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I also got an interview for the 12th

I just got an interview request from USC with slots for 3/12, so they're still sending requests out as of today! I'm so nervous about interviews. If anyone knows specifically how USC conducts their interviews and what questions I should prepare for, I would appreciate advice so much. It looks like the slots are only 15 minutes long, so not a very long one. 

Magic Mountain: https://www.sixflags.com/magicmountain
Do I think that USC is a big deal? You bet your ass I do. I ONLY applied at USC for an MFA. I only applied there because of two professors in specific that jive with what I want to accomplish, Nao Bustamante, and Edgar Arceneaux. There are others who I like at USC, but I've respected them for a while. Because of my experience in the arts and life, I feel that those are the two professors best suited for me to work with. It is also in L.A., where I have not got a lot of experience in and think I need to to round out my art direction.
Rankings are meaningless, period. It's about the faculty and staff and facilities. It's also about being in Los Angeles, right near San Diego, Mexico, and San Francisco in CALIFORNIA. But ultimately it's about you and what you are going to bring to the table. If someone thinks that a university sucks, well, make it BETTER, or don't go there. But they shouldn't be saying nasty things about what they saw on the internet that they had nothing to do with. Don't listen to these negative people. As an artist, it's not good for you.
You gotta ask yourself why you want to attend a specific school and go there and kick ass and do the best you can. I went to Sacramento State even thought I got into UC Santa Cruz, San Jose State, and other so-called "prestigious" schools, and I brought something to the community and student body and did my best to make it a good place to be. Why? Because Sacramento has been huge for Chicano Culture and art for decades, and I had access to great artists within the community. I also had that in San Diego, but now I've got that in Sacramento, and hopefully in L.A. this fall. Did some US News website rank it up with Stanford? NOPE! But I did my best and did well, despite someone's opinion about prestige.
My niece goes to Harvard, supposedly the best school in the world. But what use is the "best school in the world" if you do nothing with it? Well, It's of no use at all. Same as with going to a school not viewed as prestigious. If I go to a normal university and do awesome things, then hey, the university was a good university.
Avoid negativity. Listen to yourself, listen to your heart and what you want to accomplish. If you are doing what you need to do then you will bring success to yourself and to others around you.

No need to apologize, but I appreciate it. Do the people who interview you really lurk these forums? If so, HI GUYS!  
Yes, I was at the orientation. My father was a Chicano Artist and brought me up in that world. None of my brothers and sisters became artists but my brother Kiko, but he died back in 2007, so I'm the only one now. The others are all academics like Attorneys and Psychologists with one musician who never went to school. For me, Chicano Artwork is everything, and bringing that to the community is the apex of my approach. How can I make this happen is always the question.
One of the best things I've done is to get to know people on personal levels and putting any sort of consideration with regards to my education out of the discussion. My education is not demonstrable, but my art is the story and is approachable and quantifiable because I live it and it is my whole world.
I've mostly avoided gallery work and trying to rub elbows with popular people, and gone more for public artwork and working within the community, for the community, and by the community. The idea that I will ever make a living off of gallery shows and selling personal artwork has never occured to me. For me, I am an audiovisual engineer and photographer and event organizer, and that is how I make my living. Artwork is how I bring the most important things to the people, with the people, and how I can demonstrate the respect I have for disenfranchised communities. So, I only do a few large public artworks every year.
Does that mean that I DON"T EVER do gallery shows? No, I'll do gallery stuff. But I do it knowing that there is much more to art than putting a rectangle on the wall and encouraging people to look at it for 3 seconds. Art is a lifestyle. Art is a way to view the world, to right wrongs, or to at least highlight them in a way that elevates others and encourages community organization. It's not about caring about what people and organizations are going to like your work because of what school you went to. No one cares about that in the real world. People care about what you are producing, and why, and of course your aesthetics.
I won't try to talk you out of your opinion of what went down at USC way back in 2015, but I can't speak to it either because I don't have any intimate knowledge of it beyond peoples internet opinions, and I'm not really interested in that.
What I AM interested in is working with a small unit of professional artists and faculty and doing some bad-ass art and activism in Southern California that is going to bring the community up, bring the school and faculty up, and bring ME up. And I guarantee that if you get into USC, that will be your only concern as well.
If you want to check out some of my stuff then I'll post a link. Some of it is of others art who I work with in my art collective. You can tell what art is mine because I am in the photographs.
https://sites.google.com/view/wowportfolio2021/home
Do you have a link you your art?  
 

