jackthecrow

As discussed in the Student Finance thread, Yale is need blind (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Need-blind_admission), meaning your ability to pay tuition will not effect your status of admission and more importantly -- if you can't pay tuition, you won't pay tuition.  Personally, they virtually waived my tuition, and I know this is true for a lot of the students -- so In my case, it actually became the best financial choice. 
 
In regards to your comment regarding coming down "to how good your work is and the value/intensity/mentorship of the interactions you have with your faculty and peers," well...yes, this is true regardless of which institution you attend.  No school will guarantee success, Yale, Columbia or otherwise.  That being said, it's still a damn fine school with some of the best resources in the country...so you could do a lot worse.
 
@Honey, I'll PM you in a bit, maybe I can answer/follow up on some of your questions.

i won't attempt to answer for MWebster, but I will chime in. No, those statements do not contradict. The term you specified as 'craft,' (which I will assume you meant as the ability to render an image), is only a small part of the process in his subject -- a larger part (as per our Saltz conversation) is his convergence between his chosen language (painting, installation, mixed media, whatever) and themes -- many of which are complex (some may even say vague)...so when M-web states that "he engages the history of painting and photo..etc.." he means Richter does not simply accomplish this because he illustrates a picture that tells a narrative, he does so with various angles which may or may not be image driven (or even painting)

there is also a difference between the statement of why everyone else reveres Richter and why you revere Richter. Also, if your revery for him stems from his laborious process of image making (which he himself claims isn't very special or skillful at all since most of the time he simply takes photos and projects them into his canvas using a projector and copies and/or smears them), then do you just discount his work that deals with pigments of paint simply smeared on a photo? what of his installations? and did you further ignore his work that deals with non-specific imagery and abstraction...which is probably of even a greater body than his photo-based works?

But enough about Richter..lets move on to your dialogue..

when you state "The gestural fetus talks less about the individual identity of the fetus itself, and more about the fetus as a whole," why does this very general "expressionist" view on abstraction supersede other types of abstraction? what is your line of demarcation of abstraction, or do you have one?

You've seem to have thrown in Abstract Expressionism, which in itself is a very complex subject -- since it doesn't sincerely have a unique type of mark making that would equate it as an official style; rather, the term "abstract expressionism" is sort of the label people call work coming from a certain time period from a specific location (i.e. New York/USA). so you would have to be more precise with your terms...and probably art history.

But anyway, we can go on and on...and I guess you could fully explain your work in greater detail--but I think what the others are suggesting in regards to you taking more time to really mature is the fact that they may mean for you to expand your experiences in the contemporary art world a bit more, so you have a more specific understanding of your work as well as others in your field. I understand your great interest in the painting tradition, and it just feels that you may also benefit from schools that share your same viewpoints (aforementioned PAFA, NYAA, LCAD...etc) but seem to have ignored.

featherlight53: My experience as a prof and student has shown me that the graduate admissions process is a little mysterious and can be quite subjective - even at Yale the profs might not be able to quite sum up how the decisions get made (beyond obvious stuff like a bare minimum g.p.a., etc.). But generally, at a school of that calibre they want to see that you know yourself as an artist and show signs of intellectual maturity and independence. They want to see that you'll get in there and make the department a more interesting place, and that you'll finish on time without becoming a burden to the department (you need to be driven and a self-starter).

You can convey all of that with a very direct and specific statement of intent that names the big concepts that fascinate you (not just interest you, but fascinate you), specifically how you plan to explore them in the Yale program, what faculty you've talked to there who are willing to work with you and what longer term goal that serves for you as an artist and thinker. You'll want to edit your portfolio so that it conveys a certain amount of versatility that shows your skills, but mostly presents a single style or vision that conveys your personality and uniqueness as an artist. You want to spell out for the admissions committee what you have to offer them as much as what you will learn there -- like a job application, really.

As for specifics like gpa's, GRE scores and that kind of junk: the quickest way to an answer is to visit, phone or email the faculty member in that program who is the director/coordinator/manager of the graduate program. Don't beat around the bush, tell him/her you are very interested in his/her impressive graduate program and that you'd like to know, on average, what kind of credentials (gpa, GRE, professional experience) successful admissions have so that your application will answer the questions they need answered. Put the whole thing in terms of you doing them a favour! Also, you are well within your rights to ask about this. If you go to school there, you'll be making a big personal investment in Yale's graduate program so you should know as much about it as possible to make sure it's the right place for you. If he/she won't tell you what you want to know, send me an email and I'll see if we can't come up with a way to the information.

