ih8cinema

Checking in again to see if there is anyone else attending the Ruskin MFA at Oxford in the fall, would love to chat.

I haven't heard of this, but what program offered your friend more money?

Hey, would you be willing to pass along the full version of this email (if there's any more) as well as the attachment they mention? I can't stop thinking about it, might use it as source material for new work... !

Decided on Oxford's Ruskin MFA over UChicago. Best of luck to everyone!

Hey @lazuli. I really appreciate the thoughts you gave on Oxford, and I saw you're looking for info on Columbia. I don't go there but grew up and currently attend school for undergrad nearby, so I spent a lot of time in the city, and my professors are all based in that scene. At one point, Columbia was my first choice, but I ended up not applying for a few reasons, largely due to an official tour I took from a current student there. All of the info here was accurate as of my tour in august 2019, could be different now, do your own research of course... First, money - their financial aid office told me the highest tuition scholarship offered is only half and rare. personally, student loan debt is not an option. If that's not a concern for you, then fantastic. Second - obviously incredible faculty, but nobody I'm excited about in relation to my own practice - more importantly, there's a problem with the full-time professors presence/accessibility. It has gotten a bit better, but there were issues of faculty disappearing into long-term sabbaticals. not much accountability. the "improvement" is that if faculty goes on sabbatical, they will be replaced with someone else on a one-year full-time contract. My student tour guide seriously said to me that roughly "half" of the faculty "actually care" about their students, which is pretty crazy for a tour guide to say. I guess it boils down to what you're looking for... if a faculty member likes your work, they'll bring you up into their professional world, but they have to be present to know your work to begin with haha. As you mentioned in your Oxford comments, @lazuli., some programs are meant for people looking to get pulled into the market (though I would think about UCLA/Yale well before Columbia in terms of this). Third, facilities: a total embarrassment in my opinion, considering what you're paying. Tour guide said students complain about the quality of the computer lab supplies (I work primarily in video), but then I spoke with their equipment person and was told they just replaced the Macs, so I'm not sure. Again, I toured in August - I had sweat through my shirt by the end of the studio building tour because there is basically no air conditioning in most areas (and was told in the winter, the heating is way too much). Studio sizes vary wildly and it seems like you kinda just have to cross your fingers if you need a big space for your work. All in all, I literally could not see myself being able to focus on my work in that environment, but everyone is different. The mentorship program is pretty cool and unique. On paper, the curriculum is nice. It's required to take courses outside of the art department, which I think is valuable. Columbia really comes down to being in NYC and its exposure... tour guide said "sometimes it feels like too many studio visits" because there are always people coming through. TLDR I don't believe in worshipping programs/schools just because of their impenetrable reputation, though of course Columbia is more appropriate for some rather than others. Do your research and think critically about what you will be able to gain from this specific environment (and what you'll be able to contribute!)... It's obviously not for me, but wanted to give my perspective since I was in love with the Columbia MFA before this tour last summer.

Wow, thank you so much for this!! This confirms a lot of what I already considered to be the case, but really helpful to hear it from another perspective. I noticed the ISP correlation in the back of my mind but it's wild if it's as consistent as you say... Definitely something I'd be interested in, though I'd also want to consider continuing into a practice-led PhD (probably also non-US)... But who knows. I listed Teddy as my college preference due to the Ruskin MFA scholarship they have and also it seemed to have one of the highest amounts of Ruskin people year-to-year. I didn't know that the graduate housing is a separate building pretty far from Bullingdon, though only 10 mins on bike... I'll be happy wherever to be honest, just waiting on the college response and hopefully more funding! One question: how would you describe the accessibility of the full-time faculty (assuming you're a recent graduate)? One MFA alum told me the full-time professors based in London are usually at Oxford roughly every other day. Of course, like most artist-educators, their professional lives vary in intensity over time which is unpredictable, but just want to make sure there's not a general feeling amongst students that professors are hard to reach out to for one-on-one time. And by the way, Elizabeth Price doesn't seem to be there anymore, though that would be awesome. Love the current group of faculty.

Would really appreciate any perspectives on UChicago and/or Oxford (Ruskin MFA, specifically experiences from Americans/non-UK). DM me!

UChicago acceptance via email just now! Anyone else???

My friend got an email acceptance from SAIC FVNMA this morning (with a response deadline of April 1), not sure if more acceptances are still coming out or if this means waitlists/rejections are on the way.

Received Goldsmiths Fine Art MFA interview offer this morning. Also – accepted at Oxford, interviewed UChicago, interviewed SAIC FVNMA, offered Glasgow interview, still silence from Piet Zwart.

I interviewed on Feb 14 and they told me probably two weeks from that date, three weeks max (March 6).

any word from Goldsmiths/Glasgow/Piet Zwart? very excited for Oxford/uchicago/saic interviews this/next week!!

Same and same! Best of luck.

Also, for us time-based people who apply with traceable materials via Vimeo and such... Let's not drive ourselves nuts checking analytics multiple times every day! Vimeo analytics never seem super accurate in my experience, anyway. And if they are accurate... who knows, maybe faculty only need to watch 19% of your excerpts to know you're perfect for their program ?

Interviewing at U Chicago Feb 14, and was just notified this morning of Oxford (Ruskin MFA) Skype interview for next Thurs. Still waiting on SAIC FVNMA (from what I've read they should notify by this Friday), Goldsmiths Fine Art, Glasgow MFA, and Piet Zwart. Oxford and Chicago are my top two, so hoping these go well... I'd greatly appreciate advice on any of these schools!