Columbia MFA Creative Producing 2017

[clairewitchproject]

Honestly, if you are not able to move your Apple Store schedule around your Master's Program schedule I would rethink your priorities. I'm not trying to be a dickhead here because as a low-income student, work and school have typically gone hand-in-hand for me as well, but at the MFA level, you should allow yourself to focus 100% on your work. You are building a career, give it the time it deserves. Most students put in about 40-50 hours a week, especially in the first year.

Let's do some math, because math is fun.

Class time
Six classes per semester/week (this includes your HTC requirement.) Four Hours per class (that includes commute time, early arrival, making it out of Dodge and to the train, stopping to get coffee before class, etc. )
24 hours of class time.
3 hours of additional class time per week. (Discussion sessions, directing advisers, meeting with prof, etc.)
2 hours a week on average working on your own exercises (that's 3-4 hours on each of the 6 directing assignments, divided over the 16 week semester)
5 hours a week helping other classmates with their exercises. (If you are spending 3-4 hours on your exercises, this allows for overages and travel. And this is just for helping ONE student, you will likely help more than one every week, so this is a conservative estimate.)
---------------------------
34 hours a week, just on "base" classwork.

This is a conservative estimate at best and doesn't account for:
1. Script writing time (2+ hours a day)
2. Project Prep (Safety process, paperwork, casting, rehearsals, location scouting, etc for 3-5 films and 8-12 films) This could be 100+ hours over a semester.
3. Class "bunching." Because you do not get to pick your classes in the first year, often there will be "bunching" where you will have a class at 10-1 and then 2-5. So that middle hour is "lost" to lunch.
4. Oh yeah, and you're a human, so you need to sleep, eat, go see a movie or master class, get laid, have a drink, go to a museum, etc.
5. Travel. If you HAVE to live in Brooklyn, you will have a 1.5hr train ride each way. That's 3 hours of ride time and if you have classes only three days a week, that's nearly 10 hours of travel time a week. Yikes. And likely you will be coming to campus 4-5 days a week. That's alot of hours.

So I think my 40-50 hour estimate might even be light.

Could you do this AND keep a job, possibly.
I am sure if CAN be done, but the question is WHY?
Everything on this list is awesome and fun and worth devoting your time time. Why cut yourself short?




The university runs on nine month leases with the ability to extend through the summer months. So you can stay in Grad school housing (like I do) all year for your entire time at CU, if you'd like. Lots of people choose to move away in thesis years.

The other great part is that Columbia housing allows flexible exits, so if you "break" your lease, you only pay a one-month penalty.Also, and this isn't "official" they've been very flexible when it comes to rent payments around disbursement time and summer season. They've been cool about being a little behind.


See above.

@Patrick Clement - I have an embarrassingly basic question, but do CU School of the Arts grad students get access to the Columbia gym as part of their tution / university facility fees? Because if the film program is based out of Dodge Hall...and Dodge Fitness Center is under that building (I assume)...I can already see where I'll be during some of those breaks between classes

 

[Operator]

Financial Aid office never got back to me. I'm going to call them tomorrow.

 

[Operator]

Roughly what's the max I can take out in graduate plus loans?

There is no limit. Here's a document about PLUS loads directly from their official site.
https://ifap.ed.gov/dlbulletins/attachments/DLB0703Attach.pdf

 

[HBG]

Don't know when I should pay the deposit!

 

[Christopher Gooley]

Financial Aid office never got back to me. I'm going to call them tomorrow.

Spoke to them... people on wait list get no financial aid information till we are accepted. So, scholarships etc etc... no info till we get moved off.

Also, what is Jack email?

 

[HBG]

@Cecil did we apply to the same exact schools haha

 

[Patrick Clement]

Roughly what's the max I can take out in graduate plus loans?

There is no limit. Here's a document about PLUS loads directly from their official site.
https://ifap.ed.gov/dlbulletins/attachments/DLB0703Attach.pdf

I am a Grad Plus Loan Student so I can explain how this has worked for me.
If you have other loans or scholarships, grad plus will cover the rest.
You do need to pass a credit check, but I read that so long as you don't have a bankruptcy, you should be fine.

