Logodaedalus

Adcom 1: "Looks promising...but kind of on the line. How are we going to resolve this?" Adcom 2: "I believe the flashcards are in order." Adcom 1: "Oh right. Of course." [phone call] Me: "Ye-yes?" Adcom 1: "We've decided to let you in." Me: "WHOOOOHOOO-" Adcom 2: "IF! ...... IF." Me: Wait, what? Adcom 2: "If you can...let me just shuffle these...ah yes. Whittle us a replica of...La Pieta, from...your own tibia." Me: I....I.... Adcom 2: "This is a multi-disciplinary program, Mr. Smithwick. Your talents must reflect that. Are you backing out?" Me: No, I suppose not....tibia...... Adcom 2: "Have it on our desk tomorrow. If it looks good, we'll let you know what's required for financial aid."

So I get this email from an SAIC (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) faculty member in the writing department (I'm applying for the writing program) "As part of the admissions process, we like to have a brief conversation (10 to 15 minutes) with students who are applying, basically to see if they have any questions about the school and/or the Writing Program, especially given that the Writing Program is housed in an art school and the fact that the nature of our curriculum itself is unique, or even questions about life in Chicago." So we talk. It really is 10 minutes, and it really is just him asking if I have any questions. I asked some stuff I already knew about so I could plug a little of my app into conversation, but he hadn't read it from what I could tell. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Why on earth would they ask me now? The deadline for turning it in was over a month ago...surely if I had any questions about the program it's too late now anyway? Surely the only burning question is: am I in or out? Chime in please...this is driving me slightly crazy. As I'm an electronic writer, I have the pleasant ability through tracking on my portfolio to say with certainty they have accessed it twice so far.

So I get this email from an SAIC (School of the Art Institute of Chicago) faculty member in the writing department (I'm applying for the writing program) "As part of the admissions process, we like to have a brief conversation (10 to 15 minutes) with students who are applying, basically to see if they have any questions about the school and/or the Writing Program, especially given that the Writing Program is housed in an art school and the fact that the nature of our curriculum itself is unique, or even questions about life in Chicago." So we talk. It really is 10 minutes, and it really is just him asking if I have any questions. I asked some stuff I already knew about so I could plug a little of my app into conversation, but he hadn't read it from what I could tell. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? Why on earth are they asking a month after apps were turned in if I have any questions about the program? Surely it's too late for that sort of thing now? Surely the only burning question is: am I in or out? Chime in please! Going a little crazy. P.S. They will finish the app review process for the SAIC writing program in a coming week. Good luck everyone!

I'll back up what wickedgradgirl said...what I've heard from my professors supports that Georgia Tech is definitely one of the big places to go for interactive fiction and narrative experimentation with technology. If it helps at all, I'm also checking out: -Brown University: has a lot of the old guard hyperfictionistas, progenitor of Storyspace [i believe, though I'm not a believer] although last time I checked, they only let 1 person into their Electronic Writing program each year. Guess what? It's pretty freaking competitive. As a matter of fact, if you apply for that, better to think of it as a fellowship than an MFA -School of the Art Institute, Chicago: very permeable program, and has Judd Morrissey on faculty, although not for the graduate program and he seems to be somewhat liminal, yet accessible. They self-confessedly are not really rocking technology in the writing program, but the rest of the degrees offered at SAIC mean that not only tech, but gallery space is accessible. You have carte blanche for checking out resources, to my understanding. Their MFA structure only requires HALF your courses to be from the writing department. You get two advisers for your thesis, one writing and possibly one outside, and you can get gallery space for your senior thesis project. Looks good. -Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD): Top-notch art school, with attached permeable writing program. Don't know anything else. -California Institute of the Arts: Center for Integrated Media? Maybe? http://calarts.edu/a...ntegrated-media -University of Iowa: No really. Or as they like to call it, The Intermedia Area of The University of Iowa School of Art & Art History (http://research-inte...out_the_Program) Seems a little tenuous on the writing side. My impression of UI has always been one of deep tradition, not so much experimentation. Anyone else care to share? I only want to apply to programs that will allow me to use computers to construct interactive narrative environments (not games) and, well, it's pretty freaking hard to find 'em so far.