Yellow Magnet

I really think that Skype interviews can be just as effective as an in person interview, I have even obtained a great job that way. It is all about how you present and conduct yourself in the interview. For my recent grad skype interview, I made sure there was a nice clean backdrop, did not wear any clothing that would become too bright or distracting and had lights on me to make my image crisp without harsh shadows. Also, I propped my computer up so that the camera was at eye level... looking directly into the camera and not the moving image on the screen as much as possible. that takes some getting used to. . The great thing i like about skype is that I can have post-its notes hiding on my screen so that I can remember what I felt was important to mention and what questions I had for them. Maybe because I'm an art person I understand that that is what they see and perceive on the other side (but i also worked in admissions for a while) Really as far as a clean backdrop goes, I didnt want them judging me based on my surroundings. I wanted them to focus on me. However, I must mention that I am very comfortable with Skype because I use it to connect with family and friends abroad so much. I am naturally relaxed in front of the camera and it pays off. So, I would suggest having mock interviews with friends who have skype to help you get accustomed to a 20-30 minute session.

Its amazing how the SAIC departments work at vastly different speeds and turn around rates. I got an email yesterday with acceptance into SAIC Art Admin and Policy with a deans award (idk how much). Something official will come to me after monday. Again, I haven't heard from SAIC Sculpture which i am more anxious about now. I did however get an interview request from California College of Art, Skype sometime after the 17th of feb. Waiting for official interview time and date.

I've got an interview request from California College of Art. It will be my first official sculpture interview, I wish I had the time and money to head out there in person. If only it would have been in March.

Thanks Ismewild! I have no clue about CMU either and will only visit if i am offered something. I found that skyping with friends and family as much as possible before hand helps to prepare for interviews. We will never really know about what makes someone visit these forums. But there are certainly a small percentage of applicants out there who are just just guests, reading without really contributing. At least your getting your feeling out somewhere. I think i would go mad if I otherwise. But i also think interview requests will completely vary from school to school. Admissions efficiency and their committee structures will differentiate who starts sending things out first. Then there is the ratio of applicants to spots open and how effective they are at going through their applications. you never know.

Sculpture people are here, we are just few and far between. There is a separate sculpture thread where some of us are posting.

Nope, none yet for sculpture. Just SAIC Art admin and Policy, which I feel went very well. I'm sure that SAIC does admissions processes per department.

Have you guys got any interview requests yet?

Hello fellow sculptors! My decisions to apply vary from the capabilities of the program, notoriety, faculty, and facilities. Facilities were most important to me (wanted foundry access, 3D printing, CnC routing, etc) but could be trumped by faculty I wanted to work with directly or the fact that they have been known to provide hefty funding. My list is in my signature below. But I also applied to both SAIC's Sculpture Program and Art Administration program. I have an preliminary interview for Art Administration tomorrow but have not heard back from Sculpture yet. Columbia and Carnegie Mellon also have an Art Administration program I'm interested in, but I want to wait to see if i am admitted. If i decide to go there I will submit to their Art Admin next year. I want a dual degree, i'm not crazy... i'm just a workaholic. I threw in The Royal College of Art because I wanted at least one international option in case one of my external fellowships came through. I did not apply to VCU sculpture only because I have already attended that program in undergrad and want to get out of Virginia. I love that program and wish anyone who is applying there the best of luck. My favorite professors who are currently there: Michael Mckean, Liz King and Carlton Newton. I wish I was able to work with Kendall Buster but she was always on sabbatical when my schedule was free for her classes.

Wait... Are you applying for undergrad or grad? The bicycle portfolio requirement is for new undergraduate incoming freshman. If that is the case, most top tier undergraduate programs know about RISD's 'Bicycle' prompt. Its not distasteful to submit it to other school, but it would be naive to think they might not catch what it was created for.

My work is heading towards a more public art direction and I'm looking for places that incorporate digital fabrication. If a school did not have some of the aspects listed below they had faculty I wanted or more interdisciplinary program that would also let me into the printmaking facilities... only then would i accept outsourcing my fabrication needs. CNC router 3D printer Foundry 3D Modeling Lab/Software Vacuum Former

My list didn't get too much shorter, I read the article after all my applications were completed. I pulled UCLA because i wasn't convinced that even if they gave me a nice package that the facilities would be enough for me or had a faculty member that trumped the facilities issue. I pulled Yale for similar reasons, but also considered that I wanted a different set of peers. In the end I applied to 8 US schools including state programs. I have external fellowship applications out, so I'm hopping that i would have options in aid to negotiate between the schools. The UK schools would only be feasible if one of my fellowships came through. Why apply to so many?? Well, I was unable to apply to more than two schools when i was pursuing undergrad... so i guess i'm making up for it now. I don't want to regret not applying to a program and be left wondering. I figured that if i had the funds and the references to do so...why not?

I'm done with all my applications in the US. So now I just have to keep following up with my references. Yes, the amount of work for all that was like having a part time job... but i think the waiting will be the more difficult task. I'm switching over to working on my UK applications. I'm trying to decide between applying to Slade and RCA or both. The application process is ancient... Slade wants a CD in hand, wow.

Another article, this one about median incomes of MFA graduates from the Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304402104579149060054918936-lMyQjAxMTAzMDEwMTExNDEyWj All these articles have really reinforced what I decided about pursuing my MFA... Im not going without at least 75% funding though both external and internal aid. I know its possible and am willing to reapply to get it.

