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Honestly, I don’t know, it’s hard to say.

Usually, these are mixers for everybody who is a finalist. In times pre-pandemic, you would go to interview in person and they would have a lunch or something of that sort on the day of your interview. You know, something casual just to feel your vibe in a more relaxed setting, get a tour, ask general questions, meet current students, etc. Not all schools have them, but they are more common in schools that do shorter individual interviews. Naturally, it’s a bit awkward but it’s ok.

Be yourself and try to enjoy it. Good luck you are gonna kill it!

Thank you! I would like to remain anonymous until final decisions are out. When this whole process is over I will make a thorough post as I feel like I have a lot to share with future applicants, but I will have more of a feel for whether my strategies have been successful in March. Thanks to everybody who’s been sharing! And good luck to everybody! We got this!

Hi, Been posting here for a while now, but haven’t done my list yet. I applied to: -SMFA: Interviewed last week -UCLA: Interviewed last week -Northwestern: Interviewing this week - Yale: Interviewing next week If anyone is interviewing with these schools and wants to talk about it, please hit me up via DM. I also have experience interviewing with CalArts from the other year I applied. I am super hyped about this whole process. I’ve learned a lot and I am enjoying it although the wait is annoying.Also, anyone have experience with social hours with current students? Any advice? I have my first “social hour” on Saturday. Good luck to everybody!!!!!

Have you tried calling? Or have you only asked over email? You could say you are waiting for your financial aid award/scholarship offer before committing and making the deposit. They should be understanding about that, otherwise it would seem very sketchy

Not yet!

Thanks, I appreciate your perspective. I do tend to be overly formal... I think actually that is part of my personality, and I also think it’s partly cultural. When in doubt I always prefer to come across as formal than a faux pas. But I know that this aspect of my personality intimidates and throws off a lot of people. I think it’s exacerbated by the fact that I am a woman... you have no idea the amount of times I’ve been told to “smile more.” Being aware of this means I purposefully try to smile in interviews though, I find it helps me relax too... but you know smiling too much can also look silly. Ahhh.. the double binds!

That makes sense about the financial aid... and the personality thing, I don’t know... I feel like letters of recommendation are probably good for that

hi everybody, so I’ve had 3 interviews and in my last one at the very end they asked me what my personality is like and if I was applying to other schools.. honestly, it threw me off so much, especially because it was at the end, I tend to get winded after 45 min of talking. Anyways, isn’t it an odd question? I understand why they would want to know my personality... But it seems to me it’s the kind of thing you perceive by asking other questions... anyways, i blabbered an honestly weird response I realize now.. lol... it seems my default mode is weird, I just go in trying to be myself you know? ugh, it’s frustrating because I truly feel I had aced all the interview until that very last moment. Anybody else has been asked similar questions? Is it common? I hadn’t been asked this before in any of the other interviews.

In general, MFA programs prefer older students. As long as you’ve kept a studio practice and you have a lot of strong work to show from the past year, age will work to your benefit.I am 27, I am applying to MFAs for the second time, last time I was a senior in college. I sort of knew I was gonna get rejected, although I did get into CalArts. I wanted to have the experience of applying while having the resources and coaching of faculty for my application. I am really glad I did apply before because I learned A LOT doing it. And I am definitely super glad I took time to get professional experience and work on my art practice. MFA programs definitely tend to favor having professional experience, maturity and grounded expectations. ? good luck! You got this!

Hi Lisa, last time I applied to schools I got accepted to CalArts, and I visited for my interview. Evidently, I didn’t go at the end. Partially, it was because of the funding. It’s a very expensive school without great financial aid. I got about 1/3 of the tuition covered by scholarship, and that definitely was not enough for me, especially if I was gonna be living in California. I would be willing to take that amount of debt, for Yale MAYBE. I also visited Yale’s school of art, back then when you could do such things. Back to CalArts, I *really* disliked the vibe of the place. Current grad students were day drinking with the applicants to be interviewed. I have nothing against alcohol, but the whole vibe was seriously weird, and not good weird. I just feel like I had enough of that non-chalant, destructive, teen-like attitude in college. I take my studies very seriously, and the ambiance at the school seemed very naive, and not very serious at all. I saw the painting MFA thesis show and I really disliked everything I saw except for the work of one person, everything else seemed extremely derivative. Cherry on top: teachers confused my home country when interviewing in sort of racist fucked up way... Anyways, particularly in contrast to the vibe at Yale, or Northwestern, where I also visited, CalArts just seemed like freshman year in college all over again. Also, their students tend to be on the younger side in comparison to other MFA programs. This is just my experience, in the painting department specifically.

I think it depends.... “intimidating” is subjective. In my opinion it ultimatelY depends on how you handle whatever demeanor you encounter. If a program REALLY wants you they will try to sell the school to you, in that case they may not want to be intimidating. Unless it’s a very prestigious school in which case they don’t need to sell. Anyways, If you have written a really good statement of purpose (for the schools that require it, this is not the artist statement) then they may find themselves in the odd situation where they don’t need much clarification.

Did you get an interview? Check your spam folder. I had a request there that I didn’t see for four days.

A few days ago, not ver long :

Honestly, that’s WAY better than a 20 min interview. It will give you a chance to address anything you’d like and further contextualice your practice. It is also easier to relax and get into a rapport in 40 minutes.

Thank you ??☺️

Don’t know what to tell you, thought so too....

Omg, painting... cherry on top: I confused the first name and last name of the faculty who contacted me. I don’t know what’s wrong to with me today... I really hope she doesn’t take it to heart ?

Okay, I am so I don’t know... weird things always happen to me in these processes... I got an interview request from UCLA and I for some odd reason totally missed the email... I think it was in my spam folder, but I am not sure because when I opened it it changed inboxes... ??? I hope they don’t think I am uninterested... because I am so interested!!! AHHhh someone please persuade me this is not a big deal. I obviously did respond already.

I wrote essential information and in some cases sort of poetic descriptions of what the paintings are. They don’t always read them tho

I have applied to atp twice, last time I didn’t get an interview and I had a rejection by late Jan, so if you haven’t received any rejection notice then maybe they are doing two rounds of interviews? You could call and ask

For really selective schools, what I’ve heard they do (I heard this from a senior critic at Yale) is they go through your portfolio very rapidly to figure out whether they will interview you or not, and they only read your statement and recs if you are selected to interview. That’s why your portfolio is hands down the most important element in your application !!

They started sending interview invites early last week I don’t know if they are done sending them though

They have an incomparable reputation. Their faculty are amazing. You get really nice studio space and they offer good financial aid. I’ve met quite a few Yale recent grads and their work is?.