smartstrategy

I am glad you posted this.
It is very important to note the response rate of only 29 percent!
One could speculate that officials from a fair number of the top schools were among the 29 percent who responded;) No way of knowing. Did the respondents visit each school and look at the program in detail?!
I think the list does contribute to perceived school prestige because many don't read the fine print like you did (onlly 29 percent response rate) and might think hey this is a printed publication that says that these are the best schools. Many of them are excellent. Other factors come into play. For example, a few years ago Rutgers was not well known. Then an online article was written about schools offering Best Bang for your Buck. Rutgers was on it. People on the forum wrote about large stipends. Now they get many more applicants due to the publicity boost. They seem to be a good school.
However in my opinion I would take the rankings list with a grain of salt. Some are riding on a stellar reputation which might have existed years ago. The magazine is a marketing tool. They make money from publishing the info in this survey. People who don't know where to start in choosing a school might use the info when deciding where to apply because they don't have any other reliable source of info. Countless people on this forum apply to "the top ten" and they may well have decided based on that list.  I was accepted at several schools with  much higher "list" rankings than the one I decided to go to. I don't regret my choice.
As always, my advice is go for funding unless you are able to pay yourself. Choose schools that offer funding where you think you might fit in. No school no matter how highly ranked guarantees your career path in the art world. It is very competitve out there.
 

I am glad you posted this.
It is very important to note the response rate of only 29 percent!
One could speculate that officials from a fair number of the top schools were among the 29 percent who responded;) No way of knowing. Did the respondents visit each school and look at the program in detail?!
I think the list does contribute to perceived school prestige because many don't read the fine print like you did (onlly 29 percent response rate) and might think hey this is a printed publication that says that these are the best schools. Many of them are excellent. Other factors come into play. For example, a few years ago Rutgers was not well known. Then an online article was written about schools offering Best Bang for your Buck. Rutgers was on it. People on the forum wrote about large stipends. Now they get many more applicants due to the publicity boost. They seem to be a good school.
However in my opinion I would take the rankings list with a grain of salt. Some are riding on a stellar reputation which might have existed years ago. The magazine is a marketing tool. They make money from publishing the info in this survey. People who don't know where to start in choosing a school might use the info when deciding where to apply because they don't have any other reliable source of info. Countless people on this forum apply to "the top ten" and they may well have decided based on that list.  I was accepted at several schools with  much higher "list" rankings than the one I decided to go to. I don't regret my choice.
As always, my advice is go for funding unless you are able to pay yourself. Choose schools that offer funding where you think you might fit in. No school no matter how highly ranked guarantees your career path in the art world. It is very competitve out there.
 

I am glad you posted this.
It is very important to note the response rate of only 29 percent!
One could speculate that officials from a fair number of the top schools were among the 29 percent who responded;) No way of knowing. Did the respondents visit each school and look at the program in detail?!
I think the list does contribute to perceived school prestige because many don't read the fine print like you did (onlly 29 percent response rate) and might think hey this is a printed publication that says that these are the best schools. Many of them are excellent. Other factors come into play. For example, a few years ago Rutgers was not well known. Then an online article was written about schools offering Best Bang for your Buck. Rutgers was on it. People on the forum wrote about large stipends. Now they get many more applicants due to the publicity boost. They seem to be a good school.
However in my opinion I would take the rankings list with a grain of salt. Some are riding on a stellar reputation which might have existed years ago. The magazine is a marketing tool. They make money from publishing the info in this survey. People who don't know where to start in choosing a school might use the info when deciding where to apply because they don't have any other reliable source of info. Countless people on this forum apply to "the top ten" and they may well have decided based on that list.  I was accepted at several schools with  much higher "list" rankings than the one I decided to go to. I don't regret my choice.
As always, my advice is go for funding unless you are able to pay yourself. Choose schools that offer funding where you think you might fit in. No school no matter how highly ranked guarantees your career path in the art world. It is very competitve out there.
 

