cherrysoda

Hey everyone, UCLA decision letters are up on the application portal!

Are you based in NY or from out of state? I'm based in NY, so if I were in your place, I would choose Hunter just on the basis of it being cheaper to attend as a NY resident. I don't know much about the Parsons MFA program but I know one person who graduated from Hunter in Photo and really loved their time there.

I submitted the FAFSA by the 2/15 priority deadline and received all financial aid info already (SAIC grant, work study plus 2 loans) I remember that the admissions person said all Merit Scholarships had already been awarded too so I don't think there's anything else coming unless you just submitted the FAFSA and they're now calculating based on that. But definitely worth a shot to ask for more, I feel like the worst they can say is no.

Longtime lurker also chiming in for the first time. In case this is helpful for anyone now or in the future, I applied to 3 schools, all for Photo MFA programs: SAIC: Invite received 1/25, interviewed 2/12, accepted 2/17 (via faculty who asked me to call them) CalArts: Invite received 2/4, interviewed 2/23, accepted 3/7 (via email asking me to check my admissions portal) UCLA: no interview invite or news, assuming it's a no by now since they only accept 3 people each year. It was my first choice but don't think reapplying would be worth it w/ a 0.05% acceptance rate. Received very little aid from SAIC and no aid package from CalArts yet so crossing my fingers it'll be more. Probably going to email both regardless asking for more $. Does anyone have any insight on asking for more aid from either school, were you successful? Congrats everyone on your acceptances and good luck with deciding! Remember that if you didn't get in somewhere, it's more of an indication of not being a good fit than whether or not you're a good artist. This process is so, so subjective and it's their loss! What are the biggest factors for everyone deciding? For me it's mostly aid, faculty, facilities/location right now. I got a better sense from the faculty at SAIC because the interview was a 40 min in depth talk about my work and goals compared to CalArts' 15 mins of standard questions.