<p>Hello everybody!
I am currently a freshman attending SVA with a pretty decent scholarship in BFA Graphic Design. I figured out how my parents and I will pay the debt off when I graduate, so we decided that I can attend all four years. </p>
<p>However, I was looking through some websites about the amount of loans schools take out between SVA and RISD, and the difference was shocking. Due to SVA being a profit organization versus RISD non-profit, I thought maybe RISD can be more generous.</p>
<p>I received Cs and Bs with As in art classes in high school with an unweighted GPA of 3.0.
I am getting a 3.6 GPA so far with As in art classes and an A+ in drawing in SVA. (I plan to aim for a 4.0 for the second semester. Received B & B+ due to many lates for attendance this semester)
My EFC is 00000 and my sister attends Carnegie Mellon University.</p>
<p>My biggest concern and question is whether RISD looks for wealthy candidates over poor candidates. I hear a lot of students there are snooty and loaded, so I worry that all RISD wants are wealthy, somewhat artistically knowledgeable candidates instead of poor talented ones who might be better candidates. I hear RISD is terrible in terms of giving out financial aid to the needy and stingy scholarships, which are given even less to transfers. </p>
<p>Am I wasting my time trying transferring to RISD in hopes that they'll see my potentials in being talented (which many professors here have seen and told me about) and perhaps save me from my financial burden less than that of SVA?</p>
<p>Basically: Will I have a chance of saving money transferring to RISD from SVA under these circumstances?</p>
<p>You will only know if you try. I do believe that as a transfer you might not get as much as if you would if you came in a as a Freshman. RISD is not LOOKING for wealthy candidates. They are looking for passion and commitment. If they see that in you they may offer you a good financial aid package. But if you go in there with the burden of thinking everyone else is a rich a***hole you may have a hard time feeling good. But that is an issue you will have to work out anywhere.</p>
<p>RISD can give some decent need based aid,but they give VERY little, if any, merit based aid. I would bet that you won’t get a lot of aid at RISD,but there is little harm trying.</p>
<p>@drae27
woah hey there. thank you for your input, but i never said anything about thinking of them as a**holes. you’re twisting my thoughts. i am just reciting what many have said in reviews about these kids and from direct observations from my friends who currently attend. i apologize for seeming like i am sneering at these kids. i am currently attending a private art school with kids like these and i do not have a “hard time feeling good” at all. i actually made great friends who are in such a category so it’ll not be an issue.</p>
<p>@taxguy
Yeah i probably won’t, but it is worth a shot like you say
I will keep my fingers crosses and give it a try!</p>
<p>OK - I did put words in your mouth but you did say:
“snooty and loaded, so I worry that all RISD wants are wealthy, somewhat artistically knowledgeable candidates instead of poor talented ones who might be better candidates. I hear RISD is terrible in terms of giving out financial aid to the needy”.</p>
<p>Which to me comes across as “us vs them”.
poor, talented, better candidates vs. snooty, loaded, somewhat artistically knowledgable (sounds like another way of saying lame) </p>
<p>I would put it this way. RISD gives aid based on need, not merit, but you must be a strong candidate (grades/portfolio/recommendations) to be accepted in order to get that aid. You have the need, so if the other things are there, it is worth your time trying.</p>
<p>And I hear that what you are saying that you are worried that they might pass you by for someone else who can pay full ride. My guess is that if you stand out they won’t pass you by, but not every spot they have open can go to kids with a lot of need so to some extant you might be able to say it is true. And as you said - you are dealing with that atmosphere already. Art schools do have a lot of privileged kids some of who are coasting by on their parents support. Anywhere you go there will be talented and untalented, rich and not so rich, lazy and hardworking and everything in between. But none of this really matters. What you are wondering is - could your tuition be less at RISD than it is now at SVA? It sounds like it is worth finding out. But if it doesn’t come to pass, you are in a good place, with a strong program in Graphic Design. Work hard, keep inspired, intern, be kind and dependable and you will be able to get good work and pay back those loans.</p>
<p>@drae27
I see what you’re saying about what I wrote now ^^ I never read into it so much but you’re right. Other than that, thank you very much for taking your time in giving helpful feedback and advice!! I really appreciate it I will take a leap of faith and until then, work hard! Hope you have an awesome evening!</p>
<p>Hi
I’d like to ask few questions if it’s OK.
Where are you located?
Are you commuting to SVA or living in the residence?
Is your SVA scholarship renewable/guaranteed for four years?</p>
<p>If I remember correctly RISD students must live in the dorms and have to purchase meal plan until junior year. You might need to budget them accordingly.</p>
<p>This is from the FAQ link
Can freshmen or sophomores live off campus?
We expect all first and second year students at RISD to live on campus. Those students who are married, will turn 21 years of age before September 1st, or plan to live at home locally with their parents, may request a waiver of this requirement. We define “home” as the parent(s)’ place of legal domicile.</p>
<p>Have you applied there as a freshman? If you didn’t, why?
If you did, what happened? I would not expect financial aid amount to be any better than when you’d have been accepted as a freshman.
As far as I know, only students with pure needs combined with stelar academics and great works are the ones awarded large amount.
Not to discourage you or anything but if your goal is to become commercial graphic artist I don’t think you are missing out much by staying at where you are.</p>
<p>Why not apply and see it for yourself, you are in the win-win situation assuming you can renew your scholarship.</p>
<p>@whatitsays
Where are you located?
New Jersey
Are you commuting to SVA or living in the residence?
Living in the dorm. The cheapest option being 9k for a triple
Is your SVA scholarship renewable/guaranteed for four years?