I am glad you posted this.
It is very important to note the response rate of only 29 percent!
One could speculate that officials from a fair number of the top schools were among the 29 percent who responded;) No way of knowing. Did the respondents visit each school and look at the program in detail?!
I think the list does contribute to perceived school prestige because many don't read the fine print like you did (onlly 29 percent response rate) and might think hey this is a printed publication that says that these are the best schools. Many of them are excellent. Other factors come into play. For example, a few years ago Rutgers was not well known. Then an online article was written about schools offering Best Bang for your Buck. Rutgers was on it. People on the forum wrote about large stipends. Now they get many more applicants due to the publicity boost. They seem to be a good school.
However in my opinion I would take the rankings list with a grain of salt. Some are riding on a stellar reputation which might have existed years ago. The magazine is a marketing tool. They make money from publishing the info in this survey. People who don't know where to start in choosing a school might use the info when deciding where to apply because they don't have any other reliable source of info. Countless people on this forum apply to "the top ten" and they may well have decided based on that list.  I was accepted at several schools with  much higher "list" rankings than the one I decided to go to. I don't regret my choice.
As always, my advice is go for funding unless you are able to pay yourself. Choose schools that offer funding where you think you might fit in. No school no matter how highly ranked guarantees your career path in the art world. It is very competitve out there.
 

I've said it before, I'll say it again. LOL @ methodology: "The rankings of Master of Fine Arts programs, completed in 2016, are based solely on the results of a peer assessment survey. Deans and other top academics at 229 Master of Fine Arts programs in art and design were surveyed in fall 2015 by Ipsos Public Affairs.
"Survey recipients – one per school – were asked to rate the academic quality of fine arts programs on a scale of 1 (marginal) to 5 (outstanding). Scores for each school were totaled and divided by the number of respondents who rated that school. The response rate was 29 percent."
But you're right -- it is really interesting. There are some big changes represented. I'm also fascinated by how some schools seem to stick in their rankings. Curious what people's biggest surprises are in that regard -- are there schools you think don't really deserve the rank they have (whether that's for being over- or underrated)? I'm also really interested in the psychological impact that these rankings have on perceived school prestige, but that's another matter altogether.

Im going to have to agree with mlk. 
You are exceptionally young, even for MFA programs, and the Whitney ISP is for artist's who are older, more accomplished, and have more experience. 
If you are interested in NYC, I would totally encourage you to check out the New York Arts Practicum. It's a 2 month residency/assistantship program. I attended in the summer of 2013 and it was great. 

Ahh...as I'm about to graduate from an MFA, I find myself lurking on here again....

AKW94-- I have to second mlk and coreythegiraffe. The best advice I've received thus far is try not to force yourself into a program that is not a good fit for you...and you just have to be objective and honest about who you are, the type of work you make, AND what you want to get out of the program/school/residency/whatever. 

If you want the prestige, you can easily get that with other residencies--ALSO you can do internships that will greatly effect you for the better. 

I have a friend who is in the Whitney ISP program right now....she makes phenomenal work but she also just finished her Phd in film and media studies before attending. She's an artist, but also an incredible writer--and those two go in tandem together for her. She told me that the studios are in Manhatten (who can afford to live there?) and your studio is basically a cubicle...kind of like CSU Long Beach layout. (if anyone has seen them) 

I'm being serious. They are traditional cubicle style like in an office and you basically get to see what everyone is up to. I by no means think this is bad, but you have to consider 1. what type of work can you make in that environment 2. what kind of mentality that breeds 3. what do you honestly want to get out of it? <-----(I personally think this fuels the writing component in the program)

The program is incredibly rigorous and highly conceptual. This next part is going to be real talk. 

If you really still want to go there, (hey maybe not this yr, but keep it on your radar) you need to beef up your CV and portfolio. I'm not talking solo shows or group shows, I'm talking about the awards, grants, residencies, publications, reviews of your work. You don't need a lengthy thing--but it really does show the committee that you are self sufficient (which the program wants you to be) and you are capable of producing a 'buzz' about you. In terms of your portfolio, if you have writing samples they're going to want it--even if you're just reviewing artwork in your local network. 
 
Like mlk said, the program is for a very specific subset of artists...and I know you are hung on they've taken undergrads before--but let's be real they may have been older and they may have had better connections than you. My last vice is please don't hold your career to another's and ask, "why not me?" It's a really long journey, some people hit the stratosphere early, and others don't. 

Honestly don't know what the issue is...  I email them,  and they have accepted undergrads in the pass. 
 
Does anyone have any real information on the whitney program. 

Go. Where. The. Money. Is.

