mtung

Between money and location, it just may be. I had a lot of mixed feelings about it, but many of them were put to rest by an excellent tour on Saturday; for various reasons, including those just mentioned, it has gone from my last choice to my top choice. Of course, I have to actually get accepted somewhere before I have anything known as a "choice"...which is looking kind of glum these days!

Hey julieopp, do you remember what kind of timeline Hunter gave for notification after Saturdays interviews? I seem to recall them saying they would all meet wednesday (yesterday), but nothing about how or when we would hear from them.

You should be able to log on to owlnet to check your Tyler status (I think you get a log-in when you make your app payment). I found out my status (rejected) online last week and got the official paper letter yesterday. So you're probably right to assume the worst, sadly.

For you MICA folks, shot in the dark, but you wouldn't happen to know if Hoffberger and Mount Royal programs are on the same schedule, would you?

Well...shit.

If you're choosing between an MFA at Pratt and Post-Bac at SAIC, I would definitely say go for Pratt, or, if you're not sure, take a year and reapply. I cannot speak to all schools, but where I finished my undergrad (SFAI) and from what I hear from others, Post-Bacs seem like a way to milk you for money. True, it will give you a leg up when applying for an MFA later, but you'll still be jumping through the same hoops as everyone else, and you'll be 30-50k poorer by then. I think you'd be in just as good of a position spending another year working hard and perhaps doing a residency or two. This really goes for all post-bacs; unless you have a lot of money to blow and desperately want to be in school right now (I say that without mockery, I wholly understand that feeling), I would not accept a post-bac offer. I don't know a lot about Pratt's grad program, but I think their student work is pretty impressive, the school has great name recognition, and any art program in New York City is going to have excellent practicing artists on their faculty. I don't think NYC is an artists mecca, but there is no denying its central position in the art world, nor the access to incredible institutions, galleries, non-profits, and other opportunities. Have you visited Pratt yet? If not, do so, and see how it feels. That will tell you more than anyone on this board.

After having gone through a couple now, all I can say is that it is a total crapshoot...a lot of it depends on who you end up interviewing you. I expected my interview at SAIC to be really tough, because it is (supposedly) the number 2 program in the country, and extremely competence. It ended up being a nice extended conversation, and while it wasn't a perfect interview (there are always a million things you wish you had said afterwards), I felt really good coming out of it. Hunter, on the other hand, I was expecting to be more relaxed, based on what I had heard from people who interviewed in the past, but I ended up with someone really tough in my interview who kept grilling me on photography related questions (my application was for drawing...), and seemed to get off on trapping me in corners. I got so many questions straight out of left field that I was so out of sorts I couldn't even give good answers to the ones that should have been a breeze. I'm not writing off my chances, as I still had good things to say, but that interview is haunting my thoughts! My best advice would be to not get hung up on tough "gotcha" questions like I did, and just slow down and think about your own work and knowledge and try to tie the answer back into that, otherwise you'll just start drowning. Oh, and don't run up four flights of stairs to get to your interview, either! Even if the elevator is being a finicky bitch. Trying to answer why you want to go to their school while catching your breath is not so fun...

Update: All painting and drawing, except for Hunter, which is drawing/works on paper/print, and I'm in NY. SAIC: Interviewed 3/8, thought it went well, but haven't heard anything yet. Hunter: Interviewed yesterday (3/14), thought it went disastrously(!), waiting. Columbia: officially rejected via post. Tyler: rejected via website. UCLA: presumed rejection. UPenn: presumed rejection. RISD: presumed rejection. VCU: nothing. MICA, Hoffberger: nothing, though wondering if those phone calls above mean this should move into presumed rejection status? MICA, Mount Royal: nothing. Definitely feeling a lot less positive about the whole game than I was at this point a month ago...

What had you so in love, brosenth? Also, if you don't mind sharing, what kind of questions/topics did you discuss in your interview? Hunter has recently crept up from being one of my last choices to one of my top choices.

How did you find out you were a finalist? Did they contact you? Think it's time to add Tyler to my rapidly growing "probable reject" list.

Yeah, sounds like we got the same email! So either we're both in, or, more likely, it is just a poorly worded fafsa reminder. I'll hope for the best, though! Good luck to you, as well.

