<p>arabrab: Yes, it’s $30k after all fours years, but only if my parents help me pay for it. They’ve agreed to help with me with $20k/year with any college I choose, but with RISD they were saying they’d be willing to shell out $30k/year and take out parent PLUS loans which I have to pay back. </p>
<p>The thing with that is that all the debt essentially gets ridden on my parents for four years instead of me… good for me in a bit, but I don’t want my parents to dig themselves into that kind of hole. They still have my brother to worry about after I graduate, so taking in those substantial debts would make things really difficult for him. </p>
<p>I know from talking to RISD students and looking on forums that RISD is notoriously stingy… they tend to give a few sparse full-scholarships to a few select students and give everyone else essentially nothing, even with high need. A girl I knew with a really low EFC managed to snag a $8k/year grant and a $10k/year scholarship, but that was only because her parents weren’t willing to pay a cent. Even with that she’d still end up owing more than $100k in loans. </p>
<p>My family hasn’t managed to stay put in an area for more than two years for the last six years… by the time I started high school I’d doubted I’d be able to get in-state anywhere I go, since the likelihood that we’d move again was so high. The importance of my college education/problem was actually put down low in the priorities, so my folks didn’t even think about it until I told them up front that I’d be unable to get in-state tuition because of their moving about. I know they can’t really control their moving (they move because of my Dad’s job) but it is frustrating. </p>
<p>Hopefully things will look brighter no matter where I attend because my EFC would most likely decrease. That, and I need to apply to scholarships again like mad and cross my fingers that luck would be kinder to me sophomore year than it is for freshman.</p>
<p>polkadotma369: Thanks for your advice! I tend to hear different things from different students, but the general feel is, true, that I’d learn more from an art school, even if in the long run a good portfolio from a state school can achieve the same job status. I hear about people taking that route a lot (full-ride in-state over first choice school) but I also know many people do then transfer like you did if they especially detested the state school… my own friend got a full-ride to NCSU but chose Chapel Hill because that was her dream school, though it cost more.</p>
<p>I was thinking of definitely expanding/learning design since I know how difficult it is to secure straight-up illustration jobs. The advantage to NCSU is that it’s major is literally a loose “art+design”… which includes animation, fashion design, illustration and other design-type jobs, so you aren’t stuck specifically in one type. The downside, of course, is that it’s difficult then to get a specific, advanced education in the area that interests me the most, and that the focus on fine art really isn’t as prominent. But I’ve also heard that it’s easier to get into different fields with illustration? Especially if you’re foundation is pretty strong?</p>
<p>My parents’ willingness to try and take on so much debt is the fact that many people they know who’ve come out of RISD are doing quite well… problem is, they’re looking at Industrial Designers and Textile Designers, not illustrators, who I know in this economy have taken a bit of a toll coming right out of college. What worried me about MICA, though, is the fact that it’s most reputable for its fine arts. I know they have a pretty strong illustration program but am less clear on whether or not more design-elements in illustration are emphasized of fine-arts elements…</p>
<p>In any case, your post definitely helps.</p>