_redrabbit7

Has anyone heard from Brown?

sorry to hear that. i hope you get accepted somewhere else, if there are any.

oh, OK. thanks.

is that Brown University? what did they say?

Sculptural paintings?! ? What materials do you use? I am currently working towards exploring that aspect of painting.

Hello @Ancient Quail, thanks for your compliments. I have not been able to speak with the head of department concerning the Presidential Fellowship, so I wouldn't know how many applicants were awarded, how many were allocated, etc. We are hoping to jump on a call one of these days, to align and discuss further details about my application and so forth. I am sorry to hear that RISD did not offer you a full ride. But then, two schools are offering you that so congratulations, I think that is something to be glad and grateful for. I cannot say for certain if it would be professional for you to ask about the Presidential Fellowship. Applicants who get awarded are usually nominated by department heads and deans. I did not know anything about this fellowship prior to my award. Kindly check details here: http://risd.edu/giving/priorities/society-presidential-fellows.

Hi, guys. I've not been around here for a while so I just spent some time reading two days old messages. I read a message here that, two days ago, someone received an interview invitation from Columbia. I wondered why I hadn't received mine, so I went to check my application page, perhaps there'd been some update. Lo and behold, I discovered I didn't submit any application to Columbia. I only submitted a portfolio. I just discovered that moments ago. How careless of me, lol. Anyway, I had come online to share some good news. A few hours ago I received an acceptance email from RISD. They have awarded me a Society of Presidential Fellowship, which covers all my tuition for both my first and second year. I have also been given a TA position that comes with a purse of 5000 USD per annum, although I think every candidate gets that. I am still looking forward to hearing from SAIC, following my interview with their chair of painting department last Sunday. Although, at this point, I have made up my mind to go to RISD. Since this might be my last message on this forum, I want to share from my experience that I applied to all these schools (Yale-rejected, SAIC-interviewed, RISD-accepted) without holding a bachelor's degree. A year ago I had emailed several schools, requesting to know whether it was possible to get into their MFA without a bachelor's and they'd tell me that would be impossible. I thank God for helping my heart and for all the guidance and encouragement and prayers I received from a few people around me. And I hope someone out there receives some good news soon! Thank you, thank you. ? PS: My academic qualification is a certificate in education in Fine and Applied Arts (double majors).

My own timeline was slightly different. They reached out to me for the first time on January 30, then I had my interview on the 9th (last week Wednesday), after selecting from the available dates of 7th, 8th and 9th. Between, I had to submit images of paintings I'd done years ago, which were not initially included in my portfolio, along with two recent photos of my studio (I'm currently undergoing a residency program, so that might the reason they requested for studio pictures, to see what I was working on, I suppose). My interview was with the painting department, though. Hope your interview went well.

Good to hear. Thanks for the feedback.

WOW! Congratulations!

11 MORE SCHOOLS?!! WOW!! All that application fees, and stress, to begin with, wow. My RISD interview. I pretty much had the same experience you had, and I'm surprised to know that. It was also my very first interview. I was soooo nervous, and being the shy type that I was made it worse. I spoke very briefly, too briefly for an interview on which my future placements in life literally hung. I was asked to explain a piece of mine and when I was done explaining (in less than two minutes) there was this weird silence that followed, as though they expected more. And in that moment it felt as though I'd lost already. But there were also brief, exciting moments that really brought smiles to their faces. I'd never been to America, but my work interrogates the racial past of American history in connection to Black people, and they were amazed by how much I knew about it. Did you know that Brown MFA in Literary Arts has a literary aspect that encourages their grad students to collaborate with artists at RISD? Told the faculty I was looking forward to that, because I did a little creative writing besides painting, in fact I was working on the first draft of a novel. Told them I was seeking for ways to merge creative writing and painting, and/or the processes/elements of both. Angela Dufrense was pleased to hear that; she wasn't expecting it. She told me there'd been such collaborations in the past and they'll be looking forward to another one. It made it seem as though I was intentional about coming to Providence and anywhere else wouldn't make up for my aspirations. Another faculty asked about something I wrote in my application, a style I intended to execute when I commence my grad program. I told her I'd started working on the style, and when I showed her my first successful piece, a sculptural painting (I'd added a material onto canvas), she appeared really pleased and suggested names of two other artists I should check out. Was the interview intimidating? In my case no, not really, although I met 4 faculty members. Two of them, the men among them, only spoke once. Dennis Congdon, 69, laboured to articulate a sentence, to buttress a point made by Angela, and I didn't even hear him alright. Angela kept saying "when you come over here" and "I'll be looking forward to seeing you do that". She said she hoped my "face looks as interesting as" she was seeing it. She said she'd accepted me but, as I must know, she had to hear from the other faculty members. She was the one who asked the most questions. After the interview, I wasn't too sure what to feel. A part of me felt her emotions were genuine, and another part of me wanted to believe it must have been characteristic of her to react that way... and still end up rejecting my application. Do you have any specific reasons why you would attend RISD?

