theundoing

Congrats on UCLA! And maybe you will move off the waitlist into the cohort at Yale. I know someone at Columbia who got in that way. Did you happen to go to highschool in California? CA has a weird residency law that you qualify as a resident if you attended highschool there....regardless of where you currently live.

yeah. I'm just surprised because it has been ~50/50 abstract vs figurative for the last four years.

wow . 100% of their painters (with linked websites) for 2022 are representational . totally shocking.

From conversations with current/recently graduated Columbia MFAs my understanding is that printmaking has great funding but the other disciplines have terrible funding. 1 student in painting receives full tuition. I've never heard gossip of anyone in photo, new genres, or video receiving full funding. The rumor is that the dean carol becker views the school of the arts MFA as a money maker for Columbia. Faculty have told me that before dean becker there used to be way more scholarships and funding.

I just heard from a friend who deferred his Hunter admission to this fall that he was asked to give his final confirmation of fall attendance in the next few days so they can make decisions about admissions. So I assume decisions about Hunter will come out pretty soon after that.

Yes! Especially if you have an offer from another school for better funding. My perception (from friends who have done it) is that it works better at schools where they give decent funding and you bargain for 2-3 thousand more per year. I've never heard of someone going from shit funding to great funding.

Congrats on your acceptance! I don't know too much about Goldsmiths. But the faculty are on strike right now so it could potentially impact the program. But hopefully they have been transparent about that. https://www.artforum.com/news/protesting-goldsmiths-planned-restructuring-lecturers-halt-student-assessments-84955

I personally would not be willing to take out 100k in loans for an MFA but if you desire both Grad Plus and Federal Grad loans are subject to income based repayment plans. Unless an artist has a huge gallery career post graduation ...most adjuncts I know make around 5000 per class

I think that I probably meant to say "yeah AND" vs "yeah BUT" as I do agree with you about geography. I was attempting to express that within the east and west coast big cities there are so many options for MFA that I wont be surprised if the big player schools shift a bit. I really agree with you that, sadly, artists are not in charge of their own success. I'm with you on wishing I could be more optimistic!

I also had mine today with them. When I looked up Weaver's work I was worried (as it is so different from mine) but I thought it went well. I hope we both get offers!

Yeah, but you don't have to go to Columbia to get a shot at a Whitney curator visiting your studio. In the 2019 biennial Columbia only had 4 artists at the biennial vs. 3 for Bard. RISD had zero while Hunter had one. And assuming for the sake of argument you were given zero financial aid. Hunter would cost $42,000, and Bard would cost $70,100 while Columbia and RISD would cost $128,000 and $110,000, respectively. Personally, I think the market will change a lot in the next 10 years and we will see more successful artists from outside of Columbia and RISD as people start to decide that the cost just isn't worth the fractional boost in the industry. Yale will stay Yale though lol

Apparently the old director was also kissing upper admin butt, lol. Just like Columbia as @SocialKonstruct mentioned it seems that the upper admin just doesn't value the MFA so it on the verge on falling apart. (or that is my take on the parallels). Dean Becker at Columbia is very invested in turning the Columbia MFA into a cash cow basically. Not that people aren't still successful after Columbia ...they just have success at the cost of six figures in debt... My friend says that last year they gave all interviews a list of faculty so I will def be suspicious if they don't give us a list....

It seems that the biggest issue with Bard is that admin aren't listening to faculty concerns and are pissing faculty off. Two co-chairs already left last summer and the fear is that there will be a mass exodus of faculty. Since a big appeal of the program is amazing, dedicated faculty...that would be a big big issue for the program. Three years might allow for things to settle but...if a bunch of faculty get annoyed and leave then it might take longer to rebuild the program. ++ if a bunch of students take leave this summer the program would take a big financial hit. My friend says that the new director seems to be some sort of upper admin sycophant instead of advocating for faculty or students. and ... of course there is a lot of ego involved in this fight. "falling apart" sounds extreme to me but that is why my friend remembered that quote...because it was very alarming. I hope there will be more information by the time a deposit is due. If I am even offered a spot

My good friend goes to Bard (photography). I have an interview with photo. My friend says that more will be known more this weekend. So far...I have been told: 1) A few faculty have explicitly stated that the program is falling apart. 2) Faculty and admin are in a big standoff about COVID stuff this summer 3) Most Faculty want the program to be remote vs. many students want in person. So it seems likely that there will be 2 or so faculty in person per discipline whereas most faculty will be online. 4) ~ 30-50% of students want to be entirely online (or will not be able to attend in person bc of travel restrictions) 5) Last summer was remote and it really sucked. 6) Bard does not do weekly testing and instead practices random pool testing.... eek 7) Many first years from last year's cycle are returning as first years so the class size might be extra big. This could impact funding as returning students are guaranteed the same funding. ...this is all speculation. Maybe the admin and faculty will settle their differences??? happy to pass on any more knowledge but to me those are the main takeaways.

I'm so sorry that happened! Personally, I think it is important to remember that when you interview at a school you are also interviewing them. That director sounds horrible and weirdly gave you a lot of information about what your experience would be like at the school. I agree with someone below ...it makes MICA look horrible.

I know someone who was accepted in photo. He turned them down but did get an acceptance. If you check last years forum you can also see that students were accepted. They probably just forgot to update the website.

I got my undergrad at Columbia (I finished recently). Some of the MFA students seem pretty unhappy . There have been two lawsuits against the MFA ( from the students) in like the last 5 years. So yeah...unless they give someone really good aid or you come from money ... it seems way too high. https://hyperallergic.com/440469/columbia-university-mfa-students-demand-tuition-refunds/ The studios are the same (they did put nets on all the ceilings). Many of the faculty are still absentee. Some of the faculty only function through a lottery system so you might not even get a visit with them. Idk I've heard a few MFA students describe Columbia as "pay to play." Which is possible for some people but not something I can afford to do.

I didn't apply to Columbia but my friend is a current Columbia photo student and says that they have zero permanent photo faculty rn...so I wouldn't be surprised if it takes longer than other departments.

do they expect you to make a deposit with your commitment ? you could always back out. but if you have to give them a deposit it is a different story.

everything I have heard is... really not good. but hopefully the administration will get it together.

my friend told me they don't even have any confirmed faculty yet (beyond co-chairs) so maybe they are delaying?

I haven't heard anything about him. I heard that Rochelle was very tough but very dedicated and involved.

Yeah, since Rochelle Feinstein left as chair ...their painting focus has really shifted to representational work. It is disappointing as Columbia has also shifted in that direction. But I've heard that Meleko is a really really awesome instructor. I have only heard raves about him. So that is great for painters who happen to work on representational work. However, I would not say that his work is at all focused on BLM. But maybe I am misunderstanding what you mean by that.

There are a good number of people who have done MFA at Bard and another place (as Bard is 8 weeks each summer).

I suppose it could end up 2 people. Painting hasn't been super transparent about the numbers, apparently. But some students will probably take leave of absence as there is some dissatisfaction amongst students. Good luck with Bard. I applied photo as painting is super competitive ..and my work could maybe fit within photo at bard.