MFA 2019 Freak Out Forum

[afein]

Also, I made a list of questions to answer for a friend to help him decide on graduate schools.

If you need something to help you narrow your choices, this might be useful: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mgpJgfwAf9Kp8J7Ze0V6DHx291OcXzUFdRuwkVBfFyk/edit?usp=sharing

[Pallavi.Daga]

54 minutes ago, afein said:

I have decided to enroll in RISD's three-year graphic design program. (For those of you concerned about cost, ASK FOR MORE MONEY! I was given 20k more by RISD basically with the snap of the fingers.)

I spend the last 1.5 hours sending rejections to CalArts, MICA, Parsons, Pratt, RCA and SVA. If you've been waitlisted at those, I hope you get offered a spot now!

@Pallavi.Daga

HOW DID YOU ASK FOR MORE MONEY? I sent an email to Pratt about the same with no response from their end. Who did you reach out to? Also do you mind sharing a copy of the email you sent?

[Pallavi.Daga]

40 minutes ago, afein said:

Also, I made a list of questions to answer for a friend to help him decide on graduate schools.

If you need something to help you narrow your choices, this might be useful: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1mgpJgfwAf9Kp8J7Ze0V6DHx291OcXzUFdRuwkVBfFyk/edit?usp=sharing

This is awesome!

[jess_is_over_it]

1 hour ago, afein said:

I have decided to enroll in RISD's three-year graphic design program. (For those of you concerned about cost, ASK FOR MORE MONEY! I was given 20k more by RISD basically with the snap of the fingers.)

I spend the last 1.5 hours sending rejections to CalArts, MICA, Parsons, Pratt, RCA and SVA. If you've been waitlisted at those, I hope you get offered a spot now!

@Pallavi.Daga

 

42 minutes ago, Pallavi.Daga said:

HOW DID YOU ASK FOR MORE MONEY? I sent an email to Pratt about the same with no response from their end. Who did you reach out to? Also do you mind sharing a copy of the email you sent?

I'm curious too! During my interview I was told to be direct and ask for what I need. I just emailed my interviewer to ask for advice on the best/most polite way to do this and he just said to just tell them what I need (them being the director of admissions specifically). Which I have now done...so here's hoping! 

[afein]

1 hour ago, Pallavi.Daga said:

HOW DID YOU ASK FOR MORE MONEY? I sent an email to Pratt about the same with no response from their end. Who did you reach out to? Also do you mind sharing a copy of the email you sent?

 

20 minutes ago, jess_is_over_it said:

I'm curious too! During my interview I was told to be direct and ask for what I need. I just emailed my interviewer to ask for advice on the best/most polite way to do this and he just said to just tell them what I need (them being the director of admissions specifically). Which I have now done...so here's hoping! 

I emailed the graduate program director, who then emailed the financial aid officer. (I'm sure the contacts for all school are different. I would have emailed both the program director and financial aid directly, if the program director had not responded so promptly.)

The email I wrote is below:

 

Hello Bethany,

 

I have eliminated all but two schools from consideration. RISD is my number one choice. I really believe in your faculty, the vision behind the recent curriculum changes, the whole ethos of critical making. I also related to the students I met, and I loved Providence. I have a hard time envisioning myself anywhere else. I am so excited by your offer.

 

However, Parsons has offered me a 75% scholarship, which reduces total tuition for me to $12,500. I've attached the admissions letter from Parsons.

 

Could you make this decision easier by increasing my fellowship aid?

 

Again, I want to emphasize how grateful I am to be offered a place in the incoming class. At this point, I'm just trying to resolve whether the best choice is the best fit or the most economical. I was fortunate to receive a lot of offers, but it has been fairly easy to see that RISD is where I want to be.

Sincerely,

[artperson]

I got my rejections from University of Oregon and University of Maryland today. Maryland sent a nice, personal email which I really appreciate; they were one of my top choices initially. I just need to hear back from University of Colorado and I'll have closure. 

[Roof1234]

Anything from Columbia painting? Thank you! 

[notyrs]

Anyone heard anything from NYU? I think they said we’d hear sometime this week when I interviewed ???

[Lemon2Lemonade]

1 hour ago, artperson said:

I got my rejections from University of Oregon and University of Maryland today. Maryland sent a nice, personal email which I really appreciate; they were one of my top choices initially. I just need to hear back from University of Colorado and I'll have closure. 

