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Eric from America

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  1. Eric from America
    Hey @dazedandconfused99 those schools -- VCU, RISD, UCLA, and SAIC -- are all great schools. I went to VCU for Kinetic Imaging (new media/time based art) and also took sculpture classes and classes with sculpture students so maybe I'm biased here. I can agree with what @slickjaketheruler is saying. And also, VCU's "Accepted + 10k stipend" would probably make my decision for me. I mean, all four are great programs, three of them want you to pay them, and one of them wants to pay you $10K? I'd take that $10,000!
  2. Eric from America
    Congrats on those acceptances @Shade54! Several of those (RISD D+M, SAIC Art & Tech, NYU ITP, Columbia) were ones that were part of my decision making process when I applied a couple years ago. All highly respected programs where you probably can't really go wrong with any of them. Here's my brief thoughts: If RISD D+M is your definite top choice, where you would say "yes" in a heartbeat if they offered you a spot off their waitlist, make sure they no-doubt-about-it know that! When it comes to deciding who to contact off the waitlist, I'd suspect any school would rather invite someone they know will 110% accept vs someone who might take weeks to decide and ultimately turn them down, so then they have to ask someone else, wait a few more weeks, etc. If you want to talk further, I'm happy to over DM. Congrats again.
  3. Eric from America
    Hi, Leah! I ended up going to VCU, not SAIC. (I had a lot of great options, could only pick one.) To your SAIC and MICA comparisons: 1) I think the size of the programs are pretty close, with MICA a little bigger? https://www.saic.edu/academics/departments/low-residency/students lists 20 total current students SAIC low res, 9 in class of 2022 and 11 in class of 2023. https://www.mica.edu/graduate-programs/studio-art-summer-low-residency-mfa/students/class-of-2021/ lists 10 students in MICA's low res class of 2021, so around 30 across their whole 3-year low res program. 2) Regarding the SAIC low res mentor, yeah, SAIC does seem more interdisciplinary so maybe you might get matched with someone who seems like a stretch, but you being in a major urban area like Los Angeles and SAIC having such a wide alumni network that it would seem fairly easy to match you up, easier than if you were living in a far more remote area. I was living in Detroit, and I was thinking of a few SAIC alumni that I knew of in the area that I might suggest they let me work with. Maybe you might think of your dream SAIC alum in Los Angeles that could be your mentor and see if they think they can make it happen. 3) Yeah, length of the program seems like the big difference. When I was applying, I made the decision that I wanted to apply to only two year programs, so I could get out of grad school and do other things ASAP. I know some other people who chose only three year programs thinking that people usually only go to grad school once and so they wanted to get as much of it as they could. And yeah, if the programs seem roughly similar otherwise, you could pick any one of those differences that is most important to you and make your decision based on it. Best of luck! Having two great choices is a great problem to have! Send me a DM any time if you want.
  4. Eric from America
    Hey, congrats on getting accepted to both SAIC and MICA low residency! I was accepted at SAIC low residency a couple years ago, as well as SAIC Film Video New Media Animation and SAIC Art & Technology, so I know quite a bit about SAIC. I was living in Detroit at the time which made SAIC pretty easy to visit. I did not apply to MICA so I don't really have a first-hand comparison between the two. They are both really well-respected schools, so you probably can't go wrong either way, and your decision is probably going to be based on your own personal preferences. Like, I remember there were several SAIC faculty members (Lee Blalock, Claudia Hart, Gregg Bordowitz, etc. etc) I was really interested in working with who were then teaching in their low residency program. So, if all else seems equal, your decision might come down to which school has the most faculty that are most interesting to you. Oh, and, they are obviously in different locations, which maybe allow you to do different things when on or near campus and which maybe attract students from different locations. And, OK, I'm looking at MICA's website and it looks like some key differences between the two are: 1) MICA is a three year program, SAIC is a two year program. 2) Both schools have online classes during the fall and spring, along with in-person summer classes, but MICA also has a short in-person winter session. SAIC had the option of taking electives during winter session or during the summer, and if you chose to do them during the winter session that could be in Chicago but also could include study trips to New York or Los Angeles (I was applying pre-covid, so I'm not sure about study trips lately or currently). 3) SAIC would connect you with a mentor that was local to you for studio visits, etc during the fall and spring. I don't see anything local like that from MICA, but like I said, I know a lot more about SAIC so maybe I'm just missing that. So, assuming they cost roughly the same money-wise, those seem like the key differences. I hope that's helpful. Like I said, both very well-respected schools, so you probably can't go wrong and it will come down to your own personal preferences on what matters most to you. Good luck on your decision, let me know if you have any other questions, and good luck wherever you end up!
