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Hi all, It seems this application season is coming to an end, before it does I wanted to leave here some pieces of advice that helped me in this application process for those of you who haven't applied yet, or will apply again next year. This was a tough year for applying. Even though I have a feeling overall applications were less, most programs were also accepting *significantly* less people. For example, for painting programs I know, Yale accepted two thirds their usual number, that's 12 instead of 18, and UCLA accepted 1 or 2 people instead of 3 or 4 for painting. So there's a chance that if you got waitlisted somewhere you would have been an admit during a non-covid year. U Wahington I think also accepted less people, Rutgers and Stanford didn't even open admissions this year. Anyways, here are my two cents: -I did my best in interviews when I had a bullet point list of things about my practice (besides my usual elevator pitch) that are unique to me and that enlighten some ways in which I can contribute to the specific program. I tried to weave these points in regardless of what questions were asked. Have questions prepared, and use them as a way of saying something about who you are and what you care about. Best advice I've been given for interviews: be excited and show it. Practice interviewing, the questions they ask tend to be similar across programs, at least some of the questions, such as: why grad school why now? why this program? what faculty do you want to work with? how do you see your work evolving? how are you in communities? what are you reading now? artists your work is in dialogue with? Be yourself, and don't worry about seeming perfect. -Do your research really well, apply to schools where you actually see yourself going, research the city, the orgs around, and of course research the courses offered and faculty. -If you can reach out to current students or alumni, they will be able to give you a clear impression of what things are really like. However, do take these with a grain of salt. At the end of the day I believe an MFA will be what we make of it, someone else's experience is not always indicative of how things will be like for YOU. Ask if they would be willing to share a syllabus with you, or at least describe the kind of material they are studying. Talking to students may also give you a chance to speak more honestly, don't be afraid to reach out to people you don't know, via email, politely. A lot of schools have public lists of current students. -Remember at the end of the day for many schools it comes down to forming a cohort that will work well together. So, have in mind sometimes rejections are due to that. That's all, if I think of something else I will respond here! :):)

Can someone explain this to me? Is it based on what’s being consumed in the Chinese market rn? Very interesting!

Hey, anyone else accepting offers for UCLA? it would be great to connect.

Yeah, this is a screenshot from the waitlist letter they sent. They said fewer than 5% were admitted, so between 4% and 5%? And this is considering that they only had about half spots open. 4%-5% is more than I thought.

And accepting at least 3 or 4 times as many depending on the discipline. 7 times more painters though. Yale graduates 21 painters every year, and UCLA graduates 3 or 4. Also, do you know where are the stats for Yale? I can only find very dated ones.

Hi everybody, Someone was asking about UCLA mfa statistics a while ago. I just found them today: ADMISSIONS DATA Average Number of Applicants 684 Average Number of Admits 20 Percent of Applicants Admitted 3% Average Number of New Registrants 15 Percent of Admits Registered 75% Of course, that’s for a non-covid year. This year I believe they only accepted 14 students, which is around 2%. I found this data here: https://grad.ucla.edu/programs/school-of-arts-and-architecture/art/ since their cohorts are sort of interdisciplinary, the admissions are for all disciplines.

Maybe it would be a good idea to call? Or email? They seem to take very long to reply, but it’s worth a shot. I think it would be a good idea to I nclude your application number in the email. I quickly looked it up, their graduate advisor for DMA is: Helen Tran Undergraduate & Graduate Student Advisor helen.tran@arts.ucla.edu (310) 267-4907 They have sent out rejections and acceptances for painting, and I would guess that for photo, interdisciplinary studio, new genres, Sculpture and ceramics.

Hi! I am likely going to UCLA in the fall, for their MFA. I didn’t know they had family student housing! How does that work? I said in the FAFSA that I was living off campus, mostly because i am married and I am coming to LA with my spouse. Thanks for any information you can provide!! ??

You should definitely try to ask for more, even if you don’t have other offers to use as leverage. They admitted you, which means they want YOU to join their program. Also sometimes schools will offer stipends in exchange for TAing. I don’t know what school this is, but most schools haven’t totally distributed departmental funding yet, so it’s worth a shot and if you’ve been in touch with any of the professors you could try asking them for any fellowships or scholarship opportunities that could help out.

I have sort of looked at apartments but not too seriously since school starts until October. So planning to visit LA in the coming months, and do a serious search over the summer. I live in California already, so it’s a little easier to plan a trip. I am coming with my partner so we are open to renting a small apartment or sharing a bigger apartment or house with other people, so let’s stay in touch! bank accounts and phones are really easy here, very straight forward, you can do both in less than a day

I am starting an MFA at UCLA this fall too! So excited. Let me know if you have questions about being an international student, I used to be one not that long ago

Funny you say that, a good friend of mine worked as his assistant for 6 months after college and she hated every single second of it. She says he was incredibly exploitative, inconsiderate, mean and overall a terrible terrible boss. I met him once and he seemed *very* performative, not a very authentic person

I got accepted into CalArts during my senior year in college and I had a sort of mehh interview... they were very embarrassed because they made a terrible racist faux de pas at the beginning of it.

Omg I remembered this work by Alex Bag today. I feel like some of you here may enjoy watching this SVA satire:

Thank you ? interview with UCLA or Yale?