I agree with almost everything on this thread. A couple of years out of school could do wonders for your personal life and for your work. My own experience has attested to that: I graduated with a BA in art history and then spent next 5 years working day job after day job putting my husband through his doctorate (with the plan that he would then put me through graduate school once he graduated). I wouldn't trade that 5 years of experience for anything! I worked as a freelance graphic designer, illustrator, art educator, wedding consultant, registrar, executive assistant, bookseller, art store employee, real estate assistant, health insurance broker assistant and much, much more. From each of these crappy day jobs I gained a set of life skills that they don't teach in any MFA program. In these 5 years I've grown in so many ways and had the time to make the difficult transition from interpreting the art of others... to creating my own. I feel like I've discovered my true niche in the art market... and I never could have achieved this without the benefit of time. Even if I was restricted to only creating art "after work".
On another note, one thing that I hear the most complaints about from professionals is the lack of business training for artists. I got business training from the school of life and so can you. If you have to take a crappy day job, take one that can teach you something you would otherwise never sit down and study. You'll get paid to learn all while reducing the size of your debt. If you can't do your own taxes, file the paperwork to create a business entity, manage your money effectively, interview confidently, sell product, send a press release, take a beating from a customer... then you will flounder as an artist. I've gained all these skills from those random jobs. If you have these set of skills going INTO a MFA program, nothing will stand in the way of your success and from running a profitable, independent, art business afterwards (or during).
That being said, I'm right there with you. Each rejection brings me a step closer to "Plan B", my contingency plan for if I'm rejected by all 5 programs. Don't be afraid of rejection. Every artist has to face it. There's already some great advice on here about things you can do this coming year, so I won't go into competitions, residencies, etc. However, I came across a call for artists on Art Calendar, which has your name all over it. I thought you might be interested:
