Over $30k/year for art school? Am I crazy?

College Majors Visual Arts and Film Majors
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<p>paperplane:</p>

<p>Yes, with OU, I’ll get the in-state discount, and if my grades and financial situation can lower my tuition, I might be able to study abroad and do other internships (if they require traveling), something that I might not be able to do if I go to an expensive school.
If I decided to go to an in-state school for undergrad, I would have to make another decision: Whether to stay at my community college for 1 more year and knock all those gen-eds out, while experimenting with filmmaking (another one of my interests); or move to the in-state college and continue exploring my interests in photo and film. This could mean switching majors and spending extra time in school, if the photography and film requirements are not overlapped. </p>

<p>artsmarts:</p>

<p>I appreciate your warnings about loans and how they can have a negative impact on my career. I really wanted some realistic advices, not someone who tells me to follow my dream and everything will be a-ok. </p>

<p>I’m very grateful that everybody is sharing their opinions on my situation. Being a first-born in a immigrant family that has very little knowledge about how this country works, let alone college, I do not have the luxury of making mistakes that will cost us our financial security. I feel like you all are being very honest with me about the potential goods and bads of my choices.</p>

<p>Oh, I just realized I didn’t tell you guys what kind of photography I’m planning on doing. I’m more of a fine art/documentary person, but I’d like to do fashion and wedding photography as well (That is where all the money is, after all)</p>

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<p>I was an avid amateur photographer and when I went to graduate school, I supported myself with a photography business. I had access to a great studio and did fine art. weddings, fashion (local clothing stores), and composites for the local modeling schools. I did some school photos and I did some photos for <em>me</em> (B&W facial portraits). I loved the portraits… I <em>hated</em> everything else and it turned me away from photography forever. Now I let my wife (and son) do all the travel photos and the only camera I carry is the iPhone. It was a huge difference between doing something for fun and doing it for money. Make sure you’ll love it forever.</p>

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<p>OTOH, my son loves it. Here is an example of one of his professional shoots: [girl</a> band in the men’s room](<a href=“http://girlbandinthemensroom.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/]girl”>http://girlbandinthemensroom.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/) Check out some of the other photos from this shoot and the music video (left side) as well.</p>

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<p>If the bucolic and the burbs are not your style (and I don’t think they excite too many people under age 30) have you looked into the Cleveland area schools. Baldwin-Wallace is a private option, although I don’t know what the finances are likely to be. But you can run a projection on their Net Price Calculator. Cleveland State also has fairly extensive visual arts offerings, as well as a filmmaking program. I am not familiar with the reputation of those programs at either school but they are pretty far from Appalachia.</p>

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<p>digmedia:</p>

<p>That’s exactly how I feel about illustration. I love drawing, and I’ll love it forever, but I don’t love it enough to make a living out of it. I love to draw for myself, not to satisfy other people. But I feel like with photography, it’s different. I’m not sure if it’s because I see photography as more of a technical thing (which I know it’s not entirely true), while illustration has more of a “romantic notion” for me. I don’t mind the crazy long-hours setup for a photoshoot. I would love to do what your son is doing actually, photographing and directing music videos for bands. I’m very into the underground music scene, and I feel like I can be more experimental with it rather than the other commercial stuffs (except maybe high-fashion photography, but what are the odds?)</p>

<p>hudsonvalley51:
I’m actually from the Cleveland area (about 30 mins away), which I why I want to go somewhere else for college. And yes, Cleveland is already quite urban, i’m not sure how I’m going to survive if I go to OU. Although OU sounds like a very good option for me right now.
I enjoy the hustle and bustle of a city, being born and raised in a big city myself… I like to see people when I look out my window and hear noises from the street. Where I live, it’s like completely silence, even during daytime. Sometimes when I’m home alone, I feel like I’m the only person in this town. It’s an extremely safe little town, as I can go everywhere by myself (even into the woods) if I want. But I find the solidude kind of creepy.</p>

