My son accidently accepted all awards listed on the FASTawards for Pratt Institute.

<p>My son went to FASTawards to view his finantial aid package and was very excited to recieve a full scholarship(that was what he thought) All awards were listed as "awards" but when I looked at it carefully, there were some loans. Perkin's loan, federal loan.. I think the wording "awards" confused him.
Now I have to cancel it. I am going crazy. </p>

<p>is it possible to cancel this? my son also sent in the housing deposit 300$ and enrollemtn fee 300$. can i cancel and get a refund for that? he used credit card.</p>

<p>ah... i feel so bad for him he thought it was a full scholarship for gods sake.</p>

<p>what should i do to fix this now?</p>

<p>Call the school, explain what happened, and see what can be done.</p>

<p>So, is your son not going to go to that school now?</p>

<p>You can cancel the loans. There would be documents to sign before they become legal obligations. Only the school can tell you about the deposits.</p>

<p>*I think the wording “awards” confused him. *</p>

<p>Yes, I can totally understand. When we bought this house, we never thought of our mortgage as an “award.” LOL</p>

<p>Mom2 I can always count on you for a good laugh. I hope most deposits are refundable until May 1st…good luck with that.</p>

<p>But we need more time to think it over. We still got more to hear from the other schools.
My son made a quick, out of control decision because he thought it was a “full scholarship”</p>

<p>I want to cancel all that hes done and discuss it thoughtfully.</p>

<p>Pratt is a wonderful school though. My son really wants to go there still.</p>

<p>I called Pratt today and explained all these. Our $600 is in process and they told me there is no way to stop it. Only way to stop this is to contact the credit card company and notify them not to charge.</p>

<p>I think its more important what college you graduate from. I think my son can spend his first year of college at a cheaper, state community kind of type of college… </p>

<p>thanks for your reply guys</p>

<p>^^^
Not a bad idea lovepratt…just have him make sure that the classes he enrolls in will transfer to his next school.</p>

<p>I think you could dispute the charge as unauthorized by you, assuming this was your credit card. If you do it within the issuer’s notification limits, they should be able to help resolve this and it may give you a few weeks to compare offers before severing ties with Pratt. Can’t believe they won’t even refund the housing deposit though! Many, if not most, schools will not refund tuition deposits and there are usually refund policies posted on their websites and in their admission/FA mailings.</p>

<p>Yea I took care of everything about money. Thank you so much for your advice!</p>

<p>now Its on choosing college. We have two options SCAD and Pratt. My son wants to major in painting. I am wonderig if credit transfer from SCAD to Pratt is fully possible. </p>

<p>but my son seems to like Pratt more. He says he can work at Pratt to make money and get Work Study grant. But I told him it would be impossible to study and work at the same time. Many parents told me that working and studing would be impossible since there are load of work when you get to Pratt. And work study is tough.</p>

<p>Not sure I follow your “work study is tough” statement. “Work study” just means a job (usually on campus) for a student who meets certain FA requirements, which allows the employer to seek federal reimbursement for the student’s wages. There are many campus jobs that offer plenty of time to do homework while “working” (e.g., reception or service desk). It’s not “impossible” to have a campus job even with a rigorous courseload. It does take discipline and organizational skills. But many, many students do it.</p>

<p>@lovepratt: You wrote: “I think my son can spend his first year of college at a cheaper, state community kind of type of college…”</p>

<p>In art this is not so true. What’s really important is the foundation program – the first year of any BFA program – and is especially intensive in stand-alone art schools. As for work and study combined, this depends in part on whether the school itself can provide work opportunity that fits into the class schedule. My daughter worked 7-8 hrs/week when in art school, but not in her first year. That year tends to be quite intensive at art schools. BTW/ Pratt is an excellent school.</p>

<p>^^^^
Pratt is a wonderful school, my husbands’ cousin attended and still talks about his experience. He is so amazingly talented. If that is what Pratt produces than it would be hard to turn down.</p>

<p>We had a thoughtful conversation about the future, and goals… and I agreed my son going to the Pratt Institute.</p>

<p>total loan will be $25000 for his first academic year. Wow! it is a big money… but I am hoping it is worth it…for the quality of education he will be getting.</p>

<p>$600 enrollment and room fee is in now.
Today was a big day</p>

<p>like you said, I think Pratt is a wonderful school and I think I can trust this school. And I see my son’s determination…as a parent, I want to help him all I can.</p>

<p>Is he going to be taking on $100,000 in loans to get a degree in painting?</p>

<p>Let me clarify, I was a fine arts major as well and there is nothing wrong with that but that is a huge amount of debt for an artist to be carrying. I have a real issue with how Pratt and other schools like it encourage their students to take out loans that they surely must know will be crushing for most of their graduates.</p>

<p>If you have not already, go to a page like this one, scroll down and start running some numbers on what paying that back will look like.</p>

<p><a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid;

<p>That is alot of debt for a kid to take on. ^^^^^ I agree with pugmadkate are there cheaper options and have you spoke to their financial aid office yet?</p>

<p>Unlike some on CC, I believe in educational debt. It is an investment. But, 100K for an artist is really, really scary. It’s even scary for an engineer. My BIL majored in FA. He didn’t exactly have a job since college and already in his 40’s. Not that your son will end up like that. People go on to do other things, rather sucessfully. I’d think more than twice about taking this huge amount of debt for all four/five years.</p>

<p>$100,000 is a big money in dept… i know…but what can I do? all art schools are expensive like that. I am so worrried.</p>

<p>My son will major in painting for the first foundation year. and He says he wants to change his major to graphic, industrial, or fashion design. He is eager to make money.
But he says he wants to learn how to paint in the first year…since thats his passion.</p>

<p>I dont think he is going to Pratt with 100,000 dept to get a degree in painting.</p>

<p>Is it possible to easily pay off 100,000? if he gets hired in a good place.?</p>

<p>That’s a huge amount of debt. Did he ever consider FIT in NYC? Many of our local “art” kids consistently choose it over the more expensive schools because of the “bang for the buck” education.</p>

<p>I don’t think it’s possible to “easily” pay off 100,000 in debt unless you’re independently wealthy.</p>