Frank0000000

Just got my rejection from the University of New Mexico, which makes FOUR rejections so far (Yale, Rutgers, and Carnegie Mellon). <\3 This is my third cycle applying, I really thought I had a good chance this time around and now I’m worried !! Anyone heard back from UC irvine, University of Michigan, or Herron by chance?

Just got my Yale rejection too 🫡

that’s good to know!! thanks for passing along the info. ya first step i guess is actually getting an interview 😂 ill start worrying then.

I applied to carnegie for painting too! what have you heard about their program? Best of luck with your first cycle! I always hear the portfolio is the most important piece, and if you’ve done a solo show I bet they’ll love that too!!🤘✨

Hi everyone! This is my third application cycle 😓 and I might as well give the full history for those interested because I really didn't know what I was doing the first time and the advice I found on this forum was super helpful. First round (Fall 2022) all painting programs except MICA which I applied for the interdisciplinary program The University of Colorado, Fort Collins: Interviewed, offered a great spot with a good scholarship and a teaching assistantship, only problem was they wanted my response sooo early—like in Feb. before I'd heard back from anyone else so I ended up turning it down. Also because I was hesitant to move somewhere I knew there wasn't much of an arts culture (should have done more research). The University of Montana, Missoula: Interviewed, offered a spot, pretty small scholarship, wasn't thrilled by their response to me asking how it was for trans students at the school, and needed a bigger scholarship to make it work. VCU: straight up rejected, took them a really long time to get back to me, that was the last school I heard from I think in April. they sent their rejection via mail. SFSU: interviewed, waitlisted then rejected, didn't do well in the interview (I bungled the question "how do you see yourself using your time in this program" they wanted specific research interests and details about what projects I'd be pursuing) MICA: interviewed, offered a spot with a big scholarship but still not enough to make it financially feasible. MICA is realllllly expensive. UC Irvine: no interview, rejected Second round (Fall 2023) all painting programs (some were just "MFA" programs without any specification) SFSU: applied again, interviewed and offered a spot with no scholarship and no teaching assistantship, ended up having to turn it down when I couldn't find any housing in SF that would make it financially feasible. The University of Michigan: no interview, rejected Northwestern: no interview, rejected UCLA: no interview, rejected UC Irvine: totally forgot and missed the deadline, thank u adhd 🤦‍♂️ Stanford: no interview, rejected Pretty disappointing second round, but I think I was overly ambitious and didn't apply to enough of a range of schools, just ones that are really competitive. and I was exhausted after having just finished my undergrad, it honestly didn't feel like the right time. After that, I decided to take a year off of applying and develop my portfolio and research interests a bit more and find programs that were fully funded and offered teaching assistantships. It was definitely the right move, I feel so much more confident in my portfolio and the direction of my art practice, and much more ready for the challenge of grad school. So, TLDR: It's been a mixed bag, but I've learned a lot. This round (Fall 2025) here's where applied, all painting. Yale Rutgers Carnegie Mellon Herron (Indianapolis) The University of Michigan The University of New Mexico Utah Tech The University of Nevada, Reno UC Irvine Good luck, everyone!! Hang in there 🫡

VCU did that to me last year lol I hadn't received any correspondence and then I got a letter in the mail from them telling me I'd been rejected.

Just heard back from Stanford, they just emailed me to say a change had been made to my application status, so I looked on the portal and I was rejected, of course ? Also! San Francisco State University just sent me an interview invite. so all in all: Northwestern: Rejected Stanford: Rejected UCLA: 1st choice ID 2nd choice painting - still haven't heard back but assuming rejection because I didn't get an interview invite. University of Michigan: haven't heard back, assuming rejection because interview invites went out already.

I just tried and everything seems ok on my end.. hoping we hear from them soon though! sorry you're having issues with the portal that's frustrating ?

Got my official rejection from Northwestern this morning! Wasn't too disappointed because I didn't get an interview invite so I wasn't expecting too much ? Hoping to hear back from UCLA or Stanford soon!!! Anyone applying to the University of Michigan?

I also haven't heard back from Stanford or ULCA. I also applied to Northwestern (didn't get an interview), University of Michigan and San Francisco State.

Ya last year my MICA interview request was in my spam folder for a few days ? never hurts to check

I'm in the same boat with Northwestern (art practice and theory). From my experience applying last year, it seems like schools don't send out rejection letters until everything is all set with the applicants they've extended offers to. The rejection letters I got were pretty late in the application cycle unfortunately.

I did some interviews last year and all of them asked why I wanted to go to grad school and what professors I wanted to work with and why, some asked about what other artists or movements I was influenced by, and a lot of them asked just the basic "tell me about yourself/tell me about your art". Be ready to talk about the specifics of your work and make sure to have some good questions to ask at the end! Good luck!

Hello! This is my second year applying. Last year I was accepted to the University of Montana (ended up being too expensive), University of Colorado (received a great offer, but they wanted me to commit before I'd heard back from anyone else), and MICA Mount Royal Multidisciplinary (wayyy too expensive even with almost a 50% scholarship). I was rejected from UC Irvine and VCU and waitlisted at San Francisco State University after completing an interview with them. This year I'm applying to: -UC Irvine again -San Francisco State University again -UCLA Interdisciplinary -Stanford -Northwestern -University of Michigan Ann Arbor Good luck, everyone!!