sophiab

Digital Media! Congrats to you too! I will most likely be seeing you there because Digital Media has a floor in the building where the painting grad studios are. If anyone wants to talk about where to live around RISD, message me. I'm trying to figure it out and don't really know what I'm going to do.

<br /><br /><br /> Digital Media...it is pretty much the perfect program for someone like me. I'm so happy!

I sent out my deposit to RISD! I feel excited and terrified at the idea of moving the other side of the country. I visited in person last week, and I was so incredibly impressed with the art, the buildings, and how much people seemed to care. Anyone else going to RISD?

Congrats to all the people getting into RISD and Yale! That's so amazing! I have a question for you guys...I had an extremely unpleasant time with one school I applied to. I regret paying the fees and putting in the effort to send my application there, and I really want to send them an email saying something about it because I really don't think it's right. I don't want to burn any bridges with people I might want to work with someday, but they were just really awful. Any advice?

I went on a tour of SFAI today...I didn't get any money from them at all. I wasn't crazy about the campus either...I thought CCA was a lot nicer. Also the grad studios are 45 minutes away from the main building by public transportation, according to the tour guide. I was told if you were to take any studio electives, they would be in the main building, with that 45 minute commute from where the grad building is. I didn't feel like going to see the grad studios after my tour of the main campus, but I'm told that they are really big but have curtains and no doors. I definitely like vibe and facilities of CCA a lot more. I'm going to visid RISD soon, and it will be between RISD and CCA for me.

congrats!!!!

Thanks so much! I'm sooo happy. I am going to go visit in a week. I hope I love it! I hope you get some good news from them too!

Yeah, seems like we are in a similar situation! I also would much rather stay in the bay area. I love it here, and I have a lot of important people in my life here. I have a house which I would have to sell, which really complicates things also. The house would make my life complicated if I went to CCA too because it's too far away for an easy commute. I don't have any financial information from RISD, but I think that if they both are equally expensive RISD would be the better choice. Long term, I think RISD's reputation would open more doors for me in terms of jobs, and I also think it might be a better fit for what I want to do. I really want to bridge painting with technology, and I got into RISD's Digital Media program, which would be perfect for that. At CCA, I got into the interdisciplinary program, but they really aren't doing much with technology there though I really like the school a lot. Eventually, I'd really like to teach in a Digital Media program, and I think going to RISD would be a lot better for that. Apparently MFA students in Digital Media at RISD get to even design and teach their own wintersession courses, which is an amazing opportunity. I can't rely on teaching to work out right away of course, but I also think a Digital Media MFA from RISD would be way more helpful in finding any sort of jobs in design if I needed another way to support myself. So, in conclusion, right now I'm thinking RISD's reputation might be worth moving back to the east coast for awhile, though I'm not crazy about that at all! I'm going to go try to visit RISD in the next couple weeks, and hopefully that will clear things up for me.

@atumble....THANK YOU!!! everyone, you guys have all been so awesome!

Mine is even less than that. I got confused when I was at the financial aid office and thought I got more...then when I actually got my letter, I was sad.

Thank you again to everyone!!! I was so surprised. I hadn't heard anything for such a long time, I thought for sure I had a rejection letter coming in the mail. I can't believe that last June, not so long ago at all, my portfolio and statement literally did not exist. A few weeks ago, I was sooo miserable. Now, I am sooo happy. What a rollercoaster! This brings me to: Accepted: RISD, CCA, SFAI Rejected: UCSD, Berkeley, UCLA, San Jose State (strange!), CalArts, CMU Waiting: UCSC Congrats to everyone else on their acceptances too!

It was strange, yesterday they schedule a phone call for today so the department head could ask me some questions. It ended up being a combined interview/acceptance call.

Thank you, everyone!!!!! My brain is totally unable to parse this information right now.

I JUST GOT INTO RISD! I did not expect this at all!!!!

La Jolla and the area around it is beautiful. There are lots of really fun places to eat, microbreweries, surf culture, etc. It has a lot more character, in my opinion. Valencia is really suburban and has mostly chain restaurants. It reminds me of growing up in the midwest but with better weather. It really doesn't seem like there was anywhere interesting you could easily walk to from campus. I think to get to interesting places, you actually have to drive to LA, which is pretty far. La Jolla is further from LA, but it's still a really doable drive if you want to go. I visited both campuses, and I liked UCSD a lot more.

I know! It's quite late! I thought they were supposed to be notifying people by tomorrow on their final decisions. I almost had a heart attack when I saw the 401 area code on my phone. Good luck with your interview tomorrow! You should go to Casserta's pizza, Coffee Exchange, or Meeting Street cafe while you are there. My 3 favorite places in providence!

I just got a call from RISD digital media to do a phone interview tomorrow!!!! I was not expecting this at all! I am flipping out right now.

I went to the financial aid office and asked, but they told me that the packet was already mailed out. We should be getting them any day now. I thought the studios were really nice! They all seemed to have lots of light, and the seemed big to me (but I haven't seen a lot of schools yet). They don't have doors but rather curtains, which someone mentioned. I didn't get a chance to get any good photos today. The tour group I was with was huge. I will try to get some good pictures on the grad open studios day on the 4th. I got a good feeling from everything I saw today, and I really liked the school overall.

I found out today I got a scholarship to CCA, which makes me feel a lot better about the cost. I went on a tour there today, and I really liked it! I am still waiting for other responses, but I think that is where I am going to go!

Yeah, it's a useful starting point. There is an overwhelming number of schools out there. At first I was just applying to schools in the SF Bay area because of personal reasons. Then my circumstances changed at the last minute, so I randomly picked a bunch of schools from the top of the rankings list without doing any research and sent my stuff there. Now having had the time to look at them all closely, none of them would have been a good match for me and my work, and I think I would have been really frustrated there. So, in conclusion, rankings definitely are not a good way to pick schools. Anyhow, it all worked out for the best, since I think I got into the best place for me in terms of both work and lifestyle. Lifestyle and where you want to live are big factors too that have nothing to do with rankings.

I totally agree. The rankings are interesting to get a very general idea of a school's reputation by other art educators. Who knows how many people are even on that committee that ranks the schools. I do not think that you should choose a school based on rank at all, but find a place that is a good fit. It's a piece of data that's interesting to know, but a small and superficial one compared to everything else you need to take into account. As an undergrad, I was accepted to higher ranked schools, but I went where I thought I would be happiest and where I thought I would like living for 4 years. I definitely believe I made the right choice because I loved my undergraduate experience while I know people who went to "top schools" who were very unhappy. The most important is finding a good fit for your personality and work. A good rank is nice, but it is really like a single sprinkle on the icing on the cake.

You can see here: http://premium.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-fine-arts-schools/painting-drawing

NP! 10. Cranbrook 11. CUNY 12. CalArts 13. School of Visual Arts 14. CCA, SFAI, BU, University of Georgia, Upenn 19. Rutgers, University of Iowa, Washington University in St. Louis 22. New York Studio School, Tufts, University of Southern California, University of Texas - Austin 26. Bard, University of Illinois - Chicago, University of Washington, University of Wisconsin - Madison

Tufts #22 Cranbrook #10

I have access to the full painting list...it goes up to 29. BU is #14 for painting and MassArt is not on the list.