MFA 2021 Freak Out Forum

[SocialKonstruct]

Well someone had to do it. (I am not applying this year but felt that it's about time when folks are starting to apply for next year's programs.)

Here it goes!

[SocialKonstruct]

Pretty stunned that no one is applying to MFA programs this year :o Or are MFA programs taking no one for fall 2022?

[theundoing]

I think people are applying? I am. I know that Rutgers is suspending admissions and I have heard that Bard will be accepting a smaller cohort but I haven't heard of any other suspensions. 

For some reason when I google searched "MFA freakout forum 2021" only the 2020 forum appeared. So maybe that is why? It is super strange though. Last year at this this time the freakout forum was very active !

I am applying to:

Bard

Hunter

Yale

UCLA

all in painting

@SocialKonstruct where are you thinking of applying for 2022?

 

Edited October 7, 2020 by theundoing
asking question

[aniben3]

I'm applying, but I have to say it's hard to keep up motivation with everything going on right now. Maybe that's why people aren't posting? 
I'm a fiber / interdisciplinary person. Got into SAIC & Cranbrook last year, but couldn't afford it unfortunately, especially with all the uncertainty with the uh, state of the world. This year's list is Oregon, Iowa, VCU, ASU, Indiana -Bloomington, and Pennsylvania.

We'll see how it goes, haha, I really like the programs.

[theundoing]

12 hours ago, aniben3 said:

I'm applying, but I have to say it's hard to keep up motivation with everything going on right now. Maybe that's why people aren't posting? 
I'm a fiber / interdisciplinary person. Got into SAIC & Cranbrook last year, but couldn't afford it unfortunately, especially with all the uncertainty with the uh, state of the world. This year's list is Oregon, Iowa, VCU, ASU, Indiana -Bloomington, and Pennsylvania.

We'll see how it goes, haha, I really like the programs.

That is really true...I know my list is much smaller than I originally intended because the application fee is a pretty huge financial burden these days.

Yeah, I heard that SAIC has terrible financial aid (along with Columbia and RISD). I considered applying to Columbia but they make you fill out a supplement stating how you plan on paying for the program!

I hope I get into Hunter because it is very affordable for me as a NY resident. Good luck this year!!!!

[aniben3]

14 hours ago, theundoing said:

That is really true...I know my list is much smaller than I originally intended because the application fee is a pretty huge financial burden these days.

Yeah, I heard that SAIC has terrible financial aid (along with Columbia and RISD). I considered applying to Columbia but they make you fill out a supplement stating how you plan on paying for the program!

I hope I get into Hunter because it is very affordable for me as a NY resident. Good luck this year!!!!

Oof, yeah. The advice I've always read is "apply to programs even if you don't know if you can afford it!  You never know what financial aid you might get!" So I did, and then it was like, ah, yeah, no, as expected I still can't afford this lol. Shame cus the faculty that I talked to were really great. 

Good luck to you too!!!

[XSX]

Anyone thinking of applying international? What schools have you considered? 

[SocialKonstruct]

On 10/7/2020 at 10:04 AM, theundoing said:

I think people are applying? I am. I know that Rutgers is suspending admissions and I have heard that Bard will be accepting a smaller cohort but I haven't heard of any other suspensions. 

For some reason when I google searched "MFA freakout forum 2021" only the 2020 forum appeared. So maybe that is why? It is super strange though. Last year at this this time the freakout forum was very active !

I am applying to:

Bard

Hunter

Yale

UCLA

all in painting

@SocialKonstruct where are you thinking of applying fHeor 2022?

 

I am not applying quite yet as I am a 2nd year undergrad. However I did make an Excel spreadsheet of where I am applying to (with references which are very tentative here).

Here is my spreadsheet for future applications- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wY9QR3NZklLHnejguAAvw8_E_HYokru291Wkf53y_HY/edit?usp=sharing

Hope that helps everyone here! (I will be entering a MFA program in the fall of 2023).

Edited October 11, 2020 by SocialKonstruct

[SocialKonstruct]

On 10/10/2020 at 1:19 PM, XSX said:

Anyone thinking of applying international? What schools have you considered? 

Emily Carr in Vancouver is the only one I am looking at.

[SocialKonstruct]

On 10/7/2020 at 7:51 PM, aniben3 said:

I'm applying, but I have to say it's hard to keep up motivation with everything going on right now. Maybe that's why people aren't posting? 
I'm a fiber / interdisciplinary person. Got into SAIC & Cranbrook last year, but couldn't afford it unfortunately, especially with all the uncertainty with the uh, state of the world. This year's list is Oregon, Iowa, VCU, ASU, Indiana -Bloomington, and Pennsylvania.

We'll see how it goes, haha, I really like the programs.

