ouch. I guess I've done everything wrong then. Oh well, too late now!

ha me too. i just got an email from the grad fin aid office telling me to contact my department directly about scholarships and grants. well the arch dept says that they havent made a decision yet. i really just dont have time for this bullshit anymore.

yeah, I did it over email, used the word 'negotiate', and did not tell them that they are my first choice.

im thinking of writing them a letter (like the rejection letter someone else wrote) which states:

Thank you for your interest in my attending your University. Unfortunately your award letter was incomplete. I will be unable to consider investing my time and money in your institution until you have completed the financial aid package. Due to the large number of acceptances I have received this year I regret to inform you that you are not the most qualified.

nice to know that someone is benefitting from us taking out student loans.

reeediculous.

whew! i just got caught up.....been so busy at work that i haven't had a chance to read this thing. LIG: i'm really sorry to hear about cornell, but i think this year will be good for you.....a fresh start! i'm not sure about pratt....i'm going to wait and see what kind of award package they give me and then visit again, but it mostly looks like we're going to be studio buddies at columbia!

oh, almost forgot....did you send them any portfolio samples with your application?

well, the final tally is in, and unless I get pulled up off of a waitlist, I'm 5 for 6. In at: UW, Pratt, CCA, RIT, and SCAD. Waitlisted at MICA.

80% chance I'll be at UW in the fall.

I didn't send them any portfolio samples, but they should have my M.Arch. portfolio on file there already (unless they've already thrown it away or sent it back).

Studio buddies indeed! I'm looking forward to it.

holy shit- the ballgame just changed. somehow i have managed to snag an interview with the 4 key professors in the program for next friday to discuss assistantships/grants/scholarships. ok now i am nervous.

hey GiN - i think you outfoxed Cornell after all - getting a free extra year out of them isnt a bad stradjedy. doest that firm you work for have a ny office? might be an easy move to ny - do a few months with them [will getting housing etc sorted] then ditch them! yeah! no matter how you feel about the or individuals -- always always treat them extremely professional and gentle. there are good people there and when you dis them you dis all the years you slugged it out with them and the quality of the work you did [which i know you dont mean]

Woo hoo!

+i- for CMU? good luck!

Finally gave in an e-mailed SAID at UC. Hope to hear back soon.

edit: Finally gave in and e-mailed UC...

LIG: I told Columbia that they should have my portfolio on file, but then I got it in the mail the next day. You think I should send some stuff in even though it's optional?

How would I be getting a free extra year out of Cornell?

My firm doesn't have a NYC office; we're a 12-person firm in downtown Chicago with no other offices.

kalyani, if you already have one, i'm sure it won't hurt to send it. congrats on pratt!!!

Not sure, Kalyani... I haven't received mine back yet, so they may still have it.

Might not hurt to send in some samples, if you have them readily available.

catcow - who did you email? i tried calling and emailing yesterday. no luck.

Superstitiously, I've never posted here, but I got accepted to the AA today. Big load off the shoulders...

rationalist- yep, for cmu. now i am super nervous, but i really shouldnt be... i'm just going to ask some prestigious university for money, right? haha... except that one of the people i am meeting with is the director for the whole place- and someone whose work i very much admire... thats the most nerve wracking part

So I just called the fin aid office at Syracuse just to ask about possible grant money through the FAFSA and they said that grad students do not get awarded any grant money through the FAFSA and all that you are eligible for is a loan up to $18,500. Is this truly the case or am I the only one that didn't know that?

cpn- i think its that you arent awarded Pell Grants from the fafsa as a grad student, this was a note on the fafsa. and any grants/scholarships/awards are given from your department- not the "graduate office of financial aid"... at least that is what i am seeing...

ok that makes sense i guess. all free money comes from the arch. school and all loans come from the university fin aid office. sound right?

yeah- at least that is how it is working at both UVA and CMU. i cant speak for syracuse.

seems like it just might be everywhere. the lady on the phone said thats just how the fafsa works; no grants for grad students and all you are eligible for is the $18.5K loan. Is that per year or semester you think?

it's per year - part is subsidized part isn't.

i would hope that is per year (but as in the case of CMU it could potentially be per semester). i cant imagine taking out nearly 20k per semester in loans...

which is exactly why the stakes are raised with CMU now. i'm not accepting less than 3/4 in grants/assistantships/scholarships. anything less and i'm going to UVA.

i would actually like to own a house and have a family at some point in my lifetime...

