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Xxanderr

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  1. Upvote
    Xxanderr got a reaction from CarreOk in MFA 2015 All Art ADMISSIONS freak-out forum!!!!!!!!   
    It's about that time of the year again guys!  I found the freak-out forum from 2014 and 2013 extremly helpful, and wanted to get one going for 2015 MFA applicants. Good luck everyone this MFA Admission season! Excited to hear from all you guys soon. 
  2. Upvote
    Xxanderr reacted to kafralal in MFA 2014 All Art ADMISSIONS freak-out forum!!!!!!!!   
    I'm starting the new thread for the next round of applications. There seems to be enough activity on last year's to warrant it.
     
    Best of luck everyone!
  3. Downvote
    Xxanderr reacted to advicefortheywhoneedit in MFA 2014 All Art ADMISSIONS freak-out forum!!!!!!!!   
    As a fellow artist and recently accepted MFA who has been lurking on here just like the rest of you, I would like to ponder why anyone would be willing to go into $100,000 dollars worth of debt for an MFA degree? I notice so many of you applying to SAIC, RISD, Columbia etc etc and then reacting with astonishment when you are not given a full-ride to these over-priced, generic institutions. $42,000-$60,000 tuition annually plus at least $20,000 per year in living expenses alone puts you in a mound of debt that you will never be able to pay back. Not only that, but it will cripple you artistically, and indefinitely. It's suicide.  
     
    So, why waste your time, and ours? Why apply to SAIC, RISD, Columbia etc knowing full-well that you cannot pay if accepted? Especially knowing these money pots have limited resources for you? Why not find a means of paying these expenses before you waste the reviewer's time, and also the people who could have afforded to attend and may have been pushed aside while you knew full well you couldn't afford it even if accepted? Why not do some research as to the costs and benefits of these institutions before you even apply?
     
    *Just a dose of tough love by a concerned colleague. No MFA is worth $120,000 in debt for a degree, and an abstract sense of 'connections' it MAYBE will get you. The reality is, you will likely be making a meager income at best, with $800 a month payments to your new owners. And no, I am not a millionaire just in case you think I'm some spoiled rich kid with everything made. Wise up people!    
  4. Upvote
    Xxanderr reacted to seeingeyeduck in MFA 2014 All Art ADMISSIONS freak-out forum!!!!!!!!   
    Re: rankings - I thought that they didn't matter either but then I heard someone say that when they are considering hiring for teaching jobs, even though the art dept is familiar with what are good art schools, the uni at large can be resistant if they perceive the school to not be serious or if they've never heard of it. The way they put it was that if you go to a name brand school, you can get hired anywhere. If you don't, you can get hired somewhere. For example, they were trying to hire someone from CalArts but the uni people complained that it was a "Disney school." I was sad to hear that. We all know CalArts is a great art school, but I guess we all still have to go into the larger world and it still comes down to perceptions.

    That said, the funding is still the biggest factor. If there was only a $10k difference between the schools over two years then go to the better ranked school. Anything more, I'd still go where the money is, especially if the rankings are similar.
  5. Upvote
    Xxanderr reacted to evd in Do art graduate programs care about Withdraws on your college transcript?? Please help!   
    I was in the same exact situation since I used all of my late-drop credits at Penn State, but it never was never a factor throughout the application process/interviews. Like seeingeyeduck said, they care about your work, first and foremost. 
  6. Upvote
    Xxanderr reacted to seeingeyeduck in Do art graduate programs care about Withdraws on your college transcript?? Please help!   
    They should mainly care about your portfolio, then your show record. I had a horrible cumulative GPA and still got into the program I wanted. I would mention it briefly (like a sentence) in your statement just in case but play up the fact that you did it because you were dedicated to art and prioritized art.

    Also, I think your GPA is still very respectable so don't worry too much. I don't think committees even look at that stuff much at first. Focus on the portfolio!
  7. Upvote
    Xxanderr reacted to ismewilde in Advice for Starting MFA Application Portfolio for Fall 2015   
    Submit nothing that looks underdeveloped or from a class assignment. If you are finishing up undergrad and will have work from your senior thesis and some other recent strong work, then of course that is what you should show. 
     
    I think for painters especially it is important to show a few cohesive bodies of work. If, however, you have a new direction that you are growing in which you will not have enough of a completed body of work, but want to include, you may want to stick that at the end and put in the description that they are from a new body of work/direction that you are exploring.
     
    This is just my two cents though...
  8. Upvote
    Xxanderr reacted to hello_lauren in Schools whose programs you never hear about   
    I feel like there are loads of programs that are well-funded at good schools, but I never hear about their MFA programs. For example, Tulane, Notre Dame, and Michigan. 
     
    I feel like it's smart to go where the money is, but is there any risk of applying to less prestigious (or perceived as less prestigious) programs?
     