P.S. Don't be too dazzled by Ivy League reputations - they will cost you lots of money and (no offence to the Ivy League schools) many of them are great 90% of the time but they still have weak spots, programs, faculty - so do your research to make sure you are getting the best of that school...

New Haven bound. Good luck, everyone!

Awesome post. I'm sure this is going to help a lot of people out there!

That's a great list! Thanks for putting it together. Real quick I can think of a couple of well funded programs to add.

West:

UNLV (full rides and I think stipends)
Cal State San Bernardino (a friend went here and liked it, heard they offer full ride but don't know much about the school)

South:

USF (full rides)
FSU (friend got in here and she said they all get tuition waivers and stipends)
University of Miami (they offer some students tuition waivers and stipends but not all)
Tulane (full ride)
University of NO (I heard full ride, not sure for all or not)

East:

University of Delaware (offers full ride)
SUNY Stony Brook (tuition waiver and stipend to some. Should mention need to take GRE to get it)
University of Long Island (I heard a full ride is offered to some)
UConn (full rides available?)

I'm sure there are more out there!

This is a list compiled by myself, with additions by the fine members of a couple 2012 MFA Forums, that will give next year's applicants a good idea as to what programs give the best funding. If you have any more additions, please feel free to add to! And, best of luck to all you futre MFA applicants. Much love from the 2012 crowd:

By Region, in no particular order:

West

- UCSD (full ride + teaching stipend)
- UC Irvine (I believe there is good funding here, but unsure of details)
- UCLA (both DMA and the regular arts program give up to 100+% funding with teaching)
- USC (many admits get full tuition funding)
- UCSB (full finding + excellent stipend and teaching)
- Stanford (full ride + excellent stipend and teaching)
- UC Berkeley (full ride tuition for instate peeps, out of staters pay difference)
- Mills (not always, but I have heard of 50+% funding here)
- UC Davis (50-70% funding)
- UOregon (full ride + teaching stipend)
- UW (full ride)
- ASU (Arizona State) (full ride) + (50% tuition + Merit Scholarsihps: for International Students)

Midwest

- UIowa (I believe there is full funding avail here)
- Indiana (full ride, I believe)
- UChicago (75% tuition funding + teaching stipend) - KEEP an eye on this program. They are dumping a TON of money into the arts here (esp. with their fabulous Logan Arts Center. A "hidden gem" of a program)
- UI-C (I have heard of good funding here)
- Northwestern (full ride + excellent stipend and teaching)
- SAIC (I hear of one full ride and one half ride per department)
- SIUC (Southern Illinois) (full ride + stipend)
- UMichigan (full ride, first year travel funding, free computer, + stipend)
- Ohio (both state and university) (full rides + stipend to both universities)

(I'm sure there are others in the M-W…)

South

- UGA (Georgia) (excellent funding)
- LSU (Louisiana) (excellent funding)
- UF (Florida) (full funding)
- UTex-Austin (50% or more funding, I have heard of)
- Georgia Tech (MS in Digital Media is a full ride)

East

- Alfred (full ride + stipend)
- RPI / iEAR (half the admits get full finding)
- Carnegie-Mellon (70+% funding)
- RISD (Pres. Scholarships range 40K, 20K and 10K, but most pay)
- Rutgers (heard of full funding)
- SUNY Buffalo (heard of good-to-full funding here)
- Tyler/Temple (sometimes they do offer full funding + stipend to some first year MFAs, but 2nd yr seems to get best funding)
- SFMA (has been known to dish out some decent money, but not all the time)
- Yale (if you are low income, along with your parents (regardless of your age, they ask for your parent's financials), you can qualify for excellent funding. If not, you will pay)
- MIT / ACT (I have heard of around 50% funding)
- Univ of Maryland (full ride + teaching stipend)
- VCU (70+% funding)
- Cornell (full ride + teaching stipend)
- MICA (25-50% tuition for some)
- Bard (heard of there being up to 50% funding)
- Montclair State (heard of excellent funding here)

- Keep an eye out for Dartmouth doing a production orientated "Digital Studies" Masters in the future, and if it is anything like their outstanding "Digital Musics", it'll be a full ride +)