Once you receive an SVA scholarship, you must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA each semester to keep the scholarship. I don’t think it’s possible for the amount to change throughout your years at SVA.</p>
<p>I applied last year to enter RISD as a freshman. Yes I did apply and received the rejection letter. I had issues at home involving deaths and was admitted to the hospital for depression by my school. But no one in the admissions office would care what i went through you know? Anyways, what gave me hope was when I last-minute did my AP Studio Art drawings, I still received a 5 which told me i cannot give up just cuz RISD rejected me so I thought that maybe if I submit works that I actually worked hard on instead of last minute shananigans like I’ve been doing and ones I am confident about, maybe i’d have a better chance this time around. My GPA got a little higher I guess which might help from a 3.0 to a 3.6 as well.</p>
<p>Like you say, it is a win-win situation If I don’t make it, oh well. I’ll just work my butt off here and if I do make it, prepare to work the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life since I hear the graphic design program is rigorous. </p>
<p>Hope I answered all your questions ^^ and thanks for the info about RISD dorming and meal plan requirements…had no idea they were mandatory :’(</p>
<p>Sorry to hear you went through such a rough time. And glad to hear you are feeling stronger and have more energy for your work. Let that feeling be your guide. Even if RISD doesn’t admit you again, don’t take it too hard. Their decision really has no bearing on your value, talent or where you will end up. Best wishes!</p>
<p>PS
I read your Common App essay. Is that separate from the essays that RISD is asking for? What was the prompt you used? </p>
<p>It will be important that you let RISD know what is inspiring you creatively and what you are exploring in your artwork now. Try to communicate to them what your passions are, what obsesses you. Name specific artists, writers, musicians. Talk about your process. Your themes. The way it fits into what has come before and how you wish to move your work along and develop it. What are your dreams for the future related to art/design?</p>
<p>Hi
drae27, I can not quite know how to navigate your attached link. Can you help me?</p>
<p>taxguy, I agree with you. But I could not think of anyone top of my head who is contemporary to the student here, and I happened to adore Melinda Beck from the first time I saw her works on the Voice. She seems to be the good role model, if not the poster child of RISD for incoming students, especially girls who want something more than just technical training: namely romance(biggest- she met her SO at RISD), fashion(bigger), fine art(big), history, music, politics, all the works.</p>
<p>Here is my poster child (middle aged man) of SVA. I have heard that SVA literally opened the door and pushed him through onto the road which was already paved by his peers and instructors.
I did not linked it because that would show my age. I am sorry it offended you, taxguy.
[Hanoch</a> Piven - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanoch_Piven]Hanoch”>Hanoch Piven - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>@Timkerdes
Ah, cooper union. I don’t think I’ll have spare time for the take home test ^^ To be honest, that school has always been a mystery to me so it never occurred to me to apply.</p>
<p>@drae27
Thank you and I’m totally fine now Took medication and yada yada.</p>
<p>And I decided to use RISD’s common app option and the prompt was “Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities or work experiences in the space below (1000 character maximum).”</p>
<p>And seeing the topics and tips you brought up, I noticed I suck at writing about my feelings towards art. I will definitely try to take your advices because I never thought about the writing portion much ^^</p>
<p>And for the RISD prompts, I am currently working on this one:
Is there something you love, have to do, can’t stop thinking about? Write about a personal passion or obsession other than visual art or design.</p>
<p>I plan on writing about how obsessed I am with the term YOLO used by society today standing for “You Only Live Once.” It’s a very broad topic, so I’m trying to narrow it down to focus on the things you mentioned about how important it is to spend each second to get inspired and get working and stuff… I will probably make a separate post to see if anyone would like to proof read it :D</p>
<p>@whatitsays
wow what a successful individual ^^ i thought a higher ranked school will help me be at the top of my competition when it comes time for applying for internships and job searching thank you for showing that link to me! i am now highly motivated haha</p>
<p>^ I get it…that essay makes sense in response to that question.</p>
<p>@whatitsays Are you having trouble viewing the Pinterest page? I’m not sure if you need to be a member to see it. I have been a member for a while and I don’t remember the deal. That collection is a great survey of vintage magazine covers. It is a real labor of love. He must have spent hours upon hours searching for all the images and categorizing them. Here is his tumblr <a href=“http://newmanology.■■■■■■■■■■/[/url]”>http://newmanology.■■■■■■■■■■/</a></p>
<p>There’s a crucial part to the application process that I am freaking out about:
“Applicants must provide official transcripts covering at least the last three full years of academic work completed. This should include all college transcripts and if applicable, your secondary school transcript.”</p>
<p>I will complete one full year of academic work at SVA. My secondary school transcript may not be applicable, so does that mean there’s a chance they won’t even consider me since I am providing just one and not “at least three” like they ask? :(</p>
<p>It seems clear that they want the last 3 years of academic work/grades. So the last three years of academic work/grades are definitely applicable. If you just provide one, I doubt you’ll be considered for failing to send in the required documentation. Your application won’t be considered complete, and will likely not undergo further review until they mark the app as complete.</p>
<p>They want to see your high school transcript and your SVA transcript. They will see that you are on an upward trend so I wouldn’t worry.
I wonder what other people think, but maybe it would be good to let them know why you had that dip in high school. You don’t have to go into full detail but if you explain you were dealing with a death that might be enough to help them see the full picture. You could always call the admissions office first and ask them what they advise in a situation like this. You said above that they wouldn’t care about what you went through but I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I have found the admin at RISD to be super supportive.</p>
I will take a leap of faith and until then, work hard! Hope you have an awesome evening!</p>
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