thisandthat

This is a very, very sensible post which I would really advise people to take heed of. Think to yourselves: where will I gain more experience at the absolute hub of American Culture - sitting in the rain at Yale watching your classmates take another adderal, or at the #1 party university in the US ? Take your time.

I have no idea if an mfa from a name school gets you a further job - looking at various staff websites suggests it isnt so massively important as one might think.

I got in last year - the funding was not good at all, really not good - i couldnt do it. Everyone's possibly so polite as they've stacked the place with a home counties ethos now - I heard Mr Cooper could be a toughie no ? I had VJ haul me over the coals once - they've gone of course. Anyway, people with opinions get squashed these days..........I know people coming from your neck of the woods getting distinctions basically for being nice rather than making good work.

I heard that taryn simons albino tiger escaped during a class and stalks the dept eating students - I wouldn't let it put you off though

If large format is the be all and end all for you, I would suggest you went to RISD.

It's very unlikely you'll get funding from gsa.

Doesn't really factor - Calarts was set up by Disney, I don't see Disney running out of money.

you and me both, sometimes you wonder what its all about. It can't be great for the people that pick us either, that's their ideal class gone. A bit of a strange one.

It costs less to join the real mafia, never mind the calarts one.

and if its anything like mine, i would advise a tin helmet and possibly some kevlar.

ahhhhhh the cal arts miracle aid package.....................just a few more days of it existing in my mind before the actual reality It's good to hope for though

If you haven't heard how good the glasgow school of art is - im a bit worried about you as an artist tbh. That's like me asking what this Yale/Risd/CalArts place is all about. GSA outranks RISD for a start,pretty miuch equals everywhere else and you can exchange to chicago for a year as well. Don't expect to meet too many Glaswegians though.

Agreed on turning down places, I got an offer that doesnt suit me at all and i think im getting another offer from somewhere else that isnt going to be that great either. I'm going to turn them down, finish what i'm doing, take some time out and next year go for the places with real, live support because otherwise i'm not really that into it, despite the prestige and all. I think I have to really, really look at suitable places and make sure i'm sending the best information I can on time and no messing about. So theres two places for someone else, hope you make the most of them also folks, if you got a really good tuition offer, please let us know (we promise not to tell anyone)

Nice interview and very nice people - dont know the result but hey

not the only one lol

I'm feeling a huge disadvantage going for an MFA without a previous art degree even though most schools don't require it. then you'll be what is known as fairly humble, which is always a plus for tutors - they love people coming in tangenitally anyway, i've seen people wander in to the office with a couple of polariods and a music background and been accepted - completely outwith the application process, they really do like a wild card in their cohort. btw - what is this University of Edinburgh Moca thing ? masters of computer animation ? got an mfa acceptance - but as ever, the other 50% is going to be about funding - its proving the same old hurdle, but I do enjoy the process up to then was kind of worried about that after looking at a lot of fine-art photographers CVs, and seeing that the overwhelming majority had BFAs or BAs. Most of them were actually in photography, you're kidding me, taryn simon, tierney gearon ? both at the top of their game, no mfa, bfa or anything.

Yes - I hope to cover the distance to attend but im wondering if a skype interview is an option.

Hi there - i wondered if people knew which schools use slideroom or something similar to accept portfolios. Im using a lot of digital in my work and i reckon that if they accept digital submissions then its a good sign.

Cheers for the info on penndesign - you really do have to watch out if you're not lugging a large format camera up some godforsaken mountain/parking lot.

Ah ! there's Arsolo - hope you're having a good time at Yale

Good question, I think its a bit of a minefield at the moment. One hand you have to broaden your practice while a large number of mfa courses are pulling up the shutters on anyone who isnt shooting large format. Not the easiest of times, even without the recession. Personally i've gone into broader, more digital arts kind of stuff as thats going to broaden my skillset and make me more employable - i'm on a 1yr masters just now which finishes next august. Where to apply to and where to go is anyones guess really - perhaps people are better off waiting until the smoke clears. I will try and keep my eyes peeled for places that look like a good fit but you could just read the photo student blog, use your own camera, build your own website etc I'm living about half a mile away from the birthplace of documentary photography and two streets away from a thomas struth shot - so maybe i can just make work there myself I invite my fellow playas to guess where I am

quite fancy a good moan about this kind of thing myself actually - but really i think perhaps i should researched more places that would have been a better fit, that's what i'm thinking at the moment - funding is very, very difficult indeed. I'm not quite sure if with this dynamic of us all meeting online anyway ...... do we need crits in a physical space so much ?

RISD Seems to be going through a lot of trouble at the moment - perhaps it's worth a heads up to anyone considering going there. "Dear RISD Board of Trustees, On Wednesday, March 2nd, the faculty of the Rhode Island School of Design voted No Confidence in both President John Maeda and Provost Jessie Shefrin by a margin of 147 to 32. This motion signals that an overwhelming majority of faculty are dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. While it does not have any binding implications at the present, the future implications of a divided administration and faculty is terribly frightening. RISD is being turned upside-down." ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Prez Sez: "When I arrived at the College in 2008, I learned that applications and inquiries from prospective students had been consistently declining for the past decade at a time when the number of college applications were increasing in the U.S. Our campus had grown quickly and become more residential, yet we were not offering commensurate services to ensure the highest quality student experience. Furthermore, the number of alumni who give to RISD — an important barometer of confidence in the school – was in steady decline, dropping from 3,423 out of 15,003 alumni in 2002 to only 2,722 out of 20,208 alumni in 2008 – a 20% decline in the number of alumni donors, and a drop in RISD’s alumni participation rate from 23% to only 13%. It is important to note that during this period, the average number of alumni donors per U.S. higher education institution held steady, and that the national alumni participation rate only fell from 13.4% to 11%."

indeed the waiting is terrible. i've just started asking for my reject notice from the 2 places i havent heard from, i need to make a lot of decisions.

theyre just taking a bit longer to look at your portfolio : )