Sorry to hear about the rejections, cannot believe how U. of Colorado is taking so long to answer! Your 11.5K stipend and full scholarsh ip at UMass-Amherst is one of the best funding packages I have heard of! Congrats that is quite an achievement!!

[rosch]

On 3/26/2019 at 2:30 PM, memesinthemoma said:

hi all mfa apps! anyone leaning towards sva for an mfa in fine arts? i'm pretty sure i'll be going there in the fall. 

got into sfai, sva, and syracuse 

still waiting on calarts rejection 

rejected from carnegie 

 

 

Congrats! Which program at Syracuse did you get accepted into?

[babsi]

On 3/25/2019 at 7:42 PM, jri said:

No not yet, it still says submitted on the portal. I emailed the admissions office and they said how all interviews were given so it doesn't seem like I'll make it to the next round, buuuut it's not final yet. Still waiting.  (I applied for the MFA in Graphic Design 2 year program there)

I got a status update email, waitlisted. Not sure how I feel about the changes going on within the school but still exciting!

[MjamesPDX]

3 hours ago, artperson said:

I got my rejections from University of Oregon and University of Maryland today. Maryland sent a nice, personal email which I really appreciate; they were one of my top choices initially. I just need to hear back from University of Colorado and I'll have closure. 

Sorry to hear about your bad news  How did you hear from UO if you don’t mind me asking? Did they send you an email or did you just check the gradweb profile??

EDIT: You’re the first person I’ve seen mention them, so I’m curious how they’re rolling them out..

Edited March 28, 2019 by MjamesPDX

[artperson]

1 hour ago, Lemon2Lemonade said:

Sorry to hear about the rejections, cannot believe how U. of Colorado is taking so long to answer! Your 11.5K stipend and full scholarsh ip at UMass-Amherst is one of the best funding packages I have heard of! Congrats that is quite an achievement!!

Thank you! I'm looking forward to attending in the fall! 

 

17 minutes ago, MjamesPDX said:

Sorry to hear about your bad news  How did you hear from UO if you don’t mind me asking? Did they send you an email or did you just check the gradweb profile??

It was an email from the graduate director that seemed generic. I applied in painting. 

[artperson]

26 minutes ago, MjamesPDX said:

Sorry to hear about your bad news  How did you hear from UO if you don’t mind me asking? Did they send you an email or did you just check the gradweb profile??

EDIT: You’re the first person I’ve seen mention them, so I’m curious how they’re rolling them out..

The email also said they were only able to select 8 people for their incoming class which I think is for their full graduate program. 

Edited March 28, 2019 by artperson
misspelling

[MjamesPDX]

7 minutes ago, artperson said:

The email also said they were only able to select 8 people for their incoming class which I think is for their full grad

Oh my gosh.. 8?! That’s two less than they said during Grad Review.. this is driving me totally bonkers?

[ackey]

On 3/26/2019 at 1:30 PM, memesinthemoma said:

hi all mfa apps! anyone leaning towards sva for an mfa in fine arts? i'm pretty sure i'll be going there in the fall. 

got into sfai, sva, and syracuse 

still waiting on calarts rejection 

rejected from carnegie 

 

 

I am considering SVA, although concerned about $$! 

8 hours ago, afein said:

I have decided to enroll in RISD's three-year graphic design program. (For those of you concerned about cost, ASK FOR MORE MONEY! I was given 20k more by RISD basically with the snap of the fingers.)

I spend the last 1.5 hours sending rejections to CalArts, MICA, Parsons, Pratt, RCA and SVA. If you've been waitlisted at those, I hope you get offered a spot now!

@Pallavi.Daga

Now I'm wondering if asking for more funding would be an option...SVA is the only acceptance I received (unless I get off the MICA waitlist), so I don't have any other funding offers to mention to them. 

[Pallavi.Daga]

8 hours ago, afein said:

 

I emailed the graduate program director, who then emailed the financial aid officer. (I'm sure the contacts for all school are different. I would have emailed both the program director and financial aid directly, if the program director had not responded so promptly.)

The email I wrote is below:

 

Hello Bethany,

 

I have eliminated all but two schools from consideration. RISD is my number one choice. I really believe in your faculty, the vision behind the recent curriculum changes, the whole ethos of critical making. I also related to the students I met, and I loved Providence. I have a hard time envisioning myself anywhere else. I am so excited by your offer.