  5. Eric from America
    I was in similar situations when I applied. One school initially asked me to make a decision in like mid February, when I still had interviews with other schools in mid March. I just politely explained the situations, and everyone was always cool about it. I did try to get back to everyone as fast as I could, meaning I tried not to have more than one or two schools waiting on my decision at a time. Like, if you're accepted at five schools, and still waiting on three others, then make a decision among the first five while you wait, let them make someone on their wait list very happy ASAP, if that makes sense. To everyone: Good luck, congrats on any acceptances so far, and maybe most importantly: If you haven't gotten an acceptance yet, maybe try to think about all the cool things you will make and do for the rest of this year that will make next year's applications even more awesome.
  6. Eric from America
    Hi, Leilei! Congrats on being accepted at VCUarts Kinetic Imaging! If anyone else has questions about VCU, let me know, I got my MFA there last spring and will try to help you out. Short answer to your question, Leilei, is yeah, Kinetic Imaging has a lot of 3D and stop motion animation equipment. You get your own studio with a 27" iMac, you have 24-hour access to computer labs (outside of scheduled classes that might be using them during the day), including the ability to log into to those computers remotely. There were also two animation stands in the KI grad studio area, which was more than enough for the 5 or 6 students in the program; students who wanted to use them could move them into their own studios. There is also a "Stop Motion and Animation Room" and an "Animation Studio" room, which were used mostly by upper level undergrads but I suspect a grad could find a way to use if you wanted. Among the work I created as a grad student were 3D animated 360 videos for viewing in VR headsets. I was also a TA for an Animation class, a Senior Studio class, and a VR class where I taught undergrads who were doing stop-motion and 3D animation. You asked about possibly working with the Cinema department. I worked with other departments quite a bit, like the Dance department (I did live video projection mapping for a faculty performance, and also borrowed some of their video projection gear for my own installations) and I also took classes in other departments (like in Photo/Film and Sculpture) and I had multiple members of my thesis committee who were from other departments, so I'd suspect you'd probably be able to work with the Cinema department if you wanted. I found Kinetic Imaging and VCUArts as a whole to be really flexible. I hope that helps! If you or anyone else have any questions, let me know either right here on the forum in a message.
  7. Eric from America
    @_redrabbit7 @1800goodluck @lamentyung I applied a couple years ago at Columbia. Applications were due Jan. 15, and then on Feb. 18 they sent an email asking me to interview. All interviews were on the same day, March 12, either in person or online. This was for New Genres; my memory is that the other disciplines' interviews were also on the same day. So, if they are on a similar timeline this year, you might hear in a week.
  8. Eric from America
    @blueviolet @Frank14 @artcat Yeah, that timing sounds right. I graduated from VCU's MFA program last year. My department always (or at least every year I know of) had some current student(s) in on the interviews. Last year those interviews were Feb. 16 to 19. Things could be different from department to department and year too year, of course. When I interviewed I was invited to the interview on Feb 6, and I interviewed on Feb. 11. I hope that helps. Great to see this forum full of activity! It's good to see some people reporting good news. Good luck everyone.
