Loric

Oo, missed the part about them being closed. Carefully group you cards. White surface, etc - as if it were in a museum display. Well lit and showing all aspects. Take photo. That's it. One shot for one piece. Done.

They are talking in terms of typical visual art - painting, sculpture, etc. they. Don't want to see close ups of brush strokes or how a piece is constructed. They care about wholes. They also don't want more than 1 work per image. So no collages of many works. As for how to present your atypical work - email them. With a scenic design I was told by one program to show the rendering, drafting, and final as single slides. For another I was told to do a side by side within Photoshop or other simple image processing app. Just ask for clarification. The guidelines are written to address typical pieces. People seriously send them 1 shot of a painting and then 10 close ups of various details. That's what they don't want.

"Defense tactic is to deflect." Duly noted.

Is there a difference between a graduate assistant and a TA? They seem like the same thing but my title was only ever "GA" and then outside of other class labs in the course I co-taught I was the "Co-Instructor." Regardless, everyone knew my policy was "I'll get back to you if I have time, if I care, if it's important, when I feel like it." That wasn't on paper, it was just written in the look on my face. And no one questioned it and I only occasionally got emails, mostly about "I wont be in class, can you tell me what the homework project assigned was."

I just remain confident that regardless of where I've been - Paris, Venice, Tokyo, Amsterdam, etc.. - people immediately know what a "Florida" is, even if they can't find it on a map.

God, the lockstep among your ranks is just stifling. I'm sure it works for rallying the troops when other areas begin to question why your field of study even exists academically. I'm curious what do the lot of you even want to do with these degrees you so desire?

Over in another thread, for social sciences, someone with experience on an adcomm said the discussion was along the lines of "would you want to work with this person?" and a simple yes/no and they were in or out. They were saying this in retort to the idea of LOR's being a big factor - since LOR's never were even discussed during his time working with an adcomm. Yes, each program varies in general, but even then there's different adcomms and such between schools. Making any sort of blanket statement isn't going to work. Even the most prestigious schools and programs -almost always- state they'll make exceptions to their stated score and gpa standards. And they do. So for all this "you know nothing" being slung around - I do know one thing. If you can make yourself a compelling enough candidate with the materials you can tweak you can overcome the so-called "most important" aspects. The sad truth is that most people can't write well enough to make themselves look that compelling.

Yeah, just googled it. Totally got accepted there. Obviously varies by program but my GPA was not much above a 3.0 when I was accepted.

...? I'm pretty sure I was accepted to SDSU with a near 3.0 GPA. SDSU is what i think it is, right?

Well you can't claim both Yes, it's tricky because you're trying to game the system.

I've found that people from CA have a tougher time moving out than most of the rest of the states. My experience with the socal mentality has been that it's almost as if the world ends at Las Vegas and then there's a huge jump to New York and nothing in between. Your mental map of the world will open up, a lot. And things are done differently - very differently. CA is, for all intents and purposes, a nanny state compared to most of the US. There are few warning labels that you'll get cancer and there's not gas pump shrouds so you don't inhale the fumes either. I liken it to how when people from the US travel abroad and then note at a tourist attraction how "dangerous" things are with no fences, barriers, etc.. at a cliff. You can just up and fall out of the leaning tower of piza for example. CA is even more bubble wrapped than the rest of the US, so keep that in mind. As for coping - aside from being sure not to use spray paint indoors because when purchased outside of CA it contains much harsher chemicals - I think you just need to be open to new experiences. The culture will be a bit.. different..

Go to the DMV. Typically students aren't considered residents because they'll up and leave once they graduate - the idea is to give incentive to students who plan to stick around and funnel money, workforce training, etc.. into the community. Get a MA license and rescind your right to discount tickets at Disney World. Also, pay any state taxes (FL has none).

I've had profs who weren't on the website in actual grad and undergrad. Faculty for those courses was always listed as TBA. See any TBA's in classes she might teach?

I think what's starting to get under my skin is the notion that any single part of an application - in any field - is "the most important part." It's not. Adcomms vary, between fields and even between the different adcomms in the same school for the same program between application periods. You have individuals making a group decision. Those individuals change over time - between who they are physically and even who they are mentally. Someone from Perfect School with Perfect Record comes in and almost burns the place down? Then the next identical perfect applicant will be scrutinized more highly and possibly skipped over based on the past experience of the adcomms. You need to make everything in your app the best it can be, but really all we can control is "who" writes letters and what we write in the SOP. The rest is the past and pretty much fixed.

