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Strawberrycat

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  1. Strawberrycat
    Thanks very much!
  2. Strawberrycat
    Thanks for the info! I've been thinking about UCSD and would love to hear more about it if you had time and wanted to message about it. I was also just looking more through the site and saw that they recommend reaching out to professors you'd like to work with before applying. Did you do that during your applications? I feel like it's a little late to be doing that at this point with the deadline so close, so I'm a little nervous about not having done it.
  3. Strawberrycat
    I personally don't for every piece, but I do if the piece relies on a lot of context or if I have writing that embellishes it, and I use it to talk about certain pieces in relation to the series of work they're in. I think it's smart to utilize it where you can, since it's probably easier to reference that than to look through your whole statement again and again, since they're looking at so many portfolios. But I don't think you have to give a whole mini statement for each piece or anything.
  4. Strawberrycat
    I get what you're saying, but if someone actually went through those things, they would not have the privilege of being safe enough to put their name out there with it. They are serious accusations, absolutely. If they're not true, then yeah, that's libelous. But if they are true, no way should that person put their name out there either. Asking them to do that in a public forum to prove it is like throwing someone accused of being a witch into a lake and saying if they're able to survive it then they're a witch, and if they don't, then they're innocent- but then they also drown. It's a catch 22. That's all I'm trying to say. But this isn't court and it's not my job to be judge and jury, so I feel I'm not personally owed personal information. You feel safe putting your info out there and that's great, but that's equally as much a luxury and a privilege as it is to do with your honor and ethics and morals. In an ideal world, everyone would be able to, but things aren't ideal, so I personally just choose to prioritize the safety of a person saying that they're a victim in a situation over the reputation of someone who, although isn't here in this forum to defend themselves, clearly has institutional backing. However, @Cmusurvivor , if it were me, I would personally redact the names in your post. He makes some important points- we don't know who you are, but based on the info you provided and the letter, the people you're talking about would be able to determine and probably prove that it's you writing it. But anyway, I've been watching the freak out forums for a few years now and it seems like every year they get intense. Everyone has differing opinions and is wildly stressed out. Tension runs high and people start arguing and coming up with conspiracy theories about each other. This isn't anything new. The freak out part is in the name, haha. But there is a lot of support and important information amidst it, so it just comes with the situation, I guess. *Edited to fix the @ .
  5. Strawberrycat
    Glad I'm not alone in it at least! ? Yeah, it's going to be expensive, so I can't go too too wild, but at least some of the schools have fee waivers available, thankfully. Thank you!! I hope everything goes well for you too! Here's a list that seems like it was updated this year on some programs that have good funding: https://www.profellow.com/fellowships/fully-funded-mfa-in-studio-art-and-visual-art/
  6. Strawberrycat
    I haven't finalized my list yet, because I'm an indecisive mess, haha. But the UC schools in California have good funding and good programs, so some combo of UCLA, UC Berkeley, Santa Barbara, Davis, Irvine, San Diego. I would like to be in California, but I'm thinking of applying to CCA, SAIC, Yale, and MICA maybe. Looking at Rutgers too. Just because it's my third year applying too and I'm nervous and thinking of going a little wild with it just to see what happens.
  7. Strawberrycat
    Hey Emoly! My situation is kinda similar. Have you looked into fully funded programs specifically? If you're looking to maybe teach one day, especially, there are a lot of schools out there that offer good funding and pay for teaching assistantships during the MFA. That's what I'm hoping for because I definitely can't handle the debt of some schools. I don't know anything about programs in the midwest personally, but there should be a list of them somewhere that are well-funded and other people probably have a better idea of it. But I would apply to SAIC as well as some others with good funding and if you get into those with good offers, you can also try to ask for more aid from SAIC, and see if they'll offer you any more. Good luck with all of it! *Edited because I said goof luck. ?