  9. Eric from America
    Besides VCU and Cranbrook's deadline today (Feb. 1), MICA has a rolling deadline that goes all the way to March 19: https://www.mica.edu/applying-to-mica/graduate-admissions-process/apply/
  10. Eric from America
    VCUarts deadline is today, Feb 1 https://arts.vcu.edu/admissions/how-to-apply/graduate-applicants/ Cranbrook deadline is today, Feb 1 https://cranbrookart.edu/admissions/
  11. Eric from America
    Hey, everyone, I started to hear a couple days ago on Instagram that at least some programs here at VCU (Kinetic Imaging, Photo/Film, Graphic Design) are extending their deadlines. It now seems to be the case for all VCU MFA programs. I'm guessing a lot of applicants have asked for extensions this year, so it wouldn't hurt to ask for extensions from other schools, too, if you need them. VCU's deadline had been Jan 15, but now it is Feb 1. You might want to double-check with specific programs, but it seems to be Feb 1 for everything according to this page https://arts.vcu.edu/admissions/how-to-apply/graduate-applicants/ "Step 1: Review your deadlines ... February 1 ... MFA in Fine Arts (Ceramics, Glassworking, Jewelry/Metalworking, Kinetic Imaging, Painting, Printmaking, Photography and Film, Sculpture) ..." Hopefully maybe that helps if anyone was freaking out about that deadline? Maybe that helps you get one more application in? I got my MFA in VCUarts Kinetic Imaging last spring. I took classes with faculty and students in pretty much every program (sculpture, painting, photo, graphic design, etc etc) so hit me up if you have any questions about VCU. I also got accepted at several other great schools, so if you've got general last minute questions or questions about other schools I applied to, let me know, I am happy to help as others helped me when I was applying. Good luck, everyone.
  12. Eric from America
    Yeah, that sounds right -- Yale painting admits about 21 new students per year, and it seems pretty usual for places to interview about 3 or 4 times as many applicants as they ultimately admit. (Schools need to make sure there are great applicants on the waitlist, too.) A couple resources I used for looking up things like the number of applications received vs admitted were the College Art Association's Graduate Program Directory and Peterson's database of graduate schools. Both can sometimes be hit-or-miss and/or out of date, but along with a school's own website can give a pretty good sense of whether you're looking at a program that gets 1,000 applications or a program that gets 50, or admits 25 new students vs. admits 2. https://www.collegeart.org/pdf/publications/CAA-directory-visual-arts.pdf https://www.petersons.com/graduate-schools.aspx
  13. Eric from America
    Hi, Emoly! Some great schools in the midwest that I applied to were SAIC, Cranbrook, and University of Michigan. Other good midwestern schools I considered are Northwestern and Michigan State. I know people who are currently at University of Iowa and Minnesota who seem to be doing well. You mentioned funding; of those I believe Michigan State, Northwestern, and Iowa are all fully funded. University of Michigan used to be, and maybe is again, but when I applied a couple years ago Michigan was fully-funded for only in-state students, and was like 75%+ funded for out of state students (there were also some grants to apply for that would end up making Michigan fully funded). SAIC low residency seems like a great program. I was accepted there as well as to SAIC full residency; SAIC was one of the hardest schools to turn down but I could pick only one. If you haven't already, another great low residency program you might want to look into is SVA's MFA Art Practice https://sva.edu/academics/graduate/mfa-art-practice I hope that helps, and good luck!
  14. Eric from America
    I just saw an alert on this: Virtual National Portfolio Day is in 5 days, Sunday, November 21, 1 pm – 5 pm EST. https://nationalportfolioday.heydays.io/conventions/396 It says there will be 56 schools, so there's maybe a pretty good chance at least one school you are interested in will be there. That includes CalArts, Cranbrook, SAIC, SVA, VCUarts, University of Michigan, RISD, Glasgow School of Art, Pratt, Parsons, MICA, etc. etc. I went to an in-person portfolio day when I was applying, and was able to meet with people from six schools, for maybe 20 minutes each. I got a lot of helpful advice, met a lot of cool people, ended up applying to all six of those schools, and got accepted by 5 of them and waitlisted by the other one. So, definitely my recommendation is to go to a portfolio day if you can.
