so as i did a few days ago i choose a school. last time it was Mass Arts, this time it is MICA. yet i feel as unsure with this decision as i did with the other.
last time my mom told me i had enough money to go to MICA, which made me rethink it. this time, my art teacher said location does have its place. both statements did not make me want to go, rather they took me back to square one, where i had to choose between the two again, reorganize my priorities.
at this point, MICA seems solid as a good education (for me!) and Mass Arts is solid locationwise in boston near family and a maine getaway. having family means i am loaded with options to have access to family, family meals, cars, etc.
so if only MICA was in boston (my dad adds with california weather) i would be super excited and content in most every way.
as this is not the case, i guess i shall pretend to have chosen MICA, but my being continues to be left stirred up and not satisfied with either decision. in reality, almost no decisions satisfy me. maybe i will end up at Puget Sound after all.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
the research
as my decision gets down to the wire, my mom and i have talked and talked and argued and talked and got to a place where choosing between Mass Art and MICA feels like a tossup, not because they are the same, but because they both offer aspects that will make me happy, as far as we can see.
so now we are researching and searching, looking at ratemyprofessor.com to get an idea of teachers in the fields i am looking into and rankings of schools to find statistics and reasons behind these lists, not simply going to the "best one" because Mass Art doesn't even rank onto these lists.
What I found encouraging for some reason is the freshman retention rates:
Mass Art 84.2
MICA 85.5
CCA 74.5
Granted they don't mean to much, there are lots of factors to consider there and such. But looking at statistics seems concrete and gives me a little sense of something.
after looking up professors, Mass Art's ceramics department seems like it could be either/or, great or bad. MICA's seems strong and about where my expectations of it would be in line with my experience with their ceramics department.
MICA is looking more appealing, i simply have a fantasy about going to Mass Art in boston near family and maine, etc. plus after i will have some money leftover.
although MICA has given me an additional three thousand a year for going to their pre-college program or something of that sort, Mass Art still appeals to ME financially after school is over. i have tons of support and will make it through school no matter where i go, but that future next egg gives me so many options after school, i am just scared that Mass Art's education might be a bust for me, but i will have no way of knowing until i go there. MICA seems safe and familiar since i have been there and can trust that it will be a good school for that reason.
so now we are researching and searching, looking at ratemyprofessor.com to get an idea of teachers in the fields i am looking into and rankings of schools to find statistics and reasons behind these lists, not simply going to the "best one" because Mass Art doesn't even rank onto these lists.
What I found encouraging for some reason is the freshman retention rates:
Mass Art 84.2
MICA 85.5
CCA 74.5
Granted they don't mean to much, there are lots of factors to consider there and such. But looking at statistics seems concrete and gives me a little sense of something.
after looking up professors, Mass Art's ceramics department seems like it could be either/or, great or bad. MICA's seems strong and about where my expectations of it would be in line with my experience with their ceramics department.
MICA is looking more appealing, i simply have a fantasy about going to Mass Art in boston near family and maine, etc. plus after i will have some money leftover.
although MICA has given me an additional three thousand a year for going to their pre-college program or something of that sort, Mass Art still appeals to ME financially after school is over. i have tons of support and will make it through school no matter where i go, but that future next egg gives me so many options after school, i am just scared that Mass Art's education might be a bust for me, but i will have no way of knowing until i go there. MICA seems safe and familiar since i have been there and can trust that it will be a good school for that reason.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
the woah
so i was sitting in my bed doing this weird decision process making game thing that someone showed to me that involves cards and ordering the factors from most important to least important.
well i was looking at the factor that said "glass dept" and although it was at the bottom, my brain was thinking about it and how since all my schools had a glass department i could just take it out, but then i got to thinking and realized that MICA lacks a glass department. so now i am rocked, i have an excuse to say i don't want to go there and rick getting a horrible education at Mass Arts and have money left over to start my own nest egg or travel, whichever i prefer. hmmmm, woah!
