sussy.spacek

You can try looking into the Soros Fellowship for New Americans; very generous financial support of $90k towards tuition and stipend. https://www.pdsoros.org/apply/fellowship-financial-support (You have to be either an immigrant or both your parents are immigrants, and 30 years old or under.) Although the deadline has passed so you'll have to apply for next year. I'm currently doing a Fulbright in Asia, but as a research fellow and not as a student in a matriculating degree program. If you have any questions about the process, feel free to direct message me, but I think the process might be very different for foreign students applying to study in the U.S. Also you should double check to see if having dual citizenship disqualifies you -- I remember seeing that in the eligibility section for some countries. My Fulbright application was the hardest thing I've had to write ever -- lots of prep work and reaching out to people, and I recommend starting on it early. You might also find other scholarship opportunities via IIE (Institute of International Education): https://www.iie.org/scholarships-programs/ Besides that, I'd recommend looking into fully funded (or close to fully funded) programs like Northwestern, Rutgers, VCU, U-Conn, etc. etc. Or look into the schools you're interested in and see if they provide college-wide funding opportunities. Good luck!

I can corroborate and say that friends of mine who've attended Columbia have said that the only fully funded opportunity is in printmaking and the scholarship name is the LeRoy and Janet Neiman Scholarship. It's because an artist LeRoy Neiman has a massive endowment and for whatever reason it goes to just printmaking applicants.

It's between Cornell and Rutgers (I deferred last year because I'm doing a Fulbright right now). I really love the community at Rutgers, and the current cohort (whom I met most of at interview day) are all amazingly talented. I think Cornell being isolated in Ithaca + small studio spaces is a con for me; however, they have more of the academic resources aligned with my studio work (i.e., I borrow a lot from the scholarship - books, essays, journals - developed specifically in one of the departments at Cornell). All of my current mentors/advisors for my Fulbright research are Cornell alums -but in anthropology, cultural studies, history, etc. (with some crossover to art history) - and are really gunning for me to attend. A colleague of mine told me to go to grad school for the connections with advisors, professors, mentors, and I think that's what I'm going to really sit down and think about as I decide... 🤪

Got rejected from Yale, which I'm surprised by because I felt like my interview went super well. Sort of bummed, but getting over it because I do have offers from other schools so this made making a decision easier.

Who thinks we're going to hear back from Yale today or next week?? (I'm betting on next week, but hope I'm wrong.) 😝

This is a valid dilemma, and a good question to bring up! I personally think any program that "actively" discourages teaching is a red flag (or, is openly discouraging of your career choices at all, is a red flag). Do you feel as though you could push back or challenge this? If not, I would say don't go... To me, MFA programs that help set you up with teaching jobs are truly looking out for you, at least in the most practical sense, because job and art market prospects out there are tough. Also, I'm currently working at a university and they stuck me in a closet. I hated it at first, but I'm so productive in here (mind you, I'm doing admin work and not art, so...). Maybe reach out to current students to see what the vibe is like? But the second school sounds like a no for me. Btw, congratulations on acceptances to two fully-funded programs!!

That's what the email said, which also confused me, but I'm also currently living abroad and am 12+ hours ahead and maybe they knew that? And switched up the date to reflect the time difference... in any case, I can assume I'm rejected. OH well.

For those who are anxiously waiting like me, I emailed Columbia asking when I should expect an update and this was their response: Thank you so much for reaching out to us! We have sent out all interview invitations for the Painting program as of yesterday, February 17th. If you have yet to receive something, you will most likely receive one final notification of your final admissions decision. At least I can stop holding my breath and move on... ?

Ah, I see!! And thank you, that gives me renewed hope! Fingers crossed... I got an email from them yesterday, Tuesday, afternoon which included dates/times to choose for a Zoom interview (not many options available either!), and another option to interview in-person in March. And ugh I'm sorry to hear that.... those tiny mistakes are the worst (but so easy to make) when you're applying to so many different schools.

Hi! I interviewed for some grad schools last year, and from my experience (based on where I was accepted and not), DO NOT worry about talking too much! Admissions committees want to hear you, your enthusiasm about your craft, what inspires you, but also of course, keep your sentences concise and coherent. You have to consider how the faculty might be listening to hear how you'll participate in group critiques! Backstory: I interviewed at RISD and they only really ask me 3-4 questions because I talked so much (I likely preemptively answered a lot of their questions, so for example: I talked in depth about how my work related to books and essays I was reading before they even got to ask "what are you reading"?). I could tell it was going well because they were really engaged, and it eventually became conversational and gave me some recommended artists and books to look at! I had my Yale interview shortly after RISD's, and I was definitely overthinking it because of nerves (of course). I thought, "I talked too much during my RISD interview, why don't I leave room for the interviewers to ask me more?" Bad approach and idea! There was a lot of dead air during my Yale interview. They seemed disinterested, and it likely came off that I lacked enthusiasm. I didn't create opportunities in my interview to really talk about the content in my work. I just answered their questions almost too directly, without expanding on it deeper and connecting it back to the broader picture of why now? Why Yale? Why painting? Needless to say I was rejected last year. But got accepted into RISD, which I later turned down. Don't think about the number of questions that they'll ask you, think about trying to make a human-to-human connection through conversation. It's your interview. You should feel empowered to run it, and also remember, you're interviewing THEM too. My advice is you want to say more than less! If you catch yourself rambling, that's okay! Just think of a way to close your ideas or thoughts as neatly as possible. I'd love to hear what other folks think, or if they've had a different experience? Anyways, good luck! I'm putting myself through this process again this year, and so far have been invited to interview for Yale (again) and Cornell.

ahhh congrats and good luck!! i applied also but have not gotten any updates yet so likely am getting a rejection. ? did you get a status update in the application portal or did they email you?

Are you sure you're not conflating students with faculty? Faculty members and core critics definitely commute but they don't go in everyday. But I think, majority, if not all students, live in New Haven during their time in the program.

Second-time applicant here and got an interview for Yale painting/printmaking! Congrats to those who made it pass the first round! And cheering on everyone!! Don't give up!!!! This does not reflect your worth as a person or artist.

I applied to Yale (Painting/Printmaking), Cornell (Creative Visual Arts), and Columbia (Painting) this year. Last year, Yale interview invitations/rejections were sent Feb 1, Tuesday evening, so I'm guessing it will be sent out early Feb again this year. They've been pretty consistent with this timeline in past years. You should be receiving status updates in the application portal for interviews and final decisions. Columbia sent out interviews around Feb 15 last year (with decisions sent out in April, I believe). Not sure if anyone else has applied for Cornell, but a former MFA student told me they interviewed in March and was accepted in April, similar to Columbia's timeline. Also anyone else noticed how this forum is MUCH quieter this year? Either there are less applicants this year for some reason or people are less engaged in this forum.

The request for parental income is notoriously unique to the Yale School of Art graduate admissions. It's separate from filing as dependent/independent on your taxes/FAFSA. Essentially, they're trying to sniff out generational wealth by requiring you to submit parental income - this has been the case for years. And yes, it's a headache because I went through this process last year. But if you don't submit that info, you do not get awarded financial aid. For example: my mom has a disability, collects SSI, and separated from my dad, but I was still required to include BOTH parent's income information. I've included some screenshots of an email I received from their financial aid staff. Also, a few people and other sources have corroborated on this being part of their process (clearly stated here on this recording of their Virtual Open House) so I don't think this is up for debate. ?