losemygrip

IFA isn't technically a terminal MA program because they do offer the Ph.D. beyond that. Generally "terminal MA" only applies to a school that only offers the MA. An MA at the IFA is traditionally considered to be as tough as a Ph.D. at some other places. (And expensive!) As far as UConn, if you wanted to work with someone like Amelia Jones, Kelly whats-her-name at UConn is very smart and seemed reasonably personable. She does contemporary art and gender/sexuality, among other things. I think it could be a good fallback school. Williams has produced an outrageous number of museum directors, so if you think that's the direction you might go in the future . . . .

I agree with anonymous..., and while greenpen has a point, Delaware will be able to rest on its reputational laurels for some time. Penn and Temple are also great options, especially because of the plethora of American art in Philly.

While U.T. is a highly ranked program, I saw very little in the way of good work when I was there. U.H. is better in photography, in my opinion. North Texas is probably the best MFA program in the state. Outside the state, I'm less familiar with photo programs in particular, except that Univ. of New Mexico continues to have a good reputation. If you want an academic job afterwards, it's the usual suspects that will help give your degree a cachet. UCLA, SAIC, etc. As always, I don't recommend Yale. Oh, and I think SUNY Purchase has a pretty good photo program, and you would certainly make your NYC art world connections there.

Remember--that may not be the type of work that gained the student entrance. Artists change. Those are some pretty mediocre paintings, although not offensively so like the previous ones posted from Yale. They do, however, look very much like what's been shown in NYC galleries the past few years. That is, not "Bad Painting," but b-a-a-a-a-d painting. I get the concept, but I'm not a fan.

Yeah, I agree. Suck up to your professors. Also GET THOSE LANGUAGE SKILLS! I recommend taking the regular course of language, not those useless translation courses. Take them pass/fail if necessary. I never experience what fullofpink describes. I was a TA from the start, and also worked an outside job 20 hours/week. I was never as bleary-eyed as s/he describes. So don't get too scared. But I agree about being organized. Also, BEWARE DEPARTMENT POLITICS! Being too enthusiastic can actually work against you.

Delaware is still pretty widely recognized as the best in American art, particularly the early period you're interested in. That should be your first choice.

McGill would be great, but have you actually met Amelia Jones? Good luck with that. You may not have a lot of options with terminal MAs. When you say NYU, I assume you mean Washington Square and not the IFA? I wasn't aware they gave separate MAs at the Washington Square campus. The MA at the IFA is famous (infamous?), but it's not technically a terminal MA (unless you or they want it to be). Williams is the most famous MA program around, but to my understanding is pretty traditional. At least, that's its reputation. Given your regional requirements, Tufts is a good option. What about UConn? Do they have one? Qualifying paper and thesis are really just different names for the same thing. When they call it a thesis the length can tend to run on longer than it should. All the MA programs you mention are course-based AND have a thesis or qualifying paper. I kind of shared your concerns: I was an excellent student who really didn't enjoy writing all that much. But I made it through a Ph.D. nonetheless. You kinda get used to it.

Boy, is this ever good advice. I most wholeheartedly concur.

I guess we need an alumnus/a to comment!

I have seen the grad work from UConn several times at the CAA regional MFA shows. It has always been outstanding. If you follow these forums, you can see that I frequently recommend the program. I can't say anything for student life, or the curriculum, but the quality of the current student work is high. Re: application fees, many schools offer fee waivers to students with limited means. I was successful at getting these in most of the schools where I applied years ago. Worth some research.

Even if you're rejected everywhere, just try again elsewhere. If you're motivated, you'll do it eventually.

Skip Pratt. Not that great of a reputation in photo or combined media, and they don't have tons of money for grad students. Did you consider SUNY Purchase? The rest of your list is quite ambitious. Good luck.

What's your goal? Getting an academic job afterwards?

Art history has its own thread in the Humanities section, immediately below this one on the boards.

