I am a student pursuing film-making. I would like to be a producer one day. Despite my plans/wishes, I ended up being accepted to a few film/communications schools and was rejected at my top “regular” colleges. I never planned to pursue film directly after high school, but here I am.
From the following options, what makes the most sense for me?
One of the best film programs in the country
~14k in federal loans
~100k in private loans (~155k in eventual repayment???) to make up for what my parents can’t pay. Even then, my parents might have to dip into their savings.
Big school with a good film/communications program
~7k in federal loans
~22k in private loans (~31k in eventual repayment???) to make up for what my parents can’t pay. Even then, my parents might have to dip into their savings.
My state school (scholarship included) that doesn’t offer an ideal location or major for what I want to do
~20k a year, no loans necessary. My parents could easily pay this.
I have been really torn up about this for the past few days. Disregarding my parents and their willingness to help me, is accumulating that much debt worth it? Option #1 is obviously my first choice but I am terrified about this. It’s an amazing school but the debt seems crippling. Even with off-campus housing and low-cost options, I would end up in tremendous debt. The good news is that I don’t plan on attending graduate school so this would (hopefully) be the only student debt I have to pay off.
The schools are ordered by my interest in attending them. Any advice or kind words would be much appreciated.
Option #1 terrifies me, too. I’m a parent. My spouse and I are paying off a home equity line of credit, which we used to pay off our daughter’s student loans (graduation present). It’s hard. And we have reasonably secure jobs, although not high income. With aggressive payment, we’ve paid off $15,000 in two years, but we don’t spend money on much (own our home, old cars, few luxuries, etc.)
1 is not an option. Period. It’s like walking into a Maserati dealership. They have the car you want **and/b they’re willing to sell it to you. Price = $150k. You have $0. Do you buy the car?
Now, you walk into a college. They have the education you want **and/b they’re willing to sell it to you. Price = $155k. You have $0. Is this any better deal than the car?
Just because they’re willing to sell you something you cannot afford does not make it a great deal.
So, #1 is out of the picture. That leaves #2 and #3. It’s up to your parents. If they’re willing to pay for #2, and it has the program you want, then you should be willing to take out a modest amount of loans to help pay for it.
Don’t understand the loan amounts, though. Is this a four-year program? If so, why so little in federal loans? What the heck are the three schools you’re talking about??? (Really, you can tell us - we won’t tell anyone! )
Why are you ‘plugging in’ numbers, don’t you have your aid package. The breakdown you gave doesn’t match #2 above at all!!!
What is the #3 school?
If you want to work in film work then you need to keep debt low. That’s because there are a lot of no pay/low pay jobs to get your foot in the door. I know some grads that get jobs at one of the talent agencies in LA. These entry jobs go to all kids of people from all kinds of colleges but they only pay $12 per hour. Then you either pursue an agent position or you hook of with the film production companies. One of then is an assistant to an award winning money making producer now and learning the business, reading scripts for his production company etc. I have to say I also know someone from NYU who did very well in film biz but had parents who could pay the entire tuition so that is a very different situation. You can’t take dues paying situation if you have private debt, you can’t put that off or have income based repayment like with federal debt. You can’t put your parents in 100k debt. I’m sure at some point they wouldn’t qualify unless they mortgaged their house and who is making these payments?
You as a student can borrow (total sub plus unsub):
I agree - the numbers you posted don’t quite make sense. Where did you come up with the $7k and $22k you posted initially? And was that supposed to be your total debt, or your annual debt? If it’s the latter, that’s not okay either. Given your chosen career, the less debt, the better . . . and you really shouldn’t go over the $27k federal loan cap.
Becoming a successful producer is like becoming a successful actor - if you make it, you’re a millionaire, but if you’re one of the hundreds of thousands of others, you’re lucky to have food on the table.That’s no reason not to try . . . but it’s a very good reason not to graduate in debt.
Sorry, not trying to be the voice of doom here - just tell me that’s not $22k/year!
Is there really no in-state program for film/communications? If you attend the state school to which you were accepted, what would you have to major in?
Sorry, let me clarify! For options 1 and 2, I wrote down the four year totals. For option 3, I put the annual price- essentially I could attend UIUC with zero debt upon graduation.
I was accepted to UIUC as a Communications major. My other option is Media & Cinema Studies, which focuses on the societal impact of the media.
I think this is the core issue here. Even if your parents were fine with cosigning for all of that private debt, loading yourself up to the gills like this means that you will have much less flexibility in actually pursuing film industry jobs. I’m not sure that’s something you would want to be honest; it would be frustrating to graduate from NYU Tisch with all of that debt and have to take a job completely unrelated to film for years and years trying to get that debt under control. Don’t get me wrong – it’s a great school but because of the nature of that industry you really want to keep your monthly payments after graduation small so that you can chase the different opportunities available to you.
I think that UIUC is your wisest choice. Either Comm or Media Studies are fine. Media studies will give you some critical and historical foundation that are very important to be a savvy person who understands the context of film and the needs and impact on the public. Also you will want to be a strong writer and take classes in all kinds of writing, literature analysis and structure, learning the craft of storytelling. It is good to know general history, arts and sciences.Then you take whatever production classes are on offer. Join whatever related groups are on campus. Get involved with or start a film festival. Get summer work at a film fest. See what summer technical programs you may be able to attend. Look into a study abroad program that has related classes. Network like crazy. Read an learn everything you can on the internet. If you still need it there are postgrad programs.
Okay, if the numbers you gave for UT were 4-year totals, then you really need to explain how you came up with $7k total for federal loans. Or was that a typo?
It should be $27k in federal loans. And when you add $27k (federal loans) and $22k (private loans), that’s still way, way too much. If that’s the case, then you need to find a way to make it work at UIUC.
Now, here’s one thing you may not have considered. With all the money you’d be saving at UIUC, you may be able to participate in filmmaking programs outside of school, and during the summer. With your costs so low, you can now contribute any summer and school year earnings to special programs. Maybe your parents could even afford to kick in a little something extra. Find out if you’d be eligible for work study at UIUC. If not, get a non-work study job on or near campus. And, if there’s a really cool filmmaking program that you still can’t afford, you still have access to federal loans (so long as you borrow during the school year), and taking out a loan once or twice wouldn’t be a disaster, so long as the program is worth it.
All too many film students end up having to take unpaid internships just so that they can get their feet in the door. Go to UIUC so that you can afford to do that sort of thing if you find you need to.
My daughter borrowed the direct loan maximum. My husband and I have paid off half that (with associated interest, of course) in two years. It has been very challenging at our income (approximately $60,000 last year) and only possible because I’m frugal and our house is paid for.
^^wow, give yourself a gold star, I don’t think most people have the discipline or the good fortune (car break down, oven go on the fritz, etc) to do that. I think that is super unrealistic to present as a typical situation.
Yeah, that’s my point. It’s not realistic for the typical situation. It is terrifying to not have money, and I strongly encourage people to avoid situations in which they will be without money. Another example of the terrifyingness of debt: I have a friend who, like me, is in her 50s; her husband is in his 60s and still has more than $200,000 in student loan debt, from graduate and law school in the 1980s and 1990s. No one big bad thing led to this state of affairs, just underemployment over the years.
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