Miserable at Cheap School vs. Happy at Expensive School

Paying for College
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<p>Currently I am a student at a state school where I only have to take out about $4,000 in student loans each year. However, I've decided I really want to go into fashion photography and I realize that the only way to do that is to work my butt off, kiss up to people, and live in NYC.</p>

<p>I have been researching many schools in NYC, most of which have a price tag around $50k a year. A lot of them don't offer much merit scholarships at all, at least not enough to even put a dent in $50k.</p>

<p>The problem is my parents make way too much money for me to qualify for any sort of need-based aid, but they will not help me out financially at all. I'm all on my own.</p>

<p>So my question is, should I suffer out two more years at my state school getting a degree in something I don't want, and come out of school with only $16k in debt, or transfer and get a degree in something I want to do, and come out with about $100k in debt? Help, help, help!!!!</p>

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<p>Many schools offer photography outside of NYC.
There are fashion magazines, blogs, shows et al, outside of NYC.
If you want to pursue a creative field, you will need to think more creatively.</p>

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<p>Cant you find something in the middle? Does another state school in your state offer a program in fashion photography - perhaps with an option for internships in New York? $100,000 is a ton of debt.</p>

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<p><a href=“Parsons/CalArts? - Visual Arts and Film Majors - College Confidential Forums”>Parsons/CalArts? - Visual Arts and Film Majors - College Confidential Forums;
OP’s last post in the topic</p>

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<p>^ROFL. Yes, it sounds like the OP is really suffering at WKU.</p>

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<p>WKU’s photo department is amazing for photojournalism. But the focus is extremely heavy on stories. I work my butt off on stories about poverty and drug abuse and such and it’s not what I want to do. I don’t want to work for a newspaper or spend the rest of my life shooting sports and stories. WKU is good for PJ, not good for commercial/fashion photography. Which is why I am want to transfer…</p>

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<p>I don’t understand why you think the only way to make it in fashion photography is to live in NYC, or even to live in NYC right this moment. Why can’t you study photography and perhaps something else at your current university, move to NYC after graduation, and then try to find a job in the industry? If you can’t, then you can find a backup and work in fashion photography until you can get a gig in the field.</p>

<p>I don’t think you should take on $100,000 in debt. You may never be able to repay it, and you will be crushed under that debt for a long while. How are you going to be able to take the low-paying jobs that fashion photography requires in the earlier years if you have massive student loans to pay off? You can learn how to transfer skills - what that means is, take the photography classes at WKU and learn to apply the skills you learn in more PJ related classes to other types of photography. And do internships. You can find a summer internship in NYC, maybe take a few classes at Parsons over the summer. After you graduate, you can move to NYC and if you feel you need to supplement your knowledge, take some classes as a non-degree student.</p>

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<p>Why rush to NY for school. It will be there when you graduate with less debt. So will LA, London, Paris, Madrid, Tokyo and anywhere else that fashion will take you. By making contacts outside of fashion (through your current serious program) you might come upon opportunities to pay the bills. </p>

<p>Fashion is about finding the next, the new, the unconventional. Why try to study with your competition when you could come in with a fresh perspective?</p>

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<p>I doubt your parents are going to cosign those loans and you can’t get those loans without their signatures. So, finish where you are.</p>

<p>Not to mention, as a newish grad, you’re not going to be earning enough to make loan payments on that much ridiculous debt.</p>

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<p>The problem with your plan is that no one is going to loan you 100K. You have already stated that your parents are not going to pay for this and you are on your own. I guess that your parents co-signing for 100k in loans are also out of the question. At this stage the most you will be able to borrow in your name and on your own are the stafford loan limits.</p>

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<p>Avoid debt. Especially for Fashion photography. I honestly don’t even think you need to go to college for such a thing. Just established your own style, go to a lot of parties and move up the social ladder. Just look at Terry Richardson. Sounds shallow, but it’s fashion after all.</p>

<p>I have friends who have shot for Kim Jones, Stone Island, Robert Geller, etc. and from what I can tell, most of their success came from networking. I know a kid that made it to GQ and the Sartorialist just through blogging. So yeah. Avoid debt.</p>

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<p>Can you swing a semester abroad in say, Milan or Rome? Research if it will cost you anything extra and maybe make some cuts elsewhere so you could travel there and study for the semester or even during a summer session which would be even cheaper but give the same opportunities…</p>

<p>Think outside the box…</p>

<p>Kat</p>

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<p>hilltopper</p>

<p>You will be able to find work in fashion industry based NOT on your education but on your portfolio. This is how all these art-related fields work, you even don’t need any college education at all to get there. You just need a bunch of pictures to show around. And these pictures have to be up to industry standards.</p>