To new beginnings! *toast* I got my ex into grad school. I mean by making sure my ex was on time for things, scheduled interviews, actually finished college.. etc.. Then I got dumped. We were a year apart in terms of graduation.. so off my ex went to grad school, dumped me, and then.. well, I was pissed. I had no one to carry my presentation across the icy sidewalks of Chicago for portfolio showings like my ex did. I had no one to help book my flights for school visits. I had no one to review my digital and physical portfolio and give feedback at 2am like my ex did. Oh.. i loathed my ex. The phrase "You'd be NOTHING without me!" came to mind an awful lot. But then I realized that I didn't need my ex to accomplish anything. I recruited other friends to hold my giant box of portfolio stuff on the icy sidewalks. I talked to other students and faculty about my portfolio. I asked my family for help with travel planning. Turns out I was fine. You'll be fine too. You just need to call in reinforcements when the time comes. You're not going to end up under a bridge.

I yanked this out of an email: "Your entire application file will be reviewed by the Admission Review Committee, which includes a number of people: your Graduate Admission Adviser, the Director of Graduate Admission, the Executive Director of Admission, and any number of faculty from the program. All materials are reviewed at once -- in other words, anyone who examines your portfolio will also examine your other application materials as well."

But you still have to be accepted to both the school and the program. You're contending with both groups being represented on the adcomm.

No.. no it isn't. I have a rec I refer to as "Dr" who my admissions advisor - who has told me point blank he'll be on my adcomm - seemingly will not refer as Dr. XYZ. You should see the emails back and forth between the two of us. "Have you received my rec from Dr. XYZ?" "No, you should follow up with XYZ to confirm he has sent it." "Thanks, I checked with Dr. XYZ and he sent it out today." "Thanks for letting me know! I got the letter from ABC XYZ today and I'm adding it to your file."

But i've been admitted to grad school without submitting a WS.. and am now looking for a spot in a new program that didn't ask for one either. So i'm at a loss as to how it could be so vitally important in the overall process. In some fields i suppose it can hold some weight, but if the overall school needs to approve you as a "grad" then they must not weigh it that heavily since they allow many fields to not submit it at all. I guess this goes back to professors not being the only ones on the adcomm.

