Emoree

in case i don't get into either of my *only two* schools this time around... do you guys have any recommendations on how to get recommendations when you've been out of undergrad for years (i graduated fall 2003)? i would keep working on my portfolio and apply again next year, but all except one of my recommendations would be extremely stale. two professors from undergrad didn't even get back to me this time around (one is retired), and the printmaking professor i'm working with right now is about to retire, too! besides taking other art classes (painting, maybe drawing) at my local university (and paying through the nose) i don't know how I can go about getting fresh new recommendations. any ideas?

I'll bite. I would stop all noise for five minutes-- no noise and no digital images. Just visual and auditory silence. Obviously, it would need to be a special megaphone.

the internet is a distracting bullshit, if you want to go down that road. with that said, i take my leave.

well, the top part of that pic is true. the ndaa was a piece of shit that most people didn't even pay attention to because they were "so worried" about the interweb (ie, SOPA).

no, just annoying

i already posted this on the freak out forum but thought i would post here, too. snail mail letter today from Indiana-Bloomington printmaking program saying I'm an alternate. if anyone out there was accepted but on the fence.. make up your mind right quick because i actually do want to go there!

Thanks Dani! Your paintings are beautiful, by the way, and i love the papercuts. Bloomington would be a great place for you. i hope we both get in!

Snail mail letter today from Indiana Bloomington saying i'm an alternate for their printmaking program. i'm SO glad to NOT have been rejected outright, but being at the mercy of whoever was accepted and may dawdle and twiddle their thumbs for a few weeks or months or whatever before deciding where they're going to accept isn't fun. I'm going to call on Monday and ask how their wait list works, if it's just a pool based on who accepts (and they re-review everyone on the waitlist to see the best fit), or if they've sequenced everyone, etc. Also, Herron printmaking said they will be sending out their decisions mid-March via snail mail but perhaps I will call them as well on Monday and ask how things are going and how their waitlist works. I figure if i can get waitlisted at Bloomington then perhaps i am safe from being rejected outright at Herron, but who knows-- of course it all depends on the other people who applied. it would totally blow to be waitlisted at both schools and get into neither, especially since i don't think i will be applying again. i'm getting to an age where i need to get on with my life, set up my own studio, and just do it with or without an MFA.

EEK i broke down and called Bloomington, to ask about the FAFSA, initially, then I asked about where they were in decisions... She said that they're almost done looking at applications in the printmaking department and she should have their decisions by the end of the week..... She said they have some things they're trying to figure out-- whatever that means!! argh! *head explodes*

thanks houndstooth! glad i asked!

I see a few people have already been filling out the FAFSA. Are you guys doing that for grad school? Are you already accepted somewhere and will be going, or are you doing it just in case you do get accepted? Is there even really a deadline for FAFSA, especially for grad school?

appli-can thanks for posting that video--- what is UP with that guy's voice?

not sure what iknowyoudontcare is referring to here as it doesn't follow from the previous paragraph (even with the "so" added on). also wanted to clarify that the school i'm taking classes at right now accepts everyone who meets their basic qualifications, which is why i was so insistent they find my transcript and admit me. @hwrios, I, too, have benefited from being persistent! but, yeah, maybe it's better not to know when we'll know, and to just get on with it.

thanks emeliej! that stinks that you missed the deadline for IUB, it seems like a great school. that's good to know about Herron. but march IS so far away! i'm going to pry myself away and try to go to bed...

Ok. more babbling. Is it terribly taboo and horrible form to email the head of a program to find out when decisions will be sent out...? i met with the heads of both programs i applied to before i applied and theoretically could email them.... but i don't want to annoy them. argh i just need to go to bed.

@hwrios, i feel your pain re: name changes and transcripts. i've been taking a few classes at the local university to build my portfolio, and the fools almost didn't admit me because they were too stupid to match up my maiden name on my transcript with my current name-- as stated on the application. ugh. i called twice asking why i hadn't been admitted and they insisted they didn't have my undergraduate transcript. i insisted they did and just had to look under my maiden name. they finally did and found my transcript. SO... i was super paranoid about it happening again at the graduate schools i applied to. herron was kind enough to confirm they received it, and IUB sent a form email saying they'll be in touch if anything was missing (which goes against what they said all the rest of the time...)..... i want to know if i am accepted or wait listed or whatever!!! argh!!!!! someone on here said they actually called the admissions office to find out when decisions were being made... i am dying to do that but i'm afraid it could somehow hurt my chances. besides, neither school would probably answer the phone and i wouldn't want to send an email. if the deadline was 1/15 and i haven't heard anything yet, does that mean i wasn't accepted right off the bat...? anyway. enough babbling.

