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What about Columbia? I saw one or two people here who have interviews with them, but it seems that most people haven't heard anything from them, including rejections or just when we should expect decision letters and in what form (email? postal?). When I called two weeks ago, they were kind of wishy washy about interviews and schedules, so I have no idea what / when to expect...

i've been wondering about the same thing but i just assumed that i was rejected by columbia - i heard Columbia conducts interviews for short-listed candidates, so if i still haven't heard anything about interviews, shouldn't i just assume that i had been rejected? ...unless they don't actually conduct interviews for everyone they accept?

agree. seriously, i wouldn't worry about it at all. it's simply not a very interesting idea. (maybe only those corporation / banking / whatever of those stereotypical industry would even think to do such thing.) we are all too busy to stalk someone on internet forums - if any of us, including admission staff, has those kind of time and energy (unless they have a crush on you personally, of course), i'd be worried about their energy in making art. i wouldn't base my judgment on, for example, a random comment someone makes on a casual forum. it's not like grad school cafe is some sort of secret powerful organization... plus, i haven't seen anyone here saying anything rude or politically incorrect to any schools. cheers.

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! good call!

This is very helpful! Thank you, lisa333!

I was told the same thing over the phone. My feelings are the same with yours and I wonder what the interviews are like and whether they mentioned why they conduct interviews too, if someone who got it doesn't mind talking about it...

Hi Chrono Trigger - I don't think this question is proper for this topic, but I'd ask anyway since you are the only one I saw here with OSU (Ohio State) on the list. Have you heard anything from them at all? I haven't heard a single word since I sent in my application - I tried to call them / email them but never got answered, and their website doesn't seem to say much. I'm simply curious whether they conduct interviews, or when approximately I should expect to hear back.... Do you have any idea? My plan B: apply for art schools / programs in the UK, or find a job (most likely as a teacher).

Is there anyone who applied for Ohio State? Any news??

thanks for your response... yeah... i think i might be going a little crazy with all this waiting process..... !

I saw a few people here getting emails for phone interviews at PennDesign, and a few people didn’t, and I personally didn’t, but I was curious because they told many people that they do not conduct interviews as part of the admission process. So I called them today – The lady put me on the phone with Jane Irish, the coordinator. They are all super nice people and really patient. I asked her whether I should assume that I was not accepted because I didn’t get theinterview, and she told me no, and that different faculty members were interested in certain people’s work for different reasons and sometimes they request to speak with the candidates, but it’s not necessarily a selective process. She said it was an on-going process and that they do not have a final list. But she sounded a little reluctant the whole time so it sounded to me that getting an interview was definitely a positive thing, but not getting an interview doesn’t mean that you are rejected already. However, at the end, she insisted that she needed to write down my name because she can let Joshua (the chair) know that I called. She said that it’s always good to know who’s advocating their application. That made me really nervous afterwards because I didn’t know that “advocating my application” is a positive thing at all – or is it? Is there any purpose of writing down the names of people who called or attended open house? Also, I didn't advocate my application - I simply called to ask a question, which doesn't show that I care about my application more than when I didn't call... Or maybe I'm just reading into things way too much because it been such a stressful and nerve-racking month... I’m an international student so I didn’t go to any open house or portfolio review, nor have I called any school to ask questions because it was expensive to call from abroad (and I do not even have high speed Internet for Skype to phone calls). In that case, I've done a terrible job advocating my application... My question is – has anyone heard of this “advocating your application” thing? Does MFA application resemble a job application in a way that the more contact and connection you have with your employer/ faculty /coordinator / school the better?

@bethanyr i haven't heard anything from my schools either except for the rejections from yale and umich. keep the hopes up though... like you, i'm only 1 year out of school too, but i feel that shouldn't be a factor in the admission process - it seems that many top school have already admitted or offered interviews to people who are just 1 year out, or even in their last year of college! i guess portfolio is the most important thing, but again, who knows. there are many other silly elements that they take into the admission process other than your portfolio. i'm an international student and i know that umich already has like three MFA students from my country, and they only admit 10 students a year, so that might be a problem too. ugh.. i guess i really don't know...