  15. Eric from America
    Hey, everyone! I graduated from VCUarts MFA Kinetic Imaging (time-based and new media art) program last spring (2021). This forum was helpful when I was applying, so I'd be happy to pay it back if I can and answer any questions that might help you. In addition to Kinetic Imaging, I also took classes from other departments at VCU like Sculpture and Photo + Film, and I probably had classes with other students from almost every other department (graphic design, painting/printmaking, craft/ceramics/glass/fiber/wood, etc.). I also have experience all the way through the interview and decision process at other schools I applied to (CalArts, Columbia, Cranbrook, NYU, RISD, SAIC, SVA, University of Michigan), so might be able to answer some questions on those, particularly emerging media, video art, sound art, etc. I see some people say they are interested in VCU. VCU's grad open house is Sat. Nov. 13: https://arts.vcu.edu/academics/graduate/virtual-open-house/ Good luck everybody!
  16. Eric from America
    Hi, Andrew! When I interviewed at CalArts Art & Technology, it was pre-pandemic so I visited in person. I'm assuming your interview is probably over Zoom or Skype? I spoke largely with Tom Leeser for the sort of official interview, and with Scott Benzel sort of outside of official interviews, like tours and lunch, etc. I also spoke briefly with Stephenie Cheng Smith, after a performance of theirs. Everyone was great. The interview itself was just like a pretty open conversation. It didn't seem like the questions were formulaic or anything, just them looking at and asking questions about my specific work, and me asking questions about them and the school and how we might fit together, just us having a good conversation. I had a really positive experience there, and it was really hard to turn down their offer, but we only get to one grad school at a time after all. I still regularly use some of the advice they gave me. I hope this is helpful? Some of the interviews I did elsewhere pretty clearly had a set series of questions they asked everybody, but CalArts didn't seem to, or else we just got rolling and deviated from the plan pretty quickly. Anyway, my basic advice for most anywhere would be: Just be ready to talk about your work and yourself, have good questions for them, and look at it as an interesting conversation where you are trying to make a good impression. Best of luck! Let me know if you or anyone else has any other questions, either here or PM. Again, I am at VCUarts right now, and also have experience all the way through the interview and decision process at several other schools (SAIC, Cranbrook, CalArts, University of Michigan, SVA, NYU, RISD, Columbia), particularly with new media, new genres, sound art, video art, art and technology, etc etc. so I might be able to answer questions about those as well.
  17. Eric from America
    Yeah, I can tell you some of what I know about VCU's Photo + Film program: It is pretty selective and competitive, only accepts about 3 students per year, and has some really good faculty members — Jonathan Molina Garcia and Sonali Gulati are a couple that come to my mind but definitely look into and google the faculty at any school and program you are interested in. I have had several classes with Photo + Film MFA students and they've all been cool people doing some really cool work, but I can't really compare it to other photography programs. My general advice with any program is to look really closely at their faculty, current students, and recent former students, and see if you think you'd be interested in spending 2 years working and talking with people like them. I hope that helps.
  18. Eric from America
    Yeah, too many to list, but some VCUArts MFA alums that were on my mind when I applied to VCU included Teresita Fernandez, Diana al-Hadid, Tony Cokes, Tara Donovan, etc. It seems like every week there's a VCU alum, student, or faculty member having some cool show in New York or Los Angeles or London or whatever. Recent MFA grads with recent shows in New York just in the last couple months that I recall include: Ruben Ulises Rodriguez Montoya at Sargent's Daughters https://www.sargentsdaughters.com/ruben-ulises-rodriguez-montoya Grace Weaver at James Cohan https://www.jamescohan.com/exhibitions/grace-weaver2 Loie Hollowell at Pace https://www.pacegallery.com/artists/loie-hollowell/ Ander Mikalson at Essex Flowers https://essexflowers.us/WINDOW-BOX That's just a few that come to my mind, based on things I'm paying attention to, not a representative, exhaustive, or scientific list by any means!!! VCU has been ranked as one of the top 5 art schools for like the past 10+ years, so there's no way I can do justice to even a decades's worth of alumni based just off the top of my head, but I hope I've given you maybe a helpful start.
