Thank you both for responding!
MichaelWebster: Thank you for your advice. I've been offered teaching oppurtunities at both schools--but still, teaching in a bigger school versus a small school seems like a pretty different experience. My work is primarily drawing, and both schools seem pretty comfortable with drawing as a primary media. Your point about the area/surrounding art scene is absolutely right- if it were possible for me to visit both schools I definitely would- but, I'm currently an artist-in-residence out of the country. I still have some thinking to do, but I'm going to get in contact with recent graduates or current students and ask them some of these questions too.
Sculptor: That's exactly the same situation as me....At WUSTL I have funding, not 100% either but quite good, with a funded teaching scholarship, and at UNC-C.H. I have 100% funding, and a full teaching opportunity, but something about the size, area, makes me a little worried.
I feel the same way that you do about teaching. I am trying to figure out if studying teaching at a smaller program, like UNC or LSU (if its not small, probably is pretty intimate) is a better method because of the tightness/support of the program, or if teaching at WUSTL, while large and more competetive, might expand horizons and give a more thorough experience. Today, I'm feeling like the city atmosphere of WUSTL might be beneficial...but I'm still trying to figure it out too.
Both of the schools that I'm applying to are 2 year programs- but from knowing graduate students in two year programs while I was doing undergrad, it seemed like enough time. I suppose the important thing would be choosing a school that expects its graduate students to have all of their necessary skills, so very little time would be placed on instruction and most time based on practice and theory. If you feel that there are areas/media that you want to learn more about before you dive in, maybe 3 years would be a better program (...if you're wanting to switch media or have ideas for something new or something?, for example) But, from your response, it sounds like you know what you like to do and want to continue it, so I would think 2 years would be fine.
After talking to faculty and students from WUSTL, it seems that they provide a program that allows you to try new things, but expects you to know how to do everything you want to do. I know that they teach a theory seminar every semester for graduate students to take, and that the last 2 semesters, this class is very heavily emphasized. The rest of the time (with the exception of Art History/Elective classes) is spent on studio practice and work. There are some workshops to enroll in, but I think that most of the curriculum is devoted to independent practice. I am out of the country right now, so I haven't been able to visit the school, so this is what i've gathered from faculty, staff and student opinions.
(The same sort of curriculum and program ideas apply to UNC, so, the decision is more about size and extracurricular factors for me. I'm just so worried that if I go to UNC, I'll end up feeling stuck with 10 other people, spending a lot of my energy trying to get some space and independence. On the other hand, while WUSTL is a close-knit program, i wonder if the size of the school will actually make it harder to connect with professors.)
Still trying to decide...