@bearlife, here is a thread you might like, if you haven’t already found it:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/623794-technical-theater-p1.html
It’s about majors in technical theater areas like set design and costume design.
Yes agreed, no kid should be saddled with debt - and in that scenario the salary impact must be factored in.
NYU is a prestigious program I believe, and that is amazing money they are offering your D, they are notoriously cheap. It seems pretty odd that the department head would be saying CMU is better, that makes no sense! I agree on the move to NY being intimidating, but obviously many many kids do it. No easy answers here.
The connections issue is real, but she can work summer stock productions, get internships etc., and perhaps save enough to get her MFA from a more connected school (like CMU?)?
I’ve looked at every discussion on here about set design I think, but would really like to hear from people who have actually graduated from places and how they’re doing in the real world. But I suppose those people aren’t lurking on CC! @upstate13 did you say that CMU a would cost you $30000 after debt? It would be $40000 for us, and we are a single income household that doesn’t make a lot so I’m not sure I understood their reasoning behind the amount. In their FA letter they also make it sound like you would have to renegotiate every year, while most colleges say that the grants, etc. are renewable every year.
It’s hard because ever since being admitted on the spot at her interview back in November, Carnegie Mellon is all she’s thought about. It doesn’t help that everyone she talks to says that she has to go there and that the debt will be worth it. Including a design professor at CMU she emailed this morning, of course.
Finally got my FAT package! Haha I love how on the inside cover it says : “I prefer big-boned”
@bearlife - I also intend on asking about the need for rengotiation every year (we are visiting on Thursday), I think it would be pretty bad if they front load their FA. Would love to know if others have experienced this. Of course, if finances change etc., all schools will adjust grants, but given all things remaining equal, one should be able to expect about the same amounts I would hope. That is a very big concern for sure. My D’s COA after her scholarship and grants will be 30K. I am a single income household too, if you have offers in hand from other schools I hope you have presented them, I hear they do negotiate, especially for a kid like your daughter, whom they must have thought was pretty desirable if they accepted her on the spot!
BTW - I have a work associate who’s niece majored in D&P, at CMU- graduated several years ago and is a principal designer at the Met. Think she is doing ;okay; 
@upstate13 We sent in a form to renegotiate this afternoon. At $30000 we might be able to find a way to make it work, even though that would still be a lot compared to her other offers. But I’m trying not to get her hopes up too high. Talked to them on phone earlier, and I’m not too sure that they are as willing to adjust FA as they claimed when she interviewed. I would be curious to know what you learn from them about having to go through this ordeal every year.
I’ll weigh in: parent of a sophomore at CMU here. We renegotiate our FA every year and we have gotten more money each year. You have to really dog them and be persistent. My D is a Stats and Machine Learning major/cello performance minor and has a near perfect GPA. They will grant you more each year if you keep your grades high.
When we were looking at her decision 2 years ago, our initial FA package was not so great, but we went back in for an appeal and were pleasantly surprised by the amount they gave us. My DH and I don’t make a ton of money but we are not poor, either. We fall into that awful middle where everyone thinks you can afford more than you actually can.
We felt at the time, and still do now, that CMU is worth the cost. My D turned down a full ride (gulp) at a small LAC, but it was the best thing she did. CMU is a JOB CREATION MACHINE, even in the arts. Seriously. Kids get great jobs out of CMU. Their theater program is bar none. Period. The connections in this industry are vital and CMU’s staff is connected for sure. Just look at how they have partnered with the Tony’s. Google is constantly recruiting all types of students on campus, not just CS majors.
One year in, President Suresh is, IMHO, doing a great job. From what my D tells us, if you want to be employed at graduation you absolutely will be. If you want to go to grad school after graduating, you will be admitted. If you want an internship as early as your soph year, you can get one (paid, too.) CMU makes sure their students get paid internships. It’s awesome. My D got a phenomenal internship for the summer. Big bucks, with paid housing. CMU grads are looked on by employers very highly. No matter the industry. As a matter of fact, most grads will say that their first job was a cake walk compared to how hard CMU was.
That being said, it’s a tough school and different culture. Social scene isn’t super great, so you need to know that going in.
@annwank Thanks for the info. We too seem to fall into that awful territory where they think you can afford much more than you actually can. Our EFC at other places has been a lot less than CMU expects us to pay. We have been bugging them already, but don’t know how to get them to respond positively. Right now D is all about how CMU will assure her of a good career. I’m sure that’s true, but I don’t want her paying off $60000 in loans when she graduates. She is also a very social person. She’s a hard worker, but I have personally been concerned about her fitting in to the culture of CMU if it’s nonstop work. I would like her to enjoy her college years, as well as be prepared for a career. That said ( and the point may be moot if we don’t get more aid), how is the social life? Is it all work? Do the kids get really stressed out? She’s a perfectionist, so this is a genuine worry for me at least.
@bearlife: Social life is what you make of it, but having said this, CMU is not a party school by any stretch of the imagination. “My heart is in the work” is Andrew Carnegie’s motto, and it really holds true for all the students at CMU. The students are passionate about learning. But, unlike the state u that I went to many moons ago where the beer pitchers were $1 on Thursday to start the weekend, my D studies all day Saturday and Sunday and may go out on Friday night, or she may stay in Friday night and study so she can go out Saturday night. Or she may not go out at all over the weekend. It’s all a matter of prioritizing your time to get your work done. And there is tons of work, that’s for sure, with zero grade inflation. I know the drama/theater kids are all a very tight group, so their social scene is a bit better, according to my D.
I’ll PM you with more info.
Also just confirmed on FAFSA that our expected family contribution is $13000 which is much more in line with what other colleges have been doing. How do we argue this with them?
Admitted students get the quad app and join the carnegie Mellon class of 2019 group chat
Does CMU have grade inflation? I heard it’s a real problem in some private schools…
I submitted fafsa in February but not CSS profile. I should still be considered for financial government aid right? I didn’t get a financial aid notification/letter in my portal though. Any ideas?
Quick question, what do waitlist students receive via snail mail, only asking because I am intl who has been waitlisted for all choices and every dept in CIT with priority. I am being asked to pay around $60 to receive my mail within 5 days is it worth it or not? If delivered by regular mail it will take about a month.
^^URGENT NEED REPLIES
I would not pay for the mail. The letter has two inserts, the letter (which you saw online offering the priority) and an insert with info on the waitlist, all available online here, you may have already read it: http://admission.enrollment.cmu.edu/pages/the-waiting-list. The waiting list reply form is on that link, and is due by April 10. There is no reply form in the envelope. Hope this helps. Good luck
@annwank thanks for the advice. Planning on appealing as soon as possible
@bearlife - I talked to them yesterday and asked them why our EFC was higher than what FAFSA said, Turns out that FAFSA does not include home equity in their formula, but CMU does,