  19. Eric from America
    Hi, Aniben3! I love Richmond. One of the reasons I chose VCU was because of its location. Part of that is the city itself, which is a very arts-friendly city (besides VCUarts, there's the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, VCU's Institute for Contemporary Art, many other local galleries and venues, good music scene, etc), and part of that is its proximity to places like Washington DC (3 hours by train) and New York (8 hours by train). COVID changed how often I took advantage of all that, of course. As far as funding, definitely check with whichever specific departments you are applying to, because they vary, and can vary from year to year. In my particular case, I was offered an assistantship in my first year, so I paid no tuition, plus I was paid for teaching. That was good! I was not guaranteed an assistantship in my second year, so I made sure I changed my voter registration and everything ASAP in my first year so I would hopefully qualify for in-state tuition in my second year if I needed to. VCU is a state school, so its tuition is going to be less than a typical private school, and in-state tuition is less than that. In-state tuition at VCU is something like $14,000 a year if I recall. I did end up getting another paid assistantship in my second year, which is maybe unusual due to COVID-related budget cuts. I also did get a separate scholarship that I applied to from the art school, and there are opportunities to apply for travel and exhibition grants from the art school as well. So, funding for me in my department was good, but I can't really speak for everyone else or what the budget situation may be like for next year. I hope that helps!
  20. Eric from America
    Hi SocialKonstruct! The average day for me at VCUarts right now is that we have full access to our studios 24/7, and then 99.9% of classes meet over Zoom. Some people are choosing to work remotely from their home studios, whether in different cities, states, or countries. We still use exhibition spaces like crit rooms, student galleries, local galleries, etc. but just invite fewer people at a time for social distancing, we wear masks in common areas, etc. We have visiting artists doing lectures and/or studio visits over Zoom maybe once or twice a week. (I am actually typing this while also watching a Zoom artist roundtable.) That's all different of course from the "normal" way things were up until last spring. And, yeah, definitely everybody will meet new people and can make new friends and contacts. All of VCU's MFA departments are pretty small, admitting from like 2 to 6 people per year, so there's not any real chance of being lost in a huge class, and there are also chances to meet people outside your own department, by taking each others classes, going to each other's shows, helping each other on projects, etc. All of that is probably true of most any art school, or at least most similarly-sized art schools. So yeah, VCU has done in my opinion a good job during this time, of keeping things safe and healthy while also giving me a great MFA experience. I hope that answers your question. Let me know if that's helpful or if anyone's got other questions.
  21. Eric from America
    Hey everyone! I am at VCUarts right now. This forum was helpful to me when I was applying, so I am checking in to see how everyone's freak out is going! If anyone has any questions about VCU, I'd be happy to try to answer. I am in the Kinetic Imaging (time based and new media) program, and I also know VCU's other programs well, since we are all often together. It looks like the biggest issue this year is that some schools and programs are not accepting applicants this year. VCU definitely is. The VCU open house is this Saturday https://arts.vcu.edu/academics/graduate/virtual-open-house/ I also have experience all the way through the interview and decision process at several other schools (SAIC, Cranbrook, CalArts, University of Michigan, SVA, NYU, RISD, Columbia), particularly with new media, new genres, sound art, video art, art and technology, etc etc. so I might be able to answer questions about those as well. Best of luck everyone!