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<p>FloraEscent, Thank you for starting this thread; it has become food for thought for many in your position, I’m sure! You have received great advice, including some from yourself! A few more thoughts come to mind:</p>

<p>~Don’t underestimate the networking that attending a big name state university can provide. If you think about it, MOST kids cannot afford big name schools in any major, so when you are out there looking for a job it follows that many of those doing the hiring will be alumni from a state university. They often will take an interest in you just from having that connection, and it is certainly a conversation-starter.</p>

<p>~I completely second artsmarts’ advice about getting into big debt. Avoid it if you can! Use the $$ you save to intern or study in another city or abroad. I know that several schools have students attend a semester-long program at the International Center for Photograhpy in NYC. Maybe OS does this?</p>

<p>~As digmedia says, the sooner you can get involved in film-making the better! If you are considering this, read back on dig’s posts and consider going to OS sooner rather than later. </p>

<p>~Have you looked into financial aid or mentoring programs for “first generation in college” students? I don’t know much about it, but it might be worth exploring.</p>

<p>~Don’t worry too much about your social life! I think you will find it within your major, especially as an art student. You will be too busy working to take advantage of a big city on a day-to-day basis, and if you are craving some city shoots you can go home for a weekend and get those. I would guess that most of your time will be spent either shooting, in the labs, or prepping your work for portfolio.</p>

<p>~Be sure to visit all the schools you are considering! I think you will get a “gut” feeling about what is right for you. It is very difficult and often a mistake to choose one based on paper/website. Sometimes the one that on paper is last on your list becomes your first choice!</p>

<p>You have a lot going for you in terms of intellect, self-knowledge, and common sense. I think you’ll go far! Keep us posted!</p>

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<p>Right now I’m doing some research on Ohio University’s Honors Tutorial College and their Fine Arts program. My ultimate goal, as far-fetched as it might sound, is to be a photographer for famous magazines (such as Vogue or NatGeo); or to work in the film industry as a cinematographer or music video director. I’m not sure if OU would help me get there, but I guess the only way to find out is to talk to the school instead of just applying and leaving it up to fate.</p>

<p>The only thing that’s bothering me is that the deadline for OU’s Fine Arts dept. is today, and HTC’s deadline is not specified on their website, so I’m not sure if I should apply to Fine Arts, or wait for someone from HTC to call me back. And HTC does not admit transfer students who have completed more than 1 year of college from somewhere else, so if I don’t get in this year, I can only apply to their Fine Arts program. I’m not sure if I’d gain enough knowledge in the technical side of film and photo if I chose the HTC route, so I don’t know what to do…</p>

<p>digmedia, if you’re still on here, what do you think? Does HTC provides enough training in the technical aspect of film/photo? Because from what I’m researching, it sounds like an independent study program, where students have to figure everything out on their own and turn an assignment in for a grade.</p>

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<p>You should really look at a few more schools:
SCAD, Pratt, Parsons, SVA…etc</p>

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<p>Flora…</p>

<p>The HTC is <em>very</em> selective and is looking or people who really, really know what they want to do, and who are very independent and self-directed. That said, you are not “on your own.” More like one-on-one with professors for at least one class per quarter/semester. You’ll get lots of instruction, but the REAL learning will come from making films with others in the program. If the HTC doesn’t work out, there is still the Media Arts program, but what year are you thinking of starting. The deadline for HTC and Media Arts for this coming Fall was back in November 2011 or so.</p>

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<p>Re: You really should look at a few more schools
The problem for this student would be that these schools would all require
a large amount of loan debt. And that is something I would personally recommend against.</p>

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<p>Hi FloraEscent. You can find very good programs at state colleges. I don’t know about photography, but for example, if you live in NY, SUNY-New Paltz is excellent for graphic design, and if you live in Georgia, Georgia Southern University is very good. </p>