Quick notes.. You're uploading a PDF via Slideroom - do not give them a word document. PDF all the way. Also, that quote better look darn spiffy at the top. They will take into consideration your formatting because of your chosen major. See the entire page as it presented as a sort of "these are the basics of how this person presents information given a blank canvas." As for the quote, you can keep it, somehow fluffy formatted at the top, with a simple "-Name Name" attribution under it and then ditch the first explanatory sentence. Heck, ditch "in my view" too. Just go for the jugular. "Without the bedrock of reason, insight and intent to support the visual and aesthetic form, design work in any capacity – commercial, informational or social – would fail." Trim trim trim. Too many "and" statements. It's confusing, I'm really not sure what it's saying. In particular I'm not sure what "intent to support the visual and aesthetic form" actually means. "With this work, I began to identify Design’s true potential in the thoughtful, informed application of classroom basics and innovative approaches that stand to enhance and enrich human life and it is this potential that I strive to achieve in my work." Pick one half of each statement pair.. thoughtful or informed, classroom basics or innovative approaches, enhance or enrich.. etc.. Bouncing around makes the sentence overly long and the point becomes muddled. Also, why is Design seemingly personified..? Generally people have potential.. not abstract concepts.. Are we talking about all design? Any design? Your design? My design? Clarify and don't capitalize there. You can capitalize when you talk about a specific program or title with the word design in it, but all by itself or as an entity design is not a formal noun. Further, if you mention graphic design outside of the context of the course of study itself do not capitalize it. The course of study makes it formal as that is the given name of the course of study, graphic design itself as a thing is not. "ideating" What on earth is ideating..? "My work, ranging in topic from Branding and Advertising to Publication design and Website Design, has assisted me in developing sharp creative thinking, keen aesthetic sense and sound technical skills." Eww.. "My work has assisted me in developing sharp creative thinking, keen aesthetic sense, (oxford comma) and sound technical skills in topics such as branding, advertising, publication, and website design." Much clearer doesn't sound like spouting corporate buzzwords anymore. "I count their award winning work in typography, map design, systems design and identity design amongst the influences on my design ethos." Amongst is an outdated term, use among (which is still old, but acceptable). I'd also drop the first two instances of "design" in the sentence and allow the final item in the list define the whole. "Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India, the leading" "the Breastfeeding... India, a leading..." "..group in India" period. New sentence. "I held.." etc.. Should be "women's" if paired with child development. Also the "it" in that sentence is way too far away from what it's standing in for - cut the sentence down, simplify, and make that "it" an obvious stand-in. You can likely get 3 good sentences out of that single confusing one. "Supported by state-of-the-art print and digital labs, peer-led critiques, research partnerships in innovation and valuable faculty mentorship," That sounds like you copied it off the school's website. If you want to give examples give more meaningful ones. "RISD’s historic setting, diverse culture and industry links assures me of fresh perspective and lasting influences that reflect in my work" Getting ahead of yourself? "will reflect." "As a graduate of RISD, I aim to use" Same - will or would. You aren't yet. -- So... overall... there's a huge disconnect between the first paragraph and the second. The first is bold in what it's stating, the second seems to be a standard sort of essay.. We went from a high to a low and it's a big dramatic drop. I think what's missing is the "what" of what you want to do. I have no idea why you want to go to RISD. Like, what would you want to achieve..? Specifically.. There's some classes listed but I don't recall a major goal. Is it the STEM to STEAM thing..? If so, say that much much earlier. A good approach is "opening bravado" then "aspirations" followed by "reasons I'm not insane for wanting to do these things - aka: experience or the story so far" and finally "the ways your school will further me in my goals." Specifc Q's: -Is the statement clear about my intention of applying for MFA or is it vague? Vague. I think your ideas are there, but they're not presented as first and foremost. Why do you want to go there...? -I have tried to use real life examples/incidents that have shaped me along with talking about certain projects I have done. Is this good or should I leave project work to the portfolio? A little of column A, a little of column B. Name dropping is "meh" as a thing - I'd focus more on the concepts themselves. Citing the actual projects is fine but you need to speak about them in more distinct terms. Less corporate sounding. Delve into the guts and innards of what they are and why they're important. -I have been through the curriculum they offer and tried to talk about what I like and look forward to. I felt this shows more clarity on my part of wanting to study in RISD particularly. Is this adding value? To an extent.. but you list the classes and don't give any specifics of why for each. What do you think you'd get from those classes in particular? Things like "design’s momentous role in modern society and my role as a catalyst" are big concepts, you need to dive deeper and look for minutia that you've keyed into. Many of your statements seem very surface level and thus come off as a bit shallow in your understanding of the program and even yourself and your aspirations. Consider a field of green on a canvas. Is it grass? That's the 10,000ft high broad overview. That's nice.. but anyone can tell you that from a glance. Grass is green. It's when you start to define the stalks and notice the subtle changes in hue, the shadows they cast, the way the individual stalks bend and the crease of the vein running along the shaft. Then it's really grass. You don't need to talk about the microscopic level and photosynthesis, but you need to get down deep enough that you're really discussing what you want to. Right now you're hovering miles above it.

I started the first one, became frustrated and stopped. The random word pairs seemed to become more and more pointless and the list seemed like it was never going to end. I gave up. I'm on an iPhone so I had to keep scrolling and gave up well before reaching the bottom. Also, trying to judge nonsense pairings for literal/metaphorical usage quickly became confusing.

This seems relevant to the forum peoples..

She could be on a leave..?

Oh, not at all. It's just about priorities. I only paid like $200 more per month for my loft over the shabby studios and "barely a 1 bedroom" my cohort was dwelling in. I spent a good chunk of time looking for a place and went after it. They didnt want to igive it to me because i didnt make enough as a grad assistant to meet the income requirements, but I did the whole giant puppy eye thing.

oo.. he does have real Kona coffee.. he can rightfully lord that over us..