  9. Upvote
    Xxanderr reacted to IWasaTeenApe in Can You Be Too Young For Grad School?   
    I applied for grad school straight out of undergrad. Got my Masters at the age of 24 (two months shy of 25) It's been a year since I graduated but I wasn't the only one I knew who did it. It depends on the school usually but it does happen. 
  10. Upvote
    Xxanderr reacted to workwoman in Alternate plans - 2014   
    I'm not against waitressing or any other manuel/parttime/minimum wage job, and I will probably get one soon. But I can't help but resent the idea that I will be spending a large majority of my time at a poor paying job and sacrificing time I could spend improving my portfolio, artist's resume, and applications.  Another worry of mine is finding studio space.  I live in small town Michigan--rainy, cold, hot, windy, bugs, etc.--so painting outside is sometimes an option, but never reliable and I'm pretty sensitive to fumes...so I'm worried about funding my materials and studio space.
     
    I think you make a good point about learning to self motivate--that's another future task I find daunting!
  11. Upvote
    Xxanderr reacted to ssart in post MFA career advice   
    Hey there, 
     
    young(ish) artist seeking career advice. I studied painting at a community school as a youth, then went to Stanford University and majored in art and writing. I have always been very determined to have a successful career as a painter and would like to eventually teach on the graduate level or support myself from my work. After undergrad I was super cocky and applied to a number of programs, but only got into SFAI (duh... I was so young I barely knew how to write a statement!) I received full funding at SFAI, and although it was not my top choice school I felt like it would be stupid not to go because it was a free MFA. I taught painting at a school in San Francisco and in various PreCollege programs after finishing, but didn't feel as though I had any time to work because of my day job and my connections weren't panning out. I moved to a cheaper location, but I'm struggling with feeling stuck in general.  Not sure how to proceed. Anyone ever done a second MFA? Certificate program? Fulbright? I feel like I jumped through all the hoops early and not am now making art into a black hole. At 27 I'm young a little look for a teaching position, no one takes me seriously. I miss having an art community and wish I had based my school selection on working with specific faculty rather than the imagined pressure to go immediately to graduate school.
     
    cheers,
    anon 
     
     
  12. Upvote
    Xxanderr reacted to rilakkuma in So I got rejected by SAIC for the Post-Bacc...   
    ...and I am not mad about it but I am angry with how it came about and here's why:
     
    I applied for the Post-Baccalaureate in Visual Communication Design and sent in my application and slideroom portfolio on January 8, 2014. I had the confirmation number and everything. However, I did not pay the $80 application fee because there was a glitch in the system and my card would not go through. So they gave me a waiver.
     
    During the admission process, I was expected to hear an answer in March but the admissions people and the professors have been very unhelpful. Whenever, I asked about when letters would go out, no one gave me a clear answer. When I asked questions or had concerns about the program, people kept directing me to the Visual Communications department and the head person was never there or they were impatient with me. The responses were flaky and unprofessional. One woman even told me that I never handed in my transcript but I did and she had to find it while I was on the phone with her.
     
    Then they pushed the deadline for the post-bacc up to April! They told me to expect a response in April.
     
    I had to email them again telling them that I did not get a response on the week of Monday, April 14 like they said. Come to find out the man claims he never saw my portfolio before and questioned whether or not I sent it; he also told me that they already have their incoming class. WHAT???? I had to send him the freakin' confirmation number! How could he assume my portfolio was never submitted when 1) I had a confirmation number and 2) some people in admissions said it was already submitted and looked at. After he received my confirmation number, he goes "oooooh, you used two emails. That's why we never got it!"
     
    The thing is...I never used two emails. Only one. What is wrong with these people? Then he attached the rejection letter to the email.
     
    Something was fishy. There are many theories I have; maybe my portfolio is too commercial in style or what not or maybe it is because I didn't pay the $80 and had a waiver. Who knows? I don't care.
     
    For a school that is charging $43,000 for one year in post-bacc, they sure were being careless and unprofessional. Of all the schools that I have applied to, I have never dealt with a school that was like this.
  13. Upvote
    Xxanderr reacted to lolapola in Can You Be Too Young For Grad School?   
    It also transformed my work and made me reconsider the place that critique holds in the development of one's work. The programme is very intense and consists of a bunch of different classes + some extra time in the end to do your own thing. Lots of visiting artists, fantastic food, great talks.
  14. Upvote
    Xxanderr reacted to agnessy in Visual Arts PhD Programs   
    Hello all,
     
    I am currently researching PhDs in Visual Arts, as I will be applying in Nov/Dec for Fall 2015 entry. Any suggestions on programs out there? Anyone knows or has been to any phd in visual arts program?
     
    - UC San Diego - PhD Art Practice looks really good but I read somewhere that they only take 2 students per year; Texas Tech (not very interesting); Ohio State Uni (interdisciplinary arts); and then most of the USA well known visual arts institutions don't offer phds...
     
    Anyone knows other institutions offering PhDs in visual arts theory and practice?
     
    Thanks in advance!
  15. Upvote
    Xxanderr reacted to lolapola in Can You Be Too Young For Grad School?   
    I know a couple of people at yale's programme who went right after their undergrad, though it's definitely not the norm. An advantage would be if your portfolio is not necessarily student work/assignments.
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