greengrass

🫡 okay so my finances are COMPLICATED. So take everything with a grain of salt. That being said I have gone to yale open studios and a crit and got to talk to at least 5 people about the finances and it seems like everyone is in about the same boat as far as the funding goes. It’s all need based and no matter what, you have to give them your parents finances as well, which i think is just trying to get everyone on a level playing field? But also i kind of hate it even if I understand it. So tuition is 46,000 a year and then books and supplies they estimate is 6,000, 3,000 health insurance (that you can wave if you have other health insurance), they estimate housing and food at 17,000 for a year. I know a lot of students get the full price of tuition (the max you can get), I wasn’t sure what to expect bc as I said pretty complicated financials but i got about 75% of tuition paid for. So like when you compare it to UCONN or VCU where your tuition is paid for and you’re getting a stipend it may not be as appealing. But compared to RISD?? Where tuition is 60,000? and scholarships are not great? and that doesn’t include cost of living? forget it. (got in last year and was sort of shocked by the assistance offered and how highly they thought of themselves??) Also nice bc living expenses in New Haven are a lot more palatable than say NYC. I would pretty confidently say most people coming from a middle class or lower middle class background get 75% to 100% tuition paid. I was also given a work study option for 3,000 but I haven’t totally looked into it.

I’ll be going for photo!

I still don’t have my aid package details? might email them later today and see what’s up.

I’m pretty sure you have to fill out the same paper work next year for the 25-26 school year. So it’d only be for the one year. 90% sure.

i don’t have anything yet either.

okay got a real update from yale!!

gonna try and ignore it for now i guess?

Just saw it. Says April 2023 for me though?

same. don’t know if it’s just photo being slow? I also looked it up and looks like last year people got snail mail rejected nearing the end of april?? 😳

I’ve worn jeans and a sweater and felt pretty good about it. Very stressful though.

I still haven’t heard anything ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I had kind of written myself off but does make me feel a bit more optimistic if others have also not heard?

for what it’s worth if you look at previous years some people think their yale interviews went great and don’t get in and some think it absolutely crashed and burned and get in. I wouldn’t totally write it off yet.

I applied to Notre Dame, Wayne state, VCU, and yale. all photo concentrations.

I’ve had several schools ask me this question and it has thrown me way off almost every time. Last year yale asked me if i had applied to other schools and I was like uh yeah i have and started to list them and they were all like UH WE DONT WANT TO KNOW THAT??? and i was like oh uh okay nvm????? This was after interviewing with risd that did want to know, by name, the other schools I had applied for. I feel like each school is asking for different reasons and good luck at figuring out which particular reason for each school.

Yeah I got an invite friday night. If you look at past years (or even this year just the other departments) it seems that that’s how Yale rolls. Yale does have a waitlist but it’s made up of people they interview, just like most schools. Which is why it drives me crazy schools won’t just reject you when they send out invites. Like would a school really go back and invite people to interview? Do enough people bomb interviews? idk

I didn’t apply for risd this year but I’m pretty sure I saw someone got a photo interview a couple of days ago. As far as yale I really appreciate they send out all rejects and interview requests all at once. They don’t leave you hanging like a lot of the other programs.

Anyone heard from VCU photo?

Yale photo finally sent out invites!

So if it's the same as last year it's not under application management (where it says like submitted under status) but when you actually click on "2024 MFA" there will be a paragraph near the top that says "There's a status update, View Update" and that will take you to a letter that will have an invite for an interview or a rejection letter. If you're not seeing any of this it means they haven't gotten to your account yet. You will get an email as soon as they change it though. I'm pretty sure last year invites were sent out like 20 minutes after rejections? Weird they're spaced out more this year. idk what they're doing.

Hey! I applied for RISD photo last year and photo took until the 16th of February to send out the first invites, it was like a month after some of the other disciplines. They do each department separately and photo took longer for everything. Waiting is the WORST but I definitely wouldn't take it as a rejection.

Hey 2nd year applying here. Actually figured out how to sign in to my account to let everyone know I got an email from Yale photo this morning basically saying not to freakout and that other disciplines were going to send out emails and decisions but photo would be done around the 13th. Sounds like they decided to do it department by department this year and NOT all at once. Hopefully this calms some nerves!

I totally get what you're saying. BUT for me, while quite the dilemma, I'd pick option two. The quality of my work fluctuates so much based on my mental health and I personally couldn't hack 2-3 years even with solid job prospects at the end of it. I also am horrible at making good work in locations I hate. I dunno. I think your cons are valid and its not necessarily a no brainer.

They switched to zoom for covid and have no plans to go back. But before covid, from my limited understanding, you had to pay for everything. They understand it was sooo cost prohibitive and horrible logistics for everyone hence the no plans to move away from zoom interviews.

got an invitation to interview for RISD photo last night (12:15 am?!)

Same! Hour interview seems pretty intense.