<p>Always, the biggest difference-makers in a program are the faculty, and you can find great faculty anywhere. How to find them at state schools? Network, network, network. Find the graduates–as many as you can–and ask them questions. </p>

<p>Best of luck to you.</p>

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<p>“But whatever you do DON’T GET TIED DOWN TO LOANS and DEBTS. . . especially if you are majoring in art and/or photography. How about going to a city and getting yourself interned on your own to a working photographer. That might be a heck of a lot more useful in terms of knowledge about running a business not to mention connections. Look up the photographers who are working whose work you admire and send them a letter/note regarding interning or working for them. Use those writing skills to make it a bang-up letter. Personally I really don’t think going into debt to the tune of $80-100,000 for an art degree makes sense. Go out in the field and work instead.”</p>

<p>The above is great advice.</p>

<p>I don’t have an aspiring art college student, but I do have a 24-year old daughter who is already very successful in the art business. She is a professional painter. She does classical/realistic work, which includes private portrait commissions. She has been supporting herself since age 19, and did not go to traditional college. Instead, she went online and researched where the best training in her chosen field was. She determined that it was in Florence, Italy, in the ateliers there, and spent five years there. It was cheaper than attending even an in-state college would have been. After the first year there, she got scholarships to pay for most of her tuition, and took on painting commissions to pay for the rest. Now she works in the USA about 8 months a year, then goes to Europe for 3-4 months a year. She is represented by one gallery (for the moment) and sells most of her paintings directly to customers. Back when she was starting out (at age 17), her back-up plan was to study art in private studios in New York City if she was not admitted to any of the ateliers in Florence–for the same reasons you have stated–big city, make contacts.</p>

<p>I don’t know much about photography, but there are similarities. These are not fields which absolutely require college degrees. You need good training, but there are many ways to get there. What you need to do is research. Today there is the internet, which opens up so many possibilities. You have been given a number of good suggestions: live in a big city, attend a large public university, work (in photography) in a large city. Are there any non-college photography programs which are considered good? There is no one right or correct way. The most important thing to do is to take control of your education and direction yourself. And don’t take out any loans.</p>

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<p>Hi guys! It is now August, which means school is about to start. For those of you who are still reading this thread and wondering what I’m doing about this, here’s an update: I’ve decided to attend SAIC. Crazy, I know. Very crazy indeed. But sometimes you gotta to take risks. I have been standing at the edge worrying about the results for far too long now. It’s time to make the jump. I don’t know if this is a good risk, or a failure waiting to happen, but I’m going to make it work (in the words of Tim Gunn ^^) Believe me, I’m not taking out this crazy amount of loan just to f*** up. </p>

<p>I didn’t just make this decision out of the blue either. I knew the whole time that SAIC was where I will ultimately end up, but the financial aspect kept pushing me away from it. I found out via College Confidential that students can ask for financial appeal, so I called the school and ask if there was anything that I could do to have my FA revised. They told me to write a letter. At first they gave me a $2,500/yr grand. Then I got a phone call from my admission advisor about an extra merit scholarship opportunity. I sent in 5 artworks, and just received a letter yesterday stating that my merit scholarship has increased from $11,000/yr to $14,000/yr.</p>

<p>An extra $5,500/yr (along with loans) is good enough to cover all my my expenses, including dorm and meal plan. My mom still has to take about a big loan, but I will make sure that money will not go to waste. I’m too in touch with reality for that to happen.</p>

<p>Either way, I’m moving to Chicago in less than 3 weeks. Thanks for all of your help! Wish me luck :D</p>

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<p>FloraEscent, Congratulations on your decision to attend SAIC. Best of luck to you, and if you have time, let us know how you are doing in Chicago!</p>

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<p>Good luck to you and enjoy Chicago.</p>

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<p>You should consider RIT. They have an outstanding reputation for photography and give very decent scholarships. SVA is a “for profit” schools. While they have a good program for most of their majors, including photography, they are not known for giving out great financial aid.</p>