thanks hdsl I applied to Indiana University Bloomington and Herron (IUPUI), both for printmaking. my husband and i just bought a house (and won't be selling it anytime soon) so my circle of schools I could attend is very small-- fortunately it includes two I really want to attend, in any case!

theoretically, you could also go back to school for a second bachelors and get a BFA. you would be able to build up a large body of work and also make the connections to get recommendations you need. i don't know how that compares financially or in terms of time spent, though.

I'm getting very nervous reading about the replies people are already getting! I only applied to two schools and couldn't find any info here in the forum on when they normally send replies. Argh i'm so nervous :/

I have been thinking about this, in case I don't get accepted this year. It is somewhat comforting to think that I could potentially be saving tens of thousands of dollars that could--- theoretically-- go towards supplies and building up my own printmaking studio. I don't have a huge amount of debt from undergrad, so I'm not terribly concerned about graduate debt, however I didn't realize that the interest rate on graduate student loans is much higher than for undergrad. i was expecting ~3%loans, instead they are apparently 6+%... But, hopefully loans won't be an issue and i'll get scholarships instead!

Oh god i just submitted my applications.... !!! I hope my recommendations get sent in and I hope the schools get my transcripts (and know enough to match them to my maiden name). OH god i can't believe it's over. Printmaking Indiana University Bloomington IUPUI Herron

@Stephanie, Iowa would be nice but I have to stick fairly close to home since I'm married and have a houseful of animals (that my husband won't/can't take care of!). the places i'm applying are at most 2hrs away...not sure how it will work out, may have to rent a room or something, but at least it's not too long of a drive away. yeah, it must be weird to see the current students who got accepted if you had applied for that year. one school i visited i was astounded at some of the people who got in. one person didn't have a clue what she wanted to work on and it was already two months into her first semester. other students looked like they were floundering--- but, of course it must be very different once you're actually in the program versus just looking in from the outside. Are your first two paintings with the dark backgrounds on your site your newest ones? I think the second one is perhaps the most successful, but the one of the person passed out on the plaid couch is very interesting-- less of a portrait, perhaps, and more of an allegory.

@stephanie, I'm applying to IUB (Hope) as well, for printmaking. have you visited there? i went there a few weeks ago and it is delightful. i didn't get to see the painting side, but the printmaking facilities are incredible. they did tell me that they keep their painting students on an extremely tight leash so they aren't able to experiment with other media very much. and since the painting program is only two years (guess that's getting to be very common now) you really don't have much time to experiment anyway. also, i used to live in Amherst and that area, and UMASS Amherst is pretty nice. Kind of an ugly school (concrete, ugh), and I don't remember the painting facilities very well, but the area as a whole is beautiful and Amherst/Northampton/Easthampton is a great place to live with a lively art scene. i am quite enjoying the painting of the older woman with a cane, i love her expression. i have a random suggestion--- have you tried making a painting without using any white? some of the paintings here tend towards chalky. it would be interesting to see how you handle the limitation of no white. Or perhaps using mixing white (assuming you aren't already) instead of titanium (assuming that's what you're using).

Thanks Michael and losemygrip. I'm going to be applying to Indiana University Bloomington (incredible printmaking facilities, this is where I want to go), Herron, and possibly DAAP. I visited IUB a few weeks ago and brought work with me (they asked me to) and they were very encouraging that I apply. Perhaps they say that to everyone, though. :/

@losemygrip, it's funny you should say that because that type of old bias is a big part of why i'm working the way i am. i want to see more compassion in art, for people to have regard for creatures other than their own species (or themselves, depending on how far out their regard actually goes)-- for animals to not just be "objects" in art, like women once were (past tense perhaps still isn't appropriate?). I would like to work more conceptually, like the "Outliving Me" piece starts to do, but it's very hard to think of things that aren't trite or been done before (Sue Coe always comes to mind, not that I would ever do work as brutal as hers). that's a huge reason why I want to go to graduate school, to be pushed outside the box and have the resources to develop new skill sets to incorporate into my work (video, sound, whatever else). anyone else have any thoughts on my work?