I imagine Jonathan Katz would be good to work with. Friendly, enthusiastic, open-minded, but still critically and intellectually rigorous.

It's probably a mistake to think of them as mutually exclusive. It may be that your perception of Yale's reputation as "traditional" photography is the result of a sort of hidebound conservatism that allows no other approaches there. Perhaps Storr is trying to remedy that? There are certainly departments that allow for a wide range of approaches, and I happen to think that's ideal. It is, however, more common for a department with a contemporary, conceptual reputation to allow for more conservative approaches than is the opposite.

It really depends on why you're going to graduate school. I'm basing my responses largely on the premise that you're thinking about the possibility of a future career in academe. I've seen few Penn (or Northwestern) grads on the market over the years, and those that I have were not very good. (I didn't even know Northwestern HAD an MFA program--and I know a LOT about art in academe. That's how little known it is.) If you're just going to give further thought and time to your art, well, almost any place will do. Just find a program with a sympathetic professor to advise you. Tyler's overall reputation is much stronger than Penn or NYU. It's a top ten program for sure, up there with RISD, UCLA, SAIC. It does have administrative problems--as I've said elsewhere, deans have been bouncing in and out of that office like ping-pong balls. But it still has an excellent reputation. Another thing about Penn--they are known to have limited funds for grad students, and once you run out, you're on your own paying that expensive Penn tuition. This is probably less important with an MFA since you won't be sitting around for 9 years writing a dissertation.

Storr's job is not, however, to give students what they want. His job is to make the School of Art as good as it can be. It makes no sense to have a purely "traditional" photography program in a university as prominent as Yale that prides itself on its cutting-edge research.

Oh, and just go ahead and apply to as many as you can afford. I don't think you should put artificial limits on yourself. If you're financially independent you may be able to apply for application fee waivers. I did that years ago, and was successful every place except Berkeley.

Well, for someone who started out saying "I want to stay on the east coast," you've certainly had a change of heart. My problem with your list is that you don't really have any "fallback" schools. Those are all pretty competitive. UIC is probably the closest you get to a fallback school. You might want to throw in a Cal State (Fullerton or San Diego) I would dump UPenn for Tyler, and NYU for U Conn. Those are STILL really competitive, but there's really no reason to go to Penn in studio art. (And that pretty much sums up my thoughts on Northwestern as well.) NYU's MFA program is really new and has little track record (despite NYU's good reputation in many other arts areas). Throw something crazy in there instead--maybe SUNY Buffalo? I think they're pretty interdisciplinary.

Well, I've definitely known people in museum ed without any degrees in art history. FYI.

In your case, I agree the GRE isn't such a big deal. But at some schools and in certain situations, it is. Some universities use a minimum overall GRE as a gateway to certain fellowships/scholarships. In my case, I had to have a GRE that was in the top 10% of applicants in my field nationwide. That's the total score, not just the verbal. I don't know how they determine all that--maybe the College Board sends them stats. Also, if you're coming from a "not-so-special state school" high GRE scores can be a great equalizer. If your GRE is better than their applicant from Swarthmore, it lets them know that your education was just fine at Not So Special State.

I'm not in the program, but I can tell you that I saw their students' work at the regional MFA show at CAA last year and I thought they were by far the best of anyone. I was not expecting that, since their reputation is of a very traditional, old-fashioned representational academy, but the students' work, while highly representational, was challenging conceptually and ambitious technically. I was really impressed (and this comes from someone who typically favors highly conceptual work like Tom Friedman).

The CAA guide is not published annually. The current version came out two years ago. Still a wealth of information. The strategy for grad school is: apply to a range of schools, including fall-backs and very ambitious. Then see who gives you the best deal. I always ended up going with my fallbacks, and it all worked out. No student loans, no debt.

UCLA. Overall, the best MFA program in the country in my opinion. Also highly competitive--I think only Yale and Columbia are more so.