Actually I have a suspicion that some MFA programs rejected everyone for the whole year to keep funding for their current students. They already did that for art history PHDs in Yale and U of Chicago this year.

[aniben3]

2 hours ago, SocialKonstruct said:

Actually I have a suspicion that some MFA programs rejected everyone for the whole year to keep funding for their current students. They already did that for art history PHDs in Yale and U of Chicago this year.

That's interesting, because one of the programs I declined actually sent me an email a month or so later asking me if I'd like to reconsider and that they'd still like to have me. I just assumed that maybe some schools aren't getting enough people in this year because grad school is a bit risky right now. 
I'd hope that if programs aren't accepting people this year that they'd bluntly state it on their page before I go through the application process. 

[SocialKonstruct]

20 minutes ago, aniben3 said:

That's interesting, because one of the programs I declined actually sent me an email a month or so later asking me if I'd like to reconsider and that they'd still like to have me. I just assumed that maybe some schools aren't getting enough people in this year because grad school is a bit risky right now. 
I'd hope that if programs aren't accepting people this year that they'd bluntly state it on their page before I go through the application process. 

What bothers me is the lack of transparency on the school informing the public that they aren't taking a new batch of folks. Here is an example of a student list not updated for a class of 2022. https://arts.columbia.edu/visual-arts/students and http://mfafinearts.sva.edu/students

Also some schools did put up their new rosters for 2022 but one can see that classes have diminished quite a bit. https://www.art.yale.edu/about/people/current-students and http://www.art.cmu.edu/mfa/students/ (CMU wasn't impacted too much). Yale sculpture probably had 4-5 deferred folks.

[theundoing]

13 hours ago, aniben3 said:

That's interesting, because one of the programs I declined actually sent me an email a month or so later asking me if I'd like to reconsider and that they'd still like to have me. I just assumed that maybe some schools aren't getting enough people in this year because grad school is a bit risky right now. 
I'd hope that if programs aren't accepting people this year that they'd bluntly state it on their page before I go through the application process. 

 

12 hours ago, SocialKonstruct said:

What bothers me is the lack of transparency on the school informing the public that they aren't taking a new batch of folks. Here is an example of a student list not updated for a class of 2022. https://arts.columbia.edu/visual-arts/students and http://mfafinearts.sva.edu/students

Also some schools did put up their new rosters for 2022 but one can see that classes have diminished quite a bit. https://www.art.yale.edu/about/people/current-students and http://www.art.cmu.edu/mfa/students/ (CMU wasn't impacted too much). Yale sculpture probably had 4-5 deferred folks.

I would hope that they would be transparent. I know that Bard is accepting a smaller class (and that isn't stated on the website I heard it from a few friends in the program) but schools normally accept larger and smaller classes for all sorts of reasons. But if they are planning on accepting zero people that would be pretty messed up to still have people apply and I would assume that they would just close the application (like they did at Rutgers). The application fee is used to pay faculty to review the applications and I can imagine faculty would be so unethical to take that money with no intention of reviewing applications. 

Columbia MFA definitely accepted a new class. I know that undergrads had to move out of their studios to make way for socially distant studio space for the new MFA class. 

I don't think Yale allows deferral? Unless they changed that due to COVID. but then I feel like everyone would have deferred. 

Edited October 12, 2020 by theundoing

[theundoing]

16 hours ago, SocialKonstruct said:

I am not applying quite yet as I am a 2nd year undergrad. However I did make an Excel spreadsheet of where I am applying to (with references which are very tentative here).

Here is my spreadsheet for future applications- https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wY9QR3NZklLHnejguAAvw8_E_HYokru291Wkf53y_HY/edit?usp=sharing

Hope that helps everyone here! (I will be entering a MFA program in the fall of 2023).

Thanks! The permissions aren't open but maybe that is intentional 

[basilmari]

I'm planning on applying to schools for next fall in the hopes that things will be somewhat normalized by then. This is the first I'm hearing of reduced admissions!

[theundoing]

9 hours ago, theundoing said:

 

I would hope that they would be transparent. I know that Bard is accepting a smaller class (and that isn't stated on the website I heard it from a few friends in the program) but schools normally accept larger and smaller classes for all sorts of reasons. But if they are planning on accepting zero people that would be pretty messed up to still have people apply and I would assume that they would just close the application (like they did at Rutgers). The application fee is used to pay faculty to review the applications and I can imagine faculty would be so unethical to take that money with no intention of reviewing applications. 

Columbia MFA definitely accepted a new class. I know that undergrads had to move out of their studios to make way for socially distant studio space for the new MFA class. 

I don't think Yale allows deferral? Unless they changed that due to COVID. but then I feel like everyone would have deferred. 

