Lovelyish

Don’t forget cost too. I think it was easier for me to go to a community college THEN go to a university. You’re taking the same classes the first two years anyways so, why not save money?

@Japanesenightpurplegeisha@xanga - My school actually doesn’t allow you to transfer credits from other schools, including community colleges. It sucks because I would have loved to do a 2/2 plan or something.

@MangoWOW@xanga - Ooooh, yeah, I forgot. Some schools won’t allow transferred credit. Maybe people can check that out too? If their college accepts transferred credit?

I did a 2/2 plan, and just finished my first year at the school I transferred to. The campus is gorgeous in the spring and early fall, and because it’s basically located on top of a large hill, all the buildings are pretty close together. The only downside is that just to get to the main buildings, you have to hike up a huge hill, and parking sucks (at least, it is for commuters like myself). We have a pretty good lacrosse team, but no football team, which is kind of weird, but overall I love my school!

This is why I chose to do both my undergrad and now grad school at large state schools. Except the location part. My locations have both sucked. But as far as the rest of it– I did my BFA at UW Madison and am now earning an MFA (in painting and drawing) at University of Iowa, Iowa City. If you keep up with me on xanga, you know I pretty much am doing the bodybuilding thing. I am part of the weightlifting club here (one of three women in a sea of about fifty men) and I, of course, take advantage of our AWESOME gym for “free” (although you know I’m paying for it somehow through tuition/fees). I have no regrets about not attending an “art” school. None. 

I picked the school I go to for only 3 reasons: accredited, nearby, and cheap as heck.

I go to an art school, too, and agree with you on many things you said.
Although it’s awesome to be surrounded by people who love art as much as you do, I really do wish I had the diversity that other types of school offers with more fields of interests and more extracurricular activities.

I wish I thought more about my options before I decided to go to a 4 year college.
I’ve had great experiences my first year, and I know I learned a lot, but now I’m starting to rethink about it all as I head to my second year.  4 year colleges, or even colleges in general, always seemed like the norm in my head, but now I realized that there are SO many other ways to go about to get to the same exact goal, especially considering my field of interest.  I’m not sure if I’ll even be in this same school a year from now.

So I guess if any of you are reading this, consider as many options as possible before deciding.

I think I already said this, but I was planning on going to SVA and majoring in photography as well, it’s been my first choice for 7 years. It’s weird, but the last point got to me haha because I remember last semester, I went to visit with my friend for a week and we wanted to go out but it was FREEZZINNGGG, and it was April! So we just stayed in her dorm and it was fun, but I feel like going to school there would suck because you go to school during all the cold months

I guess the real problem here is that this is my dream school, but mostly because there aren’t any other school on the East coast that I actually want/can go to because of transferring credits. So I’m kind of divided.

I picked the school I used to go to for the following reasons:
1) My best friend goes there
2) Location (I wanted to get as far away from my parents are humanly possible)

It ended up not working out because while I loved the school and made some friends, I felt like something was missing. I ended up transferring back home and I’m finishing up at a community college. I actually may be applying to NYU for the Spring so I welcome your comparison of SVA and NYU. 

I had a friend who just graduated from SVA and told me that while it was awful the amount of money she had to pay to go to the gym, it made her motivated to actually go.

My college offers free gym memberships at a local gym with one condition: you have to show up at least once a week. It’s a good way to keep everyone motivated as well, haha. They also are really good on the clubs part, although the drama and choir clubs pretty much dominate everything (I went to an ‘artsy’ school as well) and the best part? A two semester year there literally costs me about 200 bucks.
I just graduated and am moving on to grad school, which offers a gym and all that and is about 400 dollars a year.
The downside is though that winters here make NY winters seem like spring, happiness and unicorns.

I thought you researched and/or toured the college prior to applying I communted to school about 10 minutes away and there was no traffic in that freeway direction. saved money and saved time. if you frequently buy drinks, such as coffee daily or a few times a week, then the total amount spent on drinks would equal a gym club membership, so maybe sacrifice other recreational money spent, not necessarily drinks, but other things like clothes or something else, to save for the gym fees.

