Grad J~School, GRE and a Ivy League school

[NinjaPoodle]

Originally Posted by PhotoBug

You wrote this post three months ago. What have you been up to since then? Have you graduated with your BFA?

Nope, haven't graduated with my BFA, yet.

Long story but the short of it is $$$$.

Because of my federal student loans, I cant work full time (they are in forbearance) so I do work part time when I can. I'm taking j-classes at the local Jr. College. I've been lucky to receive some aid to pay for classes. At the end of next semester, I'm looking to receive 2 journalism certificates and another A.A. but this one in Journalism. In the mean time, I'm applying to scholarships and building up my J-resume (if you're interested, I can send you my Linkedin). I have 24 units left in my BFA program and am hoping I can save and get enough scholarship $$$ to pay for it.

Since I was last on GC three years ago, so the forum software tells me (I've been back, just haven't logged in), I went to J-school. I attended online because I didn't want to relocate due to having my primary care doctor and all my specialists for lupus set up. It's just a huge hassle to move. Anyway, I was doing really well in my digital journalism MA program and holding a 3.5 GPA and, literally, halfway through the program I had to stop. It was Christmas and bitter cold here, and I thought my asthma was acting up and so I went to the ER to get a breathing treatment. It wasn't my asthma; I had 3 pulmonary embolisms; so of course, I did a medical withdrawal from my classes.

During my recovery, I decided not to return to the program because during that time media organizations were hemorrhaging money, and in response they were letting journalists and photojournos go left and right. Then, the Dept. of Labor put out a jobs outlook for journalism in the negative double digits! That sealed it for me. I knew journalism already didn't pay a lot of money and I was okay with that, but then the added mass layoffs, hiring freezes, and jobs outlook from the DOL were just too much.

So, when I recovered and my doctor gave me a clean bill of health, I jumped back in undergrad for 1.5 academic years to get computer science and math prerequisites and applied to grad school for my MS in Computer Science. Online, of course. I got in and that's what I'm pursuing now, except that I'm sitting out the quarter that just started because I broke my ankle and tore some ligaments in it, and pretty much had to have my ankle surgically reconstructed. I'm in a rehab facility now. Doggone prednisone probably made my bones easier to break, but hey... stuff happens.

Sending good vibes your way and wishing you the best of health!

Do you have a resume website/portfolio? I don't have the resume website, although I could do one in no time. I don't have a photojournalism portfolio either, but that wouldn't take too much time to put up, either, because I have a web hosting account with plenty of space and the skills to do it. I do, however, have a Flickr account of some of my favorite photographs. They're a mix of genres, the only criterion was that they be a favorite of mine. Do you have anything like that? Do you want to exchange links?

Have you thought about launching an online publication?

LOL! Yes to everything but the online publication. I am jotting ideas for book ideas though.

I'll IM you. Thanks for asking!

I'm glad you found another avenue to pursue outside of journalism. Yeah, the money sucks but I love it and would never consider getting out of it. I'm keeping my options open in terms of location an type of work, hence grad school.

[PhotoBug]

Originally Posted by NinjaPoodle

Nope, haven't graduated with my BFA, yet.

Long story but the short of it is $$$$.

Because of my federal student loans, I cant work full time (they are in forbearance) so I do work part time when I can. I'm taking j-classes at the local Jr. College. I've been lucky to receive some aid to pay for classes. At the end of next semester, I'm looking to receive 2 journalism certificates and another A.A. but this one in Journalism. In the mean time, I'm applying to scholarships and building up my J-resume (if you're interested, I can send you my Linkedin). I have 24 units left in my BFA program and am hoping I can save and get enough scholarship $$$ to pay for it.

You picked a hella expensive school for your BFA degree. Pleeease don't tell me you reached your $57,500 aggregate undergrad student loan limit and that's why you're not able to finish your BFA at your chosen institution?

If so, at this point, I think it's better that you get ANY (regionally accredited) bachelor's degree so you can get on with your career, because the BA/BS degree is the minimum job requirement. The certificates and stuff are nice, and will help, but the golden ticket to get past the gates is the BA/BS degree. You don't need another AA. You need that BA, and I'm going to PM you with some info that can help you get that done faster.

Oh, and if you've been taking classes at local community colleges your loans should've been switched from forbearance back to in-school deferment status. The difference is that you only get so much time for forbearance, but there is no time limit for in-school deferment, plus when your loans are in deferment the gov't pays the interest on your subsidized loans. I don't think that happens (somebody correct me if I'm wrong) when loans are in forbearance, and that ends up costing you more in the long run, because the interest is compounded and added to your principal. That's why forbearance should only be used when there are absolutely no deferment options available.

But, again, you said you're in school for a second AA degree. If the school has an accreditation recognized by CHEA.org, then your loans need to be switched to in-school deferment and BACK CREDITED to the date that you started those AA classes at that school, so that compounded interest can be reversed and the gov't can pay the subsidized interest part. Now, any UNsubsidized loans you took out means that the gov't will not pay the interest that accrues on them. That interest WILL be compounded and added to your principal. But, at least not ALL of the interest will be if you get your loans out of forbearance and back in in-school deferment.

Sending good vibes your way and wishing you the best of health!

Thank you! And, I'll do my part by no longer joking about how I'm accident prone and easy to get hurt, LOL! Nope, no more speaking that out of my mouth!

LOL! Yes to everything but the online publication. I am jotting ideas for book ideas though.

I have ideas for a documentary film project.

I'm glad you found another avenue to pursue outside of journalism. Yeah, the money sucks but I love it and would never consider getting out of it. I'm keeping my options open in terms of location an type of work, hence grad school.

Spoken like a young, idealistic person. But, at some point, you're going to care about the money. You're going to look up one day and realize you're too danged old to have roommates (if you're still single), or to be living at home, and the money is going to matter. Or, other life circumstances are going to happen and force the money to matter. But, one way or the other, at some point, the money is going to matter. If they're trying to pay what you could make working at Aldi's or at some other non-skilled employment? The money matters.