Poll time!!!!

[silera]

I would really appreciate it if you guys respond to this post. I know that, ultimately, I am the one that has to make the final decision, but I would greatly appreciate some input on the subject matter...

Poll Grad School vs. Job(edit: I should've probably included up there "get another job in PR until I have enough money to go to grad school

Comments

[anonymous]

Hey nugget-

I vote apply to jobs and schools. RISD is a fabulous school- see if you can get in now and then, if you have to, defer acceptance for a year to save up. Nothing would be worse than saving up enough money, and then not getting in. (I'm not saying that you won't get in, I'm saying that if you apply late, or there are a ton of super-qualified people that year, or the admissions people are dicks, etc.).

Two more thoughts- I know what you mean about not wanting to wait five years. That is precisely the reason I went straight through 8 years of school. I knew myself well enough to know that if I stopped, I wasn't going back. As much as being in school for that long sucked and not having real income for long blew donkey balls, it was worth it. I can definitively say that I am done school and finally settled in a career. Someday, in the distant future, I may go back- but for fun. Not to start a new career, because I can't do that precarious never having money, not knowing where I'm going to live next year, dealing with Professors and their bullshit- that's a young person's game.

Second thought- school loans are not that bad. I have more than you'd care to know about. Yes, I have a profession that tends to pay better than some, so hopefully I'll pay them back. But, I also doubt you would have as many loans as me anyway, from getting your masters. I guarantee that my 4 years of post-bachelor's education cost more than any undergraduate and graduate program (combined) that you would looking at. The point? Student loans are a fact of life. Everyone has them. They don't hurt your credit (for instance, the amount of school loans you have is not taken into account for your score and approval for various things- mortgage, car, etc.) unless you stop paying them. School loans help build credit in that people know you are responsible enough to pay them (again, assuming you actually pay them). And there is no point struggling with working like a fiend to pay for school AND going to school (and doing poorly because of work), when you can get a private loan to help out. Makes you less worried about money and more focused on school.

Okay, that's my two cents (or maybe twenty cents since it was kind of long). Take it with a grain of salt.

[d_liriumtremens]

Sorry Nugget, forgot to sign in for the above post. But I figure you could probably tell who it was anyway.