freshman retention” stat is 83% (between 2012 and 2013). Wonder if the 2014 grad rate is also 60%? That stat should be somewhere either on the school website or similar. I got my #'s from College Navigator (NCES).
What’s really interesting is that the transfer-out rate is only 5%! that means 35% of those kids not only don’t make it to graduation at SAA, they don’t even go on to complete their education elsewhere - we don’t really know where they go!! At any rate, they obviously are NOT going to be invited to make use of career services.
A 35% “weed out” program with no “Plan B” (why? Did those kids run out of money, perhaps?) is NOT a good idea. Much better had those kids been weeded out in the admissions process. BTW, had they been so, the school would have better stats and far less controversy than it currently enjoys.
Looking at SAA website–you need to go pretty deep–seems 81 per cent of graphic design jobs require a BA.
And the site helpfully connects you to other institutions who will forward your education and accept your credits so you can get it–to the Art Institutes of “X”. Pretty much telling you that you won’t have a decent job and need to spend another 60 K to get a degree that no one in the industry thinks much of.
Will your daughter tell you her GPA and ACT/SAT scores?