...

[lynxgriffin]

Hoooooooly shit.

Just found out I got accepted into the GNOMON high-end CG certificate program.

The good news: it's taught by people who work or have worked at Disney, Dreamworks, Sony, Lucasfilm, EA...you name it. It's designed to train you in 3D and then find you work with the big dogs. Hell, the last term includes a course in Pixar's Renderman. There's an 83% hiring rate out of it. They only accept about two dozen students internationally every term.

The bad news: It's $43,000+ total. I'll be paying off those loans for the rest of my natural life. And that's doing it full-time: I could go part-time, but it's almost $3,000 more. That means I couldn't work during that time. And I'd be spending 60 or more hours a week trying to conquer Maya.

And what about my comics? I'd pretty much be giving up on publishing anything for two years.

Hell. I have no idea what to do.



...The sad thing is, at this particular moment in time, I'd rather plop down 43 grand I don't have than spend another month in this office.

Comments

[sbcpanuru.livejournal.com]

Sallie Mae is a good provider; even better if they're subsidized, but even the unsubsidized ones are better than anything you'd get outside of education.

Don't worry too much about the loans; there are plenty of options for repayment, including things like forbearance for financial hardship, and they're very flexible about repayment options. It also counts as a plus on your credit record, rather than a minus like most debt does--student loans are the safest debt you could hope to have (credit-wise).

The only real issue is whether or not you want to make the lifestyle change in exchange for a practically guaranteed future in animation. It's an investment for sure, but it's your call whether the tradeoff is one you want to make.

[lynxgriffin.livejournal.com]

Now I'm curious as to how student loans are actually a plus on your credit rating. I've never heard of that before.

I think now it's actually the lifestyle change that scares me the most. I know some things wouldn't change (I wouldn't be moving out of the house unless I had to move back in with my parents...not to Hollywood, anyway, since it'd just end up being more expensive and less safe, and the commute's not horrible as it is) but just getting a lot of time cut out of time with my friends, free time, fandom and other personal projects is the most frightening. I know it sounds kind of shallow to be afraid of losing fandom time, but it's how I feel. ._.

[sbcpanuru.livejournal.com]

Kelli and Sean could give you more of the details on that, but the gist from what I understand is that it gives you a positive credit history (provided you keep up on payments or make arrangements otherwise)--if you owe several tens of thousands in loans, you are, for whatever reason, considered a better investment for subsequent loans than someone who has never had loans or a credit card. It's goofy, but that's the way the system works.