I'm really bummed about not hearing from PennDesign too, but I wonder if that necessarily means that I'm rejected. They said on their website that they do not interview people, and when I asked them by email, they told me the same thing. Last week they sent an email to every applicant that we can check online for admission decisions on March 14th - didn't mention anything about interviews. I wonder if they changed their admission procedures, or that they just wanted to talk to certain applicants in order to get to know more about them, which will help them make decisions. I know some non-MFA programs do that, but I'm not sure if this is the case. I emailed them again today to ask, and hopefully I'll hear from them tomorrow!!!! I'll post here if they reply. For those of you who did get interviews from PennDeign - are they all phone interviews and did they mention anything about having a final list?

Hi! Congratulations for the interview! Can you please post here after the interview? I too applied for PennDesign and was told that they do not conduct interviews... Actually it says on the FAQ section on their website that they do not conduct interviews... so I'm very curious. Best luck for the interview!

scolby and bethanyr.... i can totally relate... i'm doing the same thing... i think this forum has been seriously functioning as psychiatrical help for me in the past two weeks.... but on the other hand i keep telling myself that all my obsession about this waiting period is just all a construction in my mind... but still....ugh.....

I totally understand how you feel! I'm teaching elementary school right now too (but abroad) and little kids suck up sooooooo much energy on top of everything else!

here is my website http://yijoannadai.weebly.com/ most of my portfolio is in the mixed media and video art section...

I emailed U of Michigan and they told me that they have sent out all the interview invitations already, so I assume I was rejected, which is fine...

HI I"m freaking out too...... When did you get the interview from University of Michigan, and was it in an email? I wonder if they have already sent out all the interviews.... Thanks!

not at all. Univ. of Michigan said on their website that they will cover all the related traveling expenses for final list candidates to travel to ann arbor for the interview. since there are schools who do it, i assume other schools won't see it as something rude to ask. worst is that you might get a "no."

Congratulations! At least now you know you have a good place to go I saw Ohio State on your list of schools, and I wonder if you ended up applying to it. I applied to that school but haven't seen many people here applying, so I never brought it up. Have you heard anything from them? I haven't heard a word from them ever since they sent the auto email confirming the receipt of my ONLINE application. Their website also doesn't seem to be very informative in terms of the admission process. I don't even know if they conduct interviews or not, or when they will send out admission decisions. Do you have any idea? I know it's not a bad program and Ann Hamilton teaches there...

I just looked at PennDesign's website again and they said that they do not conduct interview for people and that the decisions will be sent out on March 14th. Cornell does conduct interview for shortlisted candidates - I wasn't aware of that at the beginning but just found this information in their FAQs.

Hi everyone~ I read someone saying that s/he was hoping to get an interview from Columbia. From Columbia's website I got the feeling that they do not conduct interviews and that they make decisions based on your application only. It seems that many other schools do not conduct interviews - Upenn, Cornell, etc. Did I understand it wrong, or do they actually conduct selective interviews and just did not mention it on their websites?

this is awesome! i'm very thankful for your post! a lot of insightful and helpful information.

Yes I did... an email from slideroom saying that they have sent the portfolio to Columbia, with a confirmation number...

A few schools I applied to request DVD/CD portfolio instead of online portfolio, and I noticed that some of them do not really contact me regarding whether they have actually received everything in my application or not (e.g. Cornell). I don't know if anyone else also worries about the same thing. Also, has anyone checked their application status for columbia? I submitted my application in december but it still says "incomplete" because "slide room portfolio: not received". I called and emailed, wanting to ask if that's a tech problem or if they just haven't gone through updating everyone's app status yet, but no one answered. Any idea?