The Grad Plus Loan covers all of my expenses which includes tuition, housing, minimal living expenses, etc.
The school has a "cost of attendance"
First- and Second-Year MFA Students, All Programs | Columbia University School of the Arts
Basically they add up your other scholarships and loans and the Grad Plus covers the rest.

The school has a "schedule" of limits, which dictate the total loan amounts.

This year the base rental allocation is about $1,235/mo
That is what you can borrow to start. If your rent is more, like mine is at $1,340, you can submit an increase request for the difference. So if you pay $1500/mo, you can borrow for that. Catch is, you can only borrow for a 9-month period. During school months.

I found the amounts to be reasonable, if a little low. Living in NY is expensive, so $500 "personal expense" allotment seems low when you live in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

You can also borrow of "school projects."
Your 8-12 (in town/out-of-town) $2,500/$3,500
Your D4 $3,500/$4,500
Your Thesis up to $15,000

You can also borrow a one-time I think $2,000 for a new computer.

As a low income student, I was really happy to be able to cover nearly all of my expenses through the year.
It's tight, but you can make it work and I've been able to focus fully on my studies.

@Patrick Clement - I have an embarrassingly basic question, but do CU School of the Arts grad students get access to the Columbia gym as part of their tution / university facility fees? Because if the film program is based out of Dodge Hall...and Dodge Fitness Center is under that building (I assume)...I can already see where I'll be during some of those breaks between classes

The gym membership is covered by your tuition fees. So no additional $$$.
They do offer other classes and towel/locker service for a fee.

It's just north of Dodge Hall, underground. So about a 2min walk from the film building.
I won't lie. I've never been.

 

[Christopher Gooley]

I am a Grad Plus Loan Student so I can explain how this has worked for me.
If you have other loans or scholarships, grad plus will cover the rest.
You do need to pass a credit check, but I read that so long as you don't have a bankruptcy, you should be fine.

The Grad Plus Loan covers all of my expenses which includes tuition, housing, minimal living expenses, etc.
The school has a "cost of attendance"
First- and Second-Year MFA Students, All Programs | Columbia University School of the Arts
Basically they add up your other scholarships and loans and the Grad Plus covers the rest.

The school has a "schedule" of limits, which dictate the total loan amounts.

This year the base rental allocation is about $1,235/mo
That is what you can borrow to start. If your rent is more, like mine is at $1,340, you can submit an increase request for the difference. So if you pay $1500/mo, you can borrow for that. Catch is, you can only borrow for a 9-month period. During school months.

I found the amounts to be reasonable, if a little low. Living in NY is expensive, so $500 "personal expense" allotment seems low when you live in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

You can also borrow of "school projects."
Your 8-12 (in town/out-of-town) $2,500/$3,500
Your D4 $3,500/$4,500
Your Thesis up to $15,000

You can also borrow a one-time I think $2,000 for a new computer.

As a low income student, I was really happy to be able to cover nearly all of my expenses through the year.
It's tight, but you can make it work and I've been able to focus fully on my studies.



The gym membership is covered by your tuition fees. So no additional $$$.
They do offer other classes and towel/locker service for a fee.

It's just north of Dodge Hall, underground. So about a 2min walk from the film building.
I won't lie. I've never been.

That really helps me out! My fiancé and I live in Astoria and our rent is 1550/month. Do they give you the large sum of graduate plus loans in sept or do I have to wait a few months for it? I know my first masters I had to wait till Nov to get the check.

My girlfriend works in the film industry so, when it comes to shooting... luckily I have a leg up from her LOL

 

[Patrick Clement]

That really helps me out! My fiancé and I live in Astoria and our rent is 1550/month. Do they give you the large sum of graduate plus loans in sept or do I have to wait a few months for it?

There are two disbursements, one in September and one in February. If I recall, the first year disbursements took a little longer, because of some administrative enrollment trigger. I guess they wait a little longer to make sure you are actually going.

