US NEWS RANKINGS methodology

[littlenova]

Kiddies,

Let me share something... While I do believe the US News Rankings for Fine Art Grad Programs matter somewhat, this little methodology explanation might illuminate the way you look at this list. In summary, US News rankings are voted on by a committee. This committee is only comprised of other art educators. It would basically be like all of us taking a vote for who the best artist is on this board, with each of us having an equal amount of votes. In the case of the US News Rankings, only academic opinion is considered in the rankings.

The obvious problem with this? In our field of Fine Art, many of the "academic" opinions expressed are from retired artists, non-practicing or irrelavent art educators who talk about making great art but, are not avidly showing. We cannot liken these ratings to those of academic disciplines, because our degrees only comprise a portion of what it takes to make it out there as an artist.

Those that are getting their MFA to solely get a job teaching and contribute to art academia don't have to read any further....

But, if you are trying to have longevity in your art making career and an accomplished CV of showing your work at alot of great places, where are the OTHER voices that should be weighed in to rank an institution? Curators, Gallerists, Award Panelists---or I'd even settle for hard criteria like making each school on the top 10 produce solid examples of how their students are succeeding. (Getting fellowships, showing in cutting-edge exhibitions, being selected for prestigious opportunities to show outside of the country, etc.) Plus, they will always be 2 years behind. These 2009 rankings are based on surveys done in 2007.

I just want people to know that the best way to select a school is to look at what alumni are doing, look at distinguished faculty and look at the curriculum/facilities to see if you would be a good fit. The days of saying..."I went to a #3 school in Painting"...won't really cut it anymore, especially as schools begin to offer more generalized studio degrees that allow for interdisciplinary study. I would go to the places you want to show and see where THEY are pulling grads from. I would look at careers you want to emulate and see where THEY went to school.

I am so disheartened by this that I almost want to publish my own official list. lol...

Edited March 20, 2010 by littlenova

[sophiab]

Kiddies,

Let me share something... While I do believe the US News Rankings for Fine Art Grad Programs matter somewhat, this little methodology explanation might illuminate the way you look at this list. In summary, US News rankings are voted on by a committee. This committee is only comprised of other art educators. It would basically be like all of us taking a vote for who the best artist is on this board, with each of us having an equal amount of votes. In the case of the US News Rankings, only academic opinion is considered in the rankings.

The obvious problem with this? In our field of Fine Art, many of the "academic" opinions expressed are from retired artists, non-practicing or irrelavent art educators who talk about making great art but, are not avidly showing. We cannot liken these ratings to those of academic disciplines, because our degrees only comprise a portion of what it takes to make it out there as an artist.

Those that are getting their MFA to solely get a job teaching and contribute to art academia don't have to read any further....

But, if you are trying to have longevity in your art making career and an accomplished CV of showing your work at alot of great places, where are the OTHER voices that should be weighed in to rank an institution? Curators, Gallerists, Award Panelists---or I'd even settle for hard criteria like making each school on the top 10 produce solid examples of how their students are succeeding. (Getting fellowships, showing in cutting-edge exhibitions, being selected for prestigious opportunities to show outside of the country, etc.) Plus, they will always be 2 years behind. These 2009 rankings are based on surveys done in 2007.

I just want people to know that the best way to select a school is to look at what alumni are doing, look at distinguished faculty and look at the curriculum/facilities to see if you would be a good fit. The days of saying..."I went to a #3 school in Painting"...won't really cut it anymore, especially as schools begin to offer more generalized studio degrees that allow for interdisciplinary study. I would go to the places you want to show and see where THEY are pulling grads from. I would look at careers you want to emulate and see where THEY went to school.

I am so disheartened by this that I almost want to publish my own official list. lol...

I totally agree. The rankings are interesting to get a very general idea of a school's reputation by other art educators. Who knows how many people are even on that committee that ranks the schools. I do not think that you should choose a school based on rank at all, but find a place that is a good fit. It's a piece of data that's interesting to know, but a small and superficial one compared to everything else you need to take into account. As an undergrad, I was accepted to higher ranked schools, but I went where I thought I would be happiest and where I thought I would like living for 4 years. I definitely believe I made the right choice because I loved my undergraduate experience while I know people who went to "top schools" who were very unhappy. The most important is finding a good fit for your personality and work. A good rank is nice, but it is really like a single sprinkle on the icing on the cake.

[littlenova]

Absolutely... and isn't it weird that the survey takes place in the D.C. area and MICA and VCU are both in the Top 5 ??? Just sayin'...lol.

[alizarin]

I agree the methodology is flawed. But this is not a bad piece of information to look at when you start researching schools. I used this as a guide when I researched schools I was interested in. At the same time, I visited some schools, looked at the faculty and alumni work, asked a bunch of questions, met the grad students and looked at their studios, etc.

[sophiab]

Yeah, it's a useful starting point. There is an overwhelming number of schools out there. At first I was just applying to schools in the SF Bay area because of personal reasons. Then my circumstances changed at the last minute, so I randomly picked a bunch of schools from the top of the rankings list without doing any research and sent my stuff there. Now having had the time to look at them all closely, none of them would have been a good match for me and my work, and I think I would have been really frustrated there. So, in conclusion, rankings definitely are not a good way to pick schools. Anyhow, it all worked out for the best, since I think I got into the best place for me in terms of both work and lifestyle. Lifestyle and where you want to live are big factors too that have nothing to do with rankings.

[intelly]

I think if you only apply to top 10 schools, then I kind of says something about your ego lol.

I applied to UTA, which is 5th, or something like that. All of the others either didn't really fit with my style, or were in NYC, which i vetoed because there's no way I can go to grad school and afford to live. I would LOVE to live there, but I want to have a Master's degree, not 80k in loans.

The school I'm probably going to go to is ranked 81, and if you think about it, that's still really effing good. US News ranks the top 225ish, so if you consider how many thousands of schools there are in America, even being 225 is still pretty good.

[atrawickb]

I totally agree. The rankings are interesting to get a very general idea of a school's reputation by other art educators. Who knows how many people are even on that committee that ranks the schools. I do not think that you should choose a school based on rank at all, but find a place that is a good fit. It's a piece of data that's interesting to know, but a small and superficial one compared to everything else you need to take into account. As an undergrad, I was accepted to higher ranked schools, but I went where I thought I would be happiest and where I thought I would like living for 4 years. I definitely believe I made the right choice because I loved my undergraduate experience while I know people who went to "top schools" who were very unhappy. The most important is finding a good fit for your personality and work. A good rank is nice, but it is really like a single sprinkle on the icing on the cake.

graduating from a 'top' program will certainly help on the back end to get a job and start paying off those loans...and may help with getting hooked up with shows and grants too, but in my opinion the most important reason to choose one program over another is because there is somebody on their faculty that you really believe you can learn from. that, and the work of current students should be clear indicators of what's going on there and whether or not it might be a good fit for you.

[littlenova]

Here's a nice little article that is worth a read. Someone might have posted this before, but I think it's worth reposting. I love hearing first hand accounts and real life outcomes of students and their MFA programs.

Edited March 23, 2010 by littlenova