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vitbit

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    MFA 2021 Freak Out Forum

    in Visual

    Posted

    I have applied to 8 programs but only heard back from 3 (Yale and SAIC rejections, MICA interview). Should I be freaking out? Cause I am freaking out. This can't be a good sign, right? I applied for photo, haven't heard back from UNM, Arizona, RISD, MICA Mt Royal, Duke EDA MFA.

    MFA 2021 Freak Out Forum

    in Visual

    Posted

    28 minutes ago, slickjaketheruler said:

    I wanted to throw this question out there. Did anyone have a rough first interview? I had a really rough interview on Tuesday night that didn’t go very well or expected at all. Lots of questions I didn’t expect to be thrown my way with answers I didn’t have fully fleshed out. Anyone have any tips in regards of how to recover from a rough interview? I’m learning that it’s okay to have notes prepared for the interviews, and trying not to be so hard on myself about it.

    I'm sorry your first interview wasn't as expected ? Something that helped me a lot was this long list of questions someone in the past had posted on grad cafe. I put them all together and just spent a good afternoon writing out my answers and just refreshing how and what to say. It also made me more familiar with these finicky repetitive ways they seem to ask the same thing.

    MFA 2021 Freak Out Forum

    in Visual

    Posted

    12 hours ago, dramallama_07 said:

    You mentioned something about your home country. I'm an international student too and the scenario in my country is the same. Can I ask where are you from

    Of course! I'm originally from Brazil, although I have not lived there since I was 16. Where are you from?

    MFA 2021 Freak Out Forum

    in Visual

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, Scrambledmegs said:

    Well, I think the whole higher educational system will reach some sort of breaking point not just in art.  Tuitions are skyrocketing but teachers are paid the same, facilities are no better, the salaries of graduates aren't increasing, and so many people are defaulting on their debt.  Who knows what will happen?  Lots of broken systems do seem to hobble on endlessly though.

    Coincidentally yesterday, I sent my Dad the same article that you posted about Yale and the power law.  (Fruitlessly trying to get him to be excited but he's still heart broken I didn't go on to med school or the like haha)  I feel the larger takeaway of that article is that MFAs simply don't teach you how to be an artist. Yale doesn't have the secret, it just has the prestige.  The numbers wouldn't look like that if these schools were truly shaping their students in the way we like to believe they are.  Sure, a great MFA program will give us great critiques, help us be more open in our practice, and tie us to the art world, but it won't make or break us.  Atelier programs and a few places like NYAA can help realists sharpen their toolkits and give us some good skill exercise too!  Maybe Yale can even get some of their students a gallery.  But being an artist is an extraordinarily self-directed venture and in the end it's simply up to each one of us to keep working towards it.  I don't mean what I say to be negative and I do believe every program tries it's best to be everything it advertises and more.  But the art world is simply too random, subjective, and exclusive for success to follow a linear path.

    Wholeheartedly agree. From the conversations I have been having with my professors from undergrad and at work (I work at an art museum), it seems like things are shifting and in a positive way. MICA is going through a lot of changes to make their programs more interdisciplinary but also to make an effort to recruit students that are interested in more than just making their own work and getting it to a gallery. NYC galleries are not the only places were art lives, nor necessarily where good art lives. There are museums and there are other cities, there is teaching and research and curatorial studies.

    I agree that art is very self directed and that MFAs wont teach you how to be an artist. I also think the whole idea of being a suffering artist who will perish for their craft and accept nothing else other than that is silly but also a little privileged. I am an international student and had a full ride for undergrad. The only reason why I had a job for the past year is because I sunk myself into credit card debt in order to take an unpaid internship where I currently work. It kinda angers me when schools like Yale talk about liking to see people reapplying because that is not an option for everyone. This shit is expensive. Most of us can't afford to have jobs out of college that actually will add to our practice/application. The truth is that I will end up going to whatever school takes me this year, because otherwise it's a year of doing nothing in my home country where there is an economic crisis and the arts are basically dead. My friends live here, my boyfriend lives here, and I am a whole ass person in addition to being an artist. These are two very formative years, but I hate the way they are portrayed for MFAs. My friends getting PHDs dont get shit for being very upfront about personal reasons why a lesser ranked school is better for them as a person. Idk. Just trying to not idealize the starving New York artist (that is rarely ever starving bc their parents give them pocket money which GOOD FOR YOU, but know that is a privilege).

    MFA 2021 Freak Out Forum

    in Visual

    Posted

    Just now, katfude said:

    I've been thinking about this a lot, especially with there being so many varying procedures between schools AND EVEN PROGRAMS WITHIN EACH SCHOOL. I really wish they were more transparent about their admission timeframe, system for interviews, contact method, etc. I hate how we have to assume rejection after not being contacted, while others have. If we were kept in the loop we wouldn't have to have a freakout forum to update each other on where things are at. It's such a spread out months-long process that could easily be condensed, or they could at least provide more specific communication instead of this process being SO VAGUE. 

    HONESTLY. I interviewed with MICA photo last week, still heard nothing from Mt Royal, it's hard not to expect the worst.

    MFA 2021 Freak Out Forum

    in Visual

    Posted

    Is anyone else feeling completely disillusioned waiting to hear back knowing how much money and time you dedicated to these applications? So far I got two rejections and one interview with MICA that I think went really well, but at the same time it's their job to make us feel comfortable and confident during the interview. Just knowing how hard I worked and seeing how passionate and talented everyone in this forum is makes me angry. It might be a little bit of entitlement, but gosh, we really are just begging them to let us owe them money for the next decade in most cases and yet it is such a demoralizing struggle. 

    MFA 2021 Freak Out Forum

    in Visual

    Posted

    2 hours ago, ccrnnr9 said:

    I applied to New Mexico, Arizona, and U of Houston.

    I've heard back from the first two and curious if anyone has heard back from Houston. For what it's worth I applied to the photo/imaging departments at each university.

    How recently did you hear from New Mexico and Arizona? Did they email or did you have to check the portal?

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