A good read! Check it out. http://www.vulture.com/2013/12/saltz-on-the-trouble-with-the-mfa.html

If you consider a Post-Bac as a Post-bac programs can be considered a type of investment, because if you consider how much an MFA program will cost you... a decent post-bac can help you get fellowships to save you money. However, if you still want to grow without a post-bac museum programs and art centers also have classes. Post-bac programs are geared towards individuals who did not not get an undergraduate degree in fine arts and want to gain the experience that they missed and put themselves at more competitive level. The reason i recommended nude sketch formal studies is that it provides the basis and ground to develop the understanding of the body before distortion. Your images of the body convey a lack of experience because of your rendering of form and the choices of positions, regardless of how you wanted to distort them. I can also immediately tell the differences in works that have used photographic references. Most of the compositions are center weighted, relying too much on contour lines, and enlarged eyes are done in a way that reference more of an anime style than the more notable illustrators. If in fact you are going for drawing in the sense of the illustration vein, then you should be pushing yourself more with handing of your materials, experimenting with compositions, developing a background, building context into the image. Cohesiveness like Kafralal said is very important. At this point if i were opening up your images I would have thought that it was a prospective undergraduate application. You also need better documentation of your work. If these comments seem harsh or you don't want to believe me because I am primarily a sculptor-- Know that I was a dual degree student in a printmaking/painting department on top of my sculpture degree. And I am also telling you all this from the prospective of an artist whose current job is to teach students to apply to art programs across the nation, helping them into some of the toughest programs with scholarships. I have years of experience in undergraduate and graduate admissions with an understanding of the eyes that are looking at applicant portfolios and what the caliber of work you are up against when submitting an application.

From the portfolio available on your website, it seems that you have room to grow with your practice. Formal studies in figure drawing from a nude model would really strengthen your direction. Also, You could benefit from attending a Post Bac certificate program before applying to a graduate school. This type of training at an established art institution would help you to really build a portfolio specifically for graduate school and also make contacts who can help you in the process (i.e helping you choose programs, reviewing your statements, and writing you references...which the majority of applications will need 3) It is not that someone at your age couldn't get into graduate school at the age of 21, its weather you are ready. Do you know the reason why you want a MFA and what degree program? It does not hurt to start doing your research for portfolio and statement requirements. You can even reach out to programs to get an advance review of your portfolio through national portfolio days.

I got a confirmation email late last night saying: 'This is to confirm that we have received your application for the 2014 Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship competition. Your application has met the eligibility requirements and is being evaluated. We will contact you in the first week of January to give you an update on your status.' anyone else?

So your applying for second year funding? If you dont mind, What school are you at now? I'm worried that my extra reference that was my 'academic' one didnt get hers in on time. I've been out of school for a while, so my three primary references were professional. I believe that we find out about interviews sometime in december, based on my research around here and on the internet from previous applicants.

submitted yesterday, now its the waiting game... As an arts applicant I was so confused at times. And I didn't realize until i called them just two days ago that i could submit a CD of images and had to overnight my items to NYC.

Well, I might as well start the new topic for this year. Go ahead and dish out your woes and worries here. The application is live now and due on November 8th.

let me further clarify that when i say "updated regularly (yearly)", they do it when they want to add or change something in the requirements or how the way materials are submitted. They generally make this change in advance of the application season and the school application goes live. Sometimes they are happy with their requirements and it doesn't change from the year prior.

I have known quite a few individuals who have their MFA in fine arts and a bachelors in a different field. I also have experience behind the scenes of an admissions office. I have no doubt however that if they list specifically on their application requirements that a BFA/BA is a 'Must', that they will stick to it, else they wouldn't list something that directly. For the majority of schools who have a focus in arts, these requirements that are displayed on their websites are meticulously put together and updated regularly (yearly) to fit their admissions process needs. There are plenty of programs that only require a bachelors without a specification to fine arts; however, they may have a requirement about how many credits you 'should have' that are art related. Any time there is 'should' verbiage, it lends to a bit of leniency per situation... its kind of like saying 'preferred'. I recommend that you always look at the department specific requirements which can differ between departments within one school. So, its a tricky situation for sure. The best way to know officially is to contact the graduate admissions coordinator or director for the school(s) you are interested in. Via email would be best so that you have it in documented writing and that you have a date stamp for when you submitted the inquiry for a faster response. You can ask if your certificate would be an acceptable substitute since this is what certificates and post bac programs are partially designed for. Even one step further, you can offer digital documentation of your additional studies for them to review to make sure that it would meet their standards. You might as well go through this type of research to make sure your not going to waste your time and money applying to a school that might have such a specific filtration process. Else, someone else in admissions may not allow your application to reach a department reviewer and the quality of your portfolio becomes irrelevant.

If either of you guys want info on the VCU sculpture program, let me know. I'm not applying there because I went to VCU for my sculpture undergrad. Or if you want to share portfolio work, statements, etc for feed back I up for that too. Feel free to PM me. Not that i don't want to share on the forums, its just i'm not running into as many sculpture related posts on here. Best of luck with the upcoming application season.

I'm jumping into the MFA applicant pool for Fall of 2014. Anyone else here for sculpture?

I feel ya and am in a similar bind myself. I found this online and seems to be the most simple and helpful break down so far: http://classroom.synonym.com/write-statement-purpose-mfa-studio-art-programs-4459.html I've read so many different types of SOPs and they can be quite personal, at times very matter of fact, or even pretentious and wordy. The ones that I have found myself most attracted to are the ones that feel like i am standing there will the individual in their studio looking at their work and talking about their future goals. Also, I teach high school students how to write a statement for undergraduate applications and there is one thing that I think applies when writing for an MFA application or any type of artist statement: Whenever you get the the section where you talk about your studio practice, it should explain your artwork in a way that someone reading that statement can actually visualize your work and also gain a deeper understanding it. If there is anything in your portfolio that you do not think is evident, like your process or reasons for certain interests, then this is your opportunity to express these ideas.