  22. Eric from America
    Hi, Pollypocket! I didn't have any issues at all with Cranbrook! Cranbrook is a great school. The reason I didn't end up going to Cranbrook was because I was excepted to multiple really good schools, and it was a very difficult decision, but you can only go to one school! As far as funding goes, Cranbrook is probably somewhere in the middle of the schools you are applying to, with Cranbrook's tuition probably being more than Northwestern, but far less than RISD. Cranbrook does award some scholarships. I'd say Cranbrook is worth strong consideration for anyone. I know a lot of people who have had great experiences at Cranbrook in all media -- painting, sculpture, ceramics, print media, graphic design, etc, they're all good. I work in new media (AR,VR, AI, video projection, code, electronics, etc) so I applied in their 4D Design program which is AMAZING. Cranbrook has one of the later application deadlines -- it's still open, their deadline is Feb. 1 -- so it's still an option for people who might want to send in one more application! Let me know if you have any other questions.
  23. Eric from America
    Yeah, sure, I remember it like it was yesterday! VCU applications were due Jan 15, I sent mine in on Jan 13. They contacted me by email Feb 6 to say they wanted me to interview. My interview was Monday Feb 11 at 10:30 in the morning over Skype, with the department chair, the department grad director, and a current 2nd year grad student. They emailed me an acceptance letter on Feb 19. I visited Richmond the weekend of March 16 and 17 and visited with VCUarts (met more faculty, met more current students, sat in on a class, etc.) on Monday, March 18 to help make a decision. I had some great options, so I had a lot to consider. I had until April 15 to accept their offer. Thanks for asking. I hope that helps.
  24. Eric from America
    Hey, I am at VCU right now. this forum was helpful to me when I was applying, so I am checking in to see how everyone's freak out is going! Hey, Cixelated, yeah, Cranbrook is an awesome school. Of the schools I was accepted to, it was one of the hardest ones for me to turn down. I lived in Detroit for several years, I know several Cranbrook alums really well. It's great to hear you are having such a good experience there. I'd love to see what you're doing. Shoot me a message if you want. All of those schools that Vlad listed have great programs, thanks for posting that info, but, yeah, some of that info seems probably out of date, or maybe just based on a small sample size. from what I know, there's like nobody at U-M doing traditional work! Their last MFA show was pretty much all social practice, performance for video, installation work, etc. U-M is another great school that was hard for me to turn down. Tthe description of VCU regarding interdisciplinary work is similarly off. Yeah, there are separate departments, I am in the Kinetic Imaging department which is fantastic and is all experimental video, sound, performance, new media, etc. but there are also painters working in performance, people in the glass department working with sound, etc. There is a lot of overlap, taking each other's classes, etc. If anyone has any questions, particularly anything about VCU or maybe other schools' new media programs (I looked at and visited a lot of them!), let me know. Good luck everyone!
  25. Eric from America
    Hi, Jack! I really wouldn't worry about that at all. I don't think most people are going to look down on your fashion design background any more than if you'd worked in a bookstore or a bank or a restaurant or at any other "day job." In fact, you could treat working in fashion as a positive. "My fascination with the human form led me to a career in fashion design, but I've since moved towards figurative painting because ..." Myself, I happen to be working on some wearable sculptures lately. They aren't exactly fashionable, but if I had any background in fashion design, that would probably influence my work and I would probably be spelling that out for people. Plenty of artists (Andy Warhol, Barbara Kruger, Richard Prince, etc.) have worked in a design field that has also informed their artwork. Other artists (like Rebecca Horn and Nick Cave) have worked in wearable artwork that blurs the art/fashion lines. Cave has an MFA in Fiber Art at Cranbrook and is now on the Fashion Design faculty at SAIC. So, yeah, I'd say don't worry that other people might have some sort of prejudice that will hold you back. Instead, I'd say try to focus on the things we have control over, like the quality of the work in our portfolios, and the ideas in our statements. Good luck!
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