indigoconcord

i disagree. his 'realness' is the reason people know about him (and like him in your case?). his criticism/ideology and abounding over-generalizations/illogic is why most people cant stand him. dont get me wrong, im not in disagreement with an assertion that describes the 'art world' as full of harmful conditions and bleak circumstances, but neither is robert storr. dave hickey is a plain speaker. i can appreciate that, but not much else.

i havent listened to it either. i havent read Air Guitar, but i have read the better part of "The Invisible Dragon." I will admit that his writing is quite enjoyable/entertaining compared to most art criticism.

holy cow, i cant stand dave hickey's criticism/ideology

thanks! yes, im very excited about u of c's program, hoping that goes well. i do really love the renaissance society and the hyde park art center, but ive been in the chicago area my whole life, so i can empathize.

I agree completely, but i think the process is so varied because of the fact that most graduate schools require all of their programs to comply with the general, non-art grad application. some programs are ok at navigating that requirement, others are terrible. shitty software aside, i also agree that UCLA is correct in not requiring letters of rec (and im surprised more programs havent followed suit). you summed it up nicely. ive heard that they interview somewhere between 65-70 and accept 20-22? and not to be redundant, but congrats! of the work that ive seen on this forum, if anyone deserves a yale interview, its most definitely you. hope it goes well!

confused indeed. i really dont understand how they can make confident decisions using that terrible image format, but its kind of refreshing to know there still exists a great program that doesnt require candidates to spend loads of money to interview on-site, only to reject 50-60% of them.

yale funds students according to personal and parental income. if youre rich you pay. if youre not, you pay much less or nothing. cranbrook is not yale (financially or reputably). columbia is not yale (financially). yale painters dont attend the school because "Their application was weak. They didn't get into any other note-worthy school." that statement is not just inaccurate, its insane. yes, their program is large in comparison.... this is because they get 2-10 times the number of applicants of most programs. their acceptance rate is still one of, if not THE lowest in the country (for programs with a painting distinction). youre degrading programs with blatant over-generalizations and inaccurate assumptions. not every program that you view as "private + expensive" is a haven for rich, second-rate artists. "The work is decent, but lacking. Hanging little geo-things in a bunch of environments is well played out by now." on an internet forum, an anonymous persons view of not-present work that he/she sees as 'decent, but lacking' means absolutely nothing. to try and influence opinions on specific schools using this tactic is ridiculous. can we please stick to facts instead of nonsensical hearsay? this thread is quickly unravelling with dumb angst and over-zealous ignorance. BASIC LOGIC TELLS US THAT AN MFA IS NOT WORTH MASSIVE DEBT. we dont need a thread of indirect testimonials about it.

this person is completely delusional.

in comparison to most programs, columbia grads are extremely successful. northwestern is free + stipend and only put out 5 MFA recipients a year - their students have also been successful (a 2011 grad in the 2012 whitney biennial, others showing nationally and internationally...) I dont know much about nyu and penn other than the fact that they werent the right programs for me, but these 'reputations' you speak of seem untrustworthy/out-dated and biased - no offense.

thanks! im very excited about the u of c program. their deadline was earlier than most (dec. 15th), but i was definitely surprised to have heard from them in just under a month, considering the holidays took a big chunk out of the middle of that time frame.

Pm'd you back, but for the sake of this forum I was contacted via email jan 14th. No idea how many they interview or what their protocol is.

I think most schools that require on-site interviews also provide some sort of non-interview interaction between faculty/current grads and the interviewees. (Visiting artist lecture, Critique sit-in, maybe a lunch or dinner, drinks afterward?) I also think they're usually considered 'optional', but 'suggested.' Mwebster probably has a better idea of what goes on

I hear that likability/sociability in pre/post interview meet n greets is a foremost factor (given your interview isn't a total flop)

how strict do y'all think rutgers '10 images' is? their instructions are "Please submit a portfolio consisting of 10 images of your most recent work," but slideroom allows 20 files to be uploaded (im assuming the extra space is for alternate media). I realize they receive a lot of applications, but does my $95 really only get me the consideration of 10 images? if i upload, say, 13, will my application be frowned upon/not fully viewed? i emailed them and received no response. im guessing this means, "youre a fool for asking that question, adhere to the instructions."

i had the same problem, very irritating. i gave up trying to paste and ended up retyping everything.

I definitely would not do this.

I took my Yale statement that compacted all of that info into 500 words, split up the personal stuff from the art stuff and expanded on each. The personal stuff turned into the UCLA statement of purpose. it was 500 something words and the art statement ended up being only about 300. was a little uneasy at its relatively short/concise structure when i submitted it, but feel good after re-reading it. dont add useless info.

Half of mine are blank and the other half give some sort of context, depending on how specific/obscure the content is. (all of my slides are paintings though). I don't think it would hurt to simply describe the basic situation of an image if things like scale/reference are not easily comprehended just by looking at it, but if the image is clearly you rolling down a hill naked, you might only want to write "This is an ongoing series." I definitely wouldn't get into explanations of intent... but i am completely new to this and could be 100% wrong.

i understand the sentiment, but i dont think that applying to 10+ schools of varying competitiveness/locales is the best formula for everyone. for one, theres the application fees. $70+ per app is not cheap for a student, especially if my interest in the program is 'tentative'. if desperate to start an mfa next fall, i agree that a vast range of apps should be the approach. however, im not in that position. the 5 schools im applying to are my 'dream' programs. if i dont get in this year, ill want to apply at least once more. why waste the app fee on other places when i already have 5 that i am partial to/will want to make a second stab at? so, yes, ucsd/uconn/u of mich/uic/AZ st/somewhere else may (and probably will) be where i end up - but if that is to be the case, id rather know that i exhausted the possibility of these 5. i probably should have said... my "E." goal would be the possiblity of an eventual academic position. why do you say large program? ive sort of been attracted to smaller ones for funding reasons (besides yale/ucla). usc, nw, u of c are all 5-7ish people. the student's access to faculty and depth of critiques seemed to be intimate and a really positive aspect to the programs when i visited the latter two. thanks for the input, very much appreciated!

thanks for the kind words mindfields. i think my concerns lie within the selectivity and proclivities of the programs. the only two I'm applying to that have a designated "painting" department are yale and ucla, and those are a complete toss up for ANYONE, i suppose. The rest of the programs (excluding rutgers) accept 5-7 people and are completely interdisciplinary. while i hold no allegiance to a specific medium, my portfolio is entirely comprised of 'paintings', and with such selective schools that accept maybe 1 'painter', im very skeptical that that person will be me. also, im not coming from a prestigious or well-known undergrad program. i purposefully chose the programs that i feel will challenge me most, without any fallback/safety schools... so, while i hope youre right, im really not expecting much to come of this years app cycle. have any links to your work? im curious

just submitted my first application to The University of Chicago... sigh of relief. also applying to: Yale - painting&printmaking Northwestern USC UCLA-painting&drawing maybe Rutgers im 22. prepared for and expecting complete rejection, hoping for an interview somewhere to see how i fare in such situations. uploaded a few recent images here: www.daveblloyd.blogspot.com i visited u of c and nw (in my area) and was impressed. both seemed heady and uninterested in hiding behind ideologically futile practice in order to attain a 'look' (nw maybe a bit moreso than u of c). The faculty at both schools are incredibly intelligent, u of c's facilities are brand new as of two months ago (10 story tower-like building), but weird - nw's facilities are old and not up to par with the programs caliber (i sort of like this though)

i made an account on here mostly to acknowledge how awesome this is. any word from yale/columbia?