Sweetie123

Thank you! I will go to the university of Maryland and study sculpture! Have you made a decision about accepting or waiting another year?

I declined offers last year and reapplied this year and was way more informed and prepared (and my portfolio was so much stronger). This year, I was incredibly selective with where I applied and ended up getting into the funded program I wanted with a $33,000 stipend the first year. It was so worth it to wait.

Have you talked to current grad students at either program? I went on a risd tour last summer and the tour guide mentioned how it can be hard for MFA candidates to take classes outside of your concentration. I don’t know how true that is, but talking to current MFA students might help you decide (or even professors or the graduate coordinator at both programs) so you can learn more about each program and can decide from there.

Hi all! This was my second year applying to MFAs. This year I only applied to one school - the university of Maryland, and I was accepted! It is fully funded, so tuition is totally covered, and they are giving me a stipend of approx $28,000 each year I used my experience applying last year to figure out what I want in an MFA program, and I found the one school that fit everything I was looking for. I kind of stumbled upon Maryland’s program and tbh, I think people are sleeping on this MFA program. And for people applying again next year, I highly recommend looking into it. It is a 3 year, studio based program, where you work directly with two faculty members each semester. It is right outside of Washington DC and close to Baltimore. You are awarded a full graduate assistantship, which consist of TAing and shop monitor hours. You can be an instructor of record if you want, or just continue TAing if that’s more your speed. They paid for the 5 admitted students to visit a few weeks ago. The studios are sizable and everyone (current students and faculty) was all very welcoming. good luck, everyone, with your upcoming decisions! xx

What is your discipline? I interviewed with Tulane sculpture last year so I have a little knowledge of the sculpture area

I know my friend negotiated w the admissions office. Not the AIRs

A friend of mine got into cranbrook off the wait list last year. They were able to negotiate funding so in total, I think including on campus housing, they are paying 20K each year.

I work as a server and have regulars at my restaurant who are professors in a scholarly PHD program at BU. We got talking about my MFA offers on the table. I know what school I am going to choose and they were telling me to accept asap. They said, that on the other end (on their side as the professors) they are waiting anxiously for people to accept or deny asap. They said they don’t want to rush anyone BUT, last night they told me that once the April 15th deadline has passed, they can no longer accept people even off the waitlist. I’ve never heard of this before - I thought people could be accepted off the waitlist even after April 15. I haven’t done any research or googling to see if this is true, but that’s what they told me last night and they know the ins and outs of it all. So idk. I would suggest googling it.

I would still try to get more than $20k in scholarships. I assume your 4K assistantship will come along w responsibilities?

That’s such a good point. I reapplied to programs this year and in this past year I made a whole new body of work that I am v proud of x

Good for you and your perseverance. It looks like you applied to all very prestigious programs that are hard to get into. Congratulations on your acceptance at Yale! what medium do you work in? I recently talk to somebody who wanted to go to Hunter and apply seven or eight years in a row until they got in. They finally got in and are making great work. This is a good reminder that If you know what you want, don’t give up until you get it 💖

I know, it’s so confusing and convoluted. In order to find out if a school I was interested in was truly fully funded, I got in touch with their graduate program director and had a call or email exchange (before I even applied) to talk about the program and funding. Many schools that say on their websites that they are fully funded offer very little in stipends, or they don’t cover the full cost of tuition. They say they’re funded but only cover 75% of tuition o so many situations like that.

Risd is def not fully funded. It is an expensive private art school. I heard of one person last year in sculpture getting a full ride, but besides that they give scholarships that might sound like a lot, but when you look at the tuition, it barely covers anything. a lot of programs are fully funded. Mostly public universities. The funding and expectations vary a lot so you just have to do research and find one that fits

Do you mind telling us what they are offering you?

What does the funding at Yale look like?

Good for you. Good luck!

Maybe. Maybe not. You never know. Being honest doesn’t hurt.

lol. I wonder if you could email and tell them how interested you are in the department/school and ask to be considered for their waitlist.

Oh also! If it is a funded program, the expectations of MFA candidates is suuuper important to me. At some funded programs they require you to be a teacher of records (teaching your own class) from day 1, some schools have you teaching two courses a semester, and some don’t require you to teach, but have you in a TA or studio tech position. For me, it was so important to learn as much as I could about multiple programs and the expectations at each school so I could figure out what suited me best. ALSO, talking to current mfa candidates to see what the program is like was big for me. I’ve met a handful of grad students who are unhappy with their program. I know every program has it’s pros and cons, but if multiple people are miserable in a program, that’s a tell tale sign that there are probably some systemic issues within the department.

MFA programs vary drastically from program to program so when I was making my decision I was looking mostly at curriculum, faculty, current grad student work, alumni work, and opportunities the school have for MFA candidates. I really wanted a studio-based program, instead of a more technical/course based program. I also find it very important that I am interested in the faculty that I will be working with, and it is important for me that the faculty I work closely with have a studio practice outside of teaching. The work that current grad students are producing is also really big and I think it says a lot about a program.

Congrats! I think they are! I know someone who graduated from the painting department there. lmk if you want me to try and connect you to her.

There is a thing called the CGS that most schools are a part of that, by law, gives applicants until April 15th to make a decision. A lot of schools don’t tell applicants about it. But google it and it lists all the schools. Tulane is part of it. this is from the CGS website: “The April 15 resolution is an agreement among the signatory graduate schools to provide applicants until April 15 to consider offers of admission that also include financial support.”

I was accepted to a couple funded programs last year, and while the financial situation was good, the programs didn’t feel like the best fit for me. It was a tough decision, but ultimately I decided to decline and wait another year. Through last year’s application and interview process I learned a lot about how MFA programs vary drastically program to program, and I figured out exactly what I want and am looking for in an MFA program. I think timing is really important but, for me, I think the most important thing is finding a program that is the right fit. Grad school is a serious commitment so i feel like it’s important to not rush it and make sure you make the right decision and find the right program. Good luck w your decisions

What are the programs you are waiting on? Ppl on the forum might be able to tell you if the programs you are waiting on interview. In my experience, most MFA programs interview before making a decision, but there are a few programs that I have heard don't.

What was the USC Roski fiasco in 2016???