<p>alright, so I'm sure that many people can relate to this- I definitely cant afford to pay for art school, at least not four years at 30-40,000 a year. Even with potential scholarship it wont be easy.</p>
<p>I was thinking that it would help a little if I started out at a more affordable place and transferred into one of my top choices later, but I want to make sure that I can still get as much as I can out of it. Does anyone know of a more affordable place that I would still be able to get a really solid foundation year in so i could transfer to somewhere like SVA or RISD without feeling completely lost? is this a good idea at all? Can anyone tell me about their experiences with student loans?</p>
<p>really any kind of advice would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>What kind of art do you want to do?
Good state schools offer rather nice programs, depending on what you are looking for. I am finding out about more of these lately.
Where do you live?
You don’t get much aid as a transfer student, is what everyone is saying unless you are really good and go down tiers - RISD will make you do over at least part of foundation and it will cost you anyway.
COA will only goes up every year to top that. </p>
<p>if private art school,
Pratt MWP to Pratt Brooklyn might fit what you want but no one so far have posted positive experience going that route.</p>
<p>Adding to bears and drae’s posts: if you are set on attending one of the private art colleges, you could get some of your general ed courses out of the way by attending a community college or state school. Check with your desired schools to see if they will accept these credits. If so, you will probably still have to do the 4 year sequence at the private art college, but if you get some liberal arts classes out of the way you can use those freed up credits to take more art classes. If you start at cc or a state school and then decide to stay there (or within the state system) you could finish in a regular 4 yr. time frame and do a Master’s degree at a private school. Good luck!</p>
<p>What you need to remember when shopping for colleges is that the “sticker” price (to use a used car analogy), normally isn’t what you’re going to pay when all the dust settles. Apply where you want to attend, fill out FAFSA and any other financial aid documents required by the collges to whom you’re applying. If they make you an offer of admittance, you don’t need to accept before their financial aid office makes you an offer of aid.</p>
<p>You can also do what colcon is saying, and get some general education requirements out of the way at a local cc. Just make sure you check with your school of choice as to just what is transferable ahead of time.</p>
<p>The College Application process is a journey, and one littered with many potholes, but, if you start soon enough, and devote enough time to it, you will at least know where you stand both admit-wise and financially at its conclusion.</p>
<p>Ask admissions representatives about community college students they often accept applicants from or community colleges that have similar foundations programs to their own. The community college of philadelphia is a good foundation art and design program that I know of, for example.</p>