Magic Mountain: https://www.sixflags.com/magicmountain
Do I think that USC is a big deal? You bet your ass I do. I ONLY applied at USC for an MFA. I only applied there because of two professors in specific that jive with what I want to accomplish, Nao Bustamante, and Edgar Arceneaux. There are others who I like at USC, but I've respected them for a while. Because of my experience in the arts and life, I feel that those are the two professors best suited for me to work with. It is also in L.A., where I have not got a lot of experience in and think I need to to round out my art direction.
Rankings are meaningless, period. It's about the faculty and staff and facilities. It's also about being in Los Angeles, right near San Diego, Mexico, and San Francisco in CALIFORNIA. But ultimately it's about you and what you are going to bring to the table. If someone thinks that a university sucks, well, make it BETTER, or don't go there. But they shouldn't be saying nasty things about what they saw on the internet that they had nothing to do with. Don't listen to these negative people. As an artist, it's not good for you.
You gotta ask yourself why you want to attend a specific school and go there and kick ass and do the best you can. I went to Sacramento State even thought I got into UC Santa Cruz, San Jose State, and other so-called "prestigious" schools, and I brought something to the community and student body and did my best to make it a good place to be. Why? Because Sacramento has been huge for Chicano Culture and art for decades, and I had access to great artists within the community. I also had that in San Diego, but now I've got that in Sacramento, and hopefully in L.A. this fall. Did some US News website rank it up with Stanford? NOPE! But I did my best and did well, despite someone's opinion about prestige.
My niece goes to Harvard, supposedly the best school in the world. But what use is the "best school in the world" if you do nothing with it? Well, It's of no use at all. Same as with going to a school not viewed as prestigious. If I go to a normal university and do awesome things, then hey, the university was a good university.
Avoid negativity. Listen to yourself, listen to your heart and what you want to accomplish. If you are doing what you need to do then you will bring success to yourself and to others around you.

Magic Mountain: https://www.sixflags.com/magicmountain
Do I think that USC is a big deal? You bet your ass I do. I ONLY applied at USC for an MFA. I only applied there because of two professors in specific that jive with what I want to accomplish, Nao Bustamante, and Edgar Arceneaux. There are others who I like at USC, but I've respected them for a while. Because of my experience in the arts and life, I feel that those are the two professors best suited for me to work with. It is also in L.A., where I have not got a lot of experience in and think I need to to round out my art direction.
Rankings are meaningless, period. It's about the faculty and staff and facilities. It's also about being in Los Angeles, right near San Diego, Mexico, and San Francisco in CALIFORNIA. But ultimately it's about you and what you are going to bring to the table. If someone thinks that a university sucks, well, make it BETTER, or don't go there. But they shouldn't be saying nasty things about what they saw on the internet that they had nothing to do with. Don't listen to these negative people. As an artist, it's not good for you.
You gotta ask yourself why you want to attend a specific school and go there and kick ass and do the best you can. I went to Sacramento State even thought I got into UC Santa Cruz, San Jose State, and other so-called "prestigious" schools, and I brought something to the community and student body and did my best to make it a good place to be. Why? Because Sacramento has been huge for Chicano Culture and art for decades, and I had access to great artists within the community. I also had that in San Diego, but now I've got that in Sacramento, and hopefully in L.A. this fall. Did some US News website rank it up with Stanford? NOPE! But I did my best and did well, despite someone's opinion about prestige.
My niece goes to Harvard, supposedly the best school in the world. But what use is the "best school in the world" if you do nothing with it? Well, It's of no use at all. Same as with going to a school not viewed as prestigious. If I go to a normal university and do awesome things, then hey, the university was a good university.
Avoid negativity. Listen to yourself, listen to your heart and what you want to accomplish. If you are doing what you need to do then you will bring success to yourself and to others around you.

Magic Mountain: https://www.sixflags.com/magicmountain
Do I think that USC is a big deal? You bet your ass I do. I ONLY applied at USC for an MFA. I only applied there because of two professors in specific that jive with what I want to accomplish, Nao Bustamante, and Edgar Arceneaux. There are others who I like at USC, but I've respected them for a while. Because of my experience in the arts and life, I feel that those are the two professors best suited for me to work with. It is also in L.A., where I have not got a lot of experience in and think I need to to round out my art direction.
Rankings are meaningless, period. It's about the faculty and staff and facilities. It's also about being in Los Angeles, right near San Diego, Mexico, and San Francisco in CALIFORNIA. But ultimately it's about you and what you are going to bring to the table. If someone thinks that a university sucks, well, make it BETTER, or don't go there. But they shouldn't be saying nasty things about what they saw on the internet that they had nothing to do with. Don't listen to these negative people. As an artist, it's not good for you.
You gotta ask yourself why you want to attend a specific school and go there and kick ass and do the best you can. I went to Sacramento State even thought I got into UC Santa Cruz, San Jose State, and other so-called "prestigious" schools, and I brought something to the community and student body and did my best to make it a good place to be. Why? Because Sacramento has been huge for Chicano Culture and art for decades, and I had access to great artists within the community. I also had that in San Diego, but now I've got that in Sacramento, and hopefully in L.A. this fall. Did some US News website rank it up with Stanford? NOPE! But I did my best and did well, despite someone's opinion about prestige.
My niece goes to Harvard, supposedly the best school in the world. But what use is the "best school in the world" if you do nothing with it? Well, It's of no use at all. Same as with going to a school not viewed as prestigious. If I go to a normal university and do awesome things, then hey, the university was a good university.
Avoid negativity. Listen to yourself, listen to your heart and what you want to accomplish. If you are doing what you need to do then you will bring success to yourself and to others around you.

i am a photo major and I know very little about contemporary painting but your work is astounding and I would actually spend $$ to buy something from you if you sell. program that pass on you are definitely losing out in my opinion. 

i am a photo major and I know very little about contemporary painting but your work is astounding and I would actually spend $$ to buy something from you if you sell. program that pass on you are definitely losing out in my opinion. 

Just got an interview from USC! Excited but so damn nervous. 
(I feel like the bulk of the interviews are scheduled for the 8th of March)
according to the email: The review committee includes Edgar Arceneaux, Thomas Mueller, Ruben Ochoa, Jennifer West and Keith Mayerson, along with Nao Bustamante.