zelle

Hey guys!!! Just tagging along with your thread.. I also got into MICA MFAST and am SO enamored with the care and individual attention they’re putting towards their artists. My gut tells me just to accept already! But I also got into SAIC low-res and CCA (which is just a few blocks from my home in SF) choices!!!!! I did not anticipate having such a difficult decision!! How are you thinking this through? also, having 3 years a tight class of 9 is PRETTY attractive on top of the general MICA awesomeness .. so I’ll probably end up seeing you guys this June regardless of how much agonizing I do in the next few weeks! But they’re all good choices! Anyway! I had a good email exchange with a current student about creating sustainable community across distance and the schools support of professional development - good feedback all around. Seems like a genuinely awesome group. also! Check out the podcast “Beyond the Studio” - tons of interviews of MICA grads and awesome honest conversation about the nitty gritty.

I'm writing interview thank-you notes and am wishing so badly that I'd recorded or taken better notes during the interview - with a panel interview it's SO hard to remember which comments or suggestions are from whom. I was so busy thinking about the comments/questions! And you really don't want to say "hey, I really appreciated X!" when they weren't the one who brought it up. But I've read that group thank-you's are discouraged as lazy or less serious. HMMMMMM. What have you guys done about this?

I really liked “Clear Seeing Place:Studio Visits” by Brian Rutenburg and: 33 Artists In 3 Acts / 7 days in the Art World (these are written for non artists but do include some neat details from her interviews and studio-visits) and for fun! “Provenance” by Salisbury and Sujo Book reccomendations are a great idea for the waiting time! I can’t wait to hear what others are reading

I don't know if this is helpful or not - but Mills College in Oakland CA has a great (small, but great) MFA program and an overall student body with many older students even in undergrad. I don't know what their funding looks like, but you should take a peek. (the undergrad IS all-women, but the grad programs are any-gender)

Bard is an interesting low-res because A. they've been doing it longer than a lot of other programs and B. it's their only MFA program. I've heard great things! I applied to SAIC low-res - so obviously I've heard good things about them as well. I appreciate that SAIC matches you with a mentor in your local area. If you are excited about low-res I think these are both good choices! I personally think it's a really interesting format that offers different strengths and weaknesses than the traditional format - so if the low-res strengths/weaknesses work for you, go for it!