A good school will welcome diversity in their program.
The work is most important.
Committees are looking for potential students with promise.
 
Ages can range from 21 to 56 years old. Perhaps even older.
 
What is most important is your attitude and your ability to get along with and learn from others in the program without age being a factor.
 
Some questions to consider:
 
What can you offer the program?
Will you be mature enough to show initiative and to create work regularly without being prompted by faculty and your peers?
Will social activities take priority over making work?
Are you ready for a very intense experience that will last several years?
 
Can you take critical feedback well? Feedback that can be harsh?
Can you be self-critical?
 
Are you open to new ideas and viewpoints different from your own?
 
Do you know why you want to go to grad school at this time?
Are your goals realistic?
Do you have a good understanding of Contemporary Art?

This forum usually gets very very busy starting in January as deadlines appear so don't give up reading and posting. It then seems to go dormant with few posts around end of March/April when people have heard from schools and made decisions.

I'm so glad this is over

Well their lives are paperwork, so it'd make sense that they get through it faster than someone whose filing system is "where the muse takes me" (and possibly color coded.)

I just got a call for an SAIC Printmedia Interview on 3/2, too!  Has anyone been to this all-day event?  Does anyone know how many people they interview vs. how many they admit?
 
Also, sent in my electronic transcripts to Indiana and hope that silence means the graduate coordinator got the email.

They never mentioned mine, but I'm sure they don't have it because I never applied there. You'd think they'd be more on top of things like this.

I hope they laugh at you

Until someone goes after you like a junkyard dog with a bone - because they don't think you're the right kind of people to be on gradcafe or in grad school.
 
If you don't think that will happen and you've not already offended some internet loon who is just salivating at the chance to "turn you in" then feel free to post all your stats and info.
 
Or were you just saying you want others to be held accountable for the things you perceive as wrong rather than yourself for what they see as being wrong with you?

I'm always just amazed that people think they can say whatever they want to me, at me, etc.. and there will be no likewise retort.
 
I think you likely have enough sense to realize that I'm not that sort of person.. and you probably don't run around passive aggressively insulting people and getting away with it because society dictates that the "good" people are to grin and bear such BS. Good thing I'm not a good person.

Oh, that's the measure? In that case, I need 3 pieces of yours in order to ascertain if you have any standing to question me.

Don't have an answer for you for your specific case with your POI. I can however tell that when I interviewed at both places that used Slideroom the person(s) interviewing me pulled my work up in the administration side of Slideroom and I could plainly see the titles, descriptions, and images. They then asked me for more detail about projects they were particularly interested in.

If I cared enough to know your name, I would.

Walked right into that setup didn't ya? People remain amusingly predictable.

Also, I'm not saying what's the right or wrong way to change dpi - both ways change the dpi. But the default changes the canvas size. That's where people were having issues. And I explain how at 72 PPI they're aiming for 1000 pixels or just under 14 inches in any one direction to meet 99% of portfolio requirements.

You're incorrectly changing the DPI of your images, you need to make sure "Resample Image:" is not selected. Notice then how the physical pixel resolution stays the same while the document size (as it would print) changes.
 
Also, missed the c, and no s.

Photoshop uses DPI and PPI interchangeably. If you use photoshop's image settings to change the DPI to 72 from 300 it will shrink your image canvas size.

And Jaques I'm sooooo sorry you might need to read a caption to understand an image when judging media that is not 2d. Your life must be so hard. I'm so sorry people expect you to do all functions of your job with diligence rather than skimping over the parts you don't like or find unpleasant. I mean, it's not like someone's future is at stake if you gloss over things and make incorrect assumptions.

Funnily enough I suspect glossing over things, coming to erroneous conclusions, and yet still being treated like you deserve a cookie for the "good" you've done is not at all a foreign concept to you.

Tonight I'm convinced I'm not getting an acceptance. And I'm mad about it. Then I'm sure I will get an admit with no funding which I'm even angrier about. Then I'm sure I'll get an admit with "meh" funding and not be able to pull things together financially to attend and forfeit by default. This makes me want to throat punch kittens. No table unflipped type Hulk rage.

Today I was told after surgery that if I don't lower my stress levels it's going to eventually kill me, as it's already detrimental to my health. Le sigh.

Loric: where did you apply and for what