 

However, Parsons has offered me a 75% scholarship, which reduces total tuition for me to $12,500. I've attached the admissions letter from Parsons.

 

Could you make this decision easier by increasing my fellowship aid?

 

Again, I want to emphasize how grateful I am to be offered a place in the incoming class. At this point, I'm just trying to resolve whether the best choice is the best fit or the most economical. I was fortunate to receive a lot of offers, but it has been fairly easy to see that RISD is where I want to be.

Sincerely,

Thanks for the advice. I had emailed the program director, not having heard from him in 6 days now. I shall email the financial aid officer directly.

Congratulations to you, however.

[Pallavi.Daga]

1 hour ago, ackey said:

I am considering SVA, although concerned about $$! 

Now I'm wondering if asking for more funding would be an option...SVA is the only acceptance I received (unless I get off the MICA waitlist), so I don't have any other funding offers to mention to them. 

If I don't get funding or get off the waitlist at MICA, I might as well drop this year. The tuition fees at Pratt along with the living expenses is way beyond my league.

[Kovjone]

Hi everyone, 

So I've been waitlisted at 3 schools so far (USF, University of Chicago, Temple) and it's not looking likely that I'll be getting in this year, so on to applying the next year!

For any of those who reapplied (successful and non) what did you do to better your chances? 

I'm thinking of creating a new portfolio(but ugh) and reaching out to the department professors to ask what they might be looking for in a portfolio. 

I would love anyone's advice! And congrats to those who have been accepted!

[madsv]

15 hours ago, MjamesPDX said:

Oh my gosh.. 8?! That’s two less than they said during Grad Review.. this is driving me totally bonkers?

When I emailed the admissions coordinator last week I was told they had not finalized the list of accepted applicants and they expected those decisions to roll out after April 15. So now I'm losing my mind ?

[MjamesPDX]

5 minutes ago, madsv said:

When I emailed the admissions coordinator last week I was told they had not finalized the list of accepted applicants and they expected those decisions to roll out after April 15. So now I'm losing my mind ?

Wait, are you serious?? I emailed them twice so far and last I heard they said end of March.. now they’re pushing it back a third time? Also- it’s a little crazy that they’re waiting until after April 15th to send out notices.. Most ppl, including lots of folks on these forums, have already had to commit to programs and put deposits down. I’m also guessing that they’re just not doing interviews this year? Kind of strange.. With such a tough applicant pool this year you would think interviewing would make things easier for them?? I don’t know what to think anymore. Lol

Can you post a photo of the email for us to read please?

[madsv]

5 minutes ago, MjamesPDX said:

Wait, are you serious?? I emailed them twice so far and last I heard they said end of March.. now they’re pushing it back a third time? Also- it’s a little crazy that they’re waiting until after April 15th to send out notices.. Most ppl, including lots of folks on these forums, have already had to commit to programs and put deposits down. I’m also guessing that they’re just not doing interviews this year? Kind of strange.. With such a tough applicant pool this year you would think interviewing would make things easier for them?? I don’t know what to think anymore. Lol

Can you post a photo of the email for us to read please?

yeah, I am not super sure what is happening lol,  but they're the only school I really applied to because thats where I want to be so I'm nervous 

[MjamesPDX]

1 minute ago, madsv said:

yeah, I am not super sure what is happening lol,  but they're the only school I really applied to because thats where I want to be so I'm nervous 

Dude, same! I couldn’t bring myself to spend the money on applying to safety schools knowing that I’d be unhappy there anyways.. UO was the only program I applied to and if I don’t get in this year I’ll probably reapply next year too. This has been quite the marathon, haha. Well good luck and hopefully no news is good news!

[madsv]

2 minutes ago, MjamesPDX said:

Dude, same! I couldn’t bring myself to spend the money on applying to safety schools knowing that I’d be unhappy there anyways.. UO was the only program I applied to and if I don’t get in this year I’ll probably reapply next year too. This has been quite the marathon, haha. Well good luck and hopefully no news is good news!

that's where I'm at too! Honestly, I might just move to Eugene anyway haha. Good luck! 

[Gabbberz]

20 hours ago, Roof1234 said:

Anything from Columbia painting? Thank you! 

I haven't heard back from printmaking either- did you get an interview? I interviewed early march, nothin ?