kiddroy

Ah, how did they notify you? I'm currently abroad in Taiwan. Wondering if they tried contacting by phone.

Oh woah. Yeah I never received an email/call and my portal doesn't have any updates. That's very strange. I'll definitely reach out to the office of admissions and ask. Anyone else here not hear anything?

Wait has Columbia sent out interview invites? I haven't heard anything yet and the portal hasn't been updated.

Yup same, just received their rejection as well. It seems this year was highly competitive, even more than usual, as per their letter.

If they haven't sent an outright rejection there could be a possibility that this is just the "first batch" of interviews. Keep up the hope. And thank you!

Yeah they don't have specific tracks. Although they ask you to mention what category of work you do. They sent out the list of interview times to choose from, and there are 20 slots. Each 30 minutes over two days (2/20-2-21)

Received interview invite from CMU. They are interviewing a total of 20 people this cycle.

Just saw this post. Not sure if it has been pasted in this thread yet, but here is the portion in the email that mentioned the smaller applicant pool, which was sent out a couple days before deadline: "Each year we also hear from admitted students who almost didn't apply, either because they doubted their chances at admission or they nearly lost the race against time in waiting for the literal eleventh hour (or last minute). Allowing uncertainty or procrastination to dictate one's potential future? That would be so silly! We truly hope to consider you in our applicant pool this year (which as of this writing is considerably smaller than it has been in years past), so don't miss it." Not that I think it matters with the chances of acceptance, since they are also accepting half of what they usually do. But it is fascinating that Yale's admissions team would mention that in the emails. Also thought about tagging @SpinTheWheel

Usually you get assigned to one or two professors who conduct the interview. Occasionally (such as with Carnegie and Yale's case), you interview with the entire senior department faculty. Questions they will definitely ask you is "why grad school now", "what's your purpose of pursuing graduate study", "how do you see our program being a good fit/helping your work grow". Other questions they usually ask is regarding your current work direction, what kinds of things are you trying to resolve or convey in your work, who you're looking at/referencing. Occasionally (except for Yale, this is a definite) they will stray off the art stuff and start asking you things like "what are you reading lately", "what other non art related things are you interested in".

Last year they sent out interview invitations on February 13th. So should still be around that time or maybe a week later that since they extended deadline this year. The number of accepted will fluctuate a lot. I know that last semester, only 4 enrolled (not including the 2 that dropped out). I'm not sure if they are intending on keeping the class sizes small or if they will accept their regular 9-13 people. Interviews are conducted mid March. Last year they were scheduled on March 17th and 18th. Although be advised that they had to delay interviews due to Covid. So regularly if everything is online from the get-go, they should be looking at doing interviews around the prior week.

Regarding this question, this article in Artsy (https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-7-tips-applying-art-school-top-admissions-officers) has a portion where they interview Carrie Moyer, the head of the MFA department at Hunter. Regarding the portfolio, she mentions: “I’m interested in seeing slides that show a person’s ability to grow,” said Moyer. “One of the mistakes that potential students often make is they give you 10 to 15 images of the same body of work. That’s not as interesting as having the person demonstrate that they had a few different ideas, and how those things have become manifest. It’s really important to show that you have an intellectual flexibility around where the ideas will go.” Also for the statement portion of the Hunter, Carrie states that: Moyer noted that she wants to learn from the essay why the applicant has chosen art as a means of expressing their ideas. “We are living in a world where there are so many artists, so knowing what the impetus is is really important,” she explained. I'm applying to Hunter this year as well. I got in last year but didn't go. They allowed a deferment to Spring 2021, but I declined that as well due to Covid. I have interviewed with several professors and with Carrie twice. I'd be happy to answer any questions people have. Hunter is generally looking for older people, or people who have experience "in the real world" as Carrie said. One mistake I made the first year I applied was mentioning that I wanted to teach or get into the art education field as well. Carrie doesn't like that as a reason for pursuing an MFA.