well i was looking at the factor that said "glass dept" and although it was at the bottom, my brain was thinking about it and how since all my schools had a glass department i could just take it out, but then i got to thinking and realized that MICA lacks a glass department. so now i am rocked, i have an excuse to say i don't want to go there and rick getting a horrible education at Mass Arts and have money left over to start my own nest egg or travel, whichever i prefer. hmmmm, woah!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
the waffling
waffles sounds about a 2384729852093850912490182490 times better than deciding on a college. i told myself i would decide by this past weekend.
based on a million random factors that may seem petty to others, i am mostly deciding between MICA and MassArts. i hate making a decision right now, since there is so much going on and so many different reasons that each school is worth attending.
so i visited Puget Sound. it was amazing. beautiful campus with a great sense of a place to be and location and it was marvelous. but I love the sunshine and I don't think I could handle all those clouds. plus my reasoning is that i should attend an art school first and see if i really want to do art, then go "oh shit, oh shit" and transfer or take a year off.
CCA is a great school, perhaps better than the other two art schools, i have no idea. it's hard for me to tell about each school's teaching staff. the only thing i can see is that CCA has about 4 times as many professors as MassArts, but MassArts website seemed to not be updated in terms of teachers because the woman i know who works there was not listed. so in short again, i'm confused.
anyway i rooted out CCA, despite my desire to stay in california because california rocks in my opinion (minus any budget complications and earthquakes that are going on here), is because as much as a like it, it has a split campus and no meal plan and kind of questionable housing. perhaps i am being too hard on it, but i have to decide somehow, no matter how petty or material or stupid my decision may be/seem. i want the liberal arts college experience, but one doesn't really find that at the art schools i choose, so i am doing my best at finding art schools that get close to meeting the requirements. maybe i'm wrong, maybe i am making the worst choice in my life, i won't know until i go.
MassArts seems to be lacking in the staffing area possibly, etc, etc. but yet I still want to go there, probably for the money and the location. i would get to be close to a new set of family and stuff. yet there is snow and the school seems questionable in certain ways.
MICA plain rocks, it is most like a college experience and is perfect and they send me tons of stuff in the mail that encourages me to go more and more, stuff on careers and about their school, except for the fact that it is the most expensive and is in baltimore.
so i have no idea what to do. i just want to decide.
based on a million random factors that may seem petty to others, i am mostly deciding between MICA and MassArts. i hate making a decision right now, since there is so much going on and so many different reasons that each school is worth attending.
so i visited Puget Sound. it was amazing. beautiful campus with a great sense of a place to be and location and it was marvelous. but I love the sunshine and I don't think I could handle all those clouds. plus my reasoning is that i should attend an art school first and see if i really want to do art, then go "oh shit, oh shit" and transfer or take a year off.
CCA is a great school, perhaps better than the other two art schools, i have no idea. it's hard for me to tell about each school's teaching staff. the only thing i can see is that CCA has about 4 times as many professors as MassArts, but MassArts website seemed to not be updated in terms of teachers because the woman i know who works there was not listed. so in short again, i'm confused.
anyway i rooted out CCA, despite my desire to stay in california because california rocks in my opinion (minus any budget complications and earthquakes that are going on here), is because as much as a like it, it has a split campus and no meal plan and kind of questionable housing. perhaps i am being too hard on it, but i have to decide somehow, no matter how petty or material or stupid my decision may be/seem. i want the liberal arts college experience, but one doesn't really find that at the art schools i choose, so i am doing my best at finding art schools that get close to meeting the requirements. maybe i'm wrong, maybe i am making the worst choice in my life, i won't know until i go.
MassArts seems to be lacking in the staffing area possibly, etc, etc. but yet I still want to go there, probably for the money and the location. i would get to be close to a new set of family and stuff. yet there is snow and the school seems questionable in certain ways.
MICA plain rocks, it is most like a college experience and is perfect and they send me tons of stuff in the mail that encourages me to go more and more, stuff on careers and about their school, except for the fact that it is the most expensive and is in baltimore.
so i have no idea what to do. i just want to decide.
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