mmav

Just got my rejection from the University of Michigan today! I would love if the rest of my schools just sent out decisions this week too -- UCLA DMA (pretty sure rejection since I've seen a couple people on reddit get interviews), Parsons DT, and UC Irvine.

It wasn't anything super specific,, but more of a vibes thing (I was talking to this professor in the context of my list of grad schools, and I was applying to many in the new media realm, and they themselves are a new media artist and said that they were glad schools like SVA and Pratt were not on my list and that they would NOT recommend coming there). I think its more to do with the culture of Pratt rather than one specific bad toxic thing or anything. So nothing red flags esque, but more of like depending on what you're looking for in a grad school cohort/vibe -- I would recommend reaching out to current grad students if you can just to see! Also important to note that this was not specifically about the painting department either (which could be completely fine).

From what I've heard from friends in my network, if money isn't a huge factor, Columbia has a really strong visual arts MFA program just with how much visibility and networking you get -- a grad student there right now said that apparently they really try to get gallery people and what not to come to visit student studios, but that also means you might have less time than you expected working in the studio. Heard from a Prof who teaches Game Design at Pratt that it's not a great place to get your MFA if you have other options in NY. Hunter is probably the most affordable out of all of them.

UW Seattle just sent out their shortlist/interview requests for the New Genres program. The interview will be Feb. 28th (which is going to be awkward because I'll be AT UCSB for their campus visit trip....will just have to say I have a quick call for work I have to take...)

@Sleepyguy^^ this! I didn't do an undergrad BFA but right after graduation I worked in an art museum and did a new media residency in Austin/ freelance wrote for art mags and most of my letters of rec/ how I framed my app was deeply informed by those experiences! Also agree with the whole apply to more/ different schools, (make sure to take advantage of fee waivers-- out of the 10 schools I applied to I only had to pay the fees for 3). And do a little research into the specific resources a school might have outside of their studio art department that make them a good fit for you (like if you're into Mesoamerican art and they have a huge research collection there or something).

I also did not network at all with any of the schools I interviewed with and got accepted into-- I actually didn't reach out to faculty at any of the schools I applied to at all (or go to info sessions, but that was mainly due to my insanely busy fall schedule). I think my strategy was to really do a lot of research into the specific faculty of each program to make sure that there was overlap with their work/medium and mine, and was specific about how the resources at that school could help me get where I want to be in my practice. My portfolio itself was only 5 separate pieces that didn't necessarily all tie together into a common theme, but I think were strong completed pieces on their own that had a life outside of just me making it (they were in exhibitions, entered for open calls etc).

VCU Kinetic Imaging just notified me of my acceptance today! (I interviewed on 2/5, they said they usually send results post interview two weeks after). I'm definitely going to grad school this cycle no matter what, so I'm so grateful I'm able to one and done this process. I'm still favoring UCSB because of the money, and the campus visit will be really useful to judge the vibes of the cohorts there. Here's what VCU offered me (note that both have tuition remission and healthcare, the difference is in stipend): In addition, we are excited to offer you a Graduate Assistantship for the 2025-2026 academic year. This assistantship provides two semesters of tuition coverage and a stipend of $5793.00 per semester, distributed bi-monthly during the award period, with an expectation of working approximately 12-15 hours per week. Please note that graduate assistantships provide tuition coverage, but recipients are responsible for university fees, which are currently $3,133 per semester and subject to change. Additionally, all international students (those on F- and J-visas) are required to have health insurance and are eligible for the student health insurance program. Full details of the health insurance plan and current premiums are outlined on this website. All full time graduate students have access to University Health Services; more information is available here. I'll probably take my UCSB offer letter to negogiate with VCU but am not sure if they have the resources to match. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE ELSE WAITING ON RESPONSES! after this is all said and done I'm also happy to share a general overview of my app/portfolio/what I said in my statements

I was rejected, and they notified me 2/6

Shana Moulton, chair of the UCSB MFA department, just called me yesterday to informally accept me to the program! She said that this was an early call (since they usually wait until after the campus visit at the end of the month), but it was because they wanted to nominate me for a fellowship that would provide additional funding (that wouldn't require me to TA my first year) and wanted to gauge my interest in the school. I still have yet to interview at UCSD, and am still waiting to hear back from VCU post interview (as well as silence from UW Seattle, UMichigan, UCLA DMA, and Parsons DT), but honestly I'm not sure if I would choose them over UCSB at this point with the amount of support they're offering (financially and also just like how intentional they've been with their recruitment process...they seem to really care about the growth and investing in the program). Here's the breakdown for the fellowship/funding for those interested (and might want to apply to UCSB next cycle!): Year 1: -stipend of $32,500, plus a $5,000 summer stipend (total of $37,500.) Year 2: -TA employment with salary (at 25-50% time* each quarter) for Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters. -department stipend of $10,000 for the year. *A TAship at 25% time (10 hrs a week) pays around $1888 per month, a 50% TAship (20 hrs a week) pays around $3,777 per month.