I should write one of these about how I didn’t have a choice as to what university to go to, as my parents didn’t allow me to apply to any of the schools I wanted to go to in the U.S. They made me stay here in Mexico and go to the same school as my brother, which is also my dad’s alma mater.
I like it now, though. It grew on me.

Anyways. I think that all these points are very good and often overlooked ones. I love being in sports and extracurricular clubs and classes, so it would have been the death of me to go to a school without some of these.

Oh, and congrats on almost graduating. I’m also on my last year of college, Industrial Design major, and I’m scared!!

@Japanesenightpurplegeisha@xanga - Sometimes the experience is worth it. I grew a lot in college and had experiences I never would have had going to a community college. I know some people say you can’t afford it, but I scrapped up money somehow. I don’t regret it, I wouldn’t be the same person without those two years. 

Plus you make connections with people that will help you get internships and leadership positions that’ll make your resume look awesome. 

UCSD! At first, i wanted to stay at University of Washington, but then i realized that moving away an going to a better school was worth it. 

@stuipdthing@xanga - I disagree. When you graduate and try to find a job, going to a particular college does not even matter. I’ve graduated with a BS in Biochemistry and I have worked with people who went to Cornell and Harvard.  They looked at our degrees and experience (no matter where we got it, and I had it going to a community college). They were doing the same thing I was doing or I did more. I got a lot of research, connections, networking, etc. experience more than people who didn’t go to a community college. Most, weren’t even hired to higher paying jobs while I did. When it came to research, I actually knew more than the students who went to the top-notch colleges plus, I got excellent feedback from my presentations and work ethics and they didn’t. I think it depends on you and how willing you are able to get what you have to get, community college or not. I think I’ve done a great deal of growing up as well. Plus, you can get experience anytime anywhere and I was well equipped to conquer upper division courses at a university. 

Also, I didn’t go to a community college because I could not afford it. I think it would be a waste of money spending on courses that were the same anyways. If people want to spend a lot of money on a college, okay, go for it, not knocking that down. I think, a community college had more to offer than when I’ve transferred to a university. The professors were nicer, helpful, and caring too. I didn’t regret it, I am glad I went that route.

wow my thoughts exactly!! I go to Ontario college of art and design. my school is bombarded with all the same people, we need some diversity and gyms!

I only picked my school based on one thing: commute. Do I want to wake up at 5am to get ready and go to class? No… to my other option! 

I have a friend who goes to SVA too

@ask_ashleyyy@xanga - you basically just described my school! haahah. 

@SleepyFob@xanga - Hahahah it’s not UMBC is it?

I go to Temple University and there are many things I love about it, but there are still things I wish I considered or considered better. I choose an excellent business school, ranked for many majors BUT accounting (my major). I wish I considered that. Oh and I should have listened to my hesitation about living in North Philly and not being in the dorms after 2 years since my apartment was burglarized last week and that would have never happened in Elizabethtown, PA (the location of the other school I was considering 3 years ago)

I’m at MICA, and honestly I’m really happy here C: Except for that there are a ton of pretentious hipsters there. Although we do have a very sizable nerd population, so WORKS FOR ME.

Born/raised NYC; have to ask, since you seem really unused to winters here….were you born in a warm climate? Also, depending on if you are talking about extracurricular activities for your school or not (seems like the former), there are TONS of things to do in the city if you poke around a little.

Upside to number 3: it doesn’t sound like you have these prices forced on you. At my school (and many others), you have to buy the meal plan if you live in a dorm. You also pay an activity fee (which is about $275 a year but I’m also in central Illinois which is a lower cost of living than NYC so it’d probably be about the same if I was in NYC) packaged in with tuition so if you don’t use the gym then you’re really just wasting that money. It’s nice having these things but it’s not free and I know some people who wish they didn’t have to figure out a way to pay those fees (meal plan alone can cost you an extra federal loan).

These are good things to look at when choosing a college though I think. I really wish I had chosen a college near Chicago or St. Louis since I love the city but the one I chose really is more like the suburban area around St. Louis that I live only 20 minutes away from and really doesn’t have that city vibe.