Hi all!
I’ve been browsing the graduate school forum almost daily for the last couple weeks since I received my grad school admissions decisions, and I’m especially interested in researching the different financial aid experiences (and loan horror stories) that people have shared.
I’ll share a little about myself:
I graduated with a BA in Theatre in Fall 2015. I taught theatre classes while I was working on my degree, and I took advantage of numerous opportunities to perform on stage in plays, musicals, and choruses (my emphasis was in musical theatre). I am now a substitute teacher for the city public schools, and for a short time this year I also worked as the choral assistant for a high school choir and show choir.
I’m proud to say that after much writing and auditioning, I was accepted to both Emerson College and NYU for Fall 2017! As exciting as this is, I am now faced with the decision of choosing which school to attend. I am really curious to hear your takes on each program, and specifically what you think about the financial commitments I will need to make for each school.
The program at Emerson is for an MA in Theatre Education, with a focus in Theatre & Community. It is a 2-year, 40 credit program. I have not received my full financial aid award package yet, but along with admission, I was offered a fellowship of $26,100 to be distributed evenly over the course of my studies. This is essentially a half scholarship. Assuming that tuition costs do not change, and if I do not get any additional funding while I am in school and am offered at least 15k in loans each year, I will end up with about $30,000 in student loans at the end of my program.
The program at NYU is for an MM in Vocal Performance with a specialization in music theatre. It is a 2-year, 36 credit program (but I’ll also have to make up some theory credits I missed in my undergrad). I have received my full financial aid award package: I was offered an $11,500 graduate scholarship, $3000 work study, and $41,354 Graduate PLUS loan for the first year. Assuming that tuition costs do not change, and I do not get any additional funding while I am in school and am offered at least 30k in loans each year, I will leave the program with about $60,000 in student loans.
And the good news is I worked my way through my undergrad and got plenty of scholarship and grant assistance, so my out of pocket cost was very small. The BEST news is that I did not take out ANY student loans. (I do have some credit card debt, but it’s manageable)
They are both very different programs, and they will each ultimately take me toward different career paths. Each school is very attractive to me, even with the steep cost of NYU, but at this point I am not leaning in any one direction. And let me make something clear: I am by no means NYU-or-bust.
So… whaddya think?