Thursday, June 18, 2009

so um, yeah....

So, last night I received an email from my advisor at SCAD to congratulate me on being accepted to the graphic design program as a transfer student (hooray for me!) She also informed me that I was awarded a scholarship of $3,000/year from the school for my artistic abilities. After the initial "here's what you get" shpeal, she then listed generic FAQs for new students.

The very first step apparently is for me to pay them my non-refundable deposit of $500.00 to secure my place. AFTER that, I can access my account online to view my financial aid paperwork and register for classes.

Well, even though I've filled out my FAFSA, I haven't received any information about how much of my tuition was covered by Stafford Loans and all those government sponsored loans that usually take care of a lot of your balance. I've not seen anything.

So I emailed her and said, hey look, I need to know how much money I need to cover before I am sending you 500 bucks!

She responded and said that I hadn't applied for any "Alternative Loans" (which btw, I don't know what that is) and so, aside from the scholarship, I am responsible for the rest of the tuition (uh, 23,000 dollars for this year) and would I like to pay that balance out of pocket, since classes start next week.

Uh, yeah, let me just reach deep into my pocket and pull 23 thousand dollars out of it. No worries.

So, I'd like to take this moment to say that it is INSANE that for the amount of my measly little scholarship, EU citizens can pay for an entire year of tuition + books and I am sitting here wondering A. Hrmm... what lender with approve me a loan for 23,000 dollars? B. Hrrmm... HOW much money do I owe in college loans already? Oh, enough to buy a house and a car... that's right.

So as it looks right now, I am postponing my entrance to the school for September and I am not happy about it at all. I'm also considering just saying screw it and going to school here in Leiden. The tuition is half that, and at least I can talk to someone face to face instead of waiting all day for a 3 line response from some snotty 20 year old asking, "So you'll be paying out of pocket, I assume?"

No Courtney with a southern accent. I am NOT paying out of pocket you silly twat!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

wait what? 23.000 for distance learning? are they crazy?

go to school here for half price, you'll also benefit from being in an environment with other students (in my personal opinion the most important aspect of going to an art school to begin with).

btw glad to see you blogging regularly again!

Mlle said...

I know! well it's pretty much the average price of tuition these days. It's sick.

Well, the issue that I have is getting tuition covered in euros - since I can't get financial aid, PLUS it's a lot more expensive for me as a non eu citizen. So it's around 4 or 5 thousand euros that I'd have to come up with.

I'm stressed and realllly want to drink some beers right now.

Glad you like reading my wacky stuff :)

Di Mackey said...

Oh lordy, I hope you called her a silly little twat.

I think it's an international qualification for that particular, you can go to silly little twat school anywhere in the world and study torturing people who want to learn.

Don't even ask me about New Zealand, it's a bloody nightmare for students.