MSMSMS

Thanks. I'm still mystified about the process. Looking back, I submitted work that I would be uncomfortable submitting now, even if it's just been a few months. Haha, it's not, it's just my initials repeated three times (I made my account in a hurry the night before I interviewed). I'd like to see some of your work if you have it online!

There's an article from the Yale student newspaper where the faculty mention that they're looking for students who aren't "cooked" yet. They like to see potential, which would explain why they might admit someone whose portfolio isn't "better" than someone else's--although I'm not sure if classifying such a portfolio as "worse" is really that helpful. The students at RISD confirmed the same. They're not selecting for the people with the best and most-polished portfolios, they're selecting for people with stellar portfolios who have diverse interests, an openness to critique and change, and who will contribute to a unique dynamic that the cohort otherwise wouldn't have. Though it was said that if you're selected for interview, you definitely have what it takes to study there. If you didn't make it past that stage, it might just not be your year.

Where else did you apply/interview?

I got in (3 year design). My worrying was for nothing.

Ugh...time to vent... I really think I blew it with Yale. I had a lot of fun during the interview and felt exhilarated, scared, grateful...but looking back I could see that I might have misunderstood the point of the whole thing. I'm coming from academia and have a lot of research interests that inform my work, and now that the interview is done I can see that they were trying to understand who I was more than the concepts I was working with, and I just kept talking about theory and research rather than process. It got to the point where Shelia and Julian basically told me that I talk too much and I STILL kept rattling on, because that's the only way I've ever related to my work. So, I'm pretty sure I didn't show them the best me. Kind of kicking myself.

My interview is at one today. I've already had too much coffee

I just checked in a few minutes ago. Here tonight and tomorrow night. PM if you want a dinner partner, i have no idea what's going on!