  8. Strawberrycat
    This isn't specifically directed at anyone because I've seen like three different people ask for this same thing already, but I just want to say that none of us have made our personal names and info public while we're on these forums and we should not expect other people to do so and especially to attach their names, publicly, to their traumatic experiences for us. If you believe what is said, then believe it. If you don't, then don't, but we don't need to push for someone's name to prove anything. It's just incorrect to assume that there is nothing left to lose and no further retaliation possible in any situation, especially one that none of us are directly involved in. It is not just a matter of owning what you're saying or being willing to prove it. It's often a matter of safety. So you can take the information that's given and think of it however you do, and also respect someone's privacy for their safety and emotional well-being. I understand wanting more info and further understanding, but people have limits and boundaries to what they are comfortable with sharing for good reasons too, not just insidious ones, and I'm going to err on the other side of it.
  9. Strawberrycat
    I definitely feel similarly! It's tough to figure out what the right path is with everything, let alone at the right time with these deadlines. I've recently scrapped or postponed some larger, more extravagant kind of ideas to work on some smaller, quieter things because they feel more genuine to me right now, but I sure hope it reads in the portfolio, seems like such a risk, but I think the reality is that we can't know exactly what will click with faculty and I've heard a lot of stories where what someone thinks of as their "weakest" portfolio pieces are what actually catches the reviewers' attention. If you feel like you need to talk out where your ideas are going versus what is expected of a portfolio more in depth, feel free to message on here, but good luck with it anyway!
  10. Strawberrycat
    I think typically you'd put mostly art related stuff on it, but relevant education or work or volunteer experience is important too. I would take a look at a few websites of current MFA students at some schools you're applying to and see if they have their CVs available to look at, because that helped me know what to put on mine. I have a section for Education, Shows (solo and group), Art-related scholarships/awards, Academic scholarships, Features/Publications, and Volunteer Experience (related to art). Other things to include could be residencies if you've done any, teaching experience, etc.
  11. Strawberrycat
    I think they just really don't want people to wait until the last minute and crash the app sites because everyone is doing it at once, or have issues last minute that could have been resolved before the deadline. I'm going to use as much time as I can to re-work everything I have, but I'm going to try to still submit a couple of days before each deadline. If you're not planning to complete anything new for your portfolio or edit your statements any more, then you could just submit them, but it could also be good to take a break from your statement for a week and then look over it again with fresh eyes to see if you'd like to change anything.
  12. Strawberrycat
    Hey, thank you for saying so! I'm really sorry that your mom thinks that way, but I'm glad you know that that's definitely not the case. Grad programs have such a wide range of ages and 28 is such a normal time to apply! I think a lot of people outside of it all have a skewed idea of what grad school is even like. But yeah, we can know it, and still feel that pressure for sure. But I hope the process goes as smoothly as possible for you and that you get to the best place for you!
  13. Strawberrycat
    Yeah, I got to that part, but I couldn't find the art department in the "agenda" section where it lists the different schools' events. But yeah, I guess we'll found out! I don't think UC Merced has an MFA program right now, but the ones that do tend to have good funding, so I think that's a solid plan. Good luck with all of that multitasking!
  14. Strawberrycat
    Thanks for the info! I don't see where it shows anything for the art department, do you know how to get to that specifically?
  15. Strawberrycat
    Right? I wish their deadline wasn't the earliest I'm applying to. It would be nice to have more time to fine tune everything. I just looked back and saw your intro post! What kind of painting do you do? Good luck too!
  16. Strawberrycat
    Nah, there's a good mix of 2 year and 3 year programs out there! Thank you!
  17. Strawberrycat
    I was saying that I appreciate how Stanford isn't like that because I'm not looking for that kind of program, sorry for the confusion. Actually, after taking another look at the '21 cohort's work, I feel like it aligns more with my work than my memory was telling me from the last time I looked at it. I think I could fit there, but I can't predict what the faculty would think, but I guess we'll find out eventually. I also appreciate how they handled the pandemic by letting them do an extra year and not admitting new students. It shows their commitment to their current students. (USC is a two year program as well, though, not three.) Anyway, good luck!