I'm interviewing on Saturday (as are several other people on the forum, I believe), and I'll report back afterwards! I'm kind of hot and cold when it comes to Hunter, they have a lot going for them, such as location, faculty, access to the artworld, and cheap tuition, but they have some serious downsides, such as isolation from the rest of the school, overcrowding, poorly maintained facilities, and lack of funding. I've heard some people who have experience with the program refer to it as feeling like more of an extended residency than graduate school, but I don't know how much weight to give to them. I am looking forward to getting a better feel for things this weekend.

I received a weird, unsolicited email about a week and a half ago. I think it was essentially a fafsa reminder with unfortunate wording that might make one think it was something more (I keep my expectations low until proven otherwise). The email also stated that they would be mailing out notification letters on the 23rd (of this month, March). Oh, and I applied to painting, if that helps at all.

My interview at SAIC was similar in that it was much more of a conversation/discussion, than them grilling me with questions. They had my portfolio projected, and I also brought some smaller work and laid it out on the tables between us, then they asked me to discuss my work as we clicked through the portfolio. The discussion ranged from me talking in general terms about my work and approach, to them asking me some very specific questions, and clarifying certain points. Towards the end we had moved into a broader conversation relating to things we had discussed in the work. The 30 minutes blazed by, and we actually went over, which felt good in that there was no time to fret or fumble, but there were a few questions I would have liked to ask, but didn't get time to. I'll be curious to see how the next interview goes and what it's like in comparison. Attire was definitely a null point to dwell on, once I was there: other interviewees were mostly in their everyday, jeans, etc. clothing, and only a few people were dressed in their fancier garb. I was somewhere in between and felt perfectly comfortable.

While I would like to believe that person is lying, and it is entirely possible, I know that most schools tend to take their time sending out rejection letters, Columbia being NOTORIOUS for such practices. I also know that people have interviews scheduled at both Columbia and Yale; I just got back from my interview in Chicago, and some of the other interviewees I spoke to there also had interviews coming up at Columbia, Yale, and RISD, so sadly it sounds as if you haven't heard from them yet, the news wont be so good when it does come around. UCLA is the only school that person mentioned that I have heard nothing else about, but based on the rest of what I was just rambling about, it seems entirely plausible that they contacted those accepted already. Of course, I'd be happy to be wrong, especially in the case of UCLA! Anybody hear any news from VCU, Tyler, or MICA? I received an unsolicited email from UPenn (PennDesign) letting me know that they'll be mailing out their letters sometime around the 23rd, and I should expect to hear from them by the 1st of April.

I've been wondering the same, trivial though it may be. I get the impression that there is no need to dress up, and that a decent pair of everyday cloths ought to be sufficient.

Thanks for the VCU updates! Good to know that they'll be doing phone interview instead of in person...

Based on some of the results posted in "shot and simple" I'm assuming the worst for my UCLA and Columbia applications. I don't know what to think of VCU, since it doesn't seem like anyone has heard anything one way or another; let's hope they are just taking their sweet-ass time! And for your sake, I'll hope that is the case with CMU, too, but I haven't been following them...too busy obsessing over my own list.

If there are folk out there who have already gone through the interview process, how did you prepare and what should one expect going into it? Any key questions to look out for? For those of you with interviews coming up, what are you doing to get ready? I have two interviews in the next 2 weeks, one at SAIC and one at Hunter. Thankfully neither require me to bring all of my original work, although SAIC encourages bringing smaller pieces. I have mostly been focusing on questions I think might get me tangled up or rambling, but it's mostly speculation as to what they are going to ask. From what I have heard from friends who have gone through interviews elsewhere, it seems placing yourself within art history or the contemporary art world is a big one, along with questions specific to one's work, as well as what it is about that program. So anyhow, how are all of you gearing up for the interview?

UCLA and Columbia are getting back? Bummer. I am with you julieopp. No news is absolutely bad news! This is my second go on the MFA application ride, and not to be tooo much of a downer, but the longer you go without hearing anything, the more likely the news is no good.

All programs are Painting & Drawing, except for Hunter, which is Drawing/Printmaking/Works on Paper. SAIC - Interviewed on 3/8, waiting. Hunter - Interview on 3/14 (notified via phone 2/17). Columbia - Rejected. VCU - no response UCLA - no response RISD - no response MICA - no response Tyler - no response UPenn - no response