*can't imagine

[aniben3]

I will say though, it's nice of the schools to prioritize their students and to want them to keep their funding. At least future applicants know that the school has their back, even if it's harder for this year's applicants. 

[SocialKonstruct]

14 hours ago, theundoing said:

Thanks! The permissions aren't open but maybe that is intentional 

I just updated with public permissions now here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wY9QR3NZklLHnejguAAvw8_E_HYokru291Wkf53y_HY/edit?usp=sharing

[SocialKonstruct]

14 hours ago, theundoing said:

 

I would hope that they would be transparent. I know that Bard is accepting a smaller class (and that isn't stated on the website I heard it from a few friends in the program) but schools normally accept larger and smaller classes for all sorts of reasons. But if they are planning on accepting zero people that would be pretty messed up to still have people apply and I would assume that they would just close the application (like they did at Rutgers). The application fee is used to pay faculty to review the applications and I can imagine faculty would be so unethical to take that money with no intention of reviewing applications. 

Columbia MFA definitely accepted a new class. I know that undergrads had to move out of their studios to make way for socially distant studio space for the new MFA class. 

I don't think Yale allows deferral? Unless they changed that due to COVID. but then I feel like everyone would have deferred. 

I definitely know that Yale allows deferral. One of our alumni from the U of U got this earlier this year but she isn't heading to Yale until next fall for sure.

[cornchip]

I've gone back and forth about applying to programs this year, but I decided that I'll throw just a few applications out there to see what happens. If I get in anywhere I'll probably defer unless things happen to improve a lot. 

The reason I've been torn about applying is that the art world as we know it seems to be crumbling before our eyes and people (myself) are beginning to buy into the fact that institutionalized art and art education are not always necessary components in good art/art communities. and maybe the future of art is separate from those overpriced institutions. Basically I'm very unsure but still will apply to see what happens. 

[SocialKonstruct]

1 hour ago, cornchip said:

I've gone back and forth about applying to programs this year, but I decided that I'll throw just a few applications out there to see what happens. If I get in anywhere I'll probably defer unless things happen to improve a lot. 

The reason I've been torn about applying is that the art world as we know it seems to be crumbling before our eyes and people (myself) are beginning to buy into the fact that institutionalized art and art education are not always necessary components in good art/art communities. and maybe the future of art is separate from those overpriced institutions. Basically I'm very unsure but still will apply to see what happens. 

I think that the contemporary art world is doing rather well but just not the American scene. Right now China is making a "killing" on opening up new galleries and showing somewhat cutting-edge work. UK is doing all right.

Much of it depends on what you want to do with your MFA. I would recommend it if you want to make the proper connections with those who are big leagues in the contemporary art world as sadly enough, those connections will help a ton.

But if you are the next JR or Banksy forget about it... that is art school. You don't have to be in a MFA program if you are into street and underground art scene. But you will need luck and some publicity stunts to make yourself known if that's what you want. 

[incoming first year mfa]

I am reapplying this year after COVID-19 restrictions felt a little too strict to warrant tuition. I want to focus on funded programs, though not applying to them exclusively. I have gotten a lot of information about UCSD, but does anyone have information on UCLA? Their website is opaque, and I don't know much about the program other than its evident exclusivity. 

[theundoing]

16 hours ago, SocialKonstruct said:

I definitely know that Yale allows deferral. One of our alumni from the U of U got this earlier this year but she isn't heading to Yale until next fall for sure.

interesting. The MFA website states they don't so this is good info to know. thanks

[theundoing]

28 minutes ago, incoming first year mfa said:

I am reapplying this year after COVID-19 restrictions felt a little too strict to warrant tuition. I want to focus on funded programs, though not applying to them exclusively. I have gotten a lot of information about UCSD, but does anyone have information on UCLA? Their website is opaque, and I don't know much about the program other than its evident exclusivity. 

All I know about it is that they don't do interviews. The pick you from your statement and portfolio alone. Also if you are applying straight from undergrad you can get your application fee waived if you are on financial aid (I did this last year when I applied). Also, I've heard the studios are super nice. There is more info on UCLA in past years' MFA forums.

[SocialKonstruct]

1 hour ago, incoming first year mfa said:

I am reapplying this year after COVID-19 restrictions felt a little too strict to warrant tuition. I want to focus on funded programs, though not applying to them exclusively. I have gotten a lot of information about UCSD, but does anyone have information on UCLA? Their website is opaque, and I don't know much about the program other than its evident exclusivity. 

UCLA is super competitive and in many ways more difficult than Yale to get into... they have the least amount of information on their website but much of it is due to their focus on not making waves and focusing on making their students top notch. Yale's programs are going to be much more visible as their website is pretty detailed.

Edited October 13, 2020 by SocialKonstruct