Emoree

OH MY GOD I got into IUB's printmaking program!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can hardly believe it, I was prepared for bad news, even though i knew they wouldn't be calling with a rejection but who knows. I got in off the waitlist into a class of only 4 people (including myself) so don't lose hope, guys!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!

poop so you are going to herron? i will likely see you there, unless i get into iub!

i'm waiting for printmaking. i found out yesterday i won't hear anything until after the 15th.

this is driving me mad. i almost think outright rejection would be better than this.

slowly losing hope i'm going to get a spot at IUB.... :/

that stinks! i hope they can improve your offer somehow!

don't you live in indiana? you shouldn't be charged out of state tuition. the first letter they sent me said i was being charged out of state tuition (with a very small tuition remission) and i freaked out and called them and it turns out they made a mistake and sent me the wrong letter. you should check to make sure you got the right letter. if for some reason you did get the right letter, if you do live in indiana and will have lived there at least 12 months you can apply for a residency change with the school. it looks like a big pain (lot of paperwork) but would potentially save you a lot of money. there is a stupid clause in the letter i got, though, that said if my residency changed then i would forfeit the tuition remission. it would still be much cheaper to be charged instate with no remission than out of state with remission. i'd be really interested to know whether you got the wrong letter. i know that both of the people in charge of the grad program literally just took on those duties a few weeks ago, so they must be going through all kinds of chaos.

yeah, herron is expensive. especially compared to IUB. the tuition is almost TWICE as much!!!!! Argh!!!! i thought i was alone in not getting much funding, but perhaps they are stingy in general. their fellowships are also not very generous, and the money goes directly to tuition (I thought it would be like getting a paycheck, guess not). i was very happy with my visit, though, and i think it would be a good school for me. i'd still rather go to IUB but it feels like the chances of that are getting smaller as each day passes.

I used to live in Amherst (and Northampton, Hadley, Florence, etc., I moved around a lot after i graduated from Smith). I don't agree that it's in the middle of nowhere, since there is a lot going on in Amherst/Northampton/Hadley/Easthampton area. There is a lot of art, music & food (and a lot of great warehouse studio spaces available for fairly cheap), but it's obviously not the same as living in Boston. It's also a very beautiful area and has the Berkshire mountains nearby. However. I considered UMASS Amherst for grad school a few years ago but i did not have a good experience visiting there. The grad coordinator basically told me during my visit that i was "too old" for their program... riiiiight... i was only 28. I wasn't impressed by the student work or the painting critique I attended. The campus is also absolutely hideous (all pavement and old, bulging concrete bunkers)--I don't know about you, but it's important to me what my surroundings look like. I don't really remember the facilities much, since they weren't impressive. Hope that helps. I wouldn't waste a trip to UMASS, especially since you've pretty much already made up your mind, unless you can take some time to hang out in Northampton (try Paul & Elizabeth's for a nice lunch or Osaka if you like sushi!). i wish i still lived near Northampton!

still waiting to hear from IUB :/ they've had some prospective students visit this week, and half of the accepted students have already accepted... i really really hope someone declines (and soon!) .... argh...

do you go to Hampshire College, by any chance? i went to Smith, and what you describe just happens to sound like Hampshire. some schools really appreciate an interdisciplinary approach/background and really like when an applicant has other interests and experiences besides studio art. it would help, however, to have some life experience post-BA before applying to grad school. travel experience seems to be especially valued by some MFA programs, so if you can get an interesting travel opportunity post-graduation (especially one that incorporates art in some way-- check out some of the printmaking/book making programs in Itay) that could be very beneficial. as for your portfolio, you definitely want to have at least 25 or so strong works going into the application process that you can then pare down to whatever number each school requires. you don't have to have only printmaking in your portfolio for printmaking programs, either. just use your strongest works. i also wanted to add that you don't have to have been in "a couple dozen" shows, etc. as Michael suggested, to get into grad school. to get into the utmost elite schools, yes, maybe, but for a regular/good school your portfolio is of primary importance. some schools don't even ask for a resume, anyway, so they wouldn't even know what shows, etc. you've been in. so please don't let that discourage you. that held me back for a long time, thinking i had to be in dozens of shows before i could even apply to grad school, and it turned out to not be true.

Poop! This is one of the rare cases where i would rather be wrong! But oh well, I guess there's still hope. thank you for the good wishes! And congratulations on Arizona, I've heard they have a very good printmaking program so i suspect their other programs would be great, as well.

hey there, did you apply for printmaking or painting? i am waitlisted for their printmaking program. it would be awesome if you were the other alternate for printmaking but i have a feeling you applied to the painting program?

I hadn't heard of this before so i did some searching and came across this awesome blog post: http://incertus.blogspot.com/2008/04/if-mfa-is-new-mba-i-am-underpaid.html My favorite part: "You want big picture? You want art? That's going to have your company go the way of green tech and industries that use waste as raw material. Mine the central Pacific garbage flotilla. Engineer bacteria that eat the Viagra residue in our piss, and keep it out of our rivers. Integrate new cultures and perspectives into your company -- for real, not just at some hoodoo seminar -- putting primacy on bringing happiness to a great number of humans, not profits to your shareholders -- on serving, not fleecing, the public. I could go on, but why bother? These ****mongers don't really care about their employees' brains. They'd grind their employees' brains into stew if that would inflate their stock price. This is just the new fad that this frightened herd of mind-bogglingly UN-original thinkers will follow until the next stupid fad comes along." Although i think birth control pills (and other hormone treatments) have a bigger polluting effect, but i guess that wouldn't sound as good. Anyway, i like the way this person thinks

you won't necessarily get any answer by april 15th. i just called IUB and she said she's going to try to get an answer from the remaining accepted students next week so there'd be time for any accepted waitlisted people to make a decision by april 15th, but it's definitely not guaranteed. they could theoretically call you the day before the semester starts. crazy. for me, one good thing she said is there is only one other waitlisted person besides me! woohoo! but also that half of the accepted people have already replied that they will be attending. i think the chances of a spot opening for me are pretty low since it's such a good school with pretty low tuition, i'd be surprised at anyone declining (but still holding out hope)...