Happy April Fools!!!!

Well time for an update.  I got an acceptance letter from the Herron School of Art & Design at IUPUI campus in Indianapolis. I am one of six candidates they have selected for the program.  Good news!!!   Now I don’t feel so uncertain of the future.   Of course the big decision now is this the program I want?

Some of my goals are to work at an IT company say Google leading in visual design AND to become a tenure track university professor.  Also to do creative volunteer work for the greater community.  I believe Herron’s MFA program will provide those desires.  Herron’s program is a Masters of Fine Arts (MFA) in Visual Communication focusing on what they call Design Leadership.   I like Herron because their MFA program prepares you for both academic and a working professional track.   You can read more about it here.   One of their sayings is “Creative Solutions to Complex Problems”.   A Masters level degree in the School of Arts is the highest degree you can get.  I like to called it an uber Masters or a Ph.D light.  Unlike other fields or schools like English or the Sciences.   This means the MFA program is 60 credit hours and often takes three years while other master level degree program are 30ish credit hours and take only two years or less.   Herron’s program is quite intensive and focused to be completed in two years.    Which is a good thing for I rather do a faster pace curriculum and receive the degree quicker so I may join the work force earlier.  I am already 32 and will be 34 years old when I am done.   I feel like I am getting a late start a restart in life and want to move faster to make up time for it. 

Another program I applied at is a Master of Science (MS) in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) at the school of Informatics which is also at IUPUI.  This Master’s program is 36 credit hours.  While I can not be a tenure track professorial with only the Masters of Science it is a good program with an emphasis programming skills and a field I am really interested in.   They also have 90 credit hour Doctoral program which looks good but I felt it would take too long to complete.  I still have to wait to see if they will accept me.

One question is the cost.  Herron’s MFA program is new this year and for some strange reason their tuition cost is the most of any public university I can find.   Even more costly than several private universities.   For being a brand new program it seems a little presumptuous.  A public university at that.  Of course I do feel a minor ego boost to be accepted to the most expensive public university MFA program.  Yet, I dislike people or institutions who proclaim self importance and act as if they are better than others.  The question is Herron being egotistical and is the extra cost worth it?

To to Herron I will need some form of aid.  I will not know until mid April on what aid or scholarships Herron will provide.  I will wait until I hear from them and other schools before I make my decision.   

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