Has anyone ever heard of an offer being rescinded? I just spoke with one of my past professors who told me a story of someone last year who was accepted and then rejected 7 days later. Worst part it's from a school I was hoping on attending.

i hope that was an april fools joke

This professor doesn't joke. He could just be repeating some urban acadamic myth but...has anyone ever heard of this?

hey catcow...i also havent heard from u cinn.... lady on the phone told me that the people who could tell me whats going on have been gone for two weeks and wont be back until next. I am pretty disipointed with how they are handeling this application process. At this point i am kinda over the school anyway. If they wanted me they would have told me by now....its not the kind of program i want anyway. With a class size of 20 and 150 applicants we should find out befor the time everyother school requires you to accept.

On that note....i have gotten so excited about UCLA. I am going out to visit this weekend. Anyone know anything specific i should check out while i am at the school? I know LA well, but havent ever been to the school

I've never heard of an offer being rescinded without good reason. I have heard of it, however, in cases where the applicant submitted false information - i.e. omitting a previous school where they did poorly, and then the admissions comittee found out somehow and rescinded the admission.

Pratt people

did Bill MacDonald, chair of architecture/urban design call you?

mctwist - on u cinn - how do you know there's only a class of 20 and there are 150 applicants? are you a 2 yr. or 3+ yr.???

argh. i just want to know...

all i got was an email and an acceptance package from pratt. why?

ditto I received an email from Rebecca Hernandez last Friday

+i, remember that Carnegie Mellon has a big Scottish heritage....maybe to kiss up you should wear a kilt and discuss how much you love bagpipes, lol.

I am a little disappointed in UC/DAAP/SAID that they are not getting back to you guys in a timely manner.....I will talk to my "spies" and see what I can find out.

b.d.f.- the chair of the Design (communications + packaging + digital) called me, not because I'm especially wanted, but because he'd been forwarded the problems I'd been having with his staff. So if you went through Judy Aaron to find out your status, this may have been why you got a call from him.

WonderK- your new best friend is in trouble.

laurilan-

the 20 people is for the 3+. This years class is only 14, granted they accept more then actually come, but they are shooting for 20. I think the 2+ was included in the 150 they gave me. where else are you applying?

thanks for the help wonderk

Hey who HASN'T gotten a letter from Pratt yet? I still havent gotten mine. No call, no letter, not even an email. WTF? I know I'm not going there, but still, this is pretty ridiculous.

---I STILL haven't gotten anything from Pratt. I even email Judy Aaron, the VP of Enrollment who had offered to handle individual requests over from the "Dear Pratt, where is my rejection letter?" forum. All she could tell me (as of Monday) was that she didn't have any info on me in front of her as she forwarded me email to a counselor. As of today...nada! Friggin Pratt is the last school I still need to hear from.

scspisak did you apply to Parson's and if so have you heard from them? Parsons is the only school I have yet to hear from.

I got a response from Judy, plus a call from the dean of my department, and then an email today from a generic "graduate admissions" account that I assume was generated by financial aid. Yesterday when I called financial aid, they said "hmm, that's wierd. The code hasn't been entered into your account yet that says you've been admitted." Apparently they can't access my FAFSA information until they've got that code, to prevent them from making admissions decisions based on money. So I'm thinking the generic email today was generated by them getting that code entered into my account. Which hopefully means there's some financial aid on the way...

Praying for a good mailbox day with lots of information.

any recent columbia letters?

---Yep, I applied to Parsons and got a letter today rejecting my arse.

Yeah, I heard that about USC....besides them, the other schools that are under investigation with this student loan lending thing are NYU, Columbia, UT, and a couple of others......sounds like it hits a bunch of schools that some of us have applied to....

sorry to hear that scspisak. I'm not looking forward to checking that mail today :(

good luck!