For the Kinetic Imaging MFA, they sent out interview requests 1/31

After much digging, I finally found it -- "As stated above, historically, the department has been able to provide all of our MFA students who aren’t already receiving tuition/fee remission through central campus fellowships with Teaching Assistant appointments of at least 25% time (approx 10 work hours per week during the quarter) for all registered quarters in the program. Employment as a TA at 25% time or greater provides full in-state tuition remission, as well as remission of most fees (including health insurance.) Additionally, TAs also receive a monthly salary (approximately ~$1889 per month of appointment during the quarter at 25% time.) More info on student academic employment is available here from the Graduate Division.

I got my UC San Diego invite on Jan 28th. All of their interviews are being held this week

For those of y'all that are applying to UT Austin, I live in Austin right now (and have lived here since I started undergrad at UT Austin in 2018), so if you have any questions about what it's like being a creative/living in Austin I'm happy to answer -- I know how hard it can be to sus out the vibe of a program or city you've never been to. Also-- idk if any of y'all are painters applying to the program but tbh I've heard a lot of mixed things about the strength of the UT program...(I didn't apply because I wanted to expand beyond Austin and also it's not a great program for new media artists).

I have mine scheduled for Feb 10th-- they broke down the structure of the interview in the email invite I think

Made it to the final stage of interviews for UCSB!! They're flying me out for their campus visit/studio tour, final interview, etc at the end of this month. I had no idea MFA programs did this kind of thing, I only thought fancy PhD programs did, so this is a good sign about the funding of this program I guess. Makes the CMU rejection and waiting on other programs feel less daunting, learning a lot through this app process about what I want to prioritize in a program (perceived prestige vs funding and culture)

same lol -- I was initially excited for the program but the more I heard about it on here and the more I did more research into the programs I did get interviews at, the less I became attached to it

I've done two for visual arts MFAs-- UCSB and VCU Kinetic Imaging. UCSB was two professors I had mentioned by name in my app, they basically asked, "why grad school/why now", "why UCSB", "tell us about your current research area/work", and "how do you work collaboratively/in a group" (to see how you'd mesh with other MFAs), and "how do you approach your individual process". It was very conversational, and the vibe was very fluid. It didn't seem to have a time limit so I think I talked with them for about 40min. VCU on the other hand, felt more like a formal job interview, was timed for 30 mins. They asked similar questions about the why grad school, tell us about your work etc, but they also asked more on the spot ones like, "what is an artist work or group show you are inspired by/would want to be a part of", "what are you reading right now" and "if you were to invite three people dead or alive to a dinner who would they be". They allotted a lot of time for me to ask them questions, so most of what I learned about the program was through me specifically asking. The interviewees were two professors and a grad student (I made sure to specifically ask the grad student questions about the culture/grad life).

Just got an interview request from VCU for the Kinetic Imaging MFA program as well! I'm actually so surprised that I've been able to get three so far especially since this is my first year applying...still waiting on UWash, UMich, UCLA, UCI, and CMU

Transmedia/new media...mainly installations. Just finished my UCSB interview. For that one, they said that they're going to review the selection of interviewed people, narrow down the selection and invite/fly out the next round to interview/chat in person and then do final selections-- the timeline was "the next few weeks".

Just got an interview for UCSD

Yeah, I have a background in traditional media and I have some of that on my site, but all the works I submitted were made in the past two years and were transmedia pieces-- the professors who are interviewing me were the same ones I mentioned specifically by name in my statement about wanting to work with, one is new media performance, and the other does a lot of bio-art stuff (my BSA is in Biology from UT Austin)

I also heard back from UCSB and have an interview scheduled with two of the professors on the MFA faculty next week! I applied with a transmedia/new media portfolio. Other schools I've applied to not in order : Northwestern (rejected, but expected since they don't have faculty that do a lot of new media stuff) Carnegie Mellon U Michigan U Washington UCSD UCI UCLA Parsons VCU Besides UCSB and Northwestern, haven't heard anything back yet...