<p>I am a community college student who has just applied to transfer to art schools for illustration (RISD, MICA, Pafa, KCAI, SAIC). I go to community because a.) financial reasons (I will be leacing my school with ZERO debt!) and b.) because I just started taking "real" art classes when I was 19 (I am 21 now) and didn't have a portfolio to apply to art schools with, as I was originally a professional ballet dancer but had to retire early due to injury. My CC has a really well known Art and Design transfer program, and students are very successful who go through it. </p>
<p>Anyway, I wanted to discuss scholarships for transfer students. Is it true that transfers get lower scholarship amounts? If so, does anyone know why? </p>
<p>I got $9,000/year to Pafa (out of about $28,000/year tuition) and $10,000/year to SAIC (out of about $40,000) all of which is merit. Is this bad? Good? I have no idea. All I know is that I am considered to be a top student in my current program, I have a full ride at my school, I have a unique background, I have a 3.9 gpa, I am an honors student, my work is solid, I had great portfolio reviews with all of my schools of interest, will be recieving an associates, and I felt that my writing submissions were strong too. I just feel like I see much higher scholarship amounts (particularly with freshmen applicants) and it is very frustrating and discouraging. Did I work myself sick these past two years only to not even qualify for the higher scholarships available? Just a thought I am having. </p>
<p>Do RISD transfers (if accepted) ever qualify for scholarship? It's my top choice. I'm dying to get in but if they give me nothing I won't be able to go and I'm getting so nervous about it!</p>
<p>Sorry if this sounded like a "poor me" thing, I'm just trying to figure out these crazy art schools and their systems and it's a bit frustrating! Any responses to this stuff would be fantastic!</p>
<p>Anything higher than $15k scholarship per year at an art school is rare. RISD will also consider need, so if you have a low EFC that might help. Are you considered an independent student for FAFSA purposes now that you are 21? It doesn’t hurt to ask for more at any of these schools, especially if you qualify as an independent student. </p>
<p>I am curious to hear if MICA and KCAI offer you more than the scholarships you just received.</p>
<p>My daughter is also a transfer student and received a similar amount from SAIC, the only school the two of you have in common. Definitely file a FAFSA if you have not already done so, but my daughter is over 21 and did not qualify as independent. She would have qualified if she was over 24. FAFSA rules are not the same as IRS rules for whether or not you are a dependent.</p>
<p>Art schools are quite expensive. Did you consider any state schools? Some of them have decent programs and can be more affordable.</p>
<p>Since posting this, I have another $10,000 for SAIC (including financial aid). I haven’t yet recieved financial aid for PAFA. I have considered schools in my state for the money, but PAFA was the only one in Pennsylvania that I had genuine interest in. KCAI offered me advanced standing and a $12,500 merit per year (with financial aid on the way). MICA is sending financial aid in I think two weeks, and I should hear from RISD around that time as well.</p>
<p>Scholarship is variable for several reasons. It can depend on one’s major in relation to its popularity at one school. For example, industrial design is less popular at Saic, and painting is a less popular major at RISD. These students who show interest and promise and less popular fields tend to get more scholarship as a way to lure them to less popuar departments for schools.</p>
<p>It can also depend on how schools decide to ration scholarship/financial aid. Some schools believe in a model where everyone should get at least some scholarship, so that the student body as a whole leave with less debt, but still debt. Other schools believe in a model where only the best get scholarshp and the worse get none. Those who go for full pay are essentially funding the scholarships for those students who go based upon a scholarship.</p>
<p>But those are just abstractions/generalizations. You say you go to a well established transfer program. If this is the case, I think you should speak to friends who have transferred successfully and ask them about their experiences with those schools. Furthermore, your teachers will probably be more knowledgable on the subject than anyone here on this forum about this subject.</p>
<p>Thanks for your response. That is a good point, I guess there just isn’t a yes or no answer to these questions, it always depends upon the circumstances. Unfortunately I don’t know anyone who graduated from my program from last year who applied to the schools I am interested in and nobody applied for Illustration either… Oh well I guess I will have to see! My teachers have been helpful. I get the feeling that they were expecting me to recieve more scholarship though, which is initially why I started questioning.</p>
<p>Just curious, will you need to spend 2 years at your new school or more? I know MICA has “returning student” scholarships as well so you could apply for that next year and add to your scholarship amount (but usually only $800 - $1200 or so).</p>