jon cocktoe

any updates nathan? I'm curious to know how your visits went and also how the financial aid worked out.

I applied to UMass Amherst too. I called the art dept this morning and the secretary said that they have all the admissions decisions and they're mailing out the letters today and tomorrow. She also implied that the online status would be updated soon. Either way, your wait will come to an end shortly. Re: $35k in loans. Personally, if it was me, I would skip it. I promised myself that I wouldn't take out any loans at all for an MFA nevermind a postbac. Debt adds up quickly, and I'm still struggling with some debt from undergrad. Adding to that is not an option for me. If you feel like you could improve your portfolio on your own, then that's the route to take. Other options include continuing ed classes if there are any good ones near you, or summer workshops with the right teachers. Each of those options won't (or shouldn't) cost more than $2,000, and if you choose your instructors wisely, and work hard, a lot can be accomplished.

It's amazing how different first impressions can be. I know there are other photographers at SMFA, but I didn't get the impression that they work with grad students. Come to think of it, the whole website was a little unclear about just what goes on there. And just out of curiosity, are you funded? I got the impression that SMFA is pretty expensive, and I couldn't really find and specific information about assistantships and scholarships and such. I'm kind of feeling like I may have missed out, but oh well. And FWIW, I never actually met Laura McPhee, what I mentioned was just hearsay from the current grads. Regardless of her personality, her work is one of my favorites.

I noticed this too when I got the school bulletin, and it definitely raised a red flag for me. The first thing that came to mind was "If Yale is #1, then nobody is more qualified to teach there than their own graduates." (Right?!) The other thing this indicates is a strong boys club mentality that leads to snottiness and a general dismissive attitude toward any other person or idea that doesn't originate there. To me, that is not a healthy, productive working environment. FWIW, this is all my own speculation, so I don't know if it's actually true.

I think this is a great topic for a tread, though I've noticed a lot of people are rehashing the top 20 or so schools. From my perspective, it's a little hard to rank schools per se, because I really don't feel like I know enough about them, so I've got three lists: all the schools I considered and researched, all the schools I visited, and the places I applied. So, in approximate order: Schools I considered: MassArt - the faculty work is probably my favorite and I had visited years ago, so it was tops on my list. UConn - the faculty work on the website seemed pretty good, and from what I could gather, they had a very generous funding package with a stipend to the tune of $20K guaranteed for all admitted students RISD - I don't think I need to elaborate Yale - I had a professor that was a Yale grad, and she highly recommended it, but because of nearby negative family relations and it's supposed reputation for demoralizing competitiveness, I decided to skip it University of New Mexico - Solid and diverse faculty, and the art and ecology program really stood out for me University of Arizona - really interesting faculty work (Mark Klett), and good funding package University of Colorado Boulder - seemed like a good program, but ultimately I didn't apply because I couldn't really see myself working with the faculty there University of Washington - really interesting stuff going on there, but I've never been to Seattle, so I don't know much about the art scene there Syracuse - great faculty, interesting program, got passed over because of geography Cornell - more has been elaborated on here than I even knew about, also passed because of geography Maine College of Art - at first this seemed like a great option, but I couldn't find any info about funding, and I found a few web pages on the www that indicated some severe tension between the faculty and administration. I also later decided that I didn't want to do low residency Bard - everything seemed great, but it's expensive, and I didn't want low-res Art Institute of Boston - the more alumni work I saw, the less excited I was, plus lack of funding and low-residency were ultimately deal breakers SMFA - I really wanted to like it, but the program is 3 years, and almost all of the faculty work is political, which I'm really not into U Mass Amherst - Didn't know much about it, but one of my undergrad profs strongly encouraged me to apply U Mass Dartmouth - I really didn't know much about it, but decided to check it out anyway Schools I visited: 1. U Mass Dartmouth - All the alumni work I've seen is stuff that I strongly identify with, and they all seem to have great jobs to boot. The facilities are in a downtown building that was renovated in the last decade and are up to date and accessible. 2. RISD - I met a couple of students and some support staff, and got a really positive inclusive vibe. The photo facilities are great, but are in a state of analog/digital transition so there's a bit of unused space, and people are just setting up in whatever room is available to do what they need to. 3. MassArt - The facilities are impressive, about the same as RISD as far as I could tell, but I was really disappointed to find out that Abe Morell is retiring, and word on the street is that while Laura McPhee is a great professor, she "has a tendency to instill fear in people." (from a current grad student). It also seemed like there was a lot of inertia if the work the students were making didn't look quite like everyone thought that contemporary photography should. I didn't feel like it was a working environment where I could thrive. 4. UConn - I was really disappointed by this one. The campus is in the middle of nowhere (which I knew), and the photo facilities consist of a few iMacs in the basement and some printers of questionable operational status (nobody knew if they worked). The darkrooms were cramped and messy and shared with undergrads, and there was a private darkroom in the grad studio building (on the other side of campus) that had some nice equipment, but nobody was using it. Overall, this led to a general feeling of isolation. The students I met were disorganized and inarticulate and seemed to have a tough time working on anything. The faculty were a really mixed bag. There was one standout who I loved, but there was one other who was combative, opinionated and just generally snotty and mean, and the others were somewhere in between. It also turns out that funding was cut across the university so the $20k stipend is actually more like $7k (which is still great w/full tuition, but they are definitely guilty of false advertising on this one). Schools I applied to (in order of preference): 1. U Mass Dartmouth 2. RISD 3. UNM - I currently live in New Mexico and wanted to stay here, and the school seemed great, so I figured I would visit if I got in, which I didn't. 4. MassArt - Despite my aforementioned feeling about the program, I knew some other grads who were really positive about it, and decided to give it a chance 5. U Mass Amherst - It's in a region where I'd like to be, and the program seems really solid. Upon further research, I really like the work the photo grads are doing, but it doesn't look anything like mine, so I don't know how well I would have actually fit in the program. Phew, that's the most succinct summary I think I could write of a year of research and application work. I hope this list is useful to someone applying in future years. Oh, and I was only really looking for photography, if that wasn't made clear already.