<p>To go to an expensive school for any art-related major is the stupidest action ever. To believe that going to an expensive school would give you a free pass to a dream job is an unrealistic expectation.</p>

<p>I personally even stopped reading all these “theatre” and “visual arts” forums because I don’t want to read posts how NYU or some other “reputable” school will make you famous after you obtain debt of $100,000. It all sounds like feverish gold rush. And it is rip-off. If people don’t want to understand it, it is their problem.</p>

<p>Do you know what trade-ins are? You join some meet-up or yahoo modeling group, facebook or myspace group in your area or you create one yourself.
You can also join a couple of related websites like
<a href=“http://www.modelmayhem.com/[/url]”>http://www.modelmayhem.com/&lt;/a&gt;
[OTS</a> ShopTalk a Forum Available to OneTalentSource Members](<a href=“http://onetalentsource.net/]OTS”>http://onetalentsource.net/)</p>

<p>You invite " aspiring models" (and you cannot imagine how many would be eager :D) and some other fellow-photographers from your class to meet on weekends for free thematic photo sessions. You find place in some kind of public park or other public place with the appropriate background for the theme, you provide cameras,shades or lights, whatever equipment is necessary for an outdoor quality shoots, and you give the “models” releases to sign that their pictures become photographers property in exchange for free images for their portfolios. The “models” provide costumes, makeup, hairdo and they get high quality pictures for their portfolios for free. You don’t need to print the pictures, you can let them be downloaded or email them digitally.</p>

<p>Here is the website of people who about 8 years ago started doing just that because their teenage daughter wanted to be an aspiring model and going to professional photographers and paying money for pictures to build portfolio was unaffordable. These people were not photographers but they did something they liked and here is the result.</p>

<p>[The</a> Photo Binder .com | Texas Workshop Photo Shoot and Event Photography](<a href=“http://www.thephotobinder.com/]The”>http://www.thephotobinder.com/)</p>

<p>You can check the examples of pictures on the left side, all these different themes.</p>

<p>The main thing is to be polite to each and every "aspiring model’ even if she is short, fat and ugly. You don’t turn anyone down. It is up to you though how much time you spend shooting different models.</p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

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<p>You do NOT need an expensive college degree from a school in NYC. Get your bachelors, make sure you have an awesome portfolio, and move to NYC after graduation. You really don’t need to have college debt if you plan to live in NYC as a struggling artist.</p>

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<p>There are people miserable at expensive schools too. It just costs more to be miserable there.</p>

<p>And you’ll be miserable a lot longer paying for those loans to be miserable at an expensive school.</p>

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<p>You do NOT need to study in NYC in order to do most anything.</p>

<p>However, if you insist on studying fashion photography in NYC your most cost effective option MIGHT be the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). FIT is a part of the SUNY system and is dirt cheap for in-state students and very inexpensive for OOS students. The OOS comprehensive fee (tuition, fees, room & board) is 24,700 per year. </p>

<p>If you haven’t checked out FIT yet here’s a link:</p>

<p>[Fashion</a> Institute of Technology - Photography](<a href=“http://www.fitnyc.edu/2644.asp]Fashion”>http://www.fitnyc.edu/2644.asp)</p>

<p>I’d definitely be wary of high cost, mediocre financial aid schools such as NYU.</p>

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<p>Correct me if I am wrong, but I always thought that in order to succeed in fashion photography, or any other creative field, you don’t necessarily need a specific degree. Instead, you need a talent showcased in an awsome portfolio and luck - be in the right place at the right time.</p>

<p>Of course formal training does not hurt, but you already are getting some of it at your state school. You can get more specialized training after you graduate and move to NY, while working and trying to break in into the field. You don’t need entire degree in fashion photography- just couple of classes on top of your BA degree.</p>

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<p>FIT is a great alternative that does not have the big bucks costs. It is a workshop type school, however, and those who are looking more for a traditional college experience instead of getting down to business may not like it. I know of 3 kids who just did not like the way it worked despite the focus and NYC locale.</p>

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<p>I forgot about FIT - I would say that’s a great opportunity if you can afford that. It’s pretty inexpensive for OOS students, as was pointed out, and they have a focus on fashion photography including a study abroad program to Milan or Florence.</p>

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<p>I agree with Ya Ya. Is there a fashion merchandising/retail major at your school. Volunteer to take photos for fashion show. Local events? Our town does a recycle runway fashion show every year, volunteer. Surely your school paper runs stories on what’s new in fashion, volunteer for those. Get some good friends and take pictures. You can do a lot on your own. </p>

<p>Go to your internship/fellowship office of your school and see if there are appropriate internships.</p>