ATumble

@gretta: Yes, I'm going to Slade and I'm afraid of the loans too! I don't know anything about New Paltz so I'll just tell you why I'm looking forward to Slade despite costs. 1) It's in London! so much culture.. there are lots of great museums which are basically free. you would get to experience a different culture/people. AND living in london means traveling to the rest of europe is so much easier/cheaper/faster. you can even do a daytrip to paris! and if you buy tickets in advance or look out for special rates and deals, you can really travel for much cheaper. my friend currently lives in london and she says one of the best perks of living in london is easy travel to the other european countries. i think that in itself is pretty amazing. 2)with a student visa you can work up to 20 hours during term and full time during break. of course it won't cover tuition costs but it'll definitely help with living costs or spending money. 3)you don't have to pay for health insurance. if you are studying for more than 6 months in the uk, you can see a doctor etc for free(small cost for medicine) through the nhs(national health service). 4)student housing is pretty reasonable. have been looking at prices and you can have a single room for as little as 94 pounds a week. that works out to about 570 dollars for a month. and that's in CENTRAL london. when i lived in nyc, i knew friends who paid around 500-600 but they had to live out in queens or brooklyn. and also 1st year grad students not from the uk or eu countries are pretty much guaranteed a spot if they apply. 5)meet people from all over the world!! is it just me or did it seem like there were LOTS of international students at slade? did you visit for interview? anyways, of all the grad programs i've visited in the states and from friends in various grad programs in the states(uw, hunter, pafa, brooklyn college, sfai, rutgers, sva), there seem to be some international students here and there but mostly american. of course this is just what i've encountered and i could be wrong. 6)there are some famous notable alumni...jenny saville, rachel whiteread, antony gormley... sadly, i'm kinda out of the loop so i don't know too many artists that aren't dead. there's a whole list of notable alumni on wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slade_School_of_Fine_Art#Notable_alumni 7)a chance to be 'discovered' by saatchi? haha...you never know! some kid from slade won the school of saatchi contest and is getting some crazy prize. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0912/09121502 honestly, i didn't know that much about slade when i applied. i just knew that one of my undergrad prof's got his master's there and another professor told me it was a great school. so i looked at their website and saw past student work and really really liked it.(both undergrad and graduate levels) based on just that, i knew it would be a good fit for me...more so than the other schools i applied to. i also talked to friends of friends who attended slade for their mfa's and they really enjoyed studying there and had only good things to say. i don't know how it 'ranks' or whatever but i feel that since i like the work coming out of slade, and the faculty seems to like my work, what more can you ask for? also, there have been a lot of applicants/competition for spots so it's not like the school is completely unknown and there seem to be opportunities for showing and stuff after graduation as well. obviously i'm totally biased and think you should pick slade. however, it is a lot of money and time that will be spent and it seems you've got to decide what is right for you! luckily, i only got into one school so i don't have to think about it. HA!

Something kinda similar happened to me. I applied to 8 schools: SAIC CALARTS UCLA UW(Seattle) Hunter Yale Columbia Slade(Uk) The only place I got an interview/accepted was Slade. I heard from them really early on(didn't think I had a chance) so was excited thinking I'd get interviews at other schools as well. Ha! I didn't even get into my 'safe' school. The only school I haven't heard back from yet is Columbia and it seems they're just slow at sending out rej letters. It would have been nice to have a choice...however, I'm just really happy that I got into one of my top choices and am going to accept it as fate. Getting an interview at Yale is a big deal! I hope you get in. It just seems that no matter how schools rank etc, in the end there are so many different factors that affect the outcome, you just never know.

After living on the West Coast for my whole life, I moved to New York after my BFA. It was so intoxicating. I was on a high for the first six months. I visited every museum/gallery I could find and went to every party, event, show etc. And then I CRASHED. I was so tired of everything and got depressed. I was living in an artists' collective and felt the need to move out into a regular(quieter) apartment. I stayed in nyc for another year but my life was totally different. I still visited art shows and went out with friends but my life was a lot less crazy. Even though I had managed to slow things down a bit, I was having a hard time with my art. I finally decided to move back to Seattle. Now that I've been here for almost 2 years, I've been able to focus on my work and reflect on my experiences in nyc. I think if I hadn't completely burned out in the first 6 months there, I might have stayed. Anyhow, I'm moving to London for school this year and am excited but also anxious. When I visited it was as exciting as when I first went to nyc, but I knew that I had to be careful. Although, I think this time around it will be better since I'll be in a MFA program and I'm a lot older(almost 30!). So my advice to you would be to pace yourself. You're going to have lots of time to experience all the new things. Also, your work and the way you work will probably be affected. Embrace it! Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Give yourself time to adjust. I think moving for school is a great way to experience a new place. You'll have something to keep you from straying too far. Good luck!