@littlenova: I would have to agree that out of those three, Penn would be my first choice. Provided funding was roughly equivalent, it would be impossible to match the benefits of having people like Charlotte Cotton and An-My Le on the faculty. But then again, I haven't been to any of those schools, so it's really hard to say. As far as my choices, I haven't made a final decision yet because I'm still waiting to hear back from two schools. I was accepted to my first choice, but if RISD or UMass Amherst admit me with better funding (not likely for RISD, but I'd like to know for sure), then it will be a tough choice.

I think you'll find that where you live greatly affects the kind of work you make, even if it's still conceptually related to what you intend to do. The fact is that unless you're working strictly in a studio, the look of your photographs will probably be very different in Nevada vs. Pennsylvania. My advice would be to try and be as open to your intuitions and impressions when you visit each school. Talk to students and faculty there and see how fluid or natural it feels to be there. Visiting schools before I applied was a bit more difficult because I didn't know yet where I would get in, so I just pretended that I'd already been accepted and was trying to picture myself working there. At the end of it all, there was one clear choice where I really felt like I belonged, almost like coming home, even though it was a place I had never been to before. At other places I felt a lot of inertia. It seemed like students were running into a lot of barriers that made it more difficult than necessary to do the kind of work they wanted to do. At another school it seemed like some of the students just couldn't get going on a project as if they'd been left out in the cold. All in all, I think it's great that you've got some ideas for projects going (I do too!), but don't try to force it because once you're there, there will be a lot of other variables that might change your direction a bit, not to mention the guidance of the faculty and community of other students. Take some time to get to know the new place that you're living in, and just pay attention to how you're feeling and act accordingly. At least that's what worked for me both times that I've made drastic moves in my life. p.s. please report back after you've visited all three schools, I'm very curious about all of those places but didn't have a chance to visit/apply for various reasons.

I guess I missed the general fine arts list the first time around. I was only looking at the rankings for photography, and even with the premium paid access, the list only goes to about 20. The other problem is that rankings change a lot depending on discipline. For example, UNM is listed as #50 overall, but #5 for photo. That's a huge difference.

I found out over 4 weeks ago that I've been accepted to my top choice, but I have yet to hear about funding, and of course if I don't get it, I can't go. Everyone keeps telling me that I'll hear 'soon' but that's been the case for at least 3 weeks so I'm starting to lose hope.

I think that's great advice, but how exactly do you figure out rankings for schools 20-100? The top 10-20 are easy enough to find in USnews, but is there another list published somewhere that I'm missing? All in all it seems like there's are pretty strong consensus as to who the top 10 are, but things get ambiguous when you get past #20.

I applied to RISD as well, but I haven't heard a peep since January when they confirmed that my application had been received. It says on their website that they're going to mail decisions on or before March 24th. My guess is that they're gonna cut it close, so I'm not expecting anything for at least a few more weeks : (

@intelly: don't be so sure about UNM. I applied to the photo department and was rejected promptly on the 1st of February. Sounds like they're considering your application so don't count yourself out yet.

@krixa Congrats on the UMass acceptance. I applied there as well, but to the design department for photo. I got an email that said I've been accepted, but no official letter yet, and no word on funding. Just out of curiosity, how were you notified, and did you get a funding offer?

Perhaps it might work to rephrase the question to "how do your students usually address you?"

Have you considered just asking how they prefer to be addressed? At my undergrad, everyone called everyone by their first name whether they were a professor, student, or administrator (even the president of the college!), so it was quite odd to start writing "Professor X" in all of my email correspondence. When I visited a few of the schools, I just asked the professors directly how I should address them, and they all opted for first name. So, now in all of my correspondence I just write "Dear so and so," and it feels way more natural. To each his own I suppose.