Exactly, Whitewhales. I had a similar experience. I almost made that mistake with my statement of purpose because I used the same SOP for all the schools and almost all my applications were submitted during the grace period. I remember a particular occasion where I'd uploaded an application with the wrong school name and it was while cross-checking I found out the error so I quickly pulled down the document. It was so awkward, the way I had only a single message to pass across, and had to keep bending the ... narrative to suit each school's requirement. And, speaking of @HJAn applying to many schools, I was merely trying to communicate my surprise (because reading what I wrote just now, I realised I'd given the wrong impression). I didn't know to apply to so many schools, didn't even consider the possibility.... Perhaps, if I had ended up being rejected by the four schools I applied to, I would have known to plan better. On a different note, Michelle Grabner from SAIC asked what I thought about grad school during my interview. She specifically referred to Kerry James Marshall's partial indifference and animosity towards grad schools, the rate at which students go into debt, even though KJM himself is a professor of art. I recall she also intoned that KJM is of the opinion that art cannot be taught the way grad schools attempt to. I have been combing the internet since yesterday, trying to verify her story, but hasn't found anything. Do you know about this? Does anyone? I would like to hear the full story. Thank you.

Had my RISD interview last Wednesday. I was given three consecutive dates, so I picked the last one, Wednesday 9th. My interview was with the painting department.

????? The Pratt thing, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Sorry about that, lol. You applied to so many schools. I applied to only four. Yale (rejected), RISD (interviewed), SAIC (interviewed), Columbia (pending). Would have added Cranbrook, but then I changed my mind at the last minute coz I felt either RISD or SAIC (or both schools) would accept me. My application for Cranbrook was completed and all, even submitted a recommendation letter, but I just refused to press submit until the grace period passed. How'd your interview with RISD go?

Yes, yes, my interview went well. I wasn't aware of the other activities so I totally missed out on that. I was interviewed by Michelle Grabner, and she was so friendly, so open and so lively. When she asked whether I had any questions for her, my head went blank too, and so I told her I was actually prepared to answer questions, not to ask. Eventually I inquired about the institution's scholarship program. She told me she would be delivering a seminar today, Monday, or something. Are you aware of that?

Oh. I am surprised and sorry to hear that some people's invites went into their spam folders. Also sorry to hear you didn't get an invite. I can't explain how bad I felt too when I got a straight rejection from Yale two weeks ago. My interview? I honestly can't tell, although a part of me thinks I don't stand a chance coz I applied without even holding a bachelor's. I guess I'm hoping for the best and prepared for the worst. They told me they only select 10 applicants for their painting program? I wonder how many like me were shortlisted for the interviews. Will go pages back to read what other SAIC applicants wrote ...

Oh. I had my RISD interview last week Wednesday and according to the dates given to me Wednesday February 9th was the last day of interview. Are you sure you didn't miss their emails? Can you reach out to them?

Alright, Eric. Thanks for the feedback!

Hello! Anyone online who's had their interview with SAIC? Mine's in an hour. And I'm freaking out already!!!

Has anyone heard from Columbia?