Hi everyone! Joining the freakout right now, I graduated from my undergrad in 2023 and im currently applying for the first time for Fall 2025. Im a painter who dabbles in sculpture from time to time
Im applying to
Yale (i mean why not haha)
Northwestern
SAIC
UCLA
either pratt or parsons
MICA
Maybe NYU, Uchicago and RISD though i realistically wouldnt be able to afford RISD and living in new york
I know these are all very competitive programs but there are very few schools im willing to go into debt for tbh. My absolute top choices are Yale and Northwestern but it seems like they prefer abstract painters and im a staunch figurative painter whos work has elements of humor (but are NEVER funny!). Plus we all know theyre notoriously ultra competitive. When i toured Northwestern, the person giving me the tour mentioned that they got about three times more requests for tours this year than previous years and that they believe that this upcoming cycle will be a lot more competitive. I even attended a portfolio review event in person where a few of the not super competitive schools told me I seemed ready to apply this year although i was not able to get a review with more competitive schools as the lines were either insanely long (The event ended while i was in line for RISD ) or time slots were instantly snatched up. Are there any Yale or Northwestern grads/alumni here who are willing to provide some insight on what they are looking for in the application and what the program is like? haha...