How in the world can I attend Gnomon?

#1

I’ve always wanted to go to Gnomon for their 2 years program, but the cost is ridiculously high. I mean it’s cheaper than a lot of schools in other fields but VFX artists don’t make as much money as say lawyers or doctors, and with that kind of cost, plus an expected repayment if I ever take up a loan, how can I find the money to attend it?
For you guys who went to Gnomon before, how did you pay for the tuition? I mean not all of you guys are rich so you must have taken a loan or something and if so what was your experience with it.
According to the FAFSA website I am still a dependent even though I alone will have to take care of my own cost of education, so the Federal Aid won’t even brush the surface of the cost.
The same thing can be said about grants. Private loans are aggressive in their interest rates.
I mean if I choose to attend it’d cost nearly 100k for everything, so to pay that over 10 years that would be more than 1k a month, for a fresh graduate that’d be atrocious. I know Gnomon has a track record of 93% placement but that counted intern jobs as well which makes next to nothing. How in the world can they pay off the loan.
Also for admission they wanted you to have a portfolio, I mean my vfx work is not very good that’s why I wanted to go there in the first place, so I don’t see the point of doing this.

Edit: Loans also require a co-signer and I don’t want to drag anyone else into debt with me :frowning:

#2

Might try and see if you qualify for some type of financial aid. Look into school grants. I guess it depends on how passionate you are in this type of field. From what I hear and read, Gnomon is a really good school. So you would be learning from the best in the business.

#3

The thing is that I know I’d quality for some federal aid, plus some federal loans as well, but all that won’t be enough to cover a whopping 33k a year at gnomon, excluding living cost. I will need to get a lot of private loan, and all these banks will go after me after I graduate, which I might not even be working by then, and the poor soul who co-signed with me have to be there and take the hit, that’s the problem. The only one who will co-sign for me is my dad and I don’t want him to be in debt and losing his home because of something I did. How long after you graduate before federal and private loan banks (Sallie Mae) start to collect payment?

#4

If its anything like regular loans, you qualify, then you get the loan and your first payment is due the next month. You’ll probably have to get a part time job as well while going to school. Maybe just take the classes that you need to take to cut down costs instead of all of them.

#5

FAFSA covers a tiny bit, then ParentPlus loan if you’re dependent, then Sallie Mae if you’re not. Like you said, they’re cheaper than most other schools, and for what you get out of it…it’s worth it. It’s one of those things of how much do you want to do it. In my position, I went in already with 20k left from undergrad - yeah, I know, it sounds insane, and I’ll have a lot of debt after. But will I be able to get a job that doesn’t make me want to shoot myself in the head every day? Yeah. Priceless. That’s really all that matters. If you’re not 100% deadset on doing it as a career, look at other options. Also there’s the fact that if you put that much money into a school and this is what you want to do, you’re going to be working your ass off to learn as much possible - and seriouslyyyyy this place has so many people willing to help you out at any second with any question you have.

Before I went and when I was still deciding on accepting or not, I emailed a lot of the alumni. Just google searched them. Looked at their portfolios, their resumes (all were working on amazing projects), then emailed and asked how they felt about their time at Gnomon. I know it sounds a little odd to be that forward, but they were all really helpful and well…I did end up going in the end. Mostly because of what they said. Really glad I did.

Oh also there’s a 6 month period after your graduation date before you have to start paying loans back. Get a really cheap apartment, live on pasta, work your ass off, network like a momma, and you shouldn’t have too hard of a time getting a job at the end.

#6

student loans are really only meant to help cover the costs of tuition in addition to other sources of income, and are dependent on the individuals financial situation. remember you can apply for all the loans in the world but DO NOT have to accept all of them. try to sit down and talk with your parents about planning for Gnomon if that is truly were you want to go. come up with a financial plan including federal and private loans and take it from there. almost everyone who graduates has some sort of debt, you should not worry about repayment until you are closer to finishing your education/training. there are many repayment options and terms offered for federal aid, you can even pay your interest on your loans while in school to cut down on your balance. i hope you find the answers you are looking for, only you and your family can honestly access how you can go about finishing your education, but dont let repayment keep you from reaching for your dreams, just hit the ground running, find a job and start repaying like the rest of the countless graduates who use student loans to supplement their higher education .

#7

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