Hiii! Finally making an account to post for the upcoming cycle after going through so many of the old ones haha. Paying it forward to future sleuths like me…
I’m gonna be mainly applying to painting/drawing programs—right now the only exception is WashU St Louis’ Illustration MFA, maybe I’ll add another illo one in there. One of my biggest priorities is going into as little debt as possible (preferably none! Regret the amount I went into for undergrad), but unfortunately there’s soooo few illustration programs that offer any sort of funding. The WashU IVC funding isn’t guaranteed, but the Sam Fox school seems to offer a pretty generous amount of funding if you’re lucky (and plus the faculty seem really great!). Like, SVA’s illo MFA is probably the most well known, but the amount of funding they give to students is like 20 cents and some moths floating out of their wallet, lol. Might apply to RISD’s illo program too..? (I’ve at least Heard of grad students getting substantial aid there, whether or not it’s likely is a different story…)
I did my undergrad in illustration + have a predominantly illustration portfolio, but I think long term I’d really like to pivot to more gallery / fine artwork (or at least do some dual-wielding) along with teaching. So I’m gonna be grinding out new work between now and when apps are due. I feel like that’s the biggest barrier between me and applying to more programs, LOL. BUT, assuming I can create enough stuff, the painting/general studio art programs I’m looking at are:
BU
UW-Madison
UConn
Northwestern
Michigan State University
Tyler
WashU St Louis (again, for their studio art side—I like the vibe I’ve gotten from their website at least)
I feel like this list will end up changing by the end…I’ve been in the northeast my whole life, so I’m ideallyyyy looking for something close, but different enough. I’ve seen great things about the UC schools (Davis, Santa Barbara, etc.) in past years of forum threads, and I know Cali’s popping off for contemporary art stuff, so I might end up applying to one of those (Main thing keeping me away are the app fees for UCs--$135?!?). One of the profs I’m gonna ask for a LOR from went to OSU, so that program may end up making my list as well. I know a lot of folks apply to Yale, but honestly I just don’t know if it’d be my kind of place. Love and light to the folks who are gonna apply there, more power and luck to ya!
Excited to see who else pops on here as we get closer to the actual app cycle—wishing everybody good luck, and plenty of funded programs to choose from!! o7