 

[Christopher Gooley]

There are two disbursements, one in September and one in February. If I recall, the first year disbursements took a little longer, because of some administrative enrollment trigger. I guess they wait a little longer to make sure you are actually going.

So.. if my math is correct LOL... I could potentially get 27,900 over the course of the first year unless I did it wrong lol

 

[Operator]

So.. if my math is correct LOL... I could potentially get 27,900 over the course of the first year unless I did it wrong lol

You're gonna get a lot more than that. Tuition is around $31k per semester. Plus you have to factor in the cost of living as well. Cost of Attendance (Tuition, rent, books, food, travel, etc) for the year is around $90k.

 

[Tony Yang]

Just confirmed my attendance and about to send my deposit in.

Hope to see everybody in the fall! Next step is finding an apartment that allows dogs lol

 

[HBG]

Just confirmed my attendance and about to send my deposit in.

Hope to see everybody in the fall! Next step is finding an apartment that allows dogs lol

Let's connect outside the forum! This goes to everyone that's confirming attendance!

 

[Christopher Gooley]

I'm going to need a few people not to go LOL

 

[clairewitchproject]

Let's connect outside the forum! This goes to everyone that's confirming attendance!

Awesome! I accepted my offer last night. See you all in the Fall! If anyone has any NYC-living related questions, feel free to get in touch.

@Tony Yang - how big is your pup? I find that a lot of city apartment landlords prefer small dogs. I, too, was super nervous about finding a dog-friendly apartment, but in good news, they do exist!

 

[HBG]

@clairewitchproject @Tony Yang just accepted my offer!

 

[Tony Yang]

Awesome! I accepted my offer last night. See you all in the Fall! If anyone has any NYC-living related questions, feel free to get in touch.

@Tony Yang - how big is your pup? I find that a lot of city apartment landlords prefer small dogs. I, too, was super nervous about finding a dog-friendly apartment, but in good news, they do exist!

He's a golden retriever! Just got him this year. He's on the smaller side, around 60 pounds. My parents travel too much for work so unfortunately it's not an option for him to stay home.He's really well behaved, and never barks so hopefully I can find a dog-friendly apartment and landlord.

However, it's more than likely that I'll have to look into living by myself in a single apartment. I was thinking of asking all the fall attendees once we got a FB group up and running if there was anybody cool living with a dog, but it's a bit much to ask for considering most of us are strangers that haven't met at this point.

Here's a picture of him for anybody curious haha

 

[Christopher Gooley]

He's a golden retriever! Just got him this year. He's on the smaller side, around 60 pounds. My parents travel too much for work so unfortunately it's not an option for him to stay home.He's really well behaved, and never barks so hopefully I can find a dog-friendly apartment and landlord.

However, it's more than likely that I'll have to look into living by myself in a single apartment. I was thinking of asking all the fall attendees once we got a FB group up and running if there was anybody cool living with a dog, but it's a bit much too ask for considering most of us are strangers that haven't met at this point.

my apartment allows a dog but my finance and I had to pay a pet fee an extra $200 when we moved in

 

[clairewitchproject]

my apartment allows a dog but my finance and I had to pay a pet fee an extra $200 when we moved in

Same. My bldg typically only allows dogs under 25 lbs, but our dog doesn't bark and is super well behaved. At our realtors suggestion, we actually brought her with us on all our apartment visits. That was a big help bc we were able to convince apt owners and landlords to make an exception for her due to her good behavior. She's also part Pitt, and so we also have that breed bias barrier to deal with.

 

[clairewitchproject]

Same. My bldg typically only allows dogs under 25 lbs, but our dog doesn't bark and is super well behaved. At our realtors suggestion, we actually brought her with us on all our apartment visits. That was a big help bc we were able to convince apt owners and landlords to make an exception for her due to her good behavior. She's also part Pitt, and so we also have that breed bias barrier to deal with.

@Tony Yang so cute! How handsome - here's my lady.