radredhead

I've lived in Los Angeles about 5 years and am thinking about attending UCI for an MFA. I live in Echo Park right now (in LA,) but would probably be moving to Long Beach and commuting if I attended. Irvine itself is a very suburban, boring town, but LB has a really active community and arts scene. LA in general has an explosion of art right now, rivaling NYC, and it's a very attractive city if you want to be immersed in that world. Some people commute from LA to Irvine, but with traffic that can take around 2 hours each way and I don't want to add more drive time to my life! Without traffic, it can be about 45 minutes. Honestly, compared to the time it takes to get from the East side to West side in LA, this is very comparable and car culture is just a part of life in SoCal. You definitely want a car. Rent in LB is cheaper than LA proper, but it's still higher than most cities. Get roommates! I'd say cost of living, at the absolute bare minimum without any debt, should be about 25k a year, but even that is really tough if you want to think about socializing and quality of life. I was offered a full ride, so I would not need to take out loans for UCI's tuition, but would probably take out loans for living expenses and work part-time, in conjunction with TAships I was offered.

ok doesn't look like many applied to this program, but I do see a few other curating people on here? Anyways - they emailed me today to schedule my interview! They run from march 7 - 10

Did anyone here apply to CCS Bard? Have you received a request for interview yet?

Thank you! Giving me hope! That is interesting regarding the department projects. I wasn't aware of that! I did put in 3 choices, with no. 2 being publications and no. 3 being Exhibition Planning & Administration. Choice 3 is basically what I do for work right now, so while I think I'd be exceptionally qualified for that, I want to move into curatorial and hope there's an opportunity there!

!!!!!!!! I just got an email from SAIC Visual & Critical Studies - Accepted !!!! Letter will come in the mail So follow up with your school if you haven't heard yet and it's been a while - sounds like they are still making moves!

yes, I knew some admits went out as well, but it sounded like there were more that will be notified in the coming week(s). I wonder if it had something to do with scholarship admits being notified first? No proof of that, just speculating.

i called and got this answer about 10 minutes ago. I mostly asked about the concentration I'm waiting on, so sorry, I don't have a timeline on the UCI Studio Arts notification

If anyone applied to UC Irvine's MFA in Critical & Curatorial Studies - Deadline was extended to March 1 and graduate committee has not decided yet. Heard they should be getting back to people mid-March.

Updates on SAIC & UC Irvine: SAIC - Visual and Critical Studies - decisions will be out within the next 2 weeks UC Irvine - MFA studio art is in their interview process & notifications going out soon. MFA Critical & Curatorial Studies (what I applied to) had a deadline extended to March 1 and the graduate committee still needs to meet.

This is my experience so far with the UK - same 2 schools have accepted me. RCA accepted within 2 weeks of receiving my application way back in December. Granted it was for curating, and they have absolutely no financial aid for me, but still?

Hi, I applied for the summer internship with my first choice as Media & Performance Art. I've heard that they don't send you an email confirmation, and they contact for interviews much closer to the acceptance date - so I'm thinking late March or April at the earliest. I'm very unsure if I will even be a competitive applicant. I'm trying to start grad school in the fall and have proof of acceptance, but my undergrad is in film (class of 2011) and not art history. However, I have 5 years professional experience, with the last 2 directly working within curating, producing, coordinating, and administration for art collectives and arts education. Hope they take people outside of academia! Good luck to you!

Yes, I will! I applied with a mostly visual arts portfolio, but also included writing samples & curatorial work. They seemed interested when I spoke on the phone past fall, but I have not heard anything since.

Thanks! I just emailed them to follow up. Slim hope

Thanks! At the start of February they had told me the graduate committee had not met yet. I did not think I would be accepted into their program, but good to know for sure! I live in Los Angeles, so they probably would have invited me by now ;D Congratulations!

Congrats! I am still waiting to hear - did you get a phone call, email, or letter?

Hi! New to these forums, just a quick question: Did anyone apply to UC Irvine's MFA? Have you heard back? I specifically did the concentration in Critical & Curatorial studies. Thanks!

Hi! I applied in this area, too. Was wondering if you heard from Bard CCS yet? I've been accepted to: RCA - MA Curating Goldsmiths - MFA Curating Interview MICA - MFA Curating Nothing yet: SAIC - MA Visual & Critical Studies (they said no interviews) UC Irvine - MFA Critical & Curatorial Studies Bard (was told no interviews, but?)