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Hello Aspiring Art Students, I am a long time follower of this forum - it helped me immensely when I was applying to grad schools myself. I have been perusing some of these recent threads, and a lot of you seem to have many unanswered questions about how this all works - and "this" can encompass many things. I work in art academia currently, and I will be the first to admit that the grad school application process is mystifying while pertinent information is often elusive. I struggled with this exact problem during my time looking at grad schools. But having now been through the process myself, I have learned some (but not all) answers. Being a professor currently, it is really disheartening to see just how many aspiring students, who do good work, get lost in this process. While I sincerely do want to help, it would be way too much for me to respond to each of these questions individually. Yet, after seeing what some of you are asking and the confusion within, I am wondering if some of you would be interested in some one-on-one consulting, via email or the like. It would be simply too overwhelming to take this on as something casual - and usually, this is what professors get paid to do, in addition to just teaching during the semester. What I can offer you, so that it does not become too insane, is this (and I realize this sounds kind of skeezy to post on a forum, but bear with me): For, let's say, $20 I can offer all y'all any of the following: Provide standard paragraph sized answers to four general questions about this whole perplexing process, or For an hour's time, I will look over your portfolio and help you narrow down choices of what to include, give advice, etc, or I will do one round of reading and editing one document you may have questions about; this can be your statement, letter of intent, a CV, etc - whichever one of these you think you may need help with the most, or if there is any other reasonable thing that you may need help with, I can look into that as well, or If you happen to be in the same geographic location as I am, I would be happy to meet face to face for an hour's time. I'd also possibly be open to doing an hour of Skype if absolutely warranted - though I sincerely believe Skype is terrible and should not be used in the admissions process, but I digress. Here's a little about me to just let you know I am not just some crackpot without any clout: When I was applying to grad schools, I applied to fifteen schools and got into seven; four of those schools offered me significant financial aid, if not a fully funded MFA, I went to a top tier MFA program in the New York City area, I have been accepted into several residencies, including Vermont Studio Center, I have shown internationally, I have been published, I have been teaching for just about 3 full years now; I have taught at two research 1's, a small liberal arts college, and a community college, (and if you do not know the difference between a R1 and a SLAC, you need to before you send out applications), This past semester I helped one of my students get into a competitive international study abroad program at a top international school doing the same thing I am offering here, I have connected some of my students to various institutions for residencies, jobs, etc - I have provided them face-time with very successful artists, I have been paid to give professional practices presentations to classes, I myself have been awarded an upcoming year long, fully funded residency where three slots are awarded out of over two hundred and fifty applications. My personal work is mostly focused in installation, photography, performance and new media. I do not paint - though I went to a really painting heavy program and can offer some insight in that regard. So, you know, I am not trying to prove my worth here, but I do have an idea of what I am talking about. And look, for all that, there is PLENTY I have been rejected from or failed at (which is something we can talk about also). I also obviously cannot promise you that you will get into Yale based on talking to me, or any other specific program. But, if any of you need help navigating all of this, I actually would like to help in a way that I can. If any of you need help and are interested, please feel free to send me a private message - we can go from there as to what you might need and how to achieve it. And feel free to ask any logistical questions about anything I did not cover here. I should also mention that my focus in my work is not necessarily solely commercial - I am much more personally interested in contributing to discourse than I am in doing the gallery circuits. I say this because if your dream is to be Anslem Kiefer or Takashi Murikami and show at Gagosian and only make art to make oodles of money, I will probably be not the best person to talk to. I can give you insights about the various gallery scenes, but that is not where my focus is. In the meantime, good luck to all of you! Believe me, I know how hard it is out there - if something does not happen for you, please do not get discouraged. Though this sucks to always hear, rejection really is just a part of the process. Also, be diligent to really look through this forum and the past years of postings - there is some really valuable information in these threads if you take the time to search through them. One more thing: be sure to check out The Professor is In - Karen Kelsky is not arts based, but she offers a wealth of fantastic general academic information. Edit: Tell you what, let's do this - the first three people to ask me something on this thread, I will respond to the best of my ability. Be sure to ask something general or not so specific that it cannot relate to anyone else besides yourself.

Has anyone here applied for other opps? Residencies/ conferences etc? I thought we could keep each other posted on when notifications/ interviews/ etc. go out.