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!

@turnip: thank you! i really can't believe it...

got into Slade! yay!

@bandini: thanks! it's a bummer you missed the deadline! as for 'paying for the locals', i don't think that at all! i paid practically nothing for my undergrad education since i happened to live in the same state while international students were paying crazy amounts. of course it would be nice to pay less... is there any way i could borrow your EU passport?

got into Slade! can't believe it!

@sophiab: thanks! i'll definitely check her out. i can email the statement if you like.

you should try to find some life drawing classes/informal sessions. sometimes the more informal ones are really cheap. artists just pool money to pay for the model. you already have some impressive skills but i think you could benefit a lot from drawing from life. for example, i noticed the skin color on your figures are the same. if you work from life, you'll see that the color on the belly is different from say..the hand or face etc. also, your work has the same smooth surface all around. the texture of hair vs. skin vs. jeans. could really be varied. there is so much you can do with oil paint and i just feel that you could definitely explore a lot more. one of my undergrad professors is a wonderful figure painter: ann gale http://www.hackettfreedman.com/templates/artist.jsp?id=GAL you can also google her name for images. anyways, best of luck and don't give up!

@turnip: thank you so much! i don't know if my statement is so strong. i haven't written anything so serious about my work since undergrad and that was almost 5 years ago! but if you still wanna read it, i can email it or something... @upper deck: i did! i went to U of Washington for my undergrad. I actually studied painting and drawing. it was a really intense program. let's just say there was a LOT of figure drawing/painting. however, a year after i graduated, i moved to New York and was part of an artists' collective and I worked at an art museum. seeing soo much art was really overwhelming and for about a year i was just making some bad ink drawings. i finally started focusing when i moved back to seattle. it's weird because i think a lot of what i learned about color etc as a painter is still very evident in my work. i feel like i'm occupying this weird space between painting and sculpture.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48480591@N04/

SWEET!

@animal handler: yay for London! Living in London is expensive. However, FAFSA is available like you've said and also if you end up attending school there, you can be eligible to work part time during the school year and full time during the summers. Also, when I was visiting London, I met a friend of a friend who was paying 400 pounds a month, which is comparable to cheaper rent in nyc(yes, she had to look at like 20 different places but still!!) And by the way, I don't know about Goldsmiths or Royal College but for Slade, the tuition was actually cheaper than say Columbia or Yale even with the exchange rate. Besides, you'll be in LONDON, not some middle-of-the-boonies-cow-town. And all the museums are free!! There are lots of ways to have fun without spending loads of money AND ways to cut costs here and there that add up in the long run. It's sad but regardless of whether or not you stay in the states or go abroad, you'll probably end up with loans. But hey! we're not studying fine arts because it makes sense financially...right?? So good luck with your interview and enjoy your trip! Cheers!

Hey congrats on the interview and acceptance! I thought my interview went pretty well but I don't really know what my competition was like...the odds were 1 in 3 for interviews. I applied to Slade because one of my undergrad professors attended there for his MFA. And when I was looking at student work was really impressed with both the graduate and undergraduate students(on website). I didn't even think about applying to other schools in the UK because I thought Slade was a long shot. I'm glad I did though! I'd always heard how art in America is a bit different from art in Europe but didn't think it still applied in today's age of globalism. However, now that I've had much more luck with Slade than any of the American schools(so far), am starting to think there must be at least some differences. I should have applied to more schools in Europe!! I did fly to London for the interview. And since I hadn't been there before, it was nice to look around London and play tourist. The city is truly amazing and there was soo much art. I heard there's actually more museums in London than NY or Paris. It was exciting to think that I may be attending school there. Also, I've already lived in NY for a couple of years and so moving to Europe would be the next ideal adventure. I would definitely say yes you should fly to London for the interview! If anything, you can check out both Goldsmiths and Royal College and see some great art!! Good luck with everything! Who knows? Maybe we'll both end up in the UK.

anyone for sculpture hear from columbia, hunter, ucla or uw(seattle)?

i applied to uw(seattle) for the 3d4m program(sculpture, ceramics, public art, glass) and haven't heard anything yet. at least we don't have to interview!

just got back from my interview in london at slade. so far(sculpture): slade: interviewed 2/24 saic, calarts, yale: rej columbia, hunter, ucla, uw(seattle): ?? am pretty nervous since i don't have an actual offer anywhere yet.

so far(sculpture): yale: rej saic: rej slade(uk): interview ucla:? calarts:? columbia:? hunter:? univ. washington:? anyone heard from the latter schools?? am starting to fear the worst..

@mnchick: I don't really know either. this is my first year applying as well and i didn't get in. I mostly applied because it has had a great reputation for a long time and many of my undergrad professors went there(late 70's, 80's). but when i asked them how the program was nowadays, they said they didn't really know. they weren't too familiar with the current faculty/program. however, considering how many people seem to be applying to Yale, yes I would say it's great. Congrats! @littlenova: I know!!! or the question of how does your work fit into the cannon of art history? had to write about that for columbia's statement. yikes...it's like how do you approach that without seeming completely arrogant or completely out of the loop?? yes, i also don't like the idea of making up a bunch of bs. and also, it seems there are so many different trends/movements/schools in art right now and artists working all over the world in different ways. it's not so clear like it was when impressionism, surrealism...etc etc were happening. and i think that if you are in the present, making art, being critical, not a hermit, aware of art's history....isn't that enough?? it does seem like the people who are in the field of art but not artists are the most concerned about labels. anyways, this whole subject makes my head spin. ha!

I was also having interview anxiety. So I compiled all the sample questions I could find from last year's posts(sorry, i can't remember who posted what): What for you constitutes a good work of art, what draws you to a piece of work? what motivates your work? who are your main influences? why do you want to go to graduate school? where do you see yourself in 10 years? why do you want to attend *this* school? how does your work fit in with the contemporary art world/scene? or describe your work in the context of contemporary art movements? What do you think is a good critique of your work / bad critique? Why/ how did you choose the people who wrote letters for you? How will you contribute to this program? What do you do for fun? What artists who are no longer living influence you? What books are your reading right now? What are you working on right now? Do you have any questions for us? Be sure to name names. Remember not just artists but names of specific works, series, etc... plus quotes from artists/authors: you should have them ready. please explain this work (xxxx03.jpg) - Have you done research about cranbrook, how much do you know about cranbrook teaching method - can you describe yourself, beside the graphic design world. such as personal habit etc. - Do you have any question?? (I think this is important part since I think they want to know your interest about attending this school) What is your work about? What are you working on right now? What artists influence your work? (Make sure to include some dead artists from long ago! Not just contemporary stuff. Remember titles of specific works and some quotes the artist has made.) What draws you to a work of art? What other aspects of culture influence your work besides art/art history? (Something along these lines...) What book(s) are you reading right now? What do you think of them? (It helps to remember specific quotes that you find meaningful.) Why do you want to go to our school?/How do you see yourself taking advantage of (insert school here) environment/program? (Make sure you research the school thoroughly -- know the faculty you will be working with and the types of courses offered.) Finally, have some specific questions ready about the school. The interviewer will ask you if you have any questions, and you don't want to be caught scratching your head at that point... Although at times frustratingly basic, these are all important questions. Before the interview, have some solid ideas about what you will say and how you will phrase it. For me, the most difficult questions are the ones that ask for a specific name or title. Be ready for those. Know the names of artists/authors, names of their works, and things they have said. Refer to those in your answer. Be specific, and be wary of over-generalization -- the more vague you are with a response, the more questions the interviewer will ask, and the more difficult it will become.

Oh! me too. Oh well. 3 down 5 to go.

Got a rejection letter from SAIC today. Two down six to go... @turnip: Hang in there!! I'm sure good news is just around the corner!

Got an email for interview at Slade(London)!!!! Yay! I'm still in disbelief.

Oh, and that was for Painting...I know this is a photo thread but we're all in this Art boat together right?