  18. Strawberrycat
    I thought it was a really informative talk. I don't see a lot of work that looks like mine in their program, so I'm not sure if that means that I would not be a good fit, or if it means that I could potentially have something different to bring to the table...I guess that's up to them. But I really appreciate how supportive a community they seem to be, while still being challenging and pushing each other and looking for growth. I can handle critique and welcome it, but I'm not really looking for a program that wants to emotionally destroy everyone in it just on principle. Definitely not looking for the art version of the military if I can help it. ? Also that living expenses stipend is so generous. ? No one else apply pls, I want it so badly. ? (JK, unless...) Palo Alto is super nice. It is full of very wealthy people, though, so it's an expensive area to be in for sure. Also the Cantor Museum is really cool. I personally like the weather, but bay area cold does go right through you if you're not careful.
  19. Strawberrycat
    It really is such a weird and vulnerable experience to have to suddenly figure out where we stand next to all of these other, sometimes invisible, people, so I get it. It's definitely made me feel a whole lot of different nerves and doubts and levels of being jaded. The application process takes a really big toll (on me, at least) emotionally and mentally, so I'm really hoping this will be the last round that I have to do it! Though, it definitely has some benefits as a motivator. But I'm pretty tired of it over all. As for what other Grad students and professors make, I don't think I really have an opinion on it overall. Some stuff resonates with me and some stuff definitely doesn't, but I know it's not all going to. But it sounds like you know what you're looking for and what kind of faculty work you'd like to see. Do you mean that you'd like to teach at a college that has a large Chicano community or are you talking about teaching at an inner-city highschool like that since you said kids specifically? Because you don't need an MFA for that, just a teaching credential. Sorry if you already know that, I was just a little unsure because of the phrasing and thought I'd mention it just in case. I mean, the fellowship funding was significant, but still not enough to be affordable when you're coming from nothing. Hopefully one day the school will commit more funding to the program, I think the faculty would like to if only they had any say in it.
  20. Strawberrycat
    I hope you got the link that the-fourth-dimension replied with and were able to sign up! If not, I'll try to take notes.
  21. Strawberrycat
    Oh shoot! Sorry guys, I didn't see the notifications until now, but I'm glad you found it!! I'll reply to your other comment later when I have time to thoroughly.
  22. Strawberrycat
    That's fair to want to be in a place like that, but yeah, everyone has their own reasoning and goals for an MFA so different places work for different people. Yeah, I couldn't afford the cost even with a generous fellowship offer, unfortunately. I think that if USC were able to offer more funding, it would make it way more accessible to a lot of great artists from lower incomes who fear that kind of extreme debt $$$. But with that said, their current cohort has some pretty stellar artists who I would have been honored to work with, whether they were their first round picks or not. Initial choices for admission are made for a lot of different reasons and respectfully, I wouldn't call all of the people who get in from any waitlist second best. I don't know where to find it again, but I read a blog post before that was written by someone in an mfa program who was doubting themselves and basically asked one of the professors why they were chosen for the program and if they were really one of the best painters who applied and the professor told them something along the lines of: No, they weren't one of the best painters, and that they weren't even looking for the best painters, they were looking for who they could see the most potential growth for. That really stood out to me and I try to remember it when I receive both acceptances and rejections now.
  23. Strawberrycat
    No problem! Congrats on getting in, but I'm sorry about the cost. ? Their faculty is so great. It was a difficult decision for me too. I hope you find a place that works for you and some good funding to go with it! You might want to check out UC Santa Barbara and UC Irvine as well.
  24. Strawberrycat
    Heya, Stanford is doing an online zoom info session tomorrow at 5 pm and UC Berkeley is doing one on the 29th at noon if you didn't know about them yet. I just found out and signed up through their art department websites.
  25. Strawberrycat
    I'm planning to do one of the virtual days. I've gone to them in person in the past, but if you have any tips to make